Customer Reviews

Kyocera Wildcard Prepaid Phone (Virgin Mobile)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Fed up with "traditional" plans - I decided to go the prepaid route and purchased this phone for myself and my kids.

So far, so good. We really like the Wildcard phone (and Virgin Mobile's pricing options are reasonable and not too much more expensive than the traditional plans).

Now, I should say that I'm a simple person. To me, a cell phone is brilliant if it allows me to make and receive calls(and texts) in the most concise, efficient, inexpensive manner possible. All other features are icing IMO.

That being said, as far as the prepaid market is concerned, I think the Wildcard is a great phone. The calls are clear (though the speaker function sounds kinda scratchy) the signal is strong and the ringer is loud. Physically, the phone is attractive and a convenient size. (We, too, initially had a problem getting the battery compartment to open - OMG! Fort Knox is less secure!).

The qwerty keyboard is as nifty as it is handy to use and the screen has nice colorization. The battery life is really good. I absolutely love the backlighting and 1-touch and voice activated dialing features. The internet works fine - though I'm too cheap to use it often (LOL). I do have to confess I've downloaded a ringtone or two (OK, three) as me and my kids really love that feature. The camera works OK - pictures could be clearer, but then again, I use my digital camera - rarely my phone - to take pictures.

I haven't tried the IM or Bluetooth features yet.

As with any product, there are things that can be improved: Now, I realize I'm way older than Virgin Mobile's young, hip, computer savvy target market, and that the Wildcard is not a Smart Phone - but the phone could be more intuitive. For instance, the process of setting up contacts is fine, however, I wish managing contacts were less cumbersome. I would love to be able to have something like 1-touch texting cuz as it stands now, I can click my handy-dandy quick text button on the phone, yes, but I still have to enter the phone number of the the contact I want to text - each time.

Also, I found the description of a couple of Virgin Mobile's monthly plans a little confusing - especially the whole "cash balance" part. However, when I called customer support they were very helpful and informative.

In conclusion - as I said before, I'm easy to please so I really like this phone and all it has to offer. However, if you are looking for a phone akin to a Blackberry or Sidekick, the Wildcard is not for you.

I purchased the Kyocera Special Edition Wildcard, not the black one. the special edition is just white, and has a speaker design inside. it is the EXACT same thing as the black one, just a different color, and a different design. That being said, I'll get to the review...

I have owned several phones prior to buying this one. One Tracfone, One Virgin Mobile, and others. This one is undoubtedly the most expensive one I have every purchased, and the nicest. I was very cautious about buying it, but after reading all the reviews and doing a lot of research on it, I enventually settled into buying it. I was hoping it wouldn't be a mistake on my part, and luckily, it wasn't. The phone was $100, and expensive. But I am defenitly getting my money's worth out of it. Their is no activation fee, no daily service fee, and it offers two plans. Pay-as-you-go, and a monthly plan. A monthly plan works the same way, but you have to register with a credit card, and each month, it withdraws money from it for whatever plan you signed up with. The lowest monthly plan costs $15 and the highest costs $99, obviously varying hugely it what it offers. You can add unlimited texting for $10, and if you have the pay as you go, you can still get unlmited texting, but for $20. I have the pay-as-you go plan, since it varies in how many minutes I use each month, and its cheaper for me to use. For pay as you go, you simply add prepaid cards [virgin mobile calls them top-up cards] and that amount of money is added to your balance. With that money, you can pay for the unlimited texting, or buy games, ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers, or just use talking minutes. If you want a texting plan with your pay as you go, but not unlimited, they offer that too. they offer a $5.00 a month fee for 200 texts [which I have] or $2 a month for 30 texts, or $10 a month for 1000 texts. You can pay for this without a credit card, and can use top-up cards, which is extremely convenient. The plans can be a little confusing with everything they offer, but you get used to it quickly.

On virgin mobile's website, you can purchase games for $5.99, ringtones for $2.50, and wallpapers and screensavers for $1.99.

