Nov 24, 2008 05:56 PM
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Looks are everything these days, and we have the long standing RAZR craze to thank for that. The RAZR in its various forms has sold 50 million copies and every manufacturer, including Motorola themselves hopes to replicate that success with the "next big thing". So far the likes of the SLVR, PEBL, LG Chocolate and other pretty faces haven't managed, though some have done well in their own right. The KRZR is Moto's most recent attempt to meld Jaguar tastes with slim-is-in hip good looks. The K1m is the CDMA version of the KRZR not to be confused with the blue GSM network KRZR K1(not offered by any US carrier at the moment). Actually the KRZR isn't impossibly thin, though it's certainly slim enough to look good and fit in most any pocket without requiring careful sit-downs.
To give you an idea, the RAZR V3 is .54" thin and the KRZR is .67". But it is very narrow, unusually so. The RAZR is a wide beast, though nobody seemed to mind and the KRZR is so much narrower it almost doesn't look like a phone when closed. It might be a bit too narrow for big-fisted men, though women will likely find it fairly comfy. The MOTOKRZR is about looks and doesn't have every bell and whistle under the sun. It's got a 1.3MP camera with no flash, a MicroSD(aka TransFlash) card slot for memory expansion, voice dialing, a speakerphone, Bluetooth and a music player. It's offered by Verizon in the US and supports EVDO for fast data and Verizon's V Cast service. The finish is all smoke and mirrors: black, gray, sultry, at turns highly reflective like a mirror and at other angles looking more metallic. Moto calls it dark pearl gray.
The lower section of the flip(actually a part of the keypad portion of the phone) is black metallic as are the sides of the outer flip. Between these black pearl metallic edges you'll find an inset black glass section which is home to the touch sensitive music player controls, external display and the small camera lens. The sides are contrasting light silver and the bottom curved surfaces are stippled like some high-end Euro personal appliance or perhaps a car's grille. The KRZR's loud, clear and generally excellent speaker lives under that grille. Open the flip to reveal Motorola's signature flat metal keypad that looks oh so yummy though it's not the greatest for dialing by feel. Motorola has put fairly distinct ridges between the keys and the numbers are backlit in blue which helps somewhat.
To aid in dialing, there's an option called "Talking Phone" which will speak the digits you dial and will also read off contacts' names in your address book as you scroll through them. Above the keypad you'll find the large, easy to operate d-pad, call send and end buttons, a camera button and clear / back button. To start the still camera, press the camera button quickly; to take videos press and hold the camera button until the camcorder launches. The standard mini USB port is located on the phone's left side as is the volume up/down rocker and the speakerphone button(press to turn on, press again to turn off). The right side is nearly bare— one button that does double duty to launch voice dialing(press quickly) and voice recorder(press and hold). In contrast, the KRZR's back is nearly pedestrian. It's dark gray with the Motorola and Verizon logos saving it from monotony.
The battery lives under the door on the back and the MicroSD card slot is under the battery door beside the battery. There's a little rubber block in the MicroSD card slot area which helps keep the card in place— a seemingly odd and primitive design. It's not easy to get the card out, and we wonder how well the card will stay in place once the hard rubber wears down. You need not remove the battery to insert or remove a MicroSD card. Good looks are nice, but the MOTOKRZR's raison d-etre is making calls, so how does it do? Very well! Voice quality is superb, in fact it's one of the best we've heard on Verizon. There's no syllable dropping, no garbling and no background noise on incoming or outgoing calls. Call volume is good and the speakerphone is loud and clear with minimal distortion at high volume. To switch to speakerphone, simply press the left side button. Once in speakerphone mode you can close the flip and continue the call(it won't hang up). The KRZR features Voice Signal's voice recognition software which as always works reliably. You need not record voice tags since Voice Signal uses true recognition and it supports a variety of commands besides voice dialing including Send(message), Lookup, Phone Status, and set volume.
To start voice recognition press the button on the phone's right side(the clamshell must be open). On the data front, EVDO and Verizon's V Cast service work well on the phone with decent V Cast streaming video performance that's not quite as good as the LG Chocolate on Verizon. For those who wish to use the KRZR as a high speed wireless modem for a PC, the phone does support DUN(dial up networking). In the Dallas Forth Worth area we found the KRZR had good reception that's on par with other recent Verizon phones such as the LG VX8300 and Chocolate. It's not quite as good as the RAZR, but is pretty close and manages to hold a call even in our RF-challenged areas. The phone has separate signal meters for voice/1xRTT and EVDO. Beyond voice and fashion, the Moto is meant to be a portable music player. The phone uses Verizon's player software with support for music downloads, playlists, play by genre, artist, album, shuffle and more. The touch sensitive controls on the outer flip control playback(pause/play, fast forward/rewind) but can't launch or quit the music player nor can it change playlists. Sadly, the phone comes with neither a stereo headset nor a Micro SD card which you'll need to listen to tunes. Verizon's$30 Music Essentials Kit is a wise buy if you wish to listen to music since it includes a stereo headset, USB cable and software CD to get music onto the phone and rip CDs. In contrast, they sell the headset alone for$30, so you get the idea.
The phone uses a standard mini USB cable which you can find at any consumer electronics store should you wish to sync Outlook data using Motorola Phone Tools(sold separately) or freeware products like BitPim. And you can copy already ripped music directly to a MicroSD card using your computer's card reader if you don't wish to purchase the Essentials kit. The phone can play MP3, WMA and AAC files(though we had some trouble with unprotected AAC files burned from CDs using iTunes). The KRZR uses a proprietary jack for charging, syncing and stereo music output but an adapter in the box allows you to use 2.5mm stereo headphones. Music quality through the built in speaker is surprisingly good and quite loud. Along those lines, should you wish to watch V Cast video sans headphones, you'll be pleasantly surprised(though those around you might not be if you're in a public place).
