1 Trusty little guy
I've had this phone for over two years, travelling, dropping, and using it under lots of different situations. No back-light troubles or anything.
The only reason it doesn't get a 5th star is that its reception is not the greatest. My wife has the Vox 8500 and the signal strength is consistently better on hers than mine. But still, it's never left me stranded.
BTW, I got a chrome face-plate for mine and the blue light with the chrome surround still looks great!
2 Bad Buy
I loved this phone, but the screen went blank after about 7 months and i could never read anything unless it showed up for a second, but i assumed this was becuz i had dropped it a few times so i went out and bought another... well about 7 months later again, the screen is blank, the backlight comes on and it works fine, good clearity during calls but no words on screen so i cant tell what i'm doing or who just called me or whatever... and the ringtones arent the greatest either... Now days, buying this phone is useless considering all the new and improved phones that come out every other day ...
3 A great phone!
I have had mine for about three years now; they don't make them anymore and that made me feel obsolete. But I like this phone; easy to navigate, nice blue background and only needed features, no fluff stuff. I recently traded up to a new cell phone and plan and have given this one to my 15 year old son. It's got enough games and ringtones to keep him occupied with it for awhile. This is a very reliable little phone. I have not had anything happen to it such as fading or lines on the screen, etc. as other reviewers have. LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!
4 Lets Be Fair
The thing I've noticed about cell phones is that they're a lot like shoes. Generally speaking you get what you pay for.
That being said, it's important to remember why you're buying a cell phone. If you want a slick little number with a nice metalic casing, gameboy quality graphics, and a thousand and one features then no, this is not the phone for you.
If say you're an active teenager, or someone who tends to lose and abuse cell phones and other small things that need to be carried at all times, or hitman that needs a nice throw away phone with someone elses name on it, then you've found your phone.
The reception is great, the plan is simple and non-invasive, the features are few but ideal, and most of all it's just a good knock around phone. No, you're not going to have it forever. And NO, you're not going to be impressing the ladies with it. But if you're looking at any of the phones in this price range then it's highly likely that you already know how you're going to use it, and neither of these things is a huge priority.
This phone is worth the money because it's designed for people who know that this is not the only one they're ever going to have.
5 Screen WILL go out.
A wonderful phones at first, but it not like its entry level sibling the Kyocera 2119 (or 2135) which is very durable.
The screen goes wacko after 1 year, you have to press HARD an the VM logo to make it go back on.
The reception is wonderful and it works everywhere. If you are using this as a teenager's phone or a backup, its okay.
6 Stupid Phone!
When i had gotten this phone i thought it would be pretty cool,
like how it had screen savers and downloadable ringtones. But then about 7 months later my phone started flashig on and off!
and a whole bunch of lines go down the middle! And the ringtones suck! I am never getting a kyocera phone!
7 Extreme garbage alert...
After working fine for about 6 months, my phone?s display screen died a slow, lingering death. Now it just shows a series of random dots that I can't begin to decode. Obviously it's switched itself into Martian or Klingon mode, for the benefit of the Virgin Mobile USA helpline staff.
Did any other users on this site also encounter this unhelpful 'helpline service' that promised to exchange their faulty Kyocera 2255 for exactly the same model? I mean, what?s the point of replacing garbage with more garbage?
The Kyocera 2255 has been an obsolete model for several months now, but despite my I pleading with VMUSA, they even refused to send me a replacement phone of lesser value in exchange. Seems I can only have yet another Kyocera 2255 to replace my original faulty one. Duuuhhh...
Suffice to say I will be switching to another cellphone network provider ASAP. I will then set fire to my Kyocera 2255 in a very public place.
Some more intense focus on product quality and the basics of customer service would do VMUSA the world of good.
Avoid avoid avoid...
8 Do not buy this phone
I have had two of these...it's no coincidence that the screen stops working just about the time that your warranty expires. Until then it's an awesome phone, lots of compliments on the screen color (blue). Not worth it though, it's nothing but a pain in the @ss once the screen starts to go.
9 The phone sux
Like everyone else, my phone no longer works after barely 1 year. I thought it was only me! I have to press HARD to be able to see the screen, no matter how long its been charged ect. Not only that, but now for some reason my phone turns itself on, even AFTER I make sure that I turned it off. I will be buying another phone with another cell phone company after this experience. I guess its a cheapie for a reason. Avoid at all costs.