Now, for the Phone. The phone is pretty sturdy, although it seems kind of cheaply made. The inside of the phone, however, is very tough, and the buttons are wonderful. They're easy to push without being to hard on your fingers, and you aren't constantly bumping them accidentaly. The external keypad is pretty much the same, but a little flimsier. The toggle key is very useful, and the buttons are easy to push. It also offers a keyguard feature so it won't accidentaly call somebody while it is in your pocket. [Though I would consider buying a $10 case if you are going to spend $100 on the phone. You don't want to make a little mistake or drop it!]

The phone is extremely fast to navigate, and never freezes. The internet is very quick, reliable, and easy to use. TO use the internet does cost money though. You can check your account to see how much money you have for free, but other than that, you have to pay. It costs 15 cents a day if you use it only a little bit, or you can sign up for the $4.99 a month for unlimited internet access [i recommend that one- the 15 cent one lasts only a little bit each day, and will cut you off of the internet if you go over a time limit!]. I really love the internet on this phone. You can access your e-mail, myspace, facebook, or any website. You can also go on your Yahoo IM or AIM, but those are the only two IM's it offers. Sorry Google or Hotmail fans...

It doesn't come preloaded with any games, which kind of stinks. It comes with three demo games where you can play them for about 30 seconds, but then stops. They want you to buy them, so they give you a demo. THe games are really addicting though! And If i could recommend one thing about the games, do not buy ANY TV/MOVIE GAMES!! on virgin mobile's website, you can buy dozens of games. they offer tons of games that are based on TV shows too. Unforunately, I bought two of them! The TV games only have ONE game in them, and when you finish, thats it! either you're done, or you replay what you just did. For example, I bought the CSI game. Their is ONE case to work on, and it was awesome! So naturally, I played the entire game straight through, and then it was done! I was so dissapointed. It's like that for all the TV games, so its a waste of money.

The two screens on the wildcard are extremely bright, and crystal clear. They are very easy to read, clean, and see. When you open the phone, whatever you were doing on the external screen will automatically transfer to the inside screen, and visa-versa. so you never loose what you were doing!

The wildcard has tons and tons of features which I love. The camera is actually decent to be on a cell phone, and I really like it. It has a built in flashlight also, which is super bright! extremely convenient. The phonebook holds up to 500 contacts too. It has a calculator, tip calculator, stopwatch, alarm clock, timer, and tons more! The back of the phone has a rubber coating on it so its not as hard to scratch.

Overall, I 100% recommend the virgin mobile phone. I really like the phone, and it has been good to me! Its awesome, great for teens, and a really cool phone too!

ALSO... Virgin mobile has amazing customer service. Somebody taged this phone with "bad customer service"?? Virgin MObile has been rated "best prepaid cellular customer service" by JD power & Associates 2 years in a row--and I agree! they are extremely helpful, and email back within 4 days. [with other companies I've been with- thats fast!]. I really like them!

Okay, this ain't no Blackberry, but for $99 this is the cheapest querty keyboard phone you can find. Add Virgin's dirt cheap pay as you go plan and it is perfect. Virgin phones have a plasticky feel to them, but it works. Just don't drop it.... The camera quality isn't as good as other Virgin phones, and the Wildcard is also without a video camera, but that's okay. I use it to access e-mail and for a nominal (about 5 min. per month) amount of phone calls.

I was a T-mobile prepaid customer, but I wanted internet access, which T-Mobile prepaid doesn't offer. I was looking at smartphones. A co-worker was selling his Kyocera Wildcard. I've had it for 2 months now. It's okay, as far as it goes.

Pros:
*Cost. The Sprint network is pretty good for data. Access is cheap: $1 per day or $5.95 for 30 days or 5 mb. It's nice to type on a full-sized keyboard.

*Minute plans. I'm not a heavy user, so the 200-minute minute pack works for me. I'm not paying an exorbitant amount for minutes, and they roll over. I'm not a huge tetxer, but they also have texting plans.

*Sound quality. I don't like Bluetooth headsets, so I haven't tried it.
I used a old-school headset (looks like a pair of headphones, plugs into the phone), and I can hear people fine. They can understand me.

*Size. It's smaller than a Sidekick, Blackberry, or even an LG EnV.

Cons:
*Service area. Voice coverage can be spotty. I have service at home and at work, but not at my brother-in-law's house. He lives in the sticks, but I've gotten service there with Cingular, AT&T, and T-Mobile (roaming). I also had no service in Canada, despite seeing many Virgin Mobile posters in Montreal. Apparently, it runs on a different network up there.

