Kyocera Strobe K612 / SwitchBack
Average Ratings
Strobe with Alltel
I got this phone because my barely 1 year old RazrV3c crapped out on me which i bought new for $200 WITH a 2 yr. contract... but that was back in the day when people thought motorola razrs were gods gift to the earth. any way the strobe is a very good phone for texting (obviously). Not only does the phone have a full keyboard but i also found that locking the phone to all digital, which i didnt have to hack into the phone to do so.. lets me send messages, ims, and pics with no sign of reception.... and this is good considering i live on the side of a mountain in north carolina where VERY few elite cell phones work. The camera isnt good at all though many think it is .. it has very cool features on it that allow you to change the color, hue, saturation, contrast, and other things even after the picture is taken. The ringtones are very standard kyocera ringers and only certain ones can be used for certain things and theres even ringers saved on the phone that are completely useless because you cant assign them to anything... hmm... bad idea...
i love the fact that when you open the phone in a conversation it automatically turns on speakerphone and when you close it, it goes back to normal.
another good thing is that you can open and close the phone without any disturbance.
i dont know if this is just my phone, but on the smaller outside screen the color is off and doesnt show yellow... hm...
it comes preloaded with instant messenger, sony music box (i prefer realtone jukebox), and a tetris demo which cuts out in the middle of the game telling you to purchase inorder to continue.
the camera flash can also be used as a flashlight. and flash can stay on before you take the picture which i love.
the battery is not so great but what phone does have a good battery?
the phone was free after a $60 MIR ..
so whose complaining?
overall it was a good replacement for my razr considering it couldnt handle my heavy duty texting like the strobe can.
switchback i love this phone
i love this phone i've had it since the second week it went out the internal screen is small but i live with that the external screen is not small i mean for an external scrren the phone has a nice shape the antena is really cool i love it for texting the pictures are fine for a camara phone what did u expect. i'm on it 24/7 and the battery dies fast i love texting in it i love the keybord its small but cool i text really fast on it i love it even though the texting gets out of hands sometimes its cool for school u can show of and it has great signal its quiet so u can text in class or in the halls like i do i just love this phone i really recomend it
Not Soooo Crazy about it but its OK
I have had my Strobe since April. It is with Altel, who's service is not so great to begin with. I had a Razr through Verizon, and I almost miss it. (i do miss verizon however) THe buttons on the outside of this phone are not only small, but not in the usual pattern that you would find them, so dialing from the outside is tedious. I fiind myself constantly having to open it to use the buttons. Not to mention the outside display is SUPER tiny. (again finding myself opening it to see better)
It does not have video capabillities, but that isnt really a big deal. Also the camera isnt so great...but its a phone. It takes typical *camera phone* pictures. Also the flash goes off AFTER the pic is actually taken, and usually makes the pic look extrememly off color. I read that this phone has Ringer ID...however I do not know if its just altel....but Mine does not give me the option to have different ringers for different people....or pic id.
Some of the buttons on the QWERTY do not always register when pressed. It seems to be pretty durable however. I have dropped it a few times, and it barely has a scratch on it. The battery does die rather quickly. I could go days w.out charging my Razr....and be using it a fair amount.
Even the buttons on the inside are rather small, so if you have any nails at all...or larger fingers it isnt a phone that you will want to get. I find myself pressing wrong keys by mistake constantly.
The phone is somewhat cute when flipped open, but not so much when closed. The speaker phone is horrible, and the ringer doesnt go very loud. It is also very short, so talking on it is akward sometimes.
Overall I wouldnt recomend this phone to anyone. (maybe younger people like teens and college who want the cute new *thing*) but if you are actually LOOKING for a good quality, easy to use phone I wouldnt suggest this one.
arg!!
Okay so i've have this phone since 2006 xmas. I HATE IT!!!
Im getting the sk3 way better phone i cant here phone calls on it i cant go on aim i cant do anythinggg i hate this phone its bulky and fatt doesnt do crap so DONT BUY IT
thanks :]
got talked out of it
I was going to get this phone, but I was talked out of it by a man at an Alltel store. He told me first of all that the external screen is very tiny. Also it as a HUGE d-pad that takes-up alot of space on the outer part of the phone. Also he mentioned how the numbers on the fron are all wierd. Look at the middle row of keys and how they are pushed down. Crazy. Also some people on this website say they dont like it.
Cool phone that disappointed me in the end
I saw this phone and just had to have it. Got the phone through Alltel, loved texting on it and sending pics.....then the problems started When attempting to use aim or yahoo messengers the phone would restart itself. When attempting to use the camera it kept freezing the phone up and it could only be restarted by taking the battery out.
I sent it in thinking maybe it was just that phone, welll the new one worked for a little longer than the first, before it began to do all of the exact same things. Along with those issues the ringtones and wallpapers suck, u can't scroll through the phone book with the numbers showing, one of the alarms couldn't be turned off and otha stuff.
pros: keyboard,
cons: phone freezes up when using the popular features that people purchase the phone for such as sending pics messages, and using the messengers.
wish I never wasted the money I spent on this phone. The problems were so not worth it.
Very Popular
The Strobe is a very popular phone as most know. Its one of our biggest sellers at our store. Most people that like to text and like taking pictures love this phone because of the small keyboard in the inside of the phone and the nice camra on the back side of the phone right next to the flashlight! We don't have many6 problems with this phone except some people don't like the small keys on the frontside of the phone. Its Extremly durable too. I have seen a customer slam his strobe on the counter the battery and back popped off but when we put the battery and back back on its as if it was never slamed. So needless to say if you are wanting a durable phone and you like texting and taking pictures this is the phone for you!
Wow
The strobe for US Cellular is a HUGE surprise. My fiancee just got this phone, and while I was testing it I was very pleased with its performance.
Pros:
-Better reception than my Razr (Chicago market)
-People on the other end said my voice sounded louder and clearer than before.
-unique design.
-Pre-loaded games
Cons:
-Phone is very small, definitely not a guys phone.
-This is a known problem with the USCC version, some battery doors do not snap on correctly, USCC Corporate stores should be getting a supply of battery doors shortly, if you have this issue take it to a store for a new door.
The reason I did not give this a 5 is because I don't know the durability of the phone yet, in the past my experience with Kyocera has been a great phone for a couple weeks then things seem to just start breaking. Here's hoping for the better.
Haven't Heard Anythin Bad
I haven't really heard anything bad about this phone. Every customer who has bought one hasn't said anything bad about the phone yet. No lost reception or dropped calls, blue-tooth capability work pretty damn good, camera isn't bad at all, keyboard comes in handy if you're a big texter.
Pros:
-Everything about the phone
Con:
-Small outside display screen
great!
i got this phone through the company i work for...i had an LG3200 that did me very well (my mom uses it now) but i saw this one and fell in love!
PRO'S
i'm a very huge texter (i use 5,000 on my sprint phone a month) so its convenient for me with the keyboard.
the size of it is pretty good too.
the ringers are decent. i like the "Island" one.
it does turn a lot of heads when i flip it open to text.
the inside screen is huge.
CON'S
it's just a little too heavy.
VGA camera...
the external screen is SMALL.
kinda hard to get used to.
All in all, I recommend it. It's cute.
