Kyocera Marbl K127 Cell Phone
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- Design: Mobile
- Style: Clamshell
- Network Type: CDMA 1900 CDMA 1x CDMA 850 CDMA 2000
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A Pretty Good Cheap Prepaid Cell Phone
Pros
Price, features, design, lightweight
Cons
Keys are a little stiff and navigation is slow
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you are looking for a cheap no plan cell phone for emergencies or for your kid, this might be a good fit.
The story of why I purchased this phone needs to be briefly told before I get into the actual review of it. I have been a satisfied customer of Virgin Mobile for about five years. I started out with a Kyocera Rave phone which was free with the airtime when I purchased it at Target way back when. It worked well and lasted for a couple of years. About two and a half years ago, the buttons started sticking and it had been dropped one too many times. Target had a day after Thanksgiving sale on the Virgin Mobile Audiovox Snapper phone and it was only $40, half of the regular price at that time. The phone was a major upgrade from the Kyocera and even had a camera on it. That phone again performed well until today. Last night, my fiance and I went to the local independent theatre near us where they have a retro film series and show a different old film each weekend. This weekend they were showing "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", a favorite of ours. We went to the theatre and I shut my phone off and put it in the extra cargo pocket of my shorts. Today after I started washing a load of clothes, those shorts included, I realized that the phone was still in the shorts. I stopped the washer, but it was too late; the phone is very clean but it is dead. Knowing that Target carries a good selection of phones to use with the Virgin Mobile service, I headed there and saw that they had the Kyocera Marbl, normally $14.99, on sale for $12.99. I purchased the phone not knowing what to expect and brought it home, swapped the service through Virgin Mobile USA's website and plugged it into charge.
Surprisingly, other than the lack of a camera, this phone isn't all too much different from the Snapper. The phone is rectangular shaped, like a small deck of cards, and very light at 2.96 ounces. It is a flip phone, but there is no outer display so it has to be flipped open to do anything, even just to see what time it is.
Once the phone is flipped open, it has a pretty standard display. It shows how many bars it currently has in the top left corner as well as "D" if the phone is picking up a digital signal from the Sprint PCS Network, which Virgin Mobile piggybacks from. The top right corner shows if the GPS is activated and how much of a charge the battery currently has. Other icons will also appear to let you know if you have a voicemail, text message, or both. The middle of the screen says "Virgin Mobile" by default but can be changed to read something else, such as "Groove1's Phone." The date and time are shown near the bottom of the display and below that in each corner are the buttons to select either "Menu" or "Contacts." By default, the background of the display is a computer-drawn red and white Formula One style race car (this also can be changed).After a few seconds, the display goes to a screensaver, which by default is a black and white animated kickboxing match on a yellowish background.
Pressing the menu button will bring you to a screen where you can do many different things. You can go to "My Stuff" where you can change the ringtones, graphics, and sounds, but the phone only comes standard with a few of each. You can purchase more directly through the phone or again on VM's website. Selecting a graphic which looks like a gas pump with a dollar sign on it will bring you to your account. If you are on a pay by the minute plan, it will tell you how much money you have available. If you are on a monthly plan, which I am, it will show you how many minutes you have used and when your next payment is due. You can add money directly through the phone with a registered credit card or Paypal, or you can use a VM "Top-Up" card to add money. The "Settings" option allows you to change the volume, the ringtones, key volume, key length, the call options, messaging, security, and much more.
There is a graphic to select which will bring you to your contacts so that you can edit those. This again is fairly standard and will allow you to add new contacts, find contacts, and even add speed dialing and voice activated dialing, a nice feature for a cheap phone.
Selecting the "VXL" graphic will bring you to a screen where you can peruse ringtones and graphics to purchase. You can also surf the web here, but there is a fee for that (it might come in handy in an emergency though). The three remaining graphics allow you to text, use tools such as calculators, and to view recent calls (both incoming and outgoing).
The bottom part of the flip phone has the keypad. The major negative I first noticed here is that the keys are "stiff" and slow to respond. These can be adjusted, but the only two settings are "Normal", which is the default, and "Long", so there really isn't a way to make the buttons respond quicker. The top center of the bottom half has four buttons in a circle surrounding the "OK" button. These four buttons will get you instantly to features previously mentioned: your account, VXL, messaging, and recent calls. There are the usual buttons for turning the power on and off and for sending and answering calls. Navigation on the phone is a little slower than my previous one too and it takes a couple of seconds to get to each feature that you select.
The phone seems to be quite durable due to its design and the display all being on the inside. The phone is aesthetically appealing and does not look like cheap phone. The outside is mostly black with a little silver trim and a small VM logo on the middle of it. The phone has jacks for headphones or data cables and an AC charger, which is included. There is a button on the side of the phone where the volume can be adjusted. The battery is easily removed from the back of the phone by simply sliding the cover off.
