Customer Reviews

KYOCERA KX21 SWITCHBACK VIRGIN MOBILE CELL PHONE

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

For anyone considering the purchase of this (or another) Virgin Mobile phone, do not be influenced by the identical negative reviews posted for several Virgin Mobile phones by someone calling himself "lookout guy." I cannot comment on the month to month plans, having only been a pay-as-you-go by-the-minute guy since I got my Virgin Mobile phone over two years ago. I can tell you that lookout guy is totally WRONG in terms of any "hidden fee" in terms of the by-the-minute service offered by Virgin Mobile. There is NO $1.50/day fee; if there was, no one would choose this option because it would end up costing more than a monthly plan. (Duh.) I can confirm that you only pay for the minutes you use. If you don't use your phone for days (even weeks) at a time, you pay nothing. The ONLY charge for having access to a Virgin Mobile phone on the by-the-minute plan is the minimum top-up charge (supposedly $20 every three months but after you become a customer you can get it down to $15 every three months if you choose auto top-up with a credit card). So if you NEVER use your phone, that's what it costs. Of course, you would simply end up accruing money in your account to be debited when you do finally use your phone. As long as you use your phone minimally (for emergencies and for very brief, occasional conversations only), you'll pay only $5-$6.66/month. I oughta know -- my balance keeps growing and growing because I rarely use my phone; if I were being charged a $1.50/day "access charge" I would know it.

Only you can decide if a pay-as-you-go plan such as this is suitable for you, but here's the quick math: if you know you will use your phone at least five minutes per day almost every day, then this plan isn't for you as it would cost you $37.50/month for only 150 minutes of use based on 25 cents/minute. If, like me, you are likely to have many days where you don't use the phone at all and other days where you use only a few minutes (with rare days that you use over 10 minutes), then this plan will be a bargain. (I used to be a Sprint PCS customer and ended up paying, on average, $1/minute for my calls because of my minimal phone use -- in other words, over four times as much as my Virgin Mobile minutes cost at their highest rate.)

Ok. I can say I have been a realtor, a nurse,an HR person, a mom. That means a heavy phone user- since 1990. My first phone was the old motorola brick analog. One of the greatest and biggest phones ever. I remember my first digital phone, and first pnone with games. I have had a total of 5 phones, motorola, nokia, ericson, panasonic. This kyocera is the best. I don't want a treo palm because I already travel with a lap top. What I want is a text phone that is small and easy to use. This querty key board rocks. The menu is just like a computer and easy to make selections. The more features you need on the phone, the more you want a qwerty key board. Get this phone and be happy. Also the saleslady threw it on the ground and when the back came off she snapped it back on and used it. Very sturdy little phone, and the antena is the loop so it won't poke you. Comes with a very easy to read guide book so start up is easy. I paid $199 for this phone in my region and it is worth every penny.

I recently purchased the Kyocera Switch_Back, and I am thrilled with the features and ease of use. Contrary to what "lookout guy" might say, the service plan is an excellent deal for those who rarely use their phone, and don't need several hundred minutes per month. The Switch_Back takes excellent pictures, and the flash is extraordinarily useful in dark lighting. The QWERTY keyboard is excellent, perfect for the internet, text messaging, and even entering contact information. In conclusion, I believe this is an excellent phone for people who rarely need to make calls.

