Kyocera Zio M6000 joins burgeoning Android ranks with high-res affordability
By Vlad Savov 
posted March 23rd 2010 12:16PM
posted March 23rd 2010 12:16PM
posted March 23rd 2010 12:16PM
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That's pretty impressive for the price. Not a bad looking phone. I fear that there could be a resistive screen for that kind of loot and that would be a dealbreaker for me. Kinda sharp though.
@Waltah People will buy this and they will be happy, capacitive screen or not, since
@Waltah
it wont be released in U.S.
@Waltah
I can deal with whatever type of screen they got, what I despise is this 2nd quarter talk! You know it's going to end up getting released end of June!
@N900androidOS
It would probably end up on Metro if anything. It's a nice looking package for the money for sure. The reason I mentioned the screen is that many virtual Android keyboards aren't that great with capacitive and I wouldn't want to use it on resistive.
@Waltah What version of Android does it run? Would be a fun hack phone for sure
@Waltah
Agreed, if the price estimate is right, this will be a really good sell!
@N900androidOS
"it wont be released in U.S."
.....did you read the article?
"Look out for its US arrival in the second quarter of this year."
@Waltah Wow thats pretty impressive for a low end phone and if the price point is right I will pick this up for another Android toy. I assume it is a Virgin Mobile bound Android considering Kyocera long standing relations with them
Opinions: http://bit.ly/kyocera-zio-smartphone-view
ok.. am I taking crazy pills, or is this thing HOT?
also, smaller carriers like Cricket (any of you know what that is?) I wonder if they'd get this since they sell primarily Kyoceras..
@Mekkakat I like the design quite a bit. It almost lends itself to be purchased for a fun little hack phone. I would laugh if it gained some leverage in the market for a low end high tech device. (Probably not)
Bargain!!!
That is an awesome price, it's hilarious that phone companies have made people start to believe phones are worth $500-$600.
@reallynotnick Yup a Nexus One costs $150 to manufacture. So for Google to sell it for $529 is just ridiculous. $3000 with a 2-year contract is even more ridiculous.
@Charbax
I find it ridiculous you'll compare a Nexus One to this. This is at best a midrange smartphone. Compare it to other midrange smartphones (backflip, Devour, Cliq, Mytouch, Hero, etc.). The price difference isn't quite so drastic then.
@BigJayDogg3
huh?
Well $150 is %29 of the $529 that google sells the nexus one.
at the same percentage, unless this thing costs 58 dollars to manufacture then someone is here is over charging...and it's not Kyocera
@BigJayDogg3 Have you looked at how much those midrange phones cost unlocked and off contract? There's still a pretty damn large difference
@yulebellow
So now turning a profit is overcharging?
Cost of parts does not a product make. Let's try this. Go find out how much it costs to make a car. Now go do it. All those problems you'll run into (and you'll have several), the car designers have come across the same issues. They spent the time to work the problems out. Now you have to pay them for their time working.
Next you have to put these this car into actual production. Those couple hundred workers won't work for free. Go ahead and pay them.
OH BUT WAIT! They still don't have anywhere to work! Go get a place to work.
And you had better give Uncle Sam his cut unless you want to get taken to the cleaners.
And after all this you honestly can't expect me to just break even. I'm looking to turn a profit.
Now, I know what you're thinking, "But BigJayDogg3 you silly fool, Kyocera is a business too! They have all the same problems. lol GTFO with all that logic." But you forgot one other thing, HTC is a company that's well known for building amazingly resilient phones. I don't know about you, but I can't remember the last time I've had someone tell me how much they love their Kyocera phone because it's so well built.
Fact of the matter is, even if this phone cost $50, if it can't place a call or breaks within five minutes of me opening the package, then that was $5 that could have gone toward a phone that was a decent bit more expensive, but far better.
I'll stick with HTC/Apple/Samsung and their known reliable handsets.
tl;dr
The cost of parts != cost of phone
Even though this phone may have a lower initial investment, I may get way more for my money by getting a more expensive set.
