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The new Android phone from Kyocera — pronounced ZEYE-oh — is a capable little smartphone that will surely please the pre-paid crowd. It pairs good-looking hardware with a low cost and easy usability.

The hardware is an early prototype, and definitely feels a hair cheap. I like metals, but the Zio is made from plastics. The plastics aren't any worse than what Kyocera has used before, however, and build quality was pretty good. I didn't notice any creaky seams or odd gaps in the way the pieces of the phone fit together.

There are four capacitive buttons on the front just below the display. These were wonky at best, and the "Menu" simply didn't work at all. The phone won't be launching until summer, so Kyocera still has plenty of time to work out the bugs. Between the four capacitive keys you'll find the trackball. The trackball worked just fine.

The Zio has the right set of hardware features, including the 3.5mm headset jack, microSD cards, quality 400 x 800 display, camera and so on. All the buttons and controls worked appropriately and I liked the rubber coating on the volume toggle and camera key. It provides them with a bit of much-needed grip.

Kyocera Zio

On the software side of things, the device will ship with Android 1.6, though Kyocera says it will offer an Android update 2.0 upgrade soon after launch. It felt a bit sluggish in use. Screen transitions were slow and lagged. Some of the apps refused to open, and we definitely made the phone crash at least once. Again, given the early prototype nature of the demo unit on hand, we'll cut Kyocera some slack on that point.

Kyocera is saying the device will retail with a price point ranging between $160 and $220 before promotions. That' makes it one of the cheapest Android phones, and a perfect match for the pre-paid crowd.

Here's a video tour of the Zio:

Next page: Samsung Strive & Sunburst

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