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1. Fast Shipping, Well kept device and amazing support.

   Posted by Unknown on 18th Feb 2023

   The phone feels well-made and solid, despite being a used model, it looks spotless, no visible scratches, dust, anything. It felt brand new!
   It runs well and has no problem loading up web-pages also, came pre-installed with an app market and some basic apps.
   The touch-cruiser ex is easy to use and makes scrolling easy.
   The sub display is such a unique addition and really makes your phone stand out.
   
   As of now, I only have two concerns:
   
   Micro-usb tends to be fragile. I don't think the phone uses cheap ports, BUT I would still be careful when plugging it in/out.
   
   Lack of a 3.5 mm Jack makes wireless headphones your only meaningful option. Not a deal-breaker, but I still prefer wired headphones.
   
   Aside these two things, the phone is absolutely amazing and is capable of running apps smoothly.
   

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2. Good to have for flip phone fans

   Posted by Unknown on 24th Dec 2017

   I really like the Touch Cruiser Ex feature of the phone. Unlike other Android flip phones with a touch screen which will require you to use two hands to use the screen and the keypad (or very long thumb to reach the screen with one hand), the touch cruiser ex allows me to use the keypad as some sort of touch screen for the phone. I can swipe my fingers and click on the keypad similar to a touch screen, thus allowing me to use one hand.
   
   The battery life is good as confirmed also by the other reviews here. It lasts me about 3 days between charges.
   
   Apps can be installed with ADB or the 1Mobile Market. I only installed Whatsapp and Viber so far as these are the only important apps for me at the moment.
   
   I would like to thank the seller as well, Mr. Kazuto, for the good service. He was very helpful and provided me an extra gift as well to go with the phone.

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3. Good phone but may be not for everyone

   Posted by Clifford on 6th Feb 2017

   An excellent garakei, but as noted from my review title, may not be suitable for everyone. I should attempt to lay clear my experiences from the past 3 months of intense usage. Apologies in advance to readers, as the following would take some time to read through.
   
   Firstly, The Caveats
   This phone (smartphone?) have android 4.4 kitkat as the operating system with a skin over it to adjust it to the flip phone form factor. The initial system would not allow you to install apps from third party, only a few selected apps (Japanese carriers), and some functions of the phone is only available in Japan (e.g. the Osaifu, an e-wallet) or available with a subscription with AU (looking at you internet tethering, I am still looking with a way to deal with it).
   
   In other words this mean no Google Play store - Mr Tominaga has kindly side loaded a third party App Store (1MobileMarket) when mailing the order, but this may be an issue to Android enthusiasts; personally I am fine with it - you are not going to install much apps in the first place.
   
   ROM is 8gb, but usable storage is at only around 4gb so it would mean that you would have to keep an eye on storage management (though this in practice may not prove that much of an issue) - advise on putting media files to the external storage, an sd card slot allowing a maximum of 32 gb
   
   Does not come with a front facing camera - though not sure if this is possible with the present configuration, or is it a deliberate design choice for the Japanese markets? Either way video calls is not an option with this phone.
   
   No 3.5 mm or 2.5 mm analog jack - necessitating the use of a bluetooth earplugs should you wish to listen to audio in privacy.
   
   
   Now, The Goods
   This is a flip phone, for all those nostalgic on this particular form factor (RIP Nokia, the fight continues in Nippon), and for those a bit disgruntled with the proliferation of candy phones (looking at you Apple)
   Design is well thought of as the phone is easily operated with one hand, the back cover in particular feel very nice on your grip.
   
   It has a 13 megapixel main camera, the picture taking experience is slick! Video recording with high definition also comes with the stock app, though there is a cap on how long you can record for a particular session. A note on the camera application though: unless you are willing to use the Touch Cruiser EX extensively in you snapping protocols, I advise sticking to the stock app, it is well integrated with almost all the feature you needs, and more importantly integrated with the control interface of the T9 keypad, which is invaluable in speeding up the picture snapping process. Unfortunately I could not find a way to disable the click sound when snapping pictures, I learn that this is part of the anti-pervet measures (seriously?) required by Japanese law, but this should not be a major distraction in your snapping experience.
   
