Motorola KRZR K1

Motorola KRZR K1 Phone rating:

Warning: although this phone looks great, and initially we liked it, it has become clear that the KRZR has many reliability and durability issues. Of all the phones currently on the market, this one seems to be the most likely to fail in some way. We have to say that you'd be KRZY to buy it after reading the reviews on this page. Instead, consider the RIZR Z3, which is almost the same as the KRZR but in a slide design (and more reliable), or the 3G Motorola MAXX or V3XX.
Now that superslim phones are everywhere, Motorola's offerings in this department were starting to look a bit old-fashioned, even though it was Motorola's RAZR phone that started the whole superslim trend. Motorola strikes back with the KRZR K1 (or MOTOKRZR as the company likes to call it). The KRZR is a clamshell phone, like the RAZR, and shares a lot of the RAZR's technology, but whereas the RAZR was a man-sized phone, being quite wide despite its thinness, the KRZR is a much narrower phone that fits better in the hand and is more ergonomic all round.
The styling of the KRZR has been updated, with a reflective glass-coated surface that makes the KRZR stand out from the crowd (and acts as a magnet for fingerprints, by the way!) Although it's a fashion phone, it has a well thought-out design, with a functional (if small) keypad, and good ergonomics. However, the glass used is fragile and can scratch, crack or shatter, even when treated carefully. We have never before encountered a phone where so many users have reported a broken screen. This is obviously a design fault or manufacturing defect.
In addition to it's pretty looks, the KRZR has high spec features too. The main internal display is a high quality TFT screen with 262,000 colours and the same resolution as the RAZR: 176 x 220 pixels. The external display is rather poor, though, being of inferior CSTN technology which fades in bright sunlight. The integrated camera is 2 megapixels with an 8x digital zoom and a built-in picture editor, but no flash. There's also a video recording capability at CIF resolution, with a maximum duration of 25 minutes per clip. The absence of a flash is a disappointment, and limits the use of the camera. Next up is the music player. This supports MP3, AAC and AAC+ formats with stereo output to headphones via mini-USB or wireless Bluetooth. The KRZR isn't the best music player phone, as there is no support for drag and drop file transfer and only mono output from the built-in loudspeaker. Still, it does the job. MP3 tracks can also be used as ringtones.
There isn't a lot of internal memory in the KRZR - just 20 Mbytes - but the good news is that this can be expanded using a TransFlash memory card up to 2 Gbytes. As already mentioned, connectivity options are Bluetooth and USB (no infrared). Fast internet access is available via EDGE. Usefully the phone is quadband, so will operate globally. Battery life is average. The KRZR does suffer from having the unintuitive menus that non-Motorola users find so hard to use, so Nokia and Sony Ericsson users watch out! Texting is particularly tricky. There are also various software issues with the KRZR. These seem to depend on which batch of the phone you try, but you can get a flavour of the kinds of problems people have experienced by reading the user reviews below.
In summary, the MOTOKRZR is a cool fashion phone and being Motorola's first new superslim phone for about a year it would be a natural choice for RAZR users looking to upgrade. The KRZR doesn't excel in the photographic or music departments, but it's certainly an all-round performer that is more unisex in form and more ergonomic to use than the RAZR. However, the problems with the glass breaking and the software errors that users have experienced mean that we have to recommend that you avoid this phone.
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Features of the MOTOKRZR include:
2 megapixel digital camera with 8x digital zoom and picture editor Video camera (352 x 288 pixels, 15 frames per second) - up to 25 minutes recording Internal display: TFT, 262k colours, 176 x 220 pixels (1.9 inches) External display: CSTN, 65k colours, 96 x 80 pixels (1.0 inches) MP3 player (MP3, AAC, AAC+ formats) Integrated speakerphone Voice memo recorder Voice activated dialling MP3 ringtones Picture caller ID Java games Memory: 20 Mbytes plus MicroSD (TransFlash) card slot Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB GPRS Class 12, EDGE Aircraft mode Vibration alert Quadband Size: 103 x 42 x 16 mm Weight: 103g Talktime: 200 - 400 minutes Battery standby: 200 - 350 hours