Kyocera DuraXV LTE Review: Basic Phone, Ultra Durability

Kyocera DuraXV LTE review on call quality, durability, camera, and performance. Find out whether this phone is the one you’ve been looking for.

Kyocera DuraXV LTE is one of the choices available on the market right now for a feature phone. A feature phone’s heyday may have been long gone, but this type of phone is still sought after.

It’s because a feature phone offers what smartphone lacks in terms of simplicity. DuraXV also offers something else: extreme durability.

In this Kyocera DuraXV LTE review, we take a look at what the phone offers beyond calling and texting. Let’s see what features it offers.

We set realistic expectations as far as fancy features are concerned. But as for the first impression, the tough-looking phone looks like it could be your next reliable basic phone.

Key Specs

Kyocera DuraXV LTE specifications:

• Weight: 175g
• Dimensions: 106.9 x 56.4 x 25.1mm
• OS: Proprietary
• Screen size: 2.6-inch (internal), 1.08-inch (external)
• Resolution: 240 x 320
• CPU: 1.1 Ghz Quad-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon 210
• RAM: 2GB
• Storage: 16GB
• Battery: 1530mAh, Removable
• Rear camera: 5MP

Design

Kyocera DuraXV LTE features a typical flip design from around a decade ago. It comes in the color black. The rugged emphasizes function more than looks.

The phone looks military-like with sharp and bold edges. Judging from the appearance alone, it looks like it can withstand a severe drop.

And our guess was on the spot. As it turns out, the manufactures installed heavy-duty protection on the phone’s body so it could face extreme situations. This phone passed standardized MIL-STD-810G tests for dust, vibration, and shocks.

DuraXV LTE can withstand extreme temperatures as well. In bad weather, you can be sure this phone will be unaffected. Whether it’s rain, snow, or smoldering heat of the summer, the phone will still work well.

The protective measure also covers situations such as low pressure, extreme humidity, and radiation. The waterproof capability adheres to the IPX8 standard. It means you can even go scuba diving with it. The keypad, buttons, and the speaker are designed in a way to not let liquid enter the phone’s inside.

But how does the design correlate with comfort? As for the ergonomic aspect, we found DuraXV to be secure to hold since it has a rugged back. It’s also small enough to use one-handed. The design projects strength. Depending on users’ tastes, some would find this tough appearance attractive.

Read also: Kyocera DuraXV LTE User Manual

Display

Kyocera DuraXV LTE features two displays. The main display is what welcomes you as soon as you flip the phone open. It is a 2.6-inch display, small when compared to smartphones, but average for a flip phone.

The display resolution is 240 x 320 pixels. It’s not sharp by today’s standard but an average specification for a basic phone.

The display comes in full color, but don’t expect something extravagant. The low pixels mean you can easily notice imperfections. Brightness is excellent for a basic phone. Texts are readable when the phone is under bright sunlight. To improve contrast, opt for a dark background.

The lock screen displays a clock and date big enough for you to see at a glance. The Home screen also features time and date. There’s not much going on with the display. The most you can do is customize the wallpaper, which you can set with your own choice of picture.

The outer display is only a 1-inch monochromatic display. The screen only displays the essentials such as date and time. You can also peek at the phone’s battery level, 4G strength, and the Wi-Fi icon. It’s a useful screen if you’re too busy to flip the phone open.

Camera

The camera on Kyocera DuraXV LTE is not a comparison with a smartphone camera. But surprisingly, the megapixel on this phone’s camera can be considered above average.

DuraXV features a 5 MP camera. Even more, it has autofocus and LED flash. To be honest, this is more than we had expected on a feature phone.

But don’t hope too much for the image result. They are adequate but nothing you would say a crisp picture would be. The camera takes a good picture for a social media snap. However, don’t rely on it for capturing important life moments.

Like any other low-quality cameras, the secret of taking a good picture is plenty of light. This is why you will get nice results on a bright sunny day with DuraXV’s camera. On the other hand, taking a picture in a low light situation is a real struggle. Even with the flash on, the result would still get blurry.

There isn’t a selfie camera on Kyocera DuraXV LTE. If you want to take a selfie, turn the phone around and snap one. As for video recording, the camera allows you to take a video with the maximum quality of 720p. Just like with taking pictures, the best result for videos is achievable with optimal lighting.

Storage

For user data, DuraXV LTE offers 16 GB of storage. Considering other flip phones offer around 4 GB of storage, this one is a steal.

Imagine more music you can store on the phone. It also means you can take a lot of photos without having to worry about running out of memory anytime soon.

Even if the memory runs out, there’s always an option for adding an SD card. The maximum allowed capacity is 64 GB. For a feature phone, this is also above average. It’s more than enough to store any excess data the internal phone can’t handle.

