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As we mentioned last Friday, Skatter Tech was able to get a hold of the brand new Motorola KRZR K1m for Verizon Wireless. The KRZR’s features include a 1.3MP camera, MicroSD, speaker phone, external iPod-like touch-sensitive controls, Bluetooth, and V Cast Music/Video. We had high expectations and hoped that the phone would be as good as it looked, unfortunately we ended up being quite disappointed.
Motorola KRZR K1m Specs:
- Provider: Verizon Wireless (CDMA)
- Form Factor: Clamshell Flip Phone
- Dimensions: 4.05H x 1.73W x 0.67D (inches)
- Weight / Battery Life: 3.6oz / 4hrs30mins
- Digital Camera: 1.3 megapixels
- Storage Space: MicroSD expansion (2GB max)
- Communications: Bluetooth + USB
- Others: Speaker Phone and Music Controls
- Price: $199 with new 2 year contract
KRZR Body – 5/5 stars
The shape of the KRZR is much more comfortable and natural to hold compared the RAZR. The phone is way skinnier than the RAZR, but is slightly thicker and taller. At first glance the phone looks expensive, sleek, slim, and glossy, however just as a PSP or an iPod the, KRZR’s coat is prone to fingerprints from even the slightest touch. Motorola has improvised the keypad dividing them with more natural grooves which helps finding keys, without looking, much easier.
Digital Camera – 2/5 stars
The KRZR’s 1.3 megapixel camera is pretty much the same as the one in the RAZR v3m. Other KRZR models have a 2 megapixel camera, however Verizon’s K1m has been cut down to keep prices low. Motorola has also failed to add a flash to the phone, which although not too powerful often will be handy when taking close up shots in the dark.
Display – 4/5 stars
The internal display is much crisper and brighter than that of the Motorola v3m. However it is extremely delicate and placing even the slightest amount of pressure causes the “ripple effect” in the LCD which may damage the display. The external display is a bit dull and with the fingerprints all over, it may be hard to see in sunlight.
Music Playback – 4/5 stars
Unlike the RAZR, the KRZR supports Mp3 playback as well as WMA and V Cast Music. Verizon’s Media Player is well developed and makes browsing through music easy. Users can view songs by artists, albums, genres, or search just as iPods do. The media player also offers the use of playlists, library shuffle, and even display’s album art. The #1 problem is that users must navigate through many menus before they can get their music started. (Can be annoying for people who plan to listen to music a lot.)
External Controls – 3/5 stars
The addition of external touch-sensitive music controls, which the RAZR lacks, was a good concept, but is flawed. There is no way for a user to start music playback from the external controls, the phone must be opened to do so. The controls are also sometimes too sensitive and the current song may be skipped or paused when the phone is picked up.
Speakers – 4/5 stars
The speaker phone quality is quite clear and has minimal or no static. It sounds more clear and is louder than that of the RAZR, however it is still poorly position on the back of the phone. Both music playback and speakerphone will sound muffled if the phone is in your hand.
MicroSD – 3/5 stars
The KRZR now supports use of up to 2GB MicroSD cards. The space can be used for image, video, and music storage. The card slot is unfortunately placed underneath the battery pack lid making it a hassle to get to. If you don’t have a USB cable and the drivers to sync music back and forth, it will be a pain to remove the card every time to transfer files.
Bluetooth – 5/5
Because Verizon has finally “un-crippled” the Bluetooth, the KRZR can now send phonebook entries, pictures, and other data between devices. When testing the handsfree feature with the Lexus IS250, we found that he KRZR now sends the phone’s signal strength, battery level, and other data to the car’s display, unlike the RAZR.
Overall the KRZR is a decent upgrade from the RAZR v3m. There is however a major lack of innovation. Even so, the KRZR will probably be replacing the current RAZR’s place in the market. If all you need is a phone with basic features that can make calls and looks good, this maybe for you. If you are picky and like customizable feature packed phones, there’s not much that the KRZR can offer. The phone is a bit pricy, currently about $199 with a new 2 year contract or $99 for existing customers eligible for upgrade.