The battery talk time is up to 3.8 hours and the standby time is up to nine days (that is probably if the phone is not used during those nine days). Again, the phone comes in a hair under three ounces so it is lightweight and the shape of it makes it easy to be carried.
The reception on this phone, like my previous phone, is very good. Even if there are no bars, it runs off of Sprint PCS' digital signal and most calls don't break up. That is one problem I have not had with any of VM's phones. We are in a somewhat rural area and my fiance as well as my neighbor both have Alltell and can barely use their phones.
In conclusion, for the price, this is a pretty good phone. It has a lot of features of some more expensive phones, is lightweight and durable, and is stylish. The only negatives so far are the slow response of they keys so that may not be good if you text often and the slow navigation. If you need a cheap phone without a contract, possibly just for emergencies, this phone would be perfect.
Surprisingly, other than the lack of a camera, this phone isn't all too much different from the Snapper. The phone is rectangular shaped, like a small deck of cards, and very light at 2.96 ounces. It is a flip phone, but there is no outer display so it has to be flipped open to do anything, even just to see what time it is.
Once the phone is flipped open, it has a pretty standard display. It shows how many bars it currently has in the top left corner as well as "D" if the phone is picking up a digital signal from the Sprint PCS Network, which Virgin Mobile piggybacks from. The top right corner shows if the GPS is activated and how much of a charge the battery currently has. Other icons will also appear to let you know if you have a voicemail, text message, or both. The middle of the screen says "Virgin Mobile" by default but can be changed to read something else, such as "Groove1's Phone." The date and time are shown near the bottom of the display and below that in each corner are the buttons to select either "Menu" or "Contacts." By default, the background of the display is a computer-drawn red and white Formula One style race car (this also can be changed).After a few seconds, the display goes to a screensaver, which by default is a black and white animated kickboxing match on a yellowish background.
Pressing the menu button will bring you to a screen where you can do many different things. You can go to "My Stuff" where you can change the ringtones, graphics, and sounds, but the phone only comes standard with a few of each. You can purchase more directly through the phone or again on VM's website. Selecting a graphic which looks like a gas pump with a dollar sign on it will bring you to your account. If you are on a pay by the minute plan, it will tell you how much money you have available. If you are on a monthly plan, which I am, it will show you how many minutes you have used and when your next payment is due. You can add money directly through the phone with a registered credit card or Paypal, or you can use a VM "Top-Up" card to add money. The "Settings" option allows you to change the volume, the ringtones, key volume, key length, the call options, messaging, security, and much more.
There is a graphic to select which will bring you to your contacts so that you can edit those. This again is fairly standard and will allow you to add new contacts, find contacts, and even add speed dialing and voice activated dialing, a nice feature for a cheap phone.
Selecting the "VXL" graphic will bring you to a screen where you can peruse ringtones and graphics to purchase. You can also surf the web here, but there is a fee for that (it might come in handy in an emergency though). The three remaining graphics allow you to text, use tools such as calculators, and to view recent calls (both incoming and outgoing).
The bottom part of the flip phone has the keypad. The major negative I first noticed here is that the keys are "stiff" and slow to respond. These can be adjusted, but the only two settings are "Normal", which is the default, and "Long", so there really isn't a way to make the buttons respond quicker. The top center of the bottom half has four buttons in a circle surrounding the "OK" button. These four buttons will get you instantly to features previously mentioned: your account, VXL, messaging, and recent calls. There are the usual buttons for turning the power on and off and for sending and answering calls. Navigation on the phone is a little slower than my previous one too and it takes a couple of seconds to get to each feature that you select.
The phone seems to be quite durable due to its design and the display all being on the inside. The phone is aesthetically appealing and does not look like cheap phone. The outside is mostly black with a little silver trim and a small VM logo on the middle of it. The phone has jacks for headphones or data cables and an AC charger, which is included. There is a button on the side of the phone where the volume can be adjusted. The battery is easily removed from the back of the phone by simply sliding the cover off.
The battery talk time is up to 3.8 hours and the standby time is up to nine days (that is probably if the phone is not used during those nine days). Again, the phone comes in a hair under three ounces so it is lightweight and the shape of it makes it easy to be carried.
The reception on this phone, like my previous phone, is very good. Even if there are no bars, it runs off of Sprint PCS' digital signal and most calls don't break up. That is one problem I have not had with any of VM's phones. We are in a somewhat rural area and my fiance as well as my neighbor both have Alltell and can barely use their phones.
In conclusion, for the price, this is a pretty good phone. It has a lot of features of some more expensive phones, is lightweight and durable, and is stylish. The only negatives so far are the slow response of they keys so that may not be good if you text often and the slow navigation. If you need a cheap phone without a contract, possibly just for emergencies, this phone would be perfect.
