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Water lovin' Hydro Vibe has the clean look (pictures)

In addition to a water-resistant exterior, a 4.5-inch screen, and 4G LTE, Sprint's Kyocera Hydro Vibe also sports a cheap on-contract price.

Lynn La
Lynn La covers mobile reviews and news. She previously wrote for The Sacramento Bee, Macworld and The Global Post.
Lynn La
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1 of 8 Josh Miller/CNET

Nothing to fear around water

Currently available on Sprint for $29.99 with a two-year contract, the Hydro Vibe is a budget Android phone that is certified water-resistant to boot.

Read more about the Kyocera Hydro Vibe for Sprint.

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2 of 8 Josh Miller/CNET

A slim profile

The device measures 5.02 inches tall, 2.5 inches wide, and 0.43-inch thick (127.4 x 63.5 x 10.9mm), and can fit easily in your front jeans pockets or handbag. It's also lightweight at 4.9 ounces (139g).

Read more about the Kyocera Hydro Vibe for Sprint.

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3 of 8 Josh Miller/CNET

Easy access to the camera

The right has a shortcut button for quick access to the camera (which you can customize to launch video instead, if that's what you prefer).

Read more about the Kyocera Hydro Vibe for Sprint.

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4 of 8 Josh Miller/CNET

Time for a bath

Certified to satisfy IPX5 and IPX7 standards for waterproofing, the Hydro Vibe can survive a good dunking. It can be submerged in up to a 3.28 feet (1 meter) of water for 30 minutes. Just be sure that your back cover is completely secured.

Read more about the Kyocera Hydro Vibe for Sprint.

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5 of 8 Josh Miller/CNET

Protecting the hardware

Inside the handset is a battery, the SIM card, and the microSD card slot right above. On the underside of the back cover, you can see the water seal (in orange) that protects the phone's innards.

Read more about the Kyocera Hydro Vibe for Sprint.

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6 of 8 Josh Miller/CNET

A ho-hum 8-megapixel camera

Both the rear- and front-facing cameras have several editing features like five white-balance options, three exposure settings, a meter to adjust brightness, and three quality levels. The camera can also record in 1080p HD video.

Read more about the Kyocera Hydro Vibe for Sprint.

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7 of 8 Josh Miller/CNET

Running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

The handset runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and contains a few choice features from Kyocera that make it unique. There's an Easy Mode option that simplifies and minimizes the UI, and an EcoMode widget that helps users conserve battery life.

Read more about the Kyocera Hydro Vibe for Sprint.

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8 of 8 Josh Miller/CNET

Quad-core power inside

Powering the 4G LTE Hydro Vibe is a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor and a 2,000mAh battery that has a reported talk time of 14 hours.

Read more about the Kyocera Hydro Vibe for Sprint.

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