Kyocera Milano Review

Introduction:

As Android continues to dominate the smartphone market manufacturers are no longer reserving the flexible OS for their high end devices. The Kyocera Milano is one such device, offering Android 2.3 Gingerbread on the cheap. The sliding QWERTY device skimps on the specs but makes up for it with good build quality and a top-notch keyboard. Included with the Milano you’ll find a 2GB microSD card and microUSB cable/AC adapter combo.

Design:

Kyocera has stuck with the familiar side-slide design for the Milano which reminds us of Frank Reynolds…short and stout. It features just a 3” display with a paltry 240x320 resolution and just 262k colors. The screen quality is poor with fuzzy details and lack of depth. It is by far the worst feature of the phone, but unfortunately it is often the first thing you notice which instantly puts a bad taste in your mouth.



You can compare the Kyocera Milano with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Luckily sliding the Milano open reveals a surprisingly good four row QWERTY keyboard. The keys are slightly raised and textured, and spaced far enough apart that you’re not hitting two at a time. With the Milano’s smaller design you don’t have to reach to access the middle of the keyboard, making texting comfortable and pleasant.



The build quality all around is quite good for a low end device. The spring-assisted slide mechanism is smooth and solid and we don’t have any worries about it failing. The four physical navigation keys on the front as well as the volume rocker, power and camera buttons along the sides all offer a reassuring click when pressed. The battery door has a coating of soft touch paint giving it good grip.

Once you get past the poor display the Kyocera Milano isn’t a half bad phone for what it is. The smaller form factor is more comfortable for the smaller hands the Milano is targeted at. The keyboard is nice to type on and the good build quality means it will hold up to everyday use.

Interface and Software:

Like many Sprint mid-tier Android devices the Kyocera Milano is a SprintID device, allowing for a few dozen downloadable custom layouts. At its base is Android 2.3.4, and without an ID pack the device is a nearly vanilla Android experience. With the exception of some Sprint apps like Mobile Wallet and Sprint Zone there is almost no bloatware on the device, which we appreciate. All the stock Android apps are in place, like the calendar, messaging and browser.


The one app that will stand out to some is the Eco Mode app, which is basically a quick settings app that lets you set options like backlight, brightness, haptic feedback and wallpaper to “green” settings. It isn’t anything special, but being reminded of your power consumption is never a bad thing.



Running off an 800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7627T with 512MB of ROM and RAM the Kyocera Milano is speedier than you’d expect. It stutters a bit in some more advanced animations and screen transitions, but in overall use it is relatively smooth. Quadrant scores were in the 1200-1300 range, putting the Milano on par with last year’s top devices like the Motorola Droid X and Samsung Nexus S.



Connectivity:

The browser performs quickly enough, and while the magnifying glass zoom isn’t exactly fluid double tapping or using pinch to zoom works well enough.


The Kyocera Milano uses Sprint’s 3G EVDO Rev. 0 network and supports GPS, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and Wi-Fi b/g/n. Like most of their Android lineup, the Milano can be used as a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five devices.

Camera and Multimedia:

The Milano features a 3.2 megapixel camera that can record VGA video. While these may be pedestrian specs, the results were respectable. Fine details get fuzzy when viewed at full resolution, there is some expected grain in lower light situations and colors are a bit muted but for the casual user the images are perfectly usable. The same can be said about the video performance; while it isn’t perfect playback was smooth and audio was good. Options are fairly limited with no real adjustments other than choosing modes (ex, macro or portrait) and filters like sepia or black and white.



Kyocera Milano Sample Video:



The Kyocera Milano uses the stock Android music player so the experience is familiar with no surprises. Our test videos are encoded in H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid and DivX. The Milano only recognized the first two formats, and of those only the MPEG-4 files would actually play. We don’t imagine too many people will be using the low-res 3” display to watch movies however, so it isn’t a large issue. The included 2GB memory card can be expanded to 32GB if you’re looking to turn the Milano into a personal media player.

Performance:

Callers really liked the quality of the Kyocera Milano, rating us an 8.5/10. They said it was one of the better devices we’ve tested and that it was not nasally, distant or hollow. On our end the volume was quite good, though callers sounded a bit hollow. Still, voice reproduction was accurate. Battery life is rated at a respectable 7.7 hours of talk time.

Conclusion:

The Kyocera Milano is not a perfect phone by any means. For starters the screen is very poor by just about any standard, which is a big component of the user experience. The processor is a mere 800MHz and memory is just half a gig. All of that said, for a budget smartphone it runs fairly smooth and has a great keyboard for tapping out texts and emails. Smartphones are no longer just for the sophisticated and the suits, and this phone is squarely aimed at the teens and tweens who want a bit more from their messaging device but don’t want to spend a lot of money. Our budget smartphone pick on Sprint still remains the LG Optimus S, but for those who need the QWERTY the Milano is worth a look.

Software version of the reviewed unit:
Android 2.3.4
S/W 1.002SP