mcgraham89

I just received my VM Kyocera Rise this afternoon, and thought I'd post my thoughts on it. I previously had the VM LG Optimus Elite, which I liked but for $99 the Rise was worth checking out.

Here is my Summary:

Size: The rise is a Tad smaller compared to the Elite in overall Length. Very Similar to a deck of cards.

Weight: The Rise is a much heavier phone mostly due to the qwerty slide out keyboard. The phone itself feels pretty solid to me, but maybe a tad heavy for some peoples tastes. I personally prefer a little bit of weight in a phone.

Housing: The outside is a silver metallic finish, and contrary to other reviews I've read on the net I find it to be a nice looking solid phone. It's far from flashy, but it's a clean appearance.

Volume Buttons are on the left side like the Elite. The Usb port is on the left as opposed to the bottom like the elite. Headphone and power on buttons are opposite with the power on the top left, and the earphone jack on the right. There is a physical camera button on the lower right side.

Qwerty Sliding Keyboard. The Qwerty keyboard Slides into position fairly well. Mine is a bit stiff, but probably will wear in after some use. The four row keypad feels a bit cheap and is a membrane type. The keyboard is backlit and the keys are nice and bright. I wish there was a little more space above the top row as my thumbs hit the bottom of the touch screen when texting. I also
wish the spacebar was bigger as well, but Kyocera decided on including a "@" symbol to the left of the space bar. Overall, the phone feels good to hold in the hand when texting. The headphone jack feels a bit out of place at times due to the "bump out" in the house, but of course this is personal preference.

Display: The Displays look fairly similar IMO. The Elite is brighter when set to full brightness, the text looks a bit crisper on the Rise.

OS:Ice Cream Sandwich runs pretty smooth. The screen transitions seem to be a tad lagging, but nothing very noticeable.

AnTuTu Benchmarks: Here are the Benchmarks results.

Kyocera Rise: Overall Score: 3400
CPU:1027, GPU:1549, RAM:339, I/O:485

VS.

LG Optimus Elite:Overall Score: 3163
CPU:1002, GPU:1367, RAM:308, I/O:486

Phone Sound quality has been very good. I'd rate it a bit better than the Elite.

Accessories Included: USB A/C Adapter/USB Cord. Preinstalled 2GB SD Card.

First Impressions for this device are very good especially for an entry level ICS phone at this cheap $99 price point. I'll have to break it in a bit to see how it performs overall, but with a root exploit and custom recovery this phone could have great potential IMO.

I have yet to get a good feel for the Battery Life, but this phone does have a "Eco Mode" option that sets the Sleep/Display Brightness/WallPaper,Auto Sync/Haptic Feedback/Auto Rotate and GPS/BlueTooth options.

Feel free to ask any questions, and I'll do my best to answer them.

raevin

I've noticed, with and without eco mode on, that battery life is amazing for general usage (i.e.: not watching a lot of videos and game playing). I use mine mostly for texting and e-mail checking. My phone's been off the charger for 9+ hours now and is only between 45%-50% battery left. It also charges extremely fast (I've went from 10% left to full in about 1-2 hours).

Eco Mode is amazing though for me...it does a lot of the performance increases for me (also disables WiFi and such).

Etorgg

Hello fellow aspiring Kyocera Rise fans! I am a Virgin Mobile phone user (Entro, formerly Oyster, never owned a smart phone, but have been building desktop PCs for family/friends for 12 yrs), and am very insterested to learn something about the Kyocera Rise.

I've been reading reviews/previews of they Rise for about a month. Many of the reviews say it has wifi hotspot capabilities...even Kyocera product page mentions it. However, Virgin Mobile's product page, showing the Rise for sale...does not mention anything about wifi hotspot capabilities...only that it has wifi connectivity.

Does this phone have wifi hotspot capability?...to get me off of dialup internet connection for my home PC.

Virgin Mobile's $35/mo plan is very close to what I'm paying for my home land-line + Netzero dialup.

Thank you.

Last edited by Etorgg; September 7th, 2012 at 05:15 PM. Reason: deleting some misconceptions, after further research about "rom" and etc. on this website

mcgraham89

Welcome,

I don't see a specific tethering app on the Factory Firmware or in the Settings menu with Ice Cream Sandwich. I believe this is because VM wants you to pay for tethering service. I personally don't use tethering, because I have Broadband and a router but there are several apps in the Market Place that allow you to Tether your Phone with having to have it rooted. FoxFi is one of them that comes to mind.