I have been a loyal Virgin Mobile customer for over three years, always buying the cheapy phones offered. However, when the Switch_Back came out, I just HAD to have it. Unfortunately, when I got it, it came with a problem out of the box: the left "soft key" when the phone was flipped open did not work, and this is an essential part of the phone. I played around with the phone still, and I discovered how amazing it was. GREAT camera, wonderful messaging options (BIG fan of mobile AIM), loved the whole keyboard idea, and liked the size althought it was a bit heavy. And of course, the biggest selling point for me: it was a Virgin Mobile phone, with excellent rates. I admit it: I WAS IN LOVE WITH THIS PHONE! However, all of this great fun came to an end on the SECOND DAY I HAD IT!!! It reset itself about 10 times, making it so annoying while you were in the middle of things, and it lost data every time. For such a high pricetag, I expected much more. After posting a message board message about the problems and getting responses from people having the same problems or saying that "all of my friends had defective Switch_backs too", I returned it knowing that if I exchanged it, there would be a good chance of getting yet another defective unit. Virgin Mobile REALLY let me down with this one, and I'm a loyal customer! There is hope, however: i got word from Virgin Mobile that they're trying to fix these problems, and if they do then everyone who has a switch_back will be able to get theirs fixed for free, and if this does end up happening I will buy another Switch_Back. In The mean time, I ended up buying an oystr for MUCH LESS than the Switch_Back cost, and so far no problems. Also, if you really want a camera and mobile aim before Virgin Mobile fixes the problems with the Switch_Back, the slider sonic might be good for you... my mom has one and she loves it, no problems with it. If only I could say the same about my beloved Switch_Back, here's hoping Virgin Mobile fixes those problems!!!

I know this phone is marketed to texting teens but I find that it works great for me as well. I initially was worried that the buttons would be too small but I have no problem with typing and my big mitts.

I went through a phase of carrying a pda but found that the only thing I consistently used was the calendar and contact list. I think the treo is nice but way too big for my pocket. This phone is the right size, the keyboard makes sending text messages or entering calendar events/reminders completely painless. It has all the basic things a phone needs like speakerphone and a basic camera. Also it allows you to customize all the various alerts. The Calendar while not exactly palmOS is better than most phones I've used. It even lets you schedule things like a task repeated every tuesday and thursday. I use that to remember to take out the cans on garbage night and to move the car on street sweeping days. As a long time tech user I find that this phone has just the features to make it useful without all the extra junk that wastes my time and costs a bunch.

I'd love to say I love this phone 100%. It has such great features, but there are so many defects.

The good:

Dual color screens. One on the outside and one on the inside that's much bigger.

Full QWERTY keyboard on the inside which is great for typing in Web URLs, text messages, messages on AIM, etc.

WAP 2.0 browser allows many web sites to be visited.

Plenty of ringtones to choose from.

The bad:

Phone does NOT remind of new text message after initial alert every five minutes even when set to.

Phone brings itself out of standby mode for no apparent reason, which is a drain on the battery.

The WAP browser doesn't allow you to start from the last page you visited before quitting the browser, nor does it allow you to change the start page.

The worst one is the phone randomly reboots itself when I'm sending/receiving text messages. It wasn't too bad at first, but it's been doing it with greater frequency. Hopefully Virgin Mobile has heeded customer complaints and put out a fix.

If my Switch_Back continues with this problem, I will call them and see if there's a firmware upgrade available.

Virgin Mobile has marketed this phone to "youth" audience. Howevever, those of us who are old enough to remember a time before cell phones existed will find this phone a pleasure to use. If you like to text message, or email, the qwerty keyboard elimiates the constant scrolling through keys to find the right letter. The inner large lcd screen is fine and easy to use. The small size of the exterior screen limits its use, though reading the number of the person you are calling is fine. The qwerty keys are small, but very easy to get use to. Menu navigation is a breeze. Very simple.

This is a great phone for people who don't make a lot of calls. I was a Verizon customer, paying 39.00 a month plus the usual fee..bring my monthly bill to 47.99 a month despite the fact I used the phone for less than 30 minutes a month! That works to about $1.50 a minute. With the Virgin Mobile monthly plan at 6.95 and .10 a minute... just think of the savings and NO CONTRACT.

Yep, the phone is great for teens.....but very good for those of us with older eyes and fingers!

Born during Eisenhower's second administration.

I've been with Verizon since I can remember, considering my father always payed for my cell service. I never had the income to keep up with service myself. While I liked Verizon for their amazing coverage, and the fact that I got service basically anywhere, I thought their plans were extremely unreasonable. I'm not much of a talker, and I could probably go a whole week without even turning my phone on. As far as I know, Verizon doesn't have any pay as you go plans--stupid on their part.

