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Kyocera's water-resistant Hydro Edge dives onto Sprint, Boost Mobile this month
An ice bar isn't how we'd choose to showcase a water-resistant smartphone, but that's just what Kyocera did at CTIA this year for the Hydro Edge. At the time, Sprint and Boost Mobile had set a loose summer launch for the modest device and now we have a hard date: July 19th and July 23rd, respectively. The IPX 5/7 certified device can be had on a two-year plan at the Now Network for $20 or for $150 outright at Boost, which gets you a 4-inch WVGA display, dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon processor running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and a 5-megapixel rear shooter. It's not as sleek and stylish as Sony's own hydrophobic smartphone, but if you're on a budget and need to brave the watery element, the Edge'll have to do.
Kyocera Hydro Xtrm and Hydro Edge hands-on
Kyocera kitted us out with toques, touch-sensitive gloves and giant black faux-fur coats -- well, Brad chose white -- and led us all into a bar made entirely of ice to launch its new handsets here at CTIA. Kyocera, playing off the tough-guy thing, had the Hydro Xtrm and Edge laid out on slabs of ice in a pretty frosty environment for us to handle with our gloved hands. Both handsets will be priced toward the lower end of the spectrum, with the Hydro Edge being the least expensive and most modestly specced of the two. Both devices are decent as far as material choices go, though the Edge was perhaps our favorite even if the Xtrm beats it out in the display department somehow. There weren't any water tanks to test out both sets IPX5 / IPX7 specs so we'll simply have to take Kyocera's word for it. The Edge and Xtrm build on the previously launched Hydro specs but with upgrades across the board. The Edge sports a dual-core 1Ghz CPU, tempered glass (instead of acrylic), 5-megapixel camera, 4-inch WVGA (480 X 800) 233-ppi display and Android Jelly Bean. The Xtrm adds LTE to the connectivity list also touts a 5-megapixel shooter, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, the same display as the Edge, and Bluetooth 4. The Xtrm launches on US Cellular May 24th for $29.99 after instant rebate with the Edge joining the fun on Boost Mobile and Sprint during "Summer 2013." Check out the cool blue-hued pics in the gallery below. %Gallery-188927% Myriam Joire and Brad Molen contributed to this report.
