Kyocera Echo Problems?

The new Kyocera Echo smart phone has landed and while the dual-screen design impresses, the lack of 4G and a dual-core processor might hurt its chances of being a real threat in the smartphone world.

Kyocera will ship the Echo with Android 2.2 Froyo – a capable version of Android that has proven itself on plenty of other handsets. But don’t expect to move on to the next dessert on the menu any time soon. The extensive customizations Kyocera had to pull in order to make it run on two screens will prove quite a burden to recreate with every upgrade. It’s a bit more work than merely reskinning the interface after all. Result: New versions of Android are going to take a while as Kyocera engineers figure out how to adapt them for the Echo, if they come at all.

The closest thing Android has had to a dual-screen phone was the Samsung Continuum, which didn't really make much of a splash. Kyocera has done much better with the Echo, but is it good enough to compete in today's smartphone world? Read on to find out.

Hardware The Kyocera Echo feels solid and well-built. When folded it's almost the same length/width as the original Motorola Droid, but it's a bit thicker (like an old school Nokia candybar phone). It's also heavier than the already heavy-ish Droid. Personally, I've always preferred the solid metal and I don't mind the extra weight. Folded it you can only see one of the 3.5-inch LCD screens, both which are of roughly the same quality as the Droid, but .2-inches smaller.