DEAL ALERT: FREE Motorola KRZR K1m (w/ new plan)
Related: Verizon Wirelesss – Moto KRZR
Update: Verizon currently charges about $30 for a USB cable and some drivers, but if you already have the cable and are just looking for the drivers you can get it from the link below. Once installed, your phone will be detected as a portable audio device and you will now be able to sync the music in your Windows Media Player Library with your KRZR. After installing you may need to restart your machine. But once complete you will be able to use your computer to charge your KRZR and sync music. To start, go to Get It Now -> Music -> Sync.
Download: Moto_KRZR_Driver.zip (Note: driver found on developer.motorola.com)
Update: If the driver above doesn’t work, try installing the patch from Verizon’s site.
Download: Sync_Music_Fix.exe [Thanks for the info Elizabeth]
omg..im so very disapointed with this phone..no thats putting it very mildly. i hate it. sadly my old phones went completly kaputs and i was forced to get a new cell ASAP as i work on call…so i got this phone, it looked nice and they said it was very durable!! haha funny since now i read that the glass cracks easily. but i have not experianced this yet thankfully! SO ive had this phone for alllmost a month now, ONLY a MONTH :S and the alarm clock works RARLEY, and when i send TXT mesages…this is the part that drives me nuts…the txts do not even get recived, and wheeeen they do, people get them days later!!! and the txts from others, get to me days later if at all as well…AHHH… i haate hate haate this stupid phone…*sigh* and sadly at the time couldnt afford a protection plan.. so im basiclly screwed.. $100 right down tha hole… DO NOT GET THIS PHONE! the phones sound quality also i must mention is totally crap.. i feel like im 80 witha hearing aide trying to understand what the heck people are saying….oooo i wish i still had my old phone :(!! yesterday, i actually ran into the girl form the store that sold me the phone from the store and she said that just days after i got it she heard how horrible it was, and felt bad she even sold me it. she was so nice, to bad the phone wasnt
I hate this phone! Everytime I try to send a text message it says the memory is full and I deleted everything!!!
[Comment ID #42818 Will Be Quoted Here]
If your trying to text and find that when you click on new message, and it tells you that memory is full, and there is like nothing in your in or out box. Here is the way I got it to get around the memory full issue.
Click on Message
Then Settings
Then All Messages
select auto erase —> it settings should be defaulted to Off, click on On.
Once you do this the memory full issue is gone. Now what else does it effect, well you will need to keep checking to make sure it is not causing other ills.
This could also be the reason for the screen going white and going so slow to read and send messages.
This worked for me, it might not for you but worth a try.
What I have noticed that with some Verizon Phones it won’t have the memory full issue but after 50 texts it will auto delete. Now I did an update to my phone via Motorola and I can keep texts over 50, once I had over 400 in Sent and Inbox. Try it and see what happens.
k i give up..how do u transfer music? lol i dont have verizon i have cellular one..help please
I agree this phone is a piece of junk. I got my KRZR in November and already I have had to send it in to be fixed because the screen went completely white. I have also had a problem with the life of the charge on the phone. I charge it all night and maybe 4 hours after taking it off the charge it says low battery. Did I do something to the battery or is this normal? the guy at the us cellular store said that the battery really doesnt last that long anyways
i have a krzr phone and when i was texting it just froze and the screen went blank. Thats how it is now i dont know what to do!!
IMPORTANT!
Please, do not buy this phone!
NO matter what! Do not buy this phone!
I bought the phone in March of 2007.
One day later. It broke on it’s own.
I had to pay full price for the phone,
So luckily I bought insurance.
I got a new one, which lasted for a year and a month.
Then, a few weeks ago, it broke.
Im not sure how.
But it was impossible to be fixed.
DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE!
I had to pay full price for a new phone.
Not the best day at the Cellular Store I might add.
