The Kyocera Wild Card

Here in the United States, Virgin Mobile is an oasis in a desert of restrictive two year wireless agreements and expensive data plans. The popular MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) doesn't offer much in the way of high end phones, but it does lease quality bandwidth from Sprint. It offers plans with no annual contracts and prepaid options that let you buy minutes by the bucket load.

Virgin Mobile's latest messaging handset, the Kyocera Wild Card, brings some features you wouldn't expect to find on a low end handset, including numeric and QWERTY keyboards, Bluetooth connectivity, an IM client, and a 1.3 mega pixel camera. Similarly equipped to LG inexpensive rumor, the Wild Card is a message centric device for the cell phone contract phobic.

The lozenge shaped Wild Card measures 3.9 by 2.0 by 0.8 inches and weighs 4.1 ounces. It's relatively small though a bit thick for the average pants pocket. The handset, built almost entirely of shiny plastic, looks less than elegant, although it feels as if it could take some serious knocks and keep ticking. Its rubberized battery cover is inexplicably fastened with a thumbscrew, making it an unnecessary chore to get at the battery.

The Wild Card's horizontally flipping 1.5 inch outer screen sports 128 by 128 pixel resolution and shows caller-ID info. The device opens on the long side to reveal a second 1.8 inch, 128 by 160 pixel screen and a split QWERTY keyboard. The design vaguely resembles last year's misshapen Kyocera Switchback KX21, which had a similar clamshell arrangement.

It have mixed feelings about the Wild Card's two keyboards. The numeric keypad's buttons, five way control pad, and six auxiliary keys are all clearly labeled but slippery to the touch. It consistently missed keys when typing phone numbers throughout the testing period.

It had more luck inside the QWERTY layout is split like an ergonomic desktop PC keyboard, except that the phone has a five way control pad and a giant Space key in the center. The buttons have a pleasant tactile feel and aren't as slippery as the numeric keypad.

There are also dedicated comma and period keys, which speed up messaging. One nice touch, on either keyboard, press the dollar sign button and you'll get your cell plan account balance, deadline to add funds, and available bonus minutes.