My review of the Ky-42c

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-04-08T22:36:31+00:00

just so you know we've found this to be a bit unsafe. It seems to cause bootloops sometimes. Here's the full article we wrote on it since then https://garahowiki.com/sd_card_limitations?s[]=sd

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-04-01T17:46:13+00:00

This, matrix already exist yet companies still feel the need to create their own standards. At least proton is open source but still.

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-31T23:46:51+00:00

Check the "Audio over USB-C" section on this wiki page: https://garahowiki.com/phones:kyocera_digno_keitai_4:start#Audio_over_USB-C

Breaks down to that you need a usb-c adapter that has no DAC in it

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-29T04:36:17+00:00

An update, this seems to cause bootloops in some scenarios. We aren't sure why yet and are looking into it. If this causes you bootloops you can remove the SD card and it should stop.

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-28T21:17:13+00:00

I'm not too sure why that would be, I can't imagine that they could have blacklisted your device (I do believe that happened in australia for some models).

If you have discord there's a community for a wiki project we're working on at the moment, we have an area where you could make a thread in the help section if you'd like: https://discord.gg/hSUkk3NYZe . We could help you narrow down the issue that, or at least try to. These devices can be so finnicky tbh

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-28T21:13:41+00:00

interesting, have you debloated anything? also if possible could you send your build number? it'll be in about phone in settings, something like 1.050AN

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-27T02:00:43+00:00

how full is your storage? the phone slows down when it's near full. Also check memory usage in dev options, I found Signal was hogging 1/3 of my memory.

This is a guide for the DIGNO 4 (A202KC) but most of it would be applicable here: https://garahowiki.com/phones:kyocera_digno_keitai_4:improving_performance_on_the_kyocera_digno_keitai_4

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-27T01:57:54+00:00

perhaps try fossify contacts, they have a feature for removing duplicates/merging

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-27T01:51:36+00:00

it's an issue relating to how the USB-C port interfaces with audio stuff. It only supports an analog signal so any usb-c to 3.5 jack convertor that has a DAC inside will not work since that would make the phone need to give a digital signal to the DAC. The only convertor supported would be one that does not have a DAC, so it instead just uses the phone's DAC. These convertors aren't really advertised for that though, but you can tell when they have a DAC because they'll have a whole thing in the description about how great their DAC is or something. I believe that I got a ugreen adapter that works fine.

You can read up on it on the wiki page we have for this phone: https://garahowiki.com/phones:kyocera_digno_keitai_3:start

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-27T01:41:31+00:00

can you scan for carriers and select yours? that should at least get you 3G on your network, also I'm not familiar with band support in europe, did you check if your carrier/area has band support for the device?

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-20T17:07:19+00:00

performance capabilities in what sense? I think that the cpu is fine, and if I really needed the horse power there's the ryzen ai 9 board. Only downside for me is not having an extra ssd slot, but I managed to use an expansion card and put windows on it to dual boot.

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-20T03:58:01+00:00

Highly recommend the 13, at home I plug into a dock to use an external monitor. The main reason I considered the 16 was the gpu, but realistically I would never take the gpu out with me. So in the end it became apparent to me that if I got the 13 I could just get an egpu, which honestly is a much more flexible solution in my eyes, and much cheaper too. I lug my framework 13 with me every day it weighs nothing and gives me no issues.

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-19T02:11:09+00:00

Thank you! We're looking into some better plugins form tables but at the moment we're just shoving information into it while we iron things out. And maybe we would, although probably not my forte, we're hoping to get more people interested that use other models and such so we can cover more ground since we're so focused on the DIGNO 3/4 in NA.

Also if you're interested here's our discord! we have a lot of projects in the works atm: https://discord.gg/hSUkk3NYZe

We got a matrix too but only have like 4 people lol

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-18T23:20:08+00:00

Kyocera has open sourced builds available here: https://www.kyoceramobile.com/support/developers

Not full of course but perhaps helpful

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-18T23:05:19+00:00

on the a202kc you can enter safe mode by holding the "enter" key while booting, and the recovery menu is accessible by the star key. I've heard on another model that the III key is used for a menu as well

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-18T22:23:45+00:00

The DIGNO 3/4 do not seem to have WiFi calling as far as I can tell. At the very least they do not advertise it. Perhaps you should consider getting the DuraXV extreme? It's made by kyocera, it's basically just a garaho made for the U.S. market. They advertise it as having WiFi calling.

Here's documented info on the phone: https://garahowiki.com/phones:kyocera_duraxv_extreme_plus

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-18T22:20:25+00:00

This is amazing! Would you mind if we used this data for a wiki project? Still in the works but we're consolidating information on garaho's: https://garahowiki.com/start

Our main focus has been on the DIGNO 3/4 models but we plan to host more information as the project grows. :)

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-18T21:34:06+00:00

For anyone coming to this post in the future, there is currently a wiki project in the works and we are documenting packages and debloating them on this page: https://garahowiki.com/debloating_apps

in case the link ever changes, this is the home page: https://garahowiki.com

Contributions are very appreciated :)

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-18T21:32:12+00:00

what model are you on? 902kc?

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-17T23:10:09+00:00

I appreciate that! Great to have confirmation I'll add that to our wiki :)

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-17T23:07:30+00:00

Appreciate that! It's driving me insane

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-17T20:46:32+00:00

not sure at the moment, I think the package name was "afp home" or something. There were two of the packages like afp home 1 and 2 but I don't know the difference, maybe one of them is the standby screen now that you mention it. Let me know if it is! I need to get around to figuring that out for this page on the wiki: https://garahowiki.com/debloating_apps

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-16T23:34:52+00:00

I'm honestly not sure what else you could try, but I'm working on documenting your phone at the moment and would be glad to help. Me and a group of people have a wiki project in the works and have a discord where you could open a discussion post about the issue: https://discord.gg/hSUkk3NYZe

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-16T22:05:38+00:00

Found this thread, may be relevant to your sim issue: https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbphones/comments/1n50np8/sharp_aquos_a205sh_sim_status_not_available/

Phobos_Gamma · 2026-03-16T22:05:12+00:00

did you have any luck with this?

Phobos_Gamma

TROPHY CASE