I was planning on getting a T-Mobile sidekick for a while, and now that I finally have a new job I know I could afford it. But then one day while watching TV, I saw the add for the Switch_Back and thought it was pretty cool. Needless to say, I was even more surprised when I looked it up online and found out that it was only $150 AND pay as you go. Perfect.

The phone is great. I just got it today and couldn't wait to test it out. I wasn't sure if I'd get coverage where I'm at (just by judging what the website told me when I entered in my zip code), but being right outside of Philadelphia, I highly doubted that there would be a service issue. Phone activation was quick and easy (best part, no activation fee!), and although the Virgin Mobile website said it may take a few hours to be able to talk on the network, I was up and running right away. The mobile AIM, Web, and other extras were also working right away..even though the site said that may take a few hours too.

My only qualm is the Web Browsing. I practically live on sites like Myspace and Facebook, but couldn't seem to get into my accounts using the phone. Web browsing is such a small part of the phone though, that I can overlook that issue. The price is just too good to pass up.

I was also a little bummed when I read that only AOL e-mail could be accessed. But when I went to surf the web this afternoon, I found a link to Gmail! I was very happy that I could check my e-mail and that I wouldn't have to subscribe to anything additional like I'd have to if I were using AOL mail.

While the buttons are tiny and make my hands sore after a few minutes when typing on AIM, I still adore the phone. My friends and family are enamored by it, and I love how cheap Virgin's fees are. I put just 25 dollars in for the month and I'm pretty sure that'll be enough to get me by. You can even set "auto top-up", which is basically registering a credit/debit card so that Virgin can automatically add money into your account every month/90 days/whenever the balance is below $5.00..whichever one you choose. I never even have to worry about doing it, they take care of it for me.

So much better than anything I've ever had!

This review is solely about the phone, as I'm 100% happy with my plan.

I wanted this phone to really work out for me because I really fell in love with it at first sight, but there are glitches and some personal grievances that hopefully will be taken care of in the next gen of this phone (if there IS a next gen in the works).

Initially, when I saw this phone, I knew I had to have it. I loved the sleek design and how it wasn't as boxy or as large as Verizon's "V" or "enV". And I didn't mind that it didn't sport as many features as Verizon's phone.

I love the small design (even though some think it's clunky, I don't). I love how easy it is to send a text message of a short IM to a friend or families. The ksys are small, but I didn't have a problem with them--except for the "y" key. The "y" key is right next to the OK button and sometimes I have to press it harder than the other keys to get it to register.

I didn't mind that it didn't have MP3 capabilities or video capabilities, but I do think that Kyocera could've done better than a 300K camera. (No, it's not a MP cam as one reviewer said.) The pictures aren't bad, but I think this phone could've handled a 1MP camera. And if you want to take pictures horitzonally, you have to open the camera. Otherwise, you'll get a picture with a vertical orientation. And I found that taking pictures with the flip open was somewhat awkward at times--especially during on-the-fly shots.

Then, there's this glitch that others have mentioned where the phone will randomly power off for no reason at all. It's happened in the middle of calls, text messages, whatever I'm doing. Sometimes, the phone powers back on. Someties, it does. I called customer service about this, but my feelings about this phone are ambivalent now. I think I'm just going to return it and go with the "enV".

Pros:
- nice, sleek design
- very good messaging phone without being as bulky as some of its competition
- good phone quality, but I did have moments when I wasn't moving that static would take over for a second even if the other person was on a landline
- loud ringtones
- great speakerphone

Cons:
- could've came equipped with a better camera
- camera controls could've been a bit more streamlined and user friendly
- randomly powers off even with a full charge

Overall, I think this is a great multimedia phone that just needs a few kinks worked out of it.

I got my switch_back a few days ago and so far it works great. The phone is smaller than it looks online and fits great in a pocket. Though the front screen is a little too small the larger inside screen is a good size. The one problem is the camera. All the pictures it takes are much to dark and the zoom only works after you take the picture. The games it comes with are demos and only let you play for a few minutes before asking you to buy them. The keyboard is great it makes texting or even going on the internet. I would recommend this phone to teens who want a fun affordable phone.