*Camera. I'm a shutterbug, and the camera is terrible. The worst part is that the photos it takes aren't big enough to fill the screen. I've sent picture messages taken with my other phone, and they fill the entire screen.

*Battery life. I have to charge this phone constantly, sometimes after each call. I used the flashlight for 5 minutes, with a full battery, and the battery was empty the next time I turned the phone on! I've started carrying a spare charger with me.

*Ringtones. The phone comes with 4 ringtones, and 3 are rap. That's fine if you like rap. I don't. The phone has sound effects, for things like opening and closing the phone, but you can't use them as ringtones. If you want a non-rap ringtone, you have to buy one.

*Backgrounds and wallpaper. The ones included are awful. Guess what you have to do if you want a different one?

*Functions: The alarm clock, flashlight, stopwatch, and other functions are buried in the menu, under "tools." You can assign them to a button on the inside keyboard, but not the outside keyboard. If the phone is off, turning on the flashlight in the dark is awkward.

If all you want is a full-size keyboard and a decent amount of minutes for a good price, without a contract, this phone will work well for you. If you want something more, like a nice camera or something you can customize, you'd probably be happier with a Blackberry or and LG EnV.

I have had the Wildcard for about a month and it's my 3rd VM phone and the best. The 1.3mp camera is a vast improvement over my previous Cyclops and takes nice pictures provided you are outside or in well-lit conditions. The battery life is ok, but you need to have a charger around and the battery box is no big deal as others have complained. I haven't had to open my battery box since I've owned it. The keyboard is nice for messaging and all the graphics are much improved over the Cyclops. Texting is limited to 160 characters but e-mailing I haven't had any restrictions yet. Messaging ease is this phone's forte' and call quality is great. It also has basic Bluetooth capabilities, so that's a plus. The only real complaints I have had is the keyboard creaks and groans when typing, tinny sounding speakerphone, the useless flash and the ringer is not very loud when the phone is closed. Other than those few gripes, it's an awesome and reliable prepaid messaging phone and I'm not going to return it.

I was intrigued at first by all the phones that Virgin mobile has available. Actually, one of my first phones was a Virgin prepaid phone handed down from my sister. Although it was prepaid I was happy with their prices, their customer service and the signal bars. I would get service almost anywhere, especially in Long Island as well but oddly enough, the Wild Card does not give me the best service. In places where I would have normally had atleast 2 bars the Wild Card barely has any bars at all. I am not sure if this is because Virgin now operates on Sprint's network, however, I cannot recall if Virgin operated on another carrier's network. As far as the phone, it's perfect, honestly, I was looking for a fun and cool fun and something that would work. Up to this point, the phone has not given me any problems, everyone on campus loves it too, and for everything it has, the features, the technology, it seems as if it's a more lucrative and expensive phone but Virgin has set the price very reasonably. The only annoying thing sometimes though, is the continuous alert that the phone has which asks me if I would like to go on AIM or check my e-mail. I am not sure if its because I have the unlimited texting, e-mail, and aim feature which is also another great cheap service from Virgin, or if its something the phone naturally does. All in all, the phone is excellent and the great online compatibilty, such as the Virgin mobile website and the phone, is excellent and efficient. I love the phone for now but plan on witing for the next Verizon EnV to debut and I will most likely make the switch.

