Motorola KRZR K1 review: It's all about the looks

Sound

Holding Motorola KRZR during phone calls is a nice experience. Its microphone is located in the middle of the “chin”, beneath the keypad, so any difference in the usage of the phone between left-handers and right-handers become irrelevant. The opposite call party can hear you well; the sound coming out of the earphones is natural.

Microphone in the middle of the "chin"

All sounds created by Motorola KRZR come out from a speaker located on the back of its body; volume levels are average. Motorola KRZR does not belong among the loudest devices, but on the other hand, no sound distortion can be heard no matter how high the volume is set. Bass elements are missing as usual; highs are ok. Unfortunately, we are not able to verify the quality of the sound of Motorola KRZR’s headset as we were delivered the handset only; we do not have another pair of Motorola earphones in our office, either. As you may know, recently Motorola has been promoting a series of Bluetooth solutions (the KRZR model supports the wireless A2DP). We strongly believe, however, that a standard jack will also be available as this will make users independent from company headsets.

 
Loud speaker grill on the back

The phone offers five ringing profiles that help you modify ringtones and sound alerts. Two of the profiles include vibration – one of them alerts with vibration only, while the other one uses ringing and vibration simultaneously. Volume levels are setup separately by the respective side keys. Each volume modification is accompanied by a rather disturbing sound effect typical for Motorola phones. Ringing profiles can be switched by using the side keys even when the phone is closed; all necessary information is available on the external display.

Ringing profile settings

V3x’s phonebook was good

The phone offers two forms of contact visualization: a standard name list, in which each contact is always accompanied by a tiny icon symbolizing the corresponding default number (dialed directly with a single press on the green key), or a group of maximum 3 simultaneously displayed contacts, each of which is attached not only a default number icon, but also the number itself and a mini-image. The vertical ways of the navigation key serve for contact browsing, while the horizontal ones are used for browsing the numbers and the emails assigned to each name. You can also send a message or an email to a selected contact straight from the phonebook.

Phonebook • searching by gradual typing • contact details

Each contact can be assigned a name, a last name, a nickname, seven phone numbers, two emails, two websites, two detailed street addresses, a birth date, an image, and a specific ringtone. Individual items (their type is user-configurable) can be added when necessary.

The phonebook is searched by gradual typing of the initial letters of the desired contact. Groups are available too. Use the asterisk or the hash key to switch from one group to another (KRZR has copied this option from the better equipped Motorola V3x. Numbers stored on the SIM card constitute a separate group. Nevertheless, the phonebook shows the contacts from the SIM card and the phone memory all together. There is also a folder called “ Email”, which stores all contacts featuring an electronic address.

 
Group browsing

Voice dialing is available too. Press the respective button on the right side of the phone body and pronounce the name of the person you want to call. The phonebook offers a capacity for 1000 names.

Messages & emails

Motorola KRZR offers plenty of messaging options. Along with standard SMS it is able to send out EMS, MMS, and emails. When you create a new message, you will run across a new concept first launched in the E1070 model: the phone does not ask you what type of message you are to write, but selects it automatically according to the message contents. In a similar way the editor switches automatically from SMS to MMS format when more than 3 sub-messages (3 x 160 characters) have been written. The concept is not bad at all but requires a bit of getting used to it.

 
Message editor • received messages • details of a received message

Messages are both created and read on 6 lines en bloc. When a SMS is being typed, characters are counted in ascending order. The total number of created sub-messages appears on the display shortly before you send your message out. As usual, Motorola offers an iTap dictionary. The version applied in the KRZR model knows all frequently used words; it is fast and truly helpful. The dictionary could be deactivated if necessary.

Browsing the messages in the phone memory and those on the SIM card

If you choose to create a MMS, select „Insert“ in the context menu and find the respective object in one of the available multimedia folders. You can insert images, sounds and videos or possibly create any of this yourself. The phone can store an infinite number of SMS and MMS as long as the shared memory (21 MB) allows it.

 
The variety of message types is limited • writing a SMS • inserting an object in a MMS • options after the red key has been pressed

Emails are created separately. The phone manages multiple accounts simultaneously via the POP3 and IMAP4 protocols. You can set the phone to check for emails automatically in certain time intervals or do so manually. In any case, the application asks you to decide which mode you prefer every time you enter the folder with received messages. You can reply to messages, forward them, and work with multimedia attachments. Full-resolution pictures taken with the built-in camera can be sent out as well.