Motorola K1m - Red (AT&T) Cellular Phone

Key features:
extraordinary design plus high-quality materials
excellent construction
slim design similar to the original RAZR
good legibility of the main display
exceptional keypad
2 megapixel camera
some elements are copied from the rich equipment of Motorola V3x
slot for a microSD memory card
USB Mass Storage
charging via USB
Bluetooth
Main disadvantages:
few innovations as to the original RAZR
the top half of the clamshell catches fingerprints extremely easy
two music players of average quality instead of a good single one
camera takes images of very poor quality
main display has low resolution
poor legibility of the external display

Motorola KRZR

For more than two years now Motorola has been successfully selling its original slim model Motorola RAZR. It was the first manufacturer to use an etched keypad mounted into a clamshell of the unbelievable thickness of 15 mm. Nowadays, the market offers a variety of phones of similar features, see Motorola’s direct competitor the Ultra Edition by Samsung, so the time for a new fighter has apparently come. Have a look at Motorola KRZR!

Magnesium taste
The entire name of Motorola’s new model is Motorola KRZR K1. I personally find it as unattractive and soundless as the names HTC has recently been using (STRTrk, MTeoR etc.).

Since numerous users expressed dissatisfaction with RAZR’s width (they found the phone too wide), Motorola has narrowed its new KRZR by more than 1 cm. The result is that the new clamshell is far more comfortable to hold in hand. On the other side, KRZR is 5 mm longer and 2 mm thicker than its forerunner – a difference you might not even notice if both models are not placed side by side. The exact size of Motorola KRZR is: 103 x 42 x 16 mm and it weighs 102 grams.

I must confess that I was really happy to be able to take pictures of Motorola KRZR. It has plenty to show: its top half is all covered with mineral glass said to protect from scratches for a longer time than usual (not tested though). The surface is glossy; dark blue, with violet nuances under particular light conditions; it suits it really well. After having made an inquiry among its clients Motorola proclaimed that „blue is the new black“- a highly true statement in the case of KRZR. In fact, the phone looks even more attractive in reality than in pictures due to its feature to reflect surrounding objects.

Motorola KRZR looks quite loaded/equipped

Yet, beauty comes at the expense of the legibility of the external display, even if miracles could hardly be expected from a display that is not only passive but also hidden behind a „mirror“. The external display is 19 mm wide and 16 mm high and supports 65K colors (some Motorola sources say 262K). Direct sunlight makes it fully illegible leaving the user without a single detail about the state of the phone. Visualization in the dark looks better, but even here white seems rather grey and color saturation is low. The last con to mention regards fingerprints – Motorola KRZR requires frequent cleaning. According to the information we obtained at the press conference held after the phone had been launched, the retail package contains a cleaning cloth. However, we cannot confirm this information as we received only the device itself.

Good Quality phone. I had a V3 Razr before this and I like this phone much better. Its not as wide and feels better made than the razr.

The Good:
The Motorola Krzr K1 offers good call quality and comes with Bluetooth, a 2-megapixel camera, and a speakerphone. Good service quality with quad band. Nice metallic finish. sleek and small. Micro SD card slot for more storage.

The Bad:
The Motorola Krzr K1 lacks 3G support and external music controls compared to the K1m

The bottom line:
Overall I rank this phone a 8.5 of 10.
Though the GSM Motorola Krzr K1 has a more attractive color scheme than the CDMA Krzr K1m, some feature differences make it mostly comparable with its sibling.

Specifications
Manufacturer: Motorola Corp. Part number: KRZRK1 General
Cellular technology GSM Band / mode GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) Weight 3.6 oz Wireless Interface Bluetooth (A2DP) Color Cosmic blue Standby time Up to 348 h Combined with With digital camera / digital player Phone

Vibrating Alert Yes
Voice Recorder Yes
Speakerphone Yes
Polyphonic Ringer Yes
Alarm Clock Yes
Calendar Yes
Multi-language Menu Yes

Additional Features Push-to-talk mode, Push-to-view mode Digital Camera
Camera highlights With a resolution of 2 megapixels, this camera phone will give you better pictures than other phones. Digital zoom 8 Digital video formats 3gp, MPEG-4 Video recorder resolutions 352 x 288 (CIF) Messaging / Data Services

Voice Mail Capability Yes
Short Messaging Service (SMS) Yes
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Yes
JAVA applications Yes
Messaging / Data Features Screen3 Messaging Services EMS, MMS Digital Player / Recorder
Digital player supported digital audio standards AAC, MP3 Digital player/recorder type Digital player Display
Display Type LCD display Display technology TFT Diagonal Size 1.9 in Display Resolution 176 x 220 pixels Color Support Color Color Depth 18-bit (262000 Colors) Power
Talk time Up to 390 min
Audible Battery Alert Yes
Cellular
Phone style Folder type phone
Automatic Redial Yes
Call Divert Yes
Call Barring Yes
Call Hold Yes
Caller ID Yes
Call Waiting Yes
Volume Control Yes
Ringer Control Yes
Conference Call Capability Yes
Computer Link Yes
Physical Characteristics
Width 1.7 in Depth 0.6 in Height 4.1 in
Antenna Integrated

All right, so I'm just out of high school, right? I text. I talk all the time. I play games, I listen to music 24/7. I do all of that stupid teenage stuff. And I was looking for the phone to put all of those things together minus being stupid and teenager-ly.