I got this phone about 8 months ago and find it fun. I don't really use it for much other than texting so I can't tell you about internet accessability or how good it is with bluetooth. I noticed I couldn't really hear any of my ringtones so I kept buying them and buying them hoping some of them would work for me but nothing. Also, the thing would freak out on me (freezing, turning itself on and off, random screens having nothing to do with what it was doing, ringtones going off for no reason) After about 6 months of this ($45 of ringtones later) I contacted virgin. They told me all new phones are under warranty for 12 months after initial activation. I asked if they could give me some kind of credit for the ringtones on the broken phone and they first said only $3 and then only $6. They sent me a "new" one the next day and I noticed it was a refurbished one (nothing too bad, no gouges or anything) and while my ringtones were loud with it, the camera was absolutely horrible and it would freak out just like the other one but not as often. I could only make out basic shapes, not even recognizable photos. My husband upgraded his basic virgin phone to one of these thanks to a very good sale and his camera is crystal clear; i didn't realize mine was that bad until I looked at his. I called them yet again and this person was incredibly helpful. I received another "new" phone (apparently they only send an actual NEW phone if it's within it's first 30 days) and so far it's perfect. crystal clear photos, no freakouts and has loud speakers. This time when I called and asked about a credit for the stuff on my phone she said she doesn't have the authority to credit the $18 for my ringtones and games but her boss did and I would get everything back within 48 hours. she was wonderful!!!
ANYONE WHO WANTS TO GET IN TOUCH WITH A PERSON THROUGH THEIR PHONE SYSTEM, HERE'S HOW TO GET THERE:
"ENGLISH", "ASK A QUESTION", "LIVE ADVISOR", "RETURNS OR EXCHANGES"

Buyer beware, although the phone itself appears to be quite capable, it is locked down in the following ways:

1- No web other than what Virgin Mobile allows you to have

2- No bluetooth other than headset

3- No data cable or similar access

4- Only J2ME apps approved by Virgin Mobile

You can't run random J2ME apps, only those for sale through virgin, you can't browse to arbitrary sites on the internet (403 Forbidden), you can't put ringtones on except those for sale through virgin, etc, etc, etc. Supposedly data cable access is disabled (I'm afraid to buy and try it out).

If you were looking for a phone that does what you want it to do, keep looking. If you are looking for a basic phone that works well and has a keyboard, it's a pretty decent piece of hardware however I'd strongly recommend looking for the "Lingo M1000" hardware as opposed to the "Virgin Mobile WildCard" hardware ... supposedly the Lingo doesn't have all the phone<->PC features disabled.

--Robert

I was paying upwards of 65 bucks a month for verizon and was terrified of breaking or losing my phone, because they're so expensive to replace(the last time I ran over it with my car, thank god I had the $5 per month insurance plan, but there was also a 50 dollar deductable. That adds up!)
To be honest, I hate phones of any type. I avoid them at all costs when it's not business hours, so for someone who has it attached to their ear 24 hours a day, this may not be for you.
I looked over phones and pricing plans, this is the phone I chose because I really wanted the full QWERTY keyboard. I got it in white from best buy on sale and they honored the price of $90 bucks I found on the virgin mobile site AND i got a free CD, all in all a super deal. Throwing in an extra 10 bucks got me a coverage plan with best buy if I break the phone(but doesnt cover water damage) or it malfuctions.
After using it for a month, this is what I've got to say.
Bad things:
1. Crappy battery. I don't talk on the phone more then 5 minutes a day if that, and it barely lasts a day or two without being charged. Thankfully, I'm around a plug.
2. Also, it seems to turn itself on and off a lot. You hear it in the middle of the night making little noises because of that.
3. not very good reception in houses
Good things:
1. very easy to use with keyboard
2. nice and loud with the volume up so you can hear it ring and vibrate
3. blue tooth enabled, works good with my GPS
4. has an alarm,scheduler,calculator, tip calculator,voice memo, stop watch and even a flash light! (in tools, you hit flash light and it puts your camera "flash" on)

All in all, I'd buy it again despite it's minor downfalls. It's a cheapy phone, so if I hurt it, its not 300 dollars to replace. I also love not being locked into a contract and paying about $30-$35 bucks a month vs. $65 for more then enough minutes for $25 a month(I think I have 200 daytime and 500 nights and weekends) and 1000 texts for $5 a month, with tax its about 32. Perfect!!!

its ok,both screens are very small an could have easily been bigger.
Has a very toyish feel.
the hinges break very easy just from using the phone(opening an closing)
small keys but i have big hands,might not be a problem for all.
the camera is shockingly good outdoors or in well lite area's,but gets very grain in dark places.
i dont know if this is a problem with all phones,but mine would randomly shut off,or if you even slightly tap it,it would shut off.
also volume is very low when the phone is closed,vibrate is also weak.
its a good starter phone or 1st qwerty keyboard phone.
Highly recommend upgrading too X-tc