There were people in the Elite forum, that initially used a Virgin Mobile App that was included on that phone for tethering, but they began to receive a data error 67 once they used it unless they specifically paid for tethering I believe. I don't believe people have gotten it with 3rd party apps, but as I mentioned I don't use tethering.

pastorerik

Thanks for your informative review. Does this phone have GPS/Navigation. The VM Website does not say that it does. This will likely make or break me getting one to replace my Samsung Intercept. Thanks in advance.

mcgraham89

Yes, this phone does have GPS and comes pre installed with Google Navigation App. So far, I've been very happy with this phone.

pastorerik

Thank you for the info. I wonder why they didn't list it on the features list. I am glad I found someone who actually has one in hand so I would know for sure. Have you used the GPS?

raevin

I've used the GPS and haven't had much of any issues with it. It's been pretty accurate and the like within about 5-10 miles (most cities around me are pretty small).

mcgraham89

I've also used the GPS, and its worked well fine for me as well.

toronado455

Thanks for your review. I'm considering this phone as a replacement for my LG Optimus V (currently running CM7, but the screen touchscreen has been having problems and isn't working properly). Would the Kyocera Rise be an upgrade over that phone in terms of Android performance and voice/call quality?

mcgraham89

I've actually moved on to the HTC EVO V, but I did enjoy the phone while I had it but decided to upgrade to 4G. There are also more reviews over at the VM website for this model. Hopefully someone else will read this, and be able to comment. Good luck.

toronado455

Thanks. Not only 3G, but ICS on such a low res screen might not be so great?

Does anyone know if the screen is plastic or glass? I'm thinking plastic at this price point.

Some of the reviews on the Virgin site say the phone is shutting itself off randomly.

Last edited by toronado455; September 27th, 2012 at 04:29 PM.

DannySihapanya

My rise does the same thing. But it freezes and i have to restart it. Shame....

Gwelker

I just got mine last night and charged it over night. It didnt hold a charge for more than 5 minutes after it just said it had 100% battery life it turned off. Any ideas?

Gwelker

Is this the problem i read about with randomly shutting off? Can i fix?

DannySihapanya

Just wanted to add that the sound quality on this is terrible. I reather listen to music on my optimus V then this.

slutyman

how much memory does this phone have??

dmfw

According to the "Settings->Storage" info, 0.98GB ram and the rest in the SD card.

dmfw

I have used the Rise for 17 days. My Thoughts:

I like the physical keyboard.

The battery drain is variable but I know that I loose 12-15% overnight, eg. no use.

The screen is OK, a bit washed out in the Sun.

The unit did freeze once, and I have to remove the battery for 1 hour to get it to restart.

WIFI is OK, but I sometimes have to turn WIFI off/on to get it to reconnect to my WIFI.

Every app I installed on the phone works without issue.

One complaint, when I use the speakerphone, the screen goes black and I have a hard time getting the phone to reshow the phone's dialing screen.

All in all, for $100 it is a ok phone.

fotonut

Can anyone recommend the shortest course of study for learning how to use this phone? The user has never used a smart phone before and is an intermediate level Windows user as far a computer experience goes. Would like to learn how to handle messages, how to use GPS, navigate browser plus download an easy to use app for managing a large library of MP3s in the /Music directory of a large chip that has replaced the factory default 2G that came with this device. I was able to upgrade the chip for them and copy their MP3s via a data cable. Also would like suggestion on most popular apps that work on this device. Primarily interested in locating businesses when walking around, checking schedules of public transport, etc. THANKS!

backwrd

try downloading an app called mixzing you can adjust the sound through this app

backwrd

If you are on speaker phone and screen goes black there is a heat sensor by the red or green light at the top of your phone if you put your finger there for a second and remove it it should come back on or just press the power button hope that helps

Last edited by backwrd; November 14th, 2012 at 12:50 AM.

backwrd

if anyone has any idea how to make use of a hot spot with the rise on virgin mobile or how to install apps not available on carrier but available in google play

Last edited by backwrd; November 14th, 2012 at 12:58 AM.

backwrd

ok for anyone wanting to know how to use your wifi hot spot on a virgin mobile kyocera rise there is a way to do that and also learn how to download apps virgin mobile doesn't want you to have so here goes <STEP 1> go to SETTINGS on your rise and select SECURITY , scroll down to UNKNOWN SOURCES Make Sure This Box Is Checked then go back to your HOME SCREEN <STEP 2> go to your BROWSER go to this web page and download and open foxfi FoxFi - Android Download Center remember if any app says unavailable on carrier google search and download for any source other than google play and it will work this app works great for me hope this helps please leave a feed if it does ALSO IMPORTANT you must set your phone not to sleep the hot spot turns off

