Great For Casual Users But Cell-Tech-Junkies Should Look Elsewhere For Perks, Gadgets & Goodies
Written: Jun 28 '03 (Updated Jan 15 '04)
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Pros: Nice features, backlit, compact size, holds a charge.
Cons: Has some of the same issues as the Kyocera 2135
The Bottom Line: With any luck I won’t have to reenact the “phone abuse” scene from The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood to get someone to hear me through the echo.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Kyocera 1135 Cell Phone |
The Kyocera series of phones are basic but more than suitable for the cell phone user that doesn’t want or need every new gadget or piece of technology. I own the Kyocera 2135 that I have with Verizon through their Free-Up Prepaid service but with the summer months upon us, the boys will be taking field trips and attending day camps and I wanted them to have a cellular phone that they could take with them in case they needed to get in touch with me. I opted to sign up for one of Verizon’s calling plans and received the Kyocera 1135 as part of the package. I had my choice of several phones, none of which were the least bit attractive or functional in the least so I went with the best of the worst, the 1135. The salesman ensured me that this was a “state of the art” phone with “crystal clear clarity” and “impeccable range”. The next time a cellular salesman lays that slick verbiage on me I am going to get it in writing so I can go back to them, throw the phone in his face and ask for my money back. If the 1135 is Kyocera answer to modern technology, I say stick with smoke signals, Morse Code and tapping on pipes as a more effective means of communication.
Kyocera 1135
The phone comes packed with features like a phone book for business and personal entries, backlit display, auto lock feature, 25 ring tones, text messaging, call restriction and more. In most ways this is very similar to the 2135 but doesn’t have a web browser or internet access. Since this is something that I never used on the 2135, it wasn’t a factor when picking out the phone for the new calling plan. The buttons are easier to use then the other Kyocera models and you don’t have to press them hard to get the to work. You can adjust the incoming call volume as well as the volume of the keypad. But beware, if you silence the keypad you may not be able to enter numbers when you call pagers or use the text messaging system. Overall the phone will take you about fifteen minutes to learn the basics and the instruction manual is pretty easy to follow.
Battery
The battery holds a charge nicely and you can get about two hours of talk time before the power level starts to drop. The charger plugs into the bottom of the phone and the on screen indicator lets you know that it is in the recharge mode. The one downside to charging is that it never shows when it is completely charged, the power level meter flickers across the top of the screen to show you that it is charging, but it never stops so you have to remember exactly how long it’s been plugged in. The manual says that it will show a ‘full battery’ icon [all four bars lit up] when it is done, but my phone has yet to display it even after it’s been recharged for four or five hours. The recharge pack doesn’t get extremely hot, but it does get warm so make sure you keep it away from anything that is heat sensitive. You can purchase a mobile recharger for your car for about $20.00 or a upright desk recharger for about $50.00 that allows you to charge the phone or just the battery pack. These can be picked up at your cellular phone store or online at the Kyocera website.
Call Clarity
While some of your call clarity depends on your service provider and the number of towers they have active, the phone plays a key role in hearing every single word or having to be one of those annoying people who wander around trying to find that ‘sweet spot’ where you can get clear reception. I’ve made about 30 calls with this – both in the San Diego area and long distance and about 10 of them had a very deep echo – so much so that I had to hang up and call the person back. Since I’ve only had this phone for about a week I can’t say that it’s an ongoing thing – but if this is any indication of how it is going to perform, it’s going back to the Verizon Store.
Features
Phonebook If you have a lot of contacts or frequently called friends, you can set up phonebooks that will store their name, phone number, extension and other important information. The manual says that you can store up to 200 numbers, a real perk for those that constantly lose numbers. If you are going to store a large number of contacts, you might want to try to organize them first before you start entering them.
Backlight Unlike the tacky green glow of the 2135, this is a sleek blue that is pretty bright. You can adjust the brightness through the menu options and if you have t selected at the highest power, it will drain your battery rather quickly – even more so if you have the phone silenced and it blinks when you get an incoming call instead of ringing or vibrating.
Banner You can program the banner on the main screen of your phone to display any text you like. This is useful for displaying your company name, “reward if found” message or emergency information such as allergies or medical conditions. While the last suggestion, medial conditions, might seem a bit strange, it is extremely useful for people who are diabetic or have allergies. One quick look at the screen might help someone aid you or contact emergency services. Programming the text is easy and its fully explained in the instruction book.
