Review: Kyocera Zio
Apps
There are now enough applications in the Android Market for most anyone. Given the unaltered version of Android that's running on the Zio, the Android Market can be your salvation to making the device more personal and interesting to use. The Zio also has a link to a Kyocera-branded web site with 10 recommended applications, and a Cricket storefront for browsing and downloading apps. The Cricket storefront is mostly populated with Cricket-branded apps and services.
Bluetooth
The Zio has Bluetooth and supports stereo headphones. Pairing was a snap with any sort of headset. Sound quality was iffy, though. Sound quality through mono Bluetooth headsets for calls was near terrible. Music played back through stereo Bluetooth headphones was decent, but cut in and out enough to make it frustrating. The Zio has limited Bluetooth protocol support. I was able to successfully pair with a PC and swap files and a Bluetooth FTP client allowed for browsing the content of my PC, as well.
Clock
The Zio lock screen shows off a nice, large, digital clock with a press of any button. You can also download any number of clock applications from the Android Market to suit your tastes. The Zio makes for a fine watch replacement.
GPS
Google Maps is the only navigation option available on the Zio. Maps works fantastically well in the Android operating system — when the GPS works. My review unit had problems finding GPS satellites from time to time. Even when it did, it took a long time to locate the phone, and wasn't as accurate as other devices I've tested. It supports Latitude, the new location-sharing feature, as well. This lets you see where all your friends are on the map. The feature is opt-in, meaning users have to agree to use it.
With only a 1x connection available, maps loaded slowly, and the application wasn't quick to repsond to user input, but this will likely be a non-issue in areas with 3G coverage.
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