Last edited by backwrd; November 14th, 2012 at 02:06 AM.

larrytxeast

I did the same thing about a month ago. In my case, I got tired of typing on the screen. I had become better at it than I used to be, but it still drove me crazy at times. The phone had a tendency to hit B when I was trying to space. It upset me enough that I whipped it against the wall. I got the Rise at Radio Shack for $80.

Oh well, I had been pondering the Rise anyway. I just should've sold the Elite first. Even funnier--I still type on the screen quite a bit on the Rise, although I certainly use the slider as well. Anyway, here are my observations.

$25 plan. Unfortunately, I lost my $25 grandfathered plan (the Elite was one of the last ones you could upgrade to & still have it). Oh well, $35 is still a lot cheaper than the $80 I had been paying, & I'll gladly pay $10 a month for a physical keyboard. (The LG Optimus Slider was ruled out due to its 3.2" screen.)

Random Shut-off. Yes, mine does this every now & then. Also, while most apps run fine on it, Opera Mini, my main browser of choice, crashes quite a bit.

Speed. I'm not a power user, in fact I have no games on my phone at all, not even Angry Birds or Solitaire. But in the things I do with it, it seems fine.

Camera. Don't care. I only use real cameras, as in DSLRs or "mirrorless."

Ice Cream Sandwich/Buttons. The first growing pain I had with it was the inability to remove the Google search bar; I always replace it with the power widget (I switch Wi-Fi & GPS off-on a lot & change brightness often as well). I later learned you can do this by stopping it under settings...apps, but meanwhile I had installed Holo Launcher HD (as I had with my Elite) and had at it. The main thing I LIKE about ICS so far is the "recent apps" button & how you can "swipe to close" apps. It reminds me of webOS a bit (which I used for a very short while sometime back). I now no longer need Advanced Task Killer. I also like how it's easier to unlock the screen.

I also like that it has a menu key, unlike many other ICS phones. I find I don't accidentally hit the capacitive buttons by accident as I did with the Elite many times.

I don't like the new onscreen keyboard, it doesn't show enough suggested words vs the Gingerbread keyboard. I installed the Gingerbread keyboard in its place & like it much better than ICS's.

Slider keyboard. It's not as good as my Blackberry used to be, but it works well just the same. It's a JOY to have arrow keys & to be able to precisely select text (shift-arrow keys) as I use copy-paste very often. Again, I've found myself actually still using the touchscreen for typing--again, I don't like the new ICS keyboard, it seems too small & it only shows about 3 suggested words vs 5-6 for the Gingerbread one. But when I have troubles typing on the screen, I have this to fall back on.

GPS. Finally, a phone that has as good of a GPS as my old Optimus V did. I leave GPS off until I need it & want the phone to quickly "get a lock," as in within 5-10 seconds, upon turning it on. The V almost always was able to do this. The Triumph I owned for awhile--its GPS was AWFUL. It always took at least 5 minutes, one time it took nearly 30 (!!). The Elite's was better, but not as fast as the V's, taking at least 30 seconds & often 2-3 minutes.

The Rise--almost instant. I turn on GPS via the widget, open Maps, press current location--within 5-odd seconds, even if I'm 20 miles away from where I last used it, it's obtained a lock. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about. That, my friends, is how you make GPS work on a phone.

As for Maps--I don't notice much difference, other than I think the voice is less irritating.

Talk Quality. In terms of how well people can hear me--all except the Triumph, which was terrible, had been fine, & the Rise is as well.

Battery Life. I haven't analyzed the battery life hard-core, but it seems about the same as the V & Elite. The Triumph was God-awful.

All in all, I like it, & don't miss the Elite anymore. It would be nice to see a 4" slider, but I'd used the Elite long enough to have been used to its size (vs the Triumph, which was too buggy to tolerate, luckily I sold it vs breaking it, ha ha).

sneaky_1

I agree, it is a pretty good phone for the price. Especially if you got it for $30 on sale.

DannySihapanya

The battery last so much. I didnt charge it for 3 days. Usually lose 4 percent each night. Pretty happy about it.

I think its because i have juice defender ultimate. Its worth buying.

