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

11 Nov 2006
Motorola has launched a new leader. The popular RAZR is being substituted by the new KRZR, whose glossy materials look luxurious. On the other hand, the innovations made since the forerunner are very few. Is this wrong? Not at all, provided all you need is a new pretty toy.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • TeN
  • 12 Jun 2007

Quote------------------------------------------------
Plugging it into a computer via USB won't charge it unless the driver is loaded on the PC. The driver doesn't install automatically and you can't get it from the web - you can only get it from the CD that comes with the phone.
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install this driver and you can charge it with a USB cable from your computer. http://hacktherazr.com/app/hacktherazr.com-DriverTool.exe

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • Rn@
    • 09 May 2007

    yeah toy material, toy, toy, toy,

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • wg8
      • 03 Apr 2007

      I've been using this phone for 3 months, only disappointment i have is it gets scratched easily plus each time that i flip the phone open i have to wipe the screen like 4-5 times to get the rubber mark off the screen, i don't know if any of you notice but it takes a while to load up data.... overall, excellent unique phone and for function lovers... this phone do not offer a wide range of features....

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • w4e
        • 03 Feb 2007

        excellent phone ,great camera!!!

          • r
          • rikardo23
          • T4c
          • 26 Jan 2007

          K1 looks brilliant with full glass front which is very strong as I have dropped it a few times. Feels great in the hand with the magnesium finish. Camera prints fine at 6x4 on my photo printer. No mobile will ever replace a real camera. Don't miss the flash, can only imagine if it had one it would make it really thick.
          Video is unlimited as I have 2gb micro sd. records i think around 7.5 frames plays back 15.5 frames which is good enough for anyone unless you riddley scott. music you have 2 players one in games or in sounds. I use sounds so i can continue to use the phone for everything. when i mean everything i mean everything pic video record, text, calls diary etc..... The best thing about the music is that its wireless with a2dp and remote control built in. sales man showed me and sold me the matching accessories. dc800 ht820. Very cool no wires to the headphones sound sent overstereo bluetooth. i can make and recieve calls, i can switch music on without touching my phone. i can volume up and down and skip tracks forward and back. dc800 allows me to send the 1000 songs i have stored to be sent via bluetooth to my hifi. to put your music on its recommended by moto to use windows media player 11. which is very easy to use. it took me only 5 minute to rip a cd into mp3, transfer to phone and press play! compared to my previous music phone from another famous manufactur it very fast. PLus i didn't have to load anything from a cd rom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

          Overall i would give the K1 8/10
          Summary Great looks, Great Music experience, 2 megapixel good for printing, New menu is very easy to use plus you can change it if you want to!! What more does a normal consumer need if all we do is ring text listen music and take the odd pic? Finally it fits in your pocket with out making you look like you have a lump! Complete bonus

          Thanks

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • P%q
            • 26 Jan 2007

            The backlight from both the inner and outer screen lights at the same time. So when it is closed and you are looking at the outer screen, the inner screen is also lit, wasting the battery. And when it is open and you are looking at the inner screen, the outer screen is also lit, wasting the battery (and also displaying an upside down motorola logo which you can't change).

            When viewing photos you have taken or you have received, I don't think it is possible to zoom in to the photo (ie, to see if it is sharp, or to see fine details). It just shows the photo at reduced size in order to fit the screen. It does allow you to zoom out even further (WTF?) but not to zoom in to original size.

            There isn't an attachment for stereo earphones - you need to use bluetooth, which uses more battery power (and means you have to recharge the battery in the bluetooth device too).

            The 'glass' on the front doesn't seem like glass - it seems like plastic. It seems to scratch relatively easily - mine has a tiny scratch or two already.

            The 2 megapixel sensor on the camera is a waste, given that it's so tiny and the 'lens' is so subject to fingerprints. You have to wipe it clean whenever you take a photo, and the quality at its full resolution is quite blurry.

            The mains charger it came with makes a high pitched whining sound which keeps me awake at night. I'll try returning it, but I don't like my chances - given that it still charges properly despite the whining noise.

            Plugging it into a computer via USB won't charge it unless the driver is loaded on the PC. The driver doesn't install automatically and you can't get it from the web - you can only get it from the CD that comes with the phone. I think that's ridiculous. Also if you use USB mass storage mode you can only get to the contents of the microSD card, not the phone's internal 20MB, and the phone won't charge via USB when it's in USB mass storage mode.

            That is still a whole lot better than Nokia, though, because at least they use a normal USB connection and a cable is supplied. A USB cable for my previous Nokia was an 'optional accessory' which cost $150 (probably $99 US) at the time it was released. That's because it had a non-standard plug.

            The value for money is great - what with the supplied bluetooth headset, the supplied USB cable, the supplied microSD card, etc. It's almost everything you need, though I would appreciate a car charger.

            I really hope that Motorola puts drivers for this on their website because I don't want to have to carry a CD with me whenever I hook it up to a computer to charge it. And not providing drivers on their website is silly. What are they worried people will do? They'll only work if you have the Motorola phone anyway. Perhaps I just overlooked it, but I'm pretty sure this or any similar model has no downloadable drivers.

            Reception is good and the network setup allows me to put it in a 'slow' polling mode which saves battery, especially if you often travel in areas without phone reception or you commute on an underground train.

