CellGuru Phone Reviews
Last Update: 03/08/2008 11:34 AM

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Kyocera M1000 (Wild Card for Virgin Mobile USA)

The Kyocera Wild Card is one of Virgin Mobil's newest phones. Great for texting. Good for talking. OK for surfing. OK camera. This is NOT a music phone. There is only one speaker and it sounds tinny and is not loud. There is no memory card slot. There is no file transfer capability. You can send and receive pictures via MMS. You can purchase wallpapers, ringtones and games from Virgin Mobil.

Network/band: 1900 MHz only. Sprint PCS network only. No roaming ability.

Data: 1xRTT. Display says "D" and the manual states IS-95. However it does have 1x

Reception / RF: Good. Better than Super Slice (UTStarcom CDM-1450). About the same as Shorty (Nokia 2115). Not as good as the Slider (se47 - I don't have that phone anymore, but it was one of the best).

External Display: Good

Internal Display: Good

Earpiece: Volume Good, Quality slightly tinny

Speaker: Only single speaker (right speaker on right picture above does not exist on production Virgin model). Volume low, Quality poor, Tinny, Sound distorts even though not loud. Speaker on inside of flip, so sound muffled and quiet when flip is closed. The microphone does work with the speakerphone on and the flip closed, but you can't hear the other party that well.

Bluetooth: Hands-Free and Headset profiles only

Wallpaper: Can use MMS or camera for wallpapers. Can also purchase

Ringtones: No user loadable ringtones. Must purchase :(

Voice command: Seems to work well

Camera (1MP): Okay. LED flash is about useless, its more useful as the flashlight function

Battery Life: testing in progress

External keypad: What you would expect. Four way keypad works ok.

Internal keyboard: Overall good. Keys are small but not difficult to get used to. Opening and closing cover does not clear display. Closing cover will revert to earpiece. Opening cover does not enable speakerphone (it should). OK button in the center of the keyboard, but you get used to it.

Field Test Capable: Yes.
Press 111111 (six ones). Select OPTIONS. Select Service and press OK. Select DEBUG and press OK. Enter field debug code: 000000 (six zeros). Scroll down to DEBUG SCREEN and press OK. Scroll to ON and press OK. SID is on the first line of the first screen. Hit NEXT. The signal strength is the first number on the bottom line (Rx:). To exit the field test, turn off phone (or go through the same procedure above).

Misc: Some people have said the hinge squeaks when you open it. I have not found that to be true.

Summary: One of Virgin's best phones. Negatives are the speaker (earpiece is fine) and the lack of file transfer ability.

If you have any comments or questions post on the forum!

Link to Phone Scoop info on the M1000