Kyocera DuraXV LTE - Review 2022

Whether you lot're a field worker or simply a klutz, the Kyocera DuraXV LTE ($264) is the roughest, toughest, no-nonsense voice phone yous can get on Verizon Wireless. It's as well the most network-flexible and futurity-proof, able to piece of work on Verizon's 3G and 4G networks, as well as foreign roaming networks. But yous'll pay a high price for the DuraXV's reliability.

If yous're a long-time phonation phone user, you lot should know that Verizon is transitioning away from its old 3G system over to 4G LTE. The carrier volition proceed 3G alive until 2022, but all of the new investment and expansion is going into LTE. Fortunately, at that place'southward a new crop of LTE-capable voice phones surfacing, then y'all don't have to switch over to a smartphone if y'all don't want one.

Design and Build

The DuraXV LTE is a large, rock-solid blackness flip phone in a rubberized housing. It's too bulky for most pants, but volition easily fit into a coat pocket. On the front, there's a bold, 1-inch monochrome OLED display showing fourth dimension and condition data. Flip it open and you lot go glove-friendly, separated keys and a bright 2.six-inch, 320-by-240 LCD. The speakerphone sits at the bottom of the flip.

All of the phone'south ports are covered by removable rubber plugs, a rather old-schoolhouse way to handle waterproofing. Some newer phones use a micro-coating that doesn't rely on the rubber seals staying in place.

The phone is military standard 810G rated to withstand stupor, vibration, corrosion, dust, and water harm. In our typical water resistance exam, we dunked the phone in a bowl of water for thirty minutes. We heard some audio distortion on the speakerphone until we shook it clear of remaining drops and it dried out a bit, only afterwards that, it was fine.

Calling and Network

The DuraXV has the most versatile network options of any of the phonation phones nosotros've reviewed recently. Forth with LTE bands 4 and xiii, it also has 2 and 5, which volition extend coverage; information technology has Verizon's older 3G network; and it has quad-ring UMTS 3G for global roaming in up to 200 countries. Less expensive voice phones don't accept all of those options. The DuraXV besides has dual-band Wi-Fi, including 5GHz, and tin make calls over Wi-Fi.

Betoken strength, on the other hand, doesn't quite measure out upwardly. I was a little disappointed to find the DuraXV reading slightly lower betoken force than the Kyocera Cadence LTE in medium-indicate weather, between -80 and -90dBm. It's not enough to be a flat-out bargain breaker, merely it's enough to make yous not buy it over the Cadence if bespeak force is your primary business.

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Voice quality is fine. Voices audio somewhat deeper, only a bear upon less precise, than on the Cadence and the LG Exalt LTE. You might like this, or yous might like the more piercing tone of the other two phones. The speakerphone faces front, which is good, but it's less loud and clear than I prefer. It distorts at height volume, which is about 70db in conversation at a one-foot distance. That's a expert 5dB meliorate than the Exalt, but only 2dB or then better than the Cadency. The Nuance-based voice dialing works fine when triggered from the activeness push button of a Bluetooth headset.

While the phone has several 4G bands, it still only reaches Category 4 speeds. In that location's a Wi-Fi hotspot mode, but you shouldn't expect to get speeds greater than virtually 10Mbps with it.

Battery life was skillful at 8 hours, 26 minutes of talk time, and the battery is removable. Nonetheless, we got slightly longer talk time (merely over nine hours) with the Cadency.

Apps

Similar Verizon'due south other LTE voice phones, the DuraXV LTE runs a bedridden version of Android on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor, with a traditional menu organisation and no downloadable apps. There'due south a basic browser, a basic media player, and an electronic mail app that offers Yahoo!, Outlook, AOL, Exchange, and POP/IMAP options. Both the messaging and contacts apps sync with Verizon's cloud system, so you can enter contacts and messages through a web interface rather than using the number pad.

Other tools include a calendar, a reckoner, a multifunction clock, and a flashlight. This is the only LTE vox phone we tested with a flashlight office, and it'southward a useful addition.

Because you lot probably don't use Verizon'due south button-to-talk system, the big button on the side of the telephone can be gear up to launch whatever feature—the flashlight, for example, or the music player or hotspot office.

The messaging app tin can send and receive both motion picture and video messages, and has XT9 word prediction. It can receive emoji, and can ship a limited number of emoji smileys. The other vox phones we tested had real trouble sending and receiving video messages, so if that's something you rely on, the DuraXV LTE is the way to go.

Multimedia

There's 16GB of onboard storage (xi.5GB available), as well as a microSD bill of fare slot under the battery, which is under the screwed-airtight back cover. A v-megapixel camera records 720p video.

The camera is bad. All of the voice telephone cameras nosotros've tested are bad. This one has astringent focus problems; fully half of my pictures were out of focus, and the ones that weren't had severe color noise problems. And the 720p video is pretty much unusable at a low 10 frames per second. Thankfully, you can also employ the camera equally a magnifying glass.

That said, you aren't going to become a much amend camera on any other flip phone that Verizon offers. You'll have to trade upward to a smartphone if you lot want to have adept pictures.

Music and video playback exercise well here. The telephone played our MP3, M4A, OGG, and WAV files over both its own speaker and Bluetooth, and information technology played dorsum video files and video messages in total-screen.

Comparisons and Conclusions

The Kyocera DuraXV LTE is the toughest and best-featured voice phone that Verizon offers. But at $264, it'due south out of the budget of many voice telephone consumers. Information technology's best for folks who need its rugged, waterproof nature—for instance, those who piece of work outside in the elements.

The boilerplate Verizon vox telephone shopper will be better served past the Kyocera Cadence LTE. It's not waterproof, doesn't have a flashlight, and doesnt support 3G the way the DuraXV does. But it costs half as much and fulfills basic voice phone functions well.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/mobile-phones/19229/kyocera-duraxv-lte

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