Kyocera Zio Android for Less
Kyocera is looking to get you a smart phone with a high resolution screen running Android for less than you’d expect. How much less? Around $169 to $216 without a contract. Yeah, that’s right, for same price as most Android phones on contract, you can stay contract-less, enjoy high-res 3.5″ Android goodness and still save some money.
The Zio M6000 looks to marry a 3.5″ 800×480 screen with a 600Mhz Qualcomm 7227 processor, the same that is found in the Motorola Devour currently. While the 7227 is no Snapdragon, it should provide enough power for a very enjoyable Android experience. I’ve been running the 528Mhz 7206 with Android 2.1 and it feels great. It will also come with 512MB of onboard memory, Wifi, 3G CDMA and BT of course. In back you’ll find a standard 3.2MP camera. You’ve got a 3.5mm headphone jack from what I can tell and a microSD slot for up to 32GB of expandable memory. Also included is GPS, accelerometers and a digital compass for orientation of the phone and yourself.
I must admit it’s actually a pretty slick looking Android phone, with a trackball and what looks like 4 soft keys and two hard keys. It will come preloaded with Android 1.6, but Kyocera states it will be user upgradable to Android 2.1. This could make for a very nice secondary Android phone on the cheap.
Tags: , ,