Review: Kyocera Zio
Calls
Tap the Dialer button on the Zio's home screen and a software keypad pops up. There are four tabs that run across the top: the dialer itself, the call log, your contacts, and your list of favorites. Each of these is exactly what you expect them to be.
The dialer buttons are nice and large and no problem for dialing numbers directly. The Zio provides haptic feedback when dialing. The call log shows all your calls heaped into one long list, and different colors next to each call tell you if it is a dialed, received, or missed call. Tapping any of the numbers opens a menu and gives you options for calling, SMSing, or adding the number to your contacts.
Once you are in a call, you can press the menu button to see a list of actions to take, such as swapping or merging calls, hanging up, placing the call on hold, and so on. You can also choose to send the call to a Bluetooth headset.
Going through the calling program once is all it takes to figure it all out.
Contacts
The Zio pulls in your entire contact list from your Google/Gmail account. Any changes made via the desktop version of Gmail are automatically synced to the Zio, which is a nice feature to have. The opposite is also true. Add a contact directly to the Zio, and it eventually appears in your Gmail contacts list.
It then lists everything alphabetically as you scroll down. It is easy to swipe your finger up and down to cycle through your contacts. There is also a nifty slider tool on the right side of the screen. As you drag your thumb down, it pops up. Shift your thumb over to the slider and you can zoom through the alphabet quickly.
Pressing a contact quickly will open the individual listing. Pressing and holding the contact name will give you a short list of options, such as calling or editing that contact's information. Each contact can store tons of information. You can also save them to your "Favorites", which effectively serves as a speed dial function on touch-based phones.
The Zio suffers from a lack of social networking integration, however. Other Android handsets add Facebook data to the contact app, for example, making for a richer experience. The Zio lacks any of that integration.
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