Kyocera is huge in Asia. They do have some Top smartphones however the ones released to North America are on the very low end because of the price range most north americans are willing to pay, plus most kyoceras come as "Free phones" with contract so the service provider will not purchase High end Kyocera phones.
I wouls say Nokia is the best any day due to the quality, funcionality and durability. Ask any Nokia owner how many times they have dropped their phones and for how long it continued working! They keep going on and on! Drop a RAZR V3 and end of story!