   Loud and clear front speakers for taking call, though oddly you would find it hard to adjust which speakers you want to use in certain apps (e.g. music streaming and radio apps defaults to back speakers, a tad lower in term of sound quality, not to mention the possibility of embarrassing yourself in a public space, still looking in way to rectify it)
   
   The durability of the hardware, believe me using this phone would spoil you, I switch back to my old Samsung S7 edge to see if I can compare the experience, and durability is definitely a plus for the Aquos SHF31, I can drop it from my desks, in sands, on gravel, with cosmetics damages to the cover (should have purchase a clear case) or more likely than not without a scratch - though I have not yet pick up the courage to try out the water resistance test yet.
   
   Touch Cruise EX - which would allow you to operate a mouse in app using your keypad as a trackpad; rather unique approach to emulating the touch interface of mainstream smartphone, but it look slicks, and feel smooth (though I suspect the software performance would take a hit during RAM intensive sessions), this couple with the T9 touch interface means that you may possibly be able to rival and exceed your smartphone operating speed (the speed at which you the user interface with the phone), but mind you this takes practice.
   
   Battery life - easily lasting several days before needing a charge on moderate to light usage, however I advise grabbing spare battery kits for those who wish to use this heavily (e.g. opening mobile data all day long - this is a particular source of drainage compare to other functions). For best battery life, I advise going to the setting menu and regulating the number of background process that would run at any one time (or you can install Greenify, which would do this for you)
   
   Overall I would recommend this phone to anyone who is seeking a secondary phone, or as a primary phone to someone who does not require a smartphone (but would like to access some apps)
   
   I would also like to thank Mr Tominaga and Kyoex for the service during the ordering process - Mr Tominaga in particular was very kind and patient when handling the entire process. I would definitely choose to buy from Kyoex again in the future, particularly with regards to flip phones.
   
   Thanks and Regards
   A Happy Customer
   

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4. SHF-31

   Posted by Unknown on 29th Dec 2016

   I bought the phone for use in UK and abroad and have been using it for several months now.
   Compared to my over ten years old Sharp flip phone it isn't as good at several things and has several disappointing features -
   silent mode turns vibrate off and you can't bypass this.
   no ramped ringtone option.
   car mode turns on a Japanese announcement to the caller and you then have to press accept to receive a call, so no use for if you are driving!
   I had to install T9 to get autotext to work well as the Android version is rather useless.
   Android is designed to use with a touch screen which the phone doesn't have so there can be problems entering data and scrolling.
   the Android text app is rubbish (locked to Japanese phone numbers so you can't send UK texts with it) and so you need to install another app but you can't turn off the Android one without rooting the phone so receive texts in duplicate on both apps and have to clear the alerts for the Android app.
   4G doesn't work - maybe it is on the wrong frequencies for UK (I thought I'd checked but may have got the wrong model). Not tried many other countries yet but never had 4G yet!
   Obviously as this phone was designed for the Japanese market it has several Japan specific features which is fine. However, sadly not everything that should switch to English does, so you need to be able to read Japanese to be able to use all the internationally available features properly.
   Calendar automatically enters what it thinks are days of interest and I'm yet to find a way you can turn them off - very irritating if you look at it and think you have something happening only to find it has made its own entry.
   I knew from the specification before buying but you can't turn the screen around like you could with the old sharp which you miss a lot as it was great for videos and taking pictures or videos.
   it really needs rooting to get the best from it but most of us don't want to have to re-engineer the software on the phone to be able to use it!
   
   Good points are:-
   general specification is quite good compared to other phones.
   outer mini screen is handy for seeing who is calling or the time but with being on the flat side tends to be the side facing down when you put the phone on something.
   it has only crashed once so far.
   battery life is brilliant - 3 to 5 days between needing charges on average.
   the waterproofing with cover clipped on properly - not tried this yet myself though and hoping not to need to!
   
   I've not tried it with emails so can't comment on this feature.
   
   I really would have liked to get the SHF33 but couldn't get an unlocked one which I think would solve some of the Android issues with having the newer OS and touch screen.
   Obviously it's up to you to decide if the phone suits you - I hope my observations help you decide!

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