Kyocera Torque Review

Call Quality

Kyocera is the first manufacturer to bring tissue conducting technology to the US market, something they’ve dubbed Smart Sonic Receiver. Initially debuted with KDDI in Japan last year, this technology uses piezoelectric actuators to vibrate the entire display, which in turns transmits sound via both air waves and tissue conduction to the eardrum. The end result is clearer audio, in both quiet and noisy environments. Though it may seem like black magic, it actually works quite well and the technology was recognized “Best of What’s New” by Popular Science last November. The call quality is very good, and if you didn’t tell them the average user would have no idea of the special tech at play in the Torque.

Callers were also impressed with the Torque, saying it was one of the better devices we’ve tested and rating it 9/10. They said we sounded slightly muffled, but the call clarity was great. The Torque is the second Sprint device to support HD Voice, behind the HTC EVO 4G LTE, though the technology isn’t up and running on the network side in most markets.


Battery

With a 2500mAh battery, the Torque claims up to 18.9 hours of talk time, an unprecedented number in the CDMA world. This is achieved using Kyocera’s Eco Smart mode and MaxiMZR, which turns off non-essential background data. Even if it is able to achieve half of that number it is quite impressive, and should last the average user at least a full day if not more.


Conclusion

Despite being a mid-range Android device running an OS that is well over a year old, the Kyocera Torque is an amazingly advanced device. It is well designed, and passed our torture tests with flying colors. The Smart Sonic Receiver technology is nothing short of amazing, and we are still a bit in awe of the lack of a speaker. Call quality, battery life and OS performance are all very good. The Torque has a few drawbacks, mostly the fact that Direct Connect cannot be used while LTE is turned on, but overall this is a very good phone. For your everyday user looking for something a bit more durable, or for a construction worker who demands a phone that can take a daily beating, the Kyocera Torque is a phone worth looking at.

Software 1.006SP
Android 4.0.4

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