Having a similar problem with the battery life. Bought the phone around January 1. I can charge it up in the evening and it is beeping low battery at 4 am, without being used at all. Doesn’t happen every day. Took it in and they upgraded the software, told me the software was several versions behind. My daughter’s is several weeks newer and has not had problems.
I have ringtones on my Motorolla K1 KRZR, that i have received via bluetooth but I can’t apply them as ringtones for incoming calls. Anyone can help me with that.
Oh my god. Permanent white screen. This phone SUCKS!
i hear ya ive had this phone for a little over a year and i just now got the white screen it sucks so hard
I have a KRZR and there aren’t many things i dislike about it but I really think the camera needs to be improved and the speaker needs to be a little bit louder, Ive had it since December of ’07 and i haven’t had any technical problems with it.
There is no way for a user to start music playback from the external controls, the phone must be opened to do so. That is not true. If you hold down the speakerphone button while the top is closed it opens v-cast.
Yeah, not a huge fan of this phone. I’ve had it for a year now and haven’t had as many problems as most, but I also dealt with the “memory full” (when the memory was not full!) issue (which is actually why I’m on this site, haha. all fixed now!!), and I’ve finally lost my center button. I had a similar problem with battery life, but I got a new battery on ebay and things were better for a while. It’s started getting bad again, though. There was a time when I couldn’t talk on the phone for 15 minutes without it dying. Lame. All this to say that when its time to get a new phone, I won’t be getting a Krzr again (and probably not a motorola at all).
Bernet,
To use your MP3’s you need to transfer them from your card to your phone. This worked for me, I hope this works for you.
Hi, My lcd screen has broken and I was told that it would cost about $65 to fix but since our two years end in November, I do not want to pay that much so soon to when I could get a new one. All I need is somehow a guide to what buttons I push to get to my music so I can still listen to music and buttons to push to get the talking phone settings so I can hear the names on my contact list since I cannot see them. Any other guiding to other important functions would also be much apreciated. Thanks!
1. to correct the statement about the external controls. There is a way to start music playing without opening the phone. Hold the little button beneath the volume control
2. I have a problem using ringtones, all of them have a red lock over them and Don’t work. My phone is forced to be on vibrate. I can only preview them if I use the earpiece What’s wrong?
i just got a MOTOKRZR K1m phone is there a sim card in it and can I switch it with my sim card from my nextel Motorola phone i530?
I just purchased the MOTOKRZR K1m and after receiving only 5 texts, the screen stated ‘messages full’. I cleared all of my messages using the ‘clear all’ however this has not worked. What should I do???
Also, I loaded 5 songs onto the phone (without purchasing any memory cards from the store) and it will not load any more. Will I need a memory card to upload more songs?
I need help!!
my phone keeps saying that first it is working then a minute later it will shut down, turn on again, shut down!!!!! what do I have to do? please help!!!my email is herrineagles@ymail.com. email me if you have any ideas. thanks. -Steffani. (pronounced: Ste-FOH-ne)
I just bought the new Krzr but what i wanna know is how do you download music on this thing???
Yes you can! To the left of the phone, on the side, second button down, close your phone and hold the button in. It’ll beep then the music player starts but it plays all your music not one particular playlist.
DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE!!!!!!!!! It sucks the front screnn cracks very easy and everthing stops working one by one for example for some reason my camera wont open at all. Overall horrible phone!
I have a KRZR through sprint, this is the biggest piece of CRAP, its always freezing then going back to the screensaver, the batt dies so fast, im on my third one (lucky i bought the insurance) Iv had about every issue with this phone, my two years just ended and now im getting the Instinct, fingers crossed it wont be the nightmare this phone was… dont buy one, i will never buy a motorola again, im sticking to Samsung they have always been great
Worst phone I ever had. Worked very slowly when I first bought it. Updated software and worked better for a while. Now lose calls constantly, screen goes white and have to take out battery to get it to come on again, battery doesn’t last long. My wife has same phone- first one the number 9 on keypad did’t work right out of box. the replacement worked for a while but now the battery doesn’t stay charged for even one whole day.
does anyone know how to shut the music player lights on the front screen permanatly?