Performance

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Kyocera DuraXV LTE functions exactly how many users would expect on a feature phone. It uses a 1.1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 at its core, which is a typical setup among feature phones and entry-level smartphones.

The RAM is 2 GB, also a decent amount for a feature phone. With this setup, Kyocera DuraXV LTE runs smoothly as long as you don’t stray too far from basic tasks.

How fast the performance also depends on how well you press the keypad, since it uses these physical buttons. Every app itself is pretty quick to launch.

There are nine menus ranging from Calls, Messages, to Tools / Settings. The simplicity is nice to have, although it means you can’t do much with this phone.

The Home Screen has two quick launch options. One for Contacts and another one accesses the Message app. As you can see, this phone also offers basic features software-wise. The OS is Android-based proprietary, but it’s unlike any Android you’ll ever see. For example, there’s no option for app downloads.

Aside from calls and texts, Kyocera DuraXV LTE also provides emails. Users can add email accounts from various email services such as Gmail, AOL, or Microsoft Outlook. You can check and reply to work emails easily.

Typing with the phone’s keypad is easy, especially since there’s predictive text technology available. But try not to compose more than a short reply. Despite the screen can feel too small, you might experience lag if you’re trying to write long paragraphs.

The browser on Kyocera DuraXV LTE is slow and laggy. Although it’s fast enough to open one website, it struggles during intense browsing.

On the bright side, though, the lag would discourage you from spending too much time with the internet. DuraXV LTE is a perfect device if you want to take a rest from the smartphone and its distractions.

Entertaining yourself using this phone is a tricky matter. For one, Kyocera DuraXV LTE doesn’t have FM Radio, a feature many competitors still offer. Your options are left with the Music Player and Video Player.

Since you won’t be able to do any streaming, it means you’ll have to stock up the phone with your own multimedia files. The good news is, DuraXV LTE still provides a 3.5-mm headphone jack so you can listen to music privately.

Other features that can enhance your experience with the phone are the Tools menu. Here, users can access the phone’s productivity apps such as Calendar.

The phone also allows users to adjust text size for better reading. Only two languages are supported: English and Spanish. Lastly, DuraXV LTE is Hearing Aid Compatible.

Connectivity

When it comes to connectivity, this phone impressed us with its call quality. Sounds come out loud and clear, thanks to the LTE technology. This phone does boast HD Voice with noise cancellation mics.

When put on loudspeaker, the sound output is also loud and clear. Concluding our Kyocera DuraXV LTE review for phone calls, making and answering one is a pleasant experience. For text messages and MMS, the phone also performs well.

This phone also comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth features. There is a tethering / mobile hotspot option as well. Even better, you can choose between Wi-Fi tethering and USB tethering.

Wi-Fi tethering is especially rare among basic phones. Meanwhile, for location finding the phone also offers GPS. However, it is for emergency purposes only.

Battery

The battery on Kyocera DuraXV LTE is not average at best. When many basic phones can last for a couple of days, DuraXV LTE needs a recharge by the end of the day. With LTE support, this could be the reason. For this reason, you can turn off 4G and other network features for longer battery life.

The battery capacity itself is 1530 mAh. Talk time is up to 8 hours. The manufacturer claims 439 hours of standby time at maximum. The charger uses a Micro-USB connector. It should be compatible with any portable power bank should your phone need more juice on-the-go.

Non Camera Version

Some of us work in an environment where camera isn’t allowed. On the other hand, today’s phones almost always include a camera on their specification. This is why Kyocera also offers the non-camera version for DuraXV LTE. It caters to few people among us with this “special” situation.

With the non-camera version, you will get all the features the version with the camera has. All, minus the camera, is available. The slot that’s originally for the camera above the second screen is replaced with a dummy part, to keep the design consistent between both versions.

Wrap-up

Considering what kind of customers Kyocera DuraXV LTE targets, we think many potential users would not mind its limitations. The main features of this phone are the call quality, noise cancellation, and the toughness of its body.

The price is not on the affordable side. At $239.99, you can argue that a smartphone would be the better deal. However, this phone focuses on what other models, even smartphones can’t offer. And that advantage is the extreme durability against shock, water damage, and even solar radiation.

There’s another payment option if you don’t want to spend that much money in advance. Verizon offers an installment plan where you can pay $11/month for 24 months. For those of you considering the non-camera version, unfortunately you will still pay the same amount as the camera version.

Wrapping up this Kyocera DuraXV LTE review, we can imagine this phone to be perfect for people who work non-office jobs, such as miners, law enforcement, and construction workers.

Are you among those professions? You can consider Kyocera DuraXV LTE. If you have purchased and have some experience with this phone, feel free to share your experience in the comment section.