Sprint tried and failed, David Blaine was a nice touch, but the phone that caught everyone off guard, and probably received the most flack before it's initial release was the 3.5" Dual-Screen Android Smartphone, the Kyocera Echo. Though this concept will be a hit soon...like apple...it'll take awhile for many to take to the idea of a tablet-style smartphone dual-screen powerhorse.
Well, I got it...ain't many active forums for it, but MANNNNNN!!!! What people are missing out on. Look, I have the 4G Evo, I know how cool it is, and I know what I don't get owning the Kyocera Echo, honestly, the only thing I miss is the hdmi-out....but I still have my Evo, so...that's that.
What's to like? Well this is different for many, but I'll list my top 10
1. Dual Screen...well duh, right?... You can look up two seperate webpages at once, or have your photos open on one screen and your facebook open on the other, or surfin the web on one page, while watching a movie on the other screen, switch em up, whatever...it's something cool...never thought this concept would catch either, but I rarely use just a single screen. Big Single Screen display for maps, movies, games, pics, and oh...number
2. Most all screens from the homepage to the web turn landscape or portriat mode.
3. two batteries....dual screen mode may juice the batteries, but you can charge the phone with the other battery, comes in handy if you don't want to be stuck near a wall socket waiting for your phone to charge....just carry it with you
4. Movies...no matter what I open, or if I restart my phone, the movie you were watching remembers where you were and ask if you want to start from where you left off at...
5. Games...with the tablet extention app from Kyocera, most games play on both screens...Captain America, Crush the Castle, Angry birds...dual screen in Portrait mode...the size difference between these games compared to the Evo in landscape mode looks way bigger than just .4"...must be the rotation, ya think?
6. 2.3.4 Gingerbread added a power manager called eco-mode...never worry about making it through the day when this kicks in ( ex: 30% battery left ) and added pinch-to-zoom to the web ( which I never noticed it didn't have )
7. Gorilla Glass...no need for a screen protector...but let's not stop there...Guy at radio shack tried to get me to buy a screen protector, and I told him about a video showing the Echo getting abused, dropped on the floor, and banged on a counter top...he said " believe everything you see?"....so...I slammed it on the floor, stepped on it, picked it up, slammed it on the counter, and then I made a phone call with it.....the manager of the store answered a call he got at the store, and when he said his " Radio Shack auto-answer greeting " I said " Yes, I do "...not a scratch on the phone...not Anything damaged. True Story....quite funny at the time though.
8. Dual Screen Specific games play great...Sims 3, Nova, Splinter Cell, Sonic the Hedgehog...apps like vue-cue ( youtube plus, if you will ) lets you watch a video while adding more to play on the bottom screen.
9. 3g buffering....this is what I really like...no buffering, my hotspot speed matches my 4g speed of my Evo...but it's good to see the web and videos are really fast on Sprint's network.
10. Got the Echo for free, along with 12 free games, and 7$ for 7 Gameloft dual screen specific games, 3$ for pool pro 3-for dual screens, and 7$ for Sims 3...Getting a free phone made buying all the dual-screen games they had pretty easy.
11. Biggest Virtual Keyboard EVER!!!! yeah, it's huge, and landscape is Even BiGGER!!! The new Swype that came with the Gingerbread update is cool but the Stock Android Keyboard takes up one of the entire screens...it's big...really big
That's my top 11...did I say 10?, lol....but if you haven't tried this phone out, or brushed it off without thought...think about this...it's going to be the future of phones...call it tablet-phones or whatever....but Kyocera gave the Echo a great first approach to a concept that's going to take off very soon. Shame early reviewers lack Vision.
Anywho...haven't been here in a while, but I haven't forgot you guys. I'm still sporting my Evo....it's ah.....taking a break for now.