Last edited by DannySihapanya; December 3rd, 2012 at 12:50 PM.

joed100

just got the Rise and its my first android phone,
can anyone tell me how to open an app that I have installed on the phone?

I can see it in the "manage apps" section but when I tap on it,
it does not open, it just takes me to a page that has the storage data and the option to move to SD card (not sure what that is)

help is appreciated,

sorry for the newbie question

joed

joed100

never mind, sorry I figured it out, i jyst had to re-start phone

sneaky_1

After you install an app it will be in the app drawer. Get to the app drawer by pressing the circle with the six dots in it, at the bottom of the home screen (app dock). You can then long press and drag and drop it to any of your home screens. You can also go to the settings of the play store, by going to the play store and pressing the settings button, the capacitive button at the bottom that is three dots in as column. There is a setting for auto place on homescreen. That settings button will take you to the settings of whatever app you are in (if it has any), it is very useful.

Tighe

I am thinking about replacing my rooted Optimus V (mic is going) and I am looking for the best VM phone. Right now the Rise was in the lead.

Why did you go to the EVO? Would you say that the Rise is better than the HTC One? I don't want to spend more that $150 for a phone.


Is this true? There is no google play on this phone???? Can it be added once the phone is rooted?

sneaky_1

It has the play store.

The one v is a nicer phone, imo. Larger crisper screen, feels higher end, sense ui is nice, and it has a huge development base. The rise and the one v are about the same performance wise. Also the rise is a good phone for the cost. Its all up to how much you want to spend.

Takenover83

This phone does have Google Play, vanilla ICS so it's included.

daffyducknj

I've read through a lot of sites now about this phone. I realize that gaming and photo/video isn't great on this phone, but it does appear that I could be fairly comfortable using this phone as a 'mini tablet'. That's what I'm interested in. Of course, the slide out keyboard is primarily my reason for wanting to upgrade to this phone.

I want to know if anyone is using this phone with a 32 GB MicroSD card, and can transfer at least some apps to it.

I'm wanting to upgrade from a well used LG Optimus V that's been rooted since November of last year. It still works well, but for me, is beginning to show its age. I plan on keeping it as a backup for a while if I do upgrade.

I'm also looking at the HTC One V, and the Samsung Galaxy Reverb. The Reverb is a bit out of reach for me, though... but I love that it can take a 64 GB card! Not to mention the CPU. It's about as good as a single core CPU can be on a mid range phone... and the front facing camera.... oh man!

cooldudezach

I just finally got my 32 GB card installed on my Rise, and it works pretty darn snappy. I haven't tried to get Link2SD working yet, but it apparently works on the Hydro, our sister phone.

daffyducknj

But using Link2SD requires rooting. I want to know if some apps can be moved to SD without rooting the phone. As it is the Rise doesn't have any ROMs ready to go yet. Not to mention, no recovery option unless I spend a lot of time messing with the phone via adb.

Last edited by daffyducknj; December 11th, 2012 at 10:05 PM. Reason: spelling

dustinmerk

i have recently purchased the Kyocera rise VM and so far everything has been good i had the optimus slider and the hospot worked perfect with foxfi but it stared giving me an error code so i did a hard reset and it got stuck in a boot loop so i bought the Kyocera rise for 49.99 and rooted it successfully and downloaded wifi tether for root users and put it too generic ics/jb (wlan0) and put routing fix on but when i start tether it just keeps saying please wait while we start tether please help

cooldudezach

Yeah it does, and I don't recommend using it with a 32 gb card. mine started going pretty wonky, random force closes and reboots. As far as putting apps on the sd card normally, that seems to work fine for me.

snorge

The Event is on sale for 55.99 atm, almost tempted to try it.

MyFormIsCrack

Given that was your intuition prior posting this go ahead otherwise hindsight will ensue when sales ends.both aree equivalent phones just one lacks qwerty

mikeca

I have become addicted to qwerty after not having it for two years on the optimus v. I won this phone in a facebook contest and really like having the qwerty. I know it's lame but I can type so much faster on it and I do a lot of e-mail on my phone as well as heavy texting at times, so it's a huge help, kinda makes up for the awful camera on the rise.

All in all though the Rise is an incredible phone that often times sells for as low as $29.99. It's the best bang for the buck I've seen especially when paired up with Virgin's rates. It's a huge wow to me that I can do pretty much everything I need for the price I pay, everyone I know is way over $100.00 a month. WOW!