10 Crapiest phone ever made. I hope someone sue Kyocera.
For your own good, NEVER BUY THIS JUNK. I have the same problem as all others. This crap worked for just a year and after that the screen turns blank. Couldn't return as warranty was for only 1 year. The worst of all is that I bought this phone for 140$ as I did not want to change my phone number. Now I am just waiting patiently for my stupid contract to expire.
11 Fading screen
I must agree that with only having this phone for about 15 months now, I have been having problems with the screen. This problem actually started when I had my phone for just 10 months. The screen sometimes comes up and sometimes it doesn't. I sometimes have 2 hit the screen for it 2 come up. Even when it comes up, it isn't as vibrant as it was when I got it brand new. I am 14 years old and it is even hard for me to see the screen anymore. The screen is also too light to play games. For prepaid service without buying the extra's it is cost effective........After 10 minutes of usage a day. 25 cents per minute for 10 minutes, then 10 cents for every other minute you use for each day. The stores that were convienant for me to buy cards never hard the stupid things. Even the clerks had no idea if they sold it or not. One place only sold $50 dollar cards and I really don't use the phone that much to buy that amount. Also, when I first had the phone the virgin extras were ok, but you paid for every little thing, now, you gotta pay just to even browse anything plus the added cost of what ever else you look at. The ringtones suck and you gotta pay a dollar, not to mention if you got a better phone you pay way more. I still am using the phone, but I am getting a better one for high school. I plan on staying with the service. WARNING: DON'T get this phone if u have a talkative teen or if ur teen isn't wise with money, they will click every thing in virgin extras and will come and beg for more cash to put on the phone. If you have one of those kids, get a restricted plan. Believe it from a teen yourself. For the lifespan of this phone, it wasn't worth it. I thankfully got it as a present but the price at the time was $129.00. And actually when my phone stopped working ok, the phone was discontinued. That is wrong. Thanks to the other user who said that the company was bieng unreasonable about fixing the phone, it will save me the hassle of calling them.
12 Piece of Crap
I have had my phone but about a year and a half and I am just waiting until the day I resign my contract and get a new phone because this one is nothing but junk. After about a year of owning the phone the screen stopped showing up. I have had to press on the back for the past six months to get the screen to show up at all. It is such a pain and now half the time I press the back the screen still doesn't show up! It is just junk and not worth two cents. When I finally do get a new phone I literally am going to take a hammer and beat that thing till there is no more because I am that frustrated with how it is made.
13 Service is worst than phone
I have 2 of these phones and my neighbor has 1. Shortly after the 1 year warranty expired they began to have problems. These were used for occasional and emergency purposes. When we contacted Virgin Mobile they said there was NOTHING they could do except sell us NEW phones at full price. So I spent over $200 in phones only to find out they are throw aways after 13 to 14 months. Virgin Mobile will make alot of money off the 1.75 million consumers that will have to replace their phones. So if your phone breaks don't expect any help from VM and if you have any prepaid minutes they become part of Virgin Mobile's profits. In other words you just donated your $$$$ to them.
Let the buyer beware when you do business with Virgin Mobile. Expect to throw away the phone in just over a year. Shame on VM as they are targeting the young of this country who won't have any way to protect themselves fom this type of scam.
14 horrible
dont buy,
my buttons fell out and it stopped re-charging.
15 Wish I could recommend it
I've had mine for two years this June and had NO problems with it until about three weeks ago. Until I read the other reviews below, I didn't realize that my problem of having no text on the screen, just the backlight, was common among the model of phone rather than the battery issue I thought it was. I was preparing to buy a new battery, but after reading below, I think I'd be better served trying to get a new phone from Sprint for the remainder of my contract. I have been about 70% satisfied with Sprint's service and am able to get signal at work when nobody else can, so I'd say it's more of a 'buyer know your service area' issue than totally on Sprint's network.
I'd avoid the Kyocera 2255, though - it's cute, it's been fun, but when it's not working and you're still paying for service, what good does that do you?
16 Pretty good phone
I've had it for a couple of years now and it's been good. Hardly any problems. I just didn't like the fact that I don't get any signal from my college dormitory. I guess that was because I have Sprint service. I will be getting a different phone and service as soon as possible.
17 Great Phone
I dont know guys, i kind of like this phone. The Kyocera 2255 (Super Model) seems to be extremely reliable to me, no problems with backlighting, games, voice memo, or push buttons, LED Blue screen is fine, always displays what i want, have never replaced it and i have had it for 3 years about. -1 year it was not operating-. I think its a wonderful phone, it might be time to replace that battery, but my sound seems fine, too. It might have gotten a little quieter but i think its a great phone. This phone has never given me any problems... A good buy, but i reccomend the new Vox flip phone (not the slider) for a more modern choice. Its a cool phone, i am probably going to replace my Super Model with it some time, They are both good phones, no problems, i give the Super Model 2 thumbs up, 5 stars. Good luck with your phone.