@BigJayDogg3
You forgot one other thing that goes into the cost of making the phone. You have to pay royalties to almost every major phone manufacturer for the patent licenses.
@billobob
Kyocera Zio M6000--$216 unsubsidized
Samsung Behold® II--309.99
Motorola CLIQ--$399.99
Motorola Backflip--349.99
Are they more expensive? Yes, but keep in mind these all come from companies that are known from producing quality hardware. Kyocera's past is sketchy at best.
Are smartphones expensive, yeah. But you have to pay to play. If you can't afford it get a dumbphone and leave us big boys alone.
@Charbax You think the engineers who designed the Nexus One work for free?
Not bad for the price!
android = elixir of life! :P
MetroPCS here it comes.
@avinash240 Its a CDMA phone, so its certainly possible. I think I'd try MetroPCS if they ever got an Android phone.
And btw, those are just photoshop goodness or a real prototype pics?
Wow. That's a pretty impressive price point! I wonder what compromises, specs-wise, were done to get it there?
Either way, heck, I might just pick one up just as a secondary phone.
Not to shabby of a device. Could lose those touch capacitive buttons tho...I hate having to flat thumb the damn thing.
woot. go android!!!
Wow thats pretty impressive for a low end phone and if the price point is right I will pick this up for another Android toy. I assume it is a Virgin Mobile bound Android considering Kyocera long standing relations with them.
Sounds too good to be true... time will tell.
I love it!!!
Why don't cars are like this too?! Kia making a 2liter engine looking like a lambo
@dark star I've always wondered that!
- Kia owner
@dark star
I'd prefer something that looks like a Kia, and runs like an exotic.
@dark star
I hear ya! That's all I want, a sweet looking phone that works and looks nice! Same thing with motorcycles, they make the cheaper (perhaps slower) bikes look less nice than the more expensive (definitely faster) ones, so even if you just want to cruise on a sweet looking bike, you feek you need to get the one that will kill you while looking nice!
If smaller carriers like Metro PCS or Cricket get's this phone that would actually be interesting. I am getting sick and tires of shelling out $100+ a month for smartphone service.
@LEDfoot Soon enough you can buy an Android phone for $150, it'll be unlocked and may even provide free VOIP calls over WiFi, and with net neutrality, may even provide nearly-free VOIP over 3G. No more contracts, no more overpriced unlocked phones.
It also comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera. A good price and hopefully the processor can keep up with the high-res display.
@cadmium
That is nice. This will probably put some pressure on other smartphone companies using android. I'm going to get one for sure.
Holy crap, Kyocera? Blast from the past. The phone looks pretty awesome though, and for those prices off contract, well, I'm not complaining!
@Valicore
I know right? I remember my mom had a kyocera about 6-8 years ago! I think it was on Verizon.
The thing I remember most about it was that I used to borrow it from her because it had these great greyscale games and not many other phones had games!
Snake ftw!
That's a sharp lookin' cheap phone. Too bad the headphone connector is on the side.
@Dank Dillweed AGREED... I don't get that, don't they assume people put phones in their pocket vertically...
@Dank Dillweed
http://blog.treonauts.com/PalmStereoHeadphoneAdapter2.jpg
Hell, for $200, even without phone service, I might buy one just to play with Android.
@jon
Exactly my thought. I really need an android phone so I can test the eyes-free accessibility features, but do not want to blow any of my budget on a data contract. This might be a one-time purchase that will let me evaluate and demo the product.
@jon
This phone is much cheaper than the unlocked Android dev phone, that's for sure.
@jon
That's exactly what I was thinking. I have been waiting for a low cost opportunity to try Android and this looks like a good option. Android 1.6 upgradeable to 2.1 plus a decent screen and camera...heck, what's the risk? I see a major winner here.
This phone is going to Cricket. I have family that works for Cricket and they know about this phone.
Make the lower hard buttons a gesture area, and slap WebOS on this, I'd dig it :)