            I can't find a way to display the local cell name on the screen - ie the name of where you are. The nokias had that.

            My stupid phone network only allows 100KB MMS so I have to put the camera on 640x480 in the medium quality mode. If I send bigger pictures it will look like they are sent, but nobody will receive them. And I think I get charged for them all the same.

            The predictive text on these phones is way better than on Nokias! I am so happy! It took some getting used to.

            When replying to a message, the "Send" button is where you would expect the backspace button to be, and it doesn't confirm or pause before it sends, so you end up actually sending the message when you wanted to just delete the previous character.

            When I first got it, half the keys didn't work properly, particularly the arrow keys. You'd push them and nothing would happen. It's ok now though. You need to mash the keys a bit when it is new to 'wear them in' I suppose. After a couple of weeks it'll be fine.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • Puk
              • 02 Jan 2007

              I always have bought Motorola phones. First the Star Tac 3000, then the 7867W, the V60c, the V60i, the T732, the V810 and the V3 Black. For me, it was time to change the V3 and Motorola present "this"...what is THIS!? My new phone is a Nokia 6131. Good-bye Motorola, maybe next life you found how to improve a real phone with the latest technologies.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • Pv9
                • 02 Jan 2007

                bad phone, it doesn't even have a LED flash for it crappy camera.

                  • R
                  • Robe
                  • pY}
                  • 31 Dec 2006

                  Hi gsmarina, and thanks for your review. I would like to ask you, if you could please use the power of your articles, to bring to the attention of mobile phones manifacturers, the urgent need for the option of larger fonts; who told these people to use tiny fonts; did we tell them to use tiny fonts ? ...These people with the tiny fonts...it never ends !
                  Please help the poor sighted comunity.

                  Best regards, Robe

                    • N
                    • Naveen
                    • M{3
                    • 26 Dec 2006

                    Dear Friends,

                    i am planning to buy krzr for my frd, pls guide me to purchse or not?

                      • e
                      • elevenminutesout
                      • jrY
                      • 10 Dec 2006

                      Ok so first off the phone looks and feels a little like a toy compared to its v3 cousin. It holds a few songs and has an average camera. uses the same interface that moto has been using for 5 years. So whats everyones point you bash a phone cause its not a nokia or an sony if you dont want one dont get it . BUT PLEASE try to keep on point if this phone had been first it would have sold 50 million copies.Dont blame motorola for bulding the better mousetrap ALL the other manufacturers have tried to copy the v3 with thinnner and thinner phones my origional v3 gets almost 6 hours of talktime compared to less than 3 on some of the thin samsungs so dont try to bash this phone or any other moto just cause of some petty jealousy about the thinner better mousetrap cause moto has managed to put all their functionalities into the form factor (including battery time )

                        • S
                        • Sam
                        • 0gu
                        • 05 Dec 2006

                        We can't please everyone. That's what the old words said.

                          • s
                          • sam
                          • Pxd
                          • 29 Nov 2006

                          thz phn is awsum i am getin 1 2day hpefully!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                            • s
                            • samone
                            • Pxd
                            • 28 Nov 2006

                            this is such a cool phone i am getin 1 my self

                              • K
                              • K
                              • PSP
                              • 25 Nov 2006

                              When MOTO make it thin, someone said it is too wide n not comfortable to hold.When MOTO make it narrower n it become nice to hold, someone complain tht it is not as thin as be4.What they really want actually?

                                • M
                                • Me
                                • UDM
                                • 23 Nov 2006

                                Just one word: UGLY. Never understood why people likes RAZR, its thinnes is a history now. And now, how could the RAZR's successor thicker then the original RAZR? Where's the improvement? I think the sell of KRZR will not as good as RAZR. Hope so.

                                  • D
                                  • Daniyal Ali
                                  • PDT
                                  • 20 Nov 2006

                                  Hey dude, K1 play the same role like the RAZR V3, sell a lot!! This phone isnt for people who search great camera or mp3 player, is for people who search for design without some consideration about tech inside, for me The KRZR is an average phone, nothing more, i never buy it because i hate motorolas UI, SE z610 even without autofocus take better pics, has an appropiate mp3 player, has very good bluetooth work and has excellent UI.

                                  V3in that ages was a mediocre phone, but it sells 50 millions or more of phones, it was a success and moto maybe repeat the success

                                    • J
                                    • Jim Bob
                                    • nDb
                                    • 16 Nov 2006

                                    The question is how could this phone be any worse, it breaks once it gets repaired it breaks again... ummm i see a cycle here. My god Motorola how could you lower yourselves any more after the shocking pebel???? Well youve out done yourself! Stay away from this phone or disease as i would call it know 3 other ppl who have it and are ready to trade it in, Ta

                                      • R
                                      • Richard Buchanan
                                      • k1@
                                      • 14 Nov 2006

                                      the z610 like mostly all SE phones is one chunky bastard. i'll take the slim narrowness of KRZR over that meaningless display. krzr's overall more attractive as well, design comprises more than the face and goes all throughout the phone. i'd be more overwhelemed with that then a shiny face.

                                        • K
                                        • K
                                        • PSP
                                        • 14 Nov 2006

                                        DrSilverWorm
                                        I nvr said tht the OLED of Z610i is not nice.But it is really hardly visible under any lighting condition.U can only see it clearly when u're in a dark room.