Alarm I used this feature a lot on the other phone as a back up for my alarm clock and it’s set up the exact same way on this phone. Setting it is easy and you can adjust the volume of the alarm from a quiet and pleasant ring to a loud shrill that is guaranteed to wake you up or remind of you of an important event. The small icon on the screen [a bell] lets you know when you’ve properly set the alarm so you will know for sure that it will go off at the designated time. Something else worth mentioning is the stopwatch feature that I don’t use often, but is nice to have.
Keypad Lock Locking the keypad won’t protect it if it is stolen, but it will keep it from accidentally dialing out a number if it is in your pocket or purse and the ‘call’ button is pressed. You need to press Ï – 2 – 3” on the keypad to unlock it and make a call however you can still receive incoming calls or place emergency calls with the lock in place. This is only an option and can be enabled or disabled as you need it.
Text Messaging This will be something that we will more than likely use a lot. When we had only the 2135 the boys could send me a text message [.05 cents per message] rather than calling me [.10 - .30 cents a minute]. All they needed to do was go to the Verizon Free-Up page, enter the phone number, type in the message and hit send. Since both phones have text messaging capabilities, this will be a great way for us to keep in touch or just goof around sending silly messages. You know you’ve received a text message when the small letter icon appears on your screen after your phone rings, blinks or vibrates. The one nice advantage this has over the 2135 is that it comes with a list of messages that you can send instead of typing in text, they are common phrases like “I’ll be late”, “stuck in traffic”, “I’m delayed” etc. The list is pretty basic but it does save you some keystrokes.
Call Timer You can set your phone to beep once every minute that you are on a call to let you know how long you’ve been chatting. This is a great feature if you are going the prepaid route so you can keep track of the length of calls. The call time is displayed on the screen but it gets a little nerve racking having to pull away from a call to see the timer.
Call Log You can access the last 15 incoming or outgoing calls thought the ‘recent call’ screen so you’ll never have an excuse not to return someone’s call. It will show the time the call was made or received, the number, persons name if you have it in your phone book, length of call and which order it was received. It will only store the number once so if your wife or husband called you from home several times during the day, it would only show the most recent call and time.
Instructions The book that you get with the phone covers almost every possible question you many have about your phone. Everything from installing the battery to ordering new faceplates are covered. If you still need assistance with your phone you can call the customer service and technical help enter at [800] 349 – 4478. The instructions are easy to understand, come with a lot of illustrations and are model specific so you’ll never have to look at your phone and illustration and wonder why there is a difference or discrepancy.
Games If you love to pay games on your phone, you will be sorely disappointed. This comes with one game – a knock off version of the Pong classic called Break Out. This is as basic as games come and it makes the original NES look like a million bucks. Still, it’s a fun way to kill time when you are stuck in traffic or waiting for an appointment.
Size
This isn’t one of the smallest phones on the market, which is something that I really liked. I can’t stand those tiny little phones that look like they were created for Barbie. This one is about 5 inches long, two inches wide and about an inch thick. The antenna tucks in almost all the way and can be replaced if damaged. It’s not extremely heavy, maybe eight or nine ounces with the battery pack. All of the bottoms and jacks are conveniently placed with the headphone / headset jack being located at the top so you can have your phone in your pocket and still be able to talk on it without having cords all over the place. The size is just right for me and I know that it will be easy enough for the boys to use since they’ve had plenty of experience with the 2135. I didn’t want something so small that’s I lose it or leave it somewhere and didn’t want t flip open phone [I have enough trouble with regular phones] so this was one of the few options available to me.
The Bottom Line
I’m still not sure about this phone. Some of the calls that I’ve made have sounds completely horrid. I know some of that is due to location, but when I am in the front yard trying to make a call – it is a complete crap-shoot as to whether the person I am calling will be able to hear me or if I’ll get the dreaded echo from hell. If you are in the market for a cellular phone that has the basics and is relatively easy to use, the Kyocera line is a good one to check out providing that you get all the information about exchanging the phone it is isn’t what you need to isn’t working the way you expected as well as upgrading to a newer model later in your contract. If you are going to go the pre-paid route, make sure you ask how you are covered in case there is a defect with the phone or something happens to it. Make sure you read all the service contracts and phone information before you sign up or authorize your carrier to bill you on a monthly basis. This might take you a while to read but it is a lot easier than having to jump through loops to get them to billing your credit card or to get out of your contract without a stiff penalty. The phone seems like it is well made and a little nicer than the design of the 2135 but in all honesty, if I keep getting horrible sounding calls, dropped calls and “the echo” – this phone is going back for a new one.
As always … thanks for the visit!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
Related wireless communication reviews …
Nokia N Gage
Kyocera 2135
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Motorola LS350 Numeric Pager
Verizon Mobile Phone Service
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): Contract
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
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