Kyocera Melo S1300

The Kyocera Melo S1300 (*est. $80) is a candy-bar cell phone that can be purchased with a prepaid plan from MetroPCS or Cricket. (The Cricket model drops "Melo" from its name.) At 4.3 inches by 1.7 inches by 0.5 inches, the S1300 is quite thin. Its design makes it extremely easy to tote around in a pocket. PCMag.com's Sascha Segan is especially impressed by the Melo's signal strength, which he compares to the "generally good" Samsung Messager. It has a talk time of four hours and 16 minutes, which is average for a handset in this class. Other features include a 250-entry phone book, WAP browser, microUSB charging port and built-in games.

While signal strength is one of the Kyocera Melo S1300's upsides, its call quality is a bit suspect. In Segan's test of the S1300, a hiss is present in quiet areas. The Melo's integrated speakerphone also suffers from the same imperfections in the voice signal. The S1300's 1.8-inch display is dimmer than that of other phones due to the use of a cheaper LCD technology. The software occasionally crashes while playing a game or using the web browser. Users at Phone Scoop also point out that the S1300 can be difficult to navigate for those with bigger-than-average hands. The Kyocera Melo S1300 isn't terrible for a fairly basic phone, but it's generally not recommended, primarily for its poor call quality. Good alternatives in the same price range are the Samsung MyShot (MetroPCS) or the Samsung Knack (Verizon). Both handsets get better reviews than the Melo S1300 for call quality, and the MyShot also has a built-in camera.

The best review of the Kyocera Melo S1300 is available at PCMag.com. Editor Sascha Segan compares it with a number of different models available. There are not many user reviews for this phone yet, but some can be seen at PhoneScoop.com and PhoneArena.com. Users agree with the experts on both the perks and downsides for this handset.