Gadgetwise Blog A Phone That Can Take a Dunking

People prone to dropping their phones in the drink – a drop in the toilet is one of the most common cellphone accidents — are usually condemned to buying vaultlike cases to protect their phones from everything including the kitchen sink. But the Kyocera Hydro comes with its dive suit built in. The phone, $130 without a contract from Boost Mobile, is waterproof for up to 30 minutes in water about three feet deep. The phone is compact, about 4.5 by 2.5 by 0.5 inches and weighing 4.16 ounces. The screen is a 3.5 HVGA IPS touch screen that’s clear and legible. Kyocera textured the back of the case with a faux carbon fiber checkerboard. Inside is a one GHz processor, not the fastest on the market, but pretty snappy, and it can take up to a 32-gigabyte micro SD memory card. It comes with a two-GB card installed. The phone’s connection is only 3G. The camera has 3.2 megapixels with software for scene settings, like night portraits or sports, a digital zoom and an LED flash. Using Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, the phone should work with most current apps, and of course it works with all of the Google goodies the Android interacts with, like your online contacts list and Gmail. The call quality was good in my test. In addition to being waterproof, the phone’s chief attraction may be Boost’s pricing plan, which reduces the monthly fees if payments are made on time. The Android plan, which starts at $55 for unlimited talk, text and data, goes to $50 after six on-time payments, $45 a month after 12, and $40 after 18. As with most carriers, the data part of “unlimited“ is conditional – you get 2.5 GB of full-speed data (that’s the connection you use for Web browsing, streaming video and music), after which you still get data but at a slower speed. The phone worked fine after a half-hour in a bucket of water. And while it is waterproof, it makes no claims against jolts, like some rugged phones, such as the Casio G’zOne Commando. But the Hydro may be the right device if you long to Web surf in the shower or text in the tub.