18 Maybe They Solved The Problems
Maybe Kyocera solved the problems everyone else had. OR maybe I just got lucky. I bought one each for mywife and I though Virgin Mobile. Both still work fine after about 2 years although we did replace the batteries recently. The phone sounds kind of tinney, but then look how small it is.
19 Flawed phone - crummy customer service from Sprint
As everyone else has said - this is a crummy phone. I had differnt problems w/ my phone though. After just 5 or 6 months of owning the phone the vibrate feature, the alarm clock feature and all of the games quit working. When I originally took it to Sprint - they took it into the 'back room' and supposedly fixed it. A couple of months later - same problem. Went back to the store and was given a 'new' phone (same model). Well, wouldn't you know it - the problems have started again - this time the backlight won't go off, therefore my battery charge lasts barely a day. Every time I'm in there, I ask them for a different phone, but they don't seem to care. I'm just waiting for my contract to end - next month - and then I'm outta there!!
20 Pretty on the outside, ugly mess within
The Kyocera 2255 is the first and only cell phone I've ever owned. I bought it in the fall of 2001, right when it came out. I got it mainly because of the low price and the (at the time) unique blue backlighting. I will admit the phone actually got a lot of attention when I first started using it.
The only real problem I had with it initially was the fact that it got lousy reception (in direct comparison to other phones that used the same carrier)
But after about 6 months, the phone began exhibiting several defects that interfered with my ability to use it. The most prominent error involved the screen itself. There were times when no text (or symbols of any kind) would appear on the LCD screen. Only the blue backlighting worked. As a result I could no longer use my contact list, see who was calling, or even check my remaining battery charge. I returned the local Sprint PCS store and asked for it to be repaired. Turns out that they don't repair the phones, they send out replacements (no additional charge). I got the replacement in the mail and tediously transferred my contact list between the phones (once the screen was working again on the bad phone.)
Six months later, the screen went out on this phone as well. This time I could force it to appear by squeezing the area just below the screen very firmly. Again, I went to the sprint store to have it replaced. They handed me another replacement at the store, no waiting on the mail this time. They even electronically transferred my contacts, which was helpful.
But here I am today; 9 months later, and about three months ago the phone started acting up again. Now it's worse then before. Rather then just having the screen go blank (which it does, again...), this phone resets itself (just like turning the power on and off) all the time. It resets itself when I plug it into or remove it from the charger. It resets when I attempt to make my first call of the day. It resets when I receive and incoming call. But the random resetting occurs most often during actual usage, causing countless lost calls.
In summary, I've had three of these models all exhibit very serious yet similar issues. I have not mistreated these phones (i.e. getting them wet, dropping them, leaving them in the sun, etc.) There is obviously a continuing manufacturing defect involved in this model's production. Now I can't get a replacement because the warrantee has expired. I don't blame Sprint for this issue, but I will not purchase another Kyocera product again.
Avoid this phone, there are better options w/i the price range.
21 This phone is junk
Don't even consider getting this phone. I had all of the exact problems as listed by the other reviewer. I also had it replaced 2 times and had the exact same issues as the first. SPRINT PCS refused to give me another brand even if i paid the difference. (I paid 129.99 new) So I CANCELLED SPRINT PCS. They are Just Another Greedy Corporation that only cares about selling new customers and not taking care of the existing ones so i cancelled their service and will never go back !
22 defective phones, shoddy customer service.
Several Months ago Virgin gave me a warranty replacement on my Kyocera 2255 because there were serious problems with the screen blanking out and the phone turning of on it's own.
Recently the replacement phone began having similar problems through no mistreatment on my part. and it's condition has progressed to the point that the phone is now almost completely non-functioning.
I called Virgin's Support line twice to try and resolve this problem but was informed that my warranty the initial phone purchase ran out a few days ago. (which is odd to me because I assume a new unit should have renewed the warrenty) The representative I spoke with told me that my options were to either pay for a new phone or switch to another mobile service. He also explained that these sort of problems with the Kyocera 2255 that I have experience with both phones are a very common.
I fail to understand how I am expected to bear the cost of replacing equipment that is known to have serious flaws and durability issues. This seems odd especially since Virgin admitted to me on several occasions the the Kyocera 2255 is known to be defective.
