Customer Reviews

Kyocera TNT Prepaid Phone (Virgin Mobile)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have no need for the bells and whistles that often overburden most "hip" phones today. I need an inexpensive phone that is small, lightweight, has a simple contact manager, gets decent reception in the Chicagoland area, and has decent battery life. I got this, and more, in the Kyocera TNT phone with Virgin Mobile prepaid service, and it only costs me approximately $6.70 per month - Nice!

The TNT has a nice sized screen, with good contrast for use in bright or dark environments. The earpiece and conference speaker are easily configured, whisper quiet or loud enough to hear while driving. The external screen is clear enough that I can see who's calling, at a glance. The extra features like the text and voice memos, calendar scheduler, multiple alarm clocks, world clock, calculator and so-on are welcome additions, since they're easy to use. SMS text messaging is quick and simple with the very responsive keypad and Tegic T9 "easy input" option, even when wearing riding gloves. There were plenty of after-market cases that fit the phone like a glove. Voice dial worked, though I don't regularly use it because the regular contact list, with "frequent listing" turned on, works great. It can be charged with the included charger, inexpensive after-market chargers, or micro-USB cable (I haven't attempted data transfer yet, via bitpim, but I may try eventually). With a good signal, I can go days in standby without recharging.

Sound quality is fair-to-good - a step above the VM Switch Back, Aloha, K10, Shorty, and Party Animal, and equal to the Slice, Flare, and Wild Card (all the VM phones I have owned or used). The default ringtones are very sparse, and none too enjoyable, but I don't mind. As my primary carry phone for 3 months now, it has held up well to the rigors of my job. The center hinge feels more rugged than many more expensive flip phones, and the rubberized-feel finish enables a good grip with gloves on.

All in all, a very good spartan phone, for pragmatic users who happen to be in an area with good coverage (check their webpage). Would also make a good inexpensive emergency or backup phone in a glove compartment, suitcase, backpack or purse.

UPDATE: I have tried, but have been unable to access any data on the phone via the MicroUSB port. It appears they have locked out any access, which is common for pay-as-you-go service providers. There are reports of some people being able to work around the lock, but I didn't feel following suit. Regardless, I still find this to be an excellent phone for my needs.

March 2010 Update: I've had this same phone for almost 1 and a half years, and it's still working very well for me. A few months back, I lost a few lines of pixels on the outside screen. It must have happened, when I jumped down from a decent height, with the phone in my pocket. That aside, all other functions are great, and the phone isn't showing much sign of wear. Battery life is about 2/3rds it was when new, which is pretty good, considering the age of the phone. I still recommend this phone, for an inexpensive utilitarian phone.

Very lightweight and easy to use; similar to the VM Marbl phone but slightly more advanced. Cool outer soft shell almost feels like a cover. Very basic phone but for under $20 its definately worth it if you don't want a contract. When inserting the battery the back cover is very hard to remove it almost feels like it will break when you pry it off.

With the advent of warantless wiretapping I began to search in earnest for a way out from the major phone companies. It wasn't till these month to month services from the likes of Virgin came along that a real alternative existed. There is no greater con in my mind than the contracts that the phone companies have people sign.

That said I needed a solid phone. By solid I mean one that has stable software/network and functions well. This phone fit the bill and lived up to every expectation except one, my alarm doesn't quite work properly. The phone has the basic menus and settings you would expect. It is easy to navigate and the rubbery texture is the nicest of any phone I've owned.

However it's not completely flawless. Many of the other reviews are correct in that the outside display is very small and if you use your phone as your watch like I do then you may find it hard to view the time without your glasses on. The speaker phone can be a bit hard to hear sometimes and a bit tingy but the phone costs $20 the fact that it has speakerphone at that price is something I found amazing.

It's construction feels cheap but durable. I fully expect this phone to last a good long time. It is thin and light too.

All in all I'm delighted with this product a few minor tweaks and they will have a real gem in the next model they bring out.

