Kyocera Echo launched across Sprint’s retail channels

They say that two is better than one, although some of us in troubled marriages might beg to disagree (vehemently, I might add) with that statement. Of course, the advent of touchscreen technology has gone some ways in changing the way we use our cell phones and smartphones, so what happens when Kyocera decides to take a page out of Nintendo’s book by introducing a second screen which is just as large as the first, in its latest smartphone which is known as the Kyocera Echo? You’ll just have to find out in the extended post, that’s what.


The Kyocera Echo is touted to be the first dual-touchscreen smartphone in the US, where it is readily available across all Sprint retail channels, ranging from the Web (www.sprint.com) and Telesales (1-800-Sprint). This Android-powered device will rank on the high-end side of things, which one can tell through its $199.99 price tag (and that’s before taxes) alongside a new two-year service agreement – of course, if you’re an existing Sprint customer and fulfil certain criteria, you’re also eligible for an upgrade that’s subject to their terms and conditions.

A couple of high-resolution 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen displays are connected via a durable, patent-pending Super Copper Alloy “pivot hinge,” and the Kyocera Echo doesn’t skimp on usability since it enables users to use both displays independently, side-by-side or combined – with the last option turning it into a tablet-like experience with 800 x 960 pixels in a 4.7-inch display.

When you want to use just one display, the Echo will fold up easily into a pocket-friendly single-screen configuration. It will run off the Android 2.2 Froyo operating system, although we would have liked to see Android 2.3 Gingerbread ship with it (or an update announced sometime down the road – keep your fingers crossed). Capable of hitching a ride on Sprint’s nationwide 3G network and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) networks, you can also turn the Echo into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot with support for up to 5 devices. Other hardware specifications include a 5-megapixel camera with flash, autofocus and digital zoom and HD recording capability, GPS, 1GB of internal memory and a microSD memory card slot.