So I looked into it, I did my research, and this and the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic were my last two choices. I chose this one because it had a 2-megapixel camera. However, upon buying the phone (new from T-mobile) I found that it didn't take pictures any better than my brother's Samsung Trace (another T-Mobile phone, and a pretty good one at that). In fact, in most situations, the Trace took BETTER pictures in all different kinds of lighting. Even the CNET review of this phone agrees with me on that.

As far as the mp3 player goes, the application for the mp3 player runs PAINFULLY slow. The speaker on the phone for the music is nice and loud though, and the phone is capable of holding 2GB of memory, which is nice.

But all in all, the absolute WORST (and I mean worst. Just awful) part of this phone is the RECEPTION. Dear God. Now, I know that T-Mobile isn't world-renowned in its reception capabilities, but when I'm standing in the middle of my house and I have five bars of service then suddenly none, something can't be right. Now, I used to have a Nokia 3220 (look it up. It's not even a flip or slider phone) and compared to the Motorola KRZR, the Nokia's reception was FAR better. I took up this problem with T-Mobile, and they gave me a new sim card, but to no avail. The reception is still awful. So I thought I'd try something, seeing as I'm looking to sell it - I got my phone unlocked. So I put in a friend of mine's Cingular SIM card just to see if the reception would be better - it wasn't. And I live in the city.

Another thing I cannot stand with this phone is when I'm simply trying to send someone a text message and at the start of writing the message, I have service. And at when I try to send it, my phone is suddenly searching for reception! Also, when it comes to texting with this phone - if you are someone who texts frequently DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE. Go into a local phone shop and try out the texting for yourself. Motorola's iTap text messaging system is downright awful in comparison to most other brands. When you write out a sentence, it takes the KRZR so painfully long to finish it. As you text out a word, each character takes roughly two seconds JUST TO APPEAR ON THE SCREEN. And, if you are misspelling a word, the phone will not stop you like my old Nokia did. You can literally press the '5' key ten times and Motorola's iTap engine will try and make a word out of it like "Lljlljllkj". Ridiculous.

Also, even if you don't text, you will notice how slow the phone runs. Simply going through your Contacts can prove to be a lengthy task.

I bought this phone when it was 199.99 with a two-year service plan with T-Mobile. And for a college kid, that's a lot of cash. And I regret it. I tried out the phone in the store, and the texting thing even annoyed me in there, but I had my heart set on buying this anyway. I told myself I would get used to it and like it. I don't. At all.

Sure, the KRZR has got some nice features with Bluetooth, a nice shiny exterior, and the "Motorola" name tag slapped on it. But if you're planning on buying this phone, I wouldn't recommend it.

This phone rocks! Okay if you are the type that wants the kitchen sink, then this phone isn’t for you. I wanted a small compact phone (almost half the width of a RAZR and slim) with all the great features. Throw in a 1G card and you are ready. Download your mp3 to the phone and use the stereo headphones, sounds great. One touch dialing and voice recognition are some of its cool features as well. Lots of options on the phonebook as well, Pictures, ring tones, email etc. All this and it fits right into your pocket. And the best feature is the 2 mega pixel camera onboard, takes great shots when you need it. 4x zoom too. Don’t throw away your digital camera yet, just know that in an instant you can get a quick pic of your best friend with beer shooting out of her nose when you tell her about your latest date. Unfortunately if you want this phone, you can only get it on Ebay, Motorola has replaced it with the V9 (don’t be fooled, not the same phone, it is a Razr in disguise)

The Motorola KRZR K1 is the latest phone from the manufacturers of the iconic RAZR phone. The KRZR is one of the slimmest flip phones on the market today and is coated with a stunning toughened glass finish which complements the cosmic blue and silver beautifully.

With dimensions of 103 x 42 x 16 the handset is taller and slimmer than the RAZR which makes it very easy to hold and comfortable to use. An external colour screen with 96 x 80 pixel resolution makes it easy to see who is calling before you answer. Internally the TFT screen is much higher quality with a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels.

As you may expect from a Motorola the camera is high quality and has a resolution of 2 mega pixels with an 8x digital zoom and automatic flash. With 20 megabytes of internal memory upgradeable via a MicroSD memory card you can store lots of photos and video clips. A variety of camera settings and photo effects allow you to create great photos and the video camera can store up to 25 minutes of high quality footage. An impressive extra called Screen 3 technology allows you to view the latest news stories and sports headlines on your phone at the touch of a button.

In addition to the camera the Motorola KRZR K1 comes equipped with an integrated music player with stereo speakers which work via the hands free speaker phone. The speaker phone accepts voice dialling and prompts so you can call without touching a button. Common to other Motorola models the music software is intuitive to use and makes it easy to manage your tracks.

A variety of preloaded Java games are included and you can easily download more using the internet browser. Downloading is very quick thanks to the super fast EDGE internet connection or you can share your friend’s games using Bluetooth. Organising your life is made simple with an intuitive calendar system and phone book. The KRZR supports MMS and SMS messages so you can send photos and audio messages to your friends.

If you want to use your phone abroad the quad band Motorola supports GSM 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 and will switch automatically.

Battery life on the KRZR is good with 300 hours of standby time and 6 hours talk time.

For those of you who liked the RAZR the KRZR is the best phone on the market this year.