4 out of 5

This phone is meant for users who have no interest in all the bells and whistles. It has no camera, no library of apps, no massive CPU that does as much as your laptop. It's a bare-bones cell phone for those who want to call or text. What it DOES have is large buttons for ham-handed dialers like me, a high contrast screen, clear sound, and durable battery life.

This is a good first phone for those who have resisted cell phones up to this point: your gramma, your Luddite friend, me. It's also good for kids, since there is only so much they can do, and they can't use up your calling plan on a single trip to the mall. Because it's prepaid, I also recommend it for anyone who doesn't want to be saddled with a service plan, or anyone who doesn't want to share their credit information with outsiders.

This is not a sexy phone, and will not impress the hip kids on your block. But it's useful, cheap, durable, and handy. If those are the only virtues you really need, this may very well be your phone.

I only know anything about this phone because my mom currently owns it, so I'll just give you her opinion on it:

"I got my money's worth."

Yeah, that's a pretty good summary.

This phone is obviously not targeted at today's youth, mostly because most kids today don't like flip phones (I certainly don't). Still, even with that in mind, I myself found things about it that were enjoyable. For instance, the keypad is absolutely excellent for texting because of how big and spaced out the buttons are. What's more, it comes in some really neat colors (most notably brown, or as Virgin Mobile calls it, "Espresso"). Honestly, if this phone had a camera, I would have to bump it up to 4 stars.

My mom's (and my) only major gripe was that it seems to text slowly. By that I mean that a sent text seems to take awhile to be sent. She texted me earlier and it took around 3 or 4 minutes for me to get it. I don't know if that's the phone's problem or not, but whatever. I'm just saying. :D

Overall, this is a 3-star phone. If it had a camera, I'd boost it up to 4, but what are ya gonna do?

Bought this for my mother and set it up in a few minutes. Big keys, easy to use menu, and pre-paid options that include low cost / infrequent top ups, all make this a great choice for an older relative who just wants a basic low cost cell phone and will use it only occasionally.

Pros: Reliable, durable, simple, web browsing.

Cons: No contact sync AT ALL, short battery life, no Bluetooth, no camera, alarms never go off, no Java or Brew application compatibility.


This is the phone you want for emergencies. You can throw it down the street and it will still work. It is simple, has large keys for dialing and is cheap.

But get rid of it before you build up too many new contacts that you need to synchronize with your new cell. Kyocera has no syncing software (downloads on their site are dead) and all online sync tools require SyncML format at the very least. Kyocera is possibly the only manufacturer that refuses use this universal format. FYI: for free contact syncing check out []
for every other phone but this one.

Also, the Virgin Mobile version does not have Bluetooth even though Kyocera's website says it does. So forget syncing that way either.

It takes a micro USB charge cable but not mini USB so your chances of someone having the same charger are better than many phones. However mini USB is MUCH more common and would have been nice.

Honestly not a bad phone. I'm just mad at Kyocera because I have to retype all of my contacts now. :(

The phone itself is a great deal for only 19.99 and I am very pleased with the service. My big problem with the phone is related to the battery. Right out of the package I began experiencing battery problems. I fully charged the phone and activated it. I called myself to test the phone and after 1 ring the phone shut down with the message "Battery low, phone powering down". The phone was fully charged at the time. It seems to happen every time I receive an incoming event (incoming call, incoming text, etc). This is a huge frustration as all of my local Virgin retailers are sold out of this phone. I guess the saying 'you get what you pay for' applies here. If not for the battery problem this phone would have at least 4 stars.

I bought this phone @ radio shack for $21 and i thought that was a great price because it was my first phone. my intention was to use it mostly for texting and make a calls every now and then. this phone is superb if you text sometimes and mainly use it for calling. but if text a lot this phone will be horrible for you! every time you're in the middle of texting and when there's an incoming text, the text you would be working on would be automatically sent to draft. every time.there's no stopping it and it gets SO ANNOYING!

Overall good product. Very lightweight and love the soft feeling the outside of the phone has. The back cover is very tricky to get off.