Kin One – For social networking freaks
For:
This phone gives easy access to social networking sites and your contacts. Comes with Zune and includes Zune Pas. Other goodies include 5 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, 3G, and Wi-Fi
Against:
Small display, sluggish performance, no IM clients or calendar app, user interface takes some time to get used to, photos cannot be uploaded to Twitter.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Kin One has a 2.6 inch display with resolution of 320×240 pixels. It also has a five megapixel camera which captures video at VGA resolution of 640×480 pixels. Other features on the phone includes image stabilizer, auto focus and dual LED flash. There is a built in MP3 and FM player on the phone.
For connectivity, there is 802.11b/802.11g Wi-Fi along with 2.1 stereo Bluetooth. The phone has built in 4096 MB memory along with 256 MB RAM.
Razzle Dazzle:
Kin One has an interesting design and it is sure to make heads turn when you flaunt it on the streets. The shape is a bit squarish and has rounded edges. It looks more like some kind of fitness device than a cell phone. We really liked the looks of the phone.
Inside Dope:
This phone is not meant for you, it is for your kid. Yes, Kin One and Kin Two are made by Microsoft and are targeted especially at the younger generation. But instead of getting excited we saw a lot of doubts in people’s minds. Windows 7 has been announced and hence we don’t know how these phones will do in the market. Microsoft here reiterates that these tiny babies are made for the younger generations who are crazy about social networking. But this answer is hardly satisfactory. These phones aren’t out in the market yet, they release on 6th May and the service provider will ship it within 48 hours once you preorder it on the Website. The duo will go on sale nationwide on May 13 on all Verizon stores. The cost of Kin One is $79.99 and Kin Two will put you back by $149.99. Both need a two year service agreement and come with $100 mail in rebate. On the downside, there are no options for the monthly data plan. Both these phones need a $29.99 monthly unlimited data plan just like other smarphone from Verizon.
Display
Kin One has a 2.6 inch QVGA display with a capacitive touch screen interface. It feels pretty cramped particularly with all the information which hogs the Loop home screen. We wouldn’t recommend you this phone if you are going to watch movies or browse a lot on Web pages. But for the latter, there is pinch and zoom support. QVGA screens don’t give you the sharpest of resolutions but it is still good for viewing images and reading messages. The ambient light sensor will adjust the brightness of the screen automatically but in bright sunlight, the screen looked pretty washed out.
Phone book and PIM features
The address book of the Kin One is can take unlimited entries as long as you are not running out of disk space. A single entry can take multiple phone numbers, custom ringtones, birthdays, photos, e-mail addresses, etc. If a contact has MySpace or Facebook page, then you can open its entry and swipe on the right to view details of the contact. It is pulled from the sites. You can also link or unlink duplicate cards of the contacts.
Camera
Kin One has five megapixel camera which can shoot HD video. The photo quality is pretty mediocre and we had problems with the shutter button which is awkwardly placed on the handset. Getting sharp images is a tough thing to do even though it has flash and settings for lighting. The color looks a bit faded and recorded movies look drab.
E-mail support
Kin One’s e-mail support includes POP3 and IMAP account service and there is also Exchange along with push delivery. But we still won’t recommend you this as a business device. There is no unified in box, you have to swipe left and right for viewing the inboxes. We liked the e-mail feature, but the lack of IM clients is baffling especially since this phone is made for younger generation. Apart from that, there is no app store and the handset doesn’t have any gaming capabilities. We asked Microsoft about this and they said that this phone is centered mainly around social networking and thus they didn’t give much attention to these aspects.
Zune HD integration
Anyone who has used Zune HD will have no problems with using the Zune HD application on the Kin One. You use the touch screen for navigating through the player and there is also the tactile back button for it. The process is smooth and we really liked it in spite of the device’s small screen. The music is organized just like that of the player, there are five dedicated categories: radio, videos, music, Zune Pass and the settings. Photos are not included here but this is not surprising.
Call quality
We tested the Kin One for call quality and we have mixed opinions. Our friends sounded clear and loud and there is not background noise or distortion. But on their end, people said that we sounded robotic and low. There was plenty of volume during the calls but when talking through speakerphone, the volume was pretty low. We tested this in an empty room with no background noise and still the volume didn’t feel loud enough. Bluetooth calls, on the other side, were just fine but it depends on what headset you are using.
Verdict:
We will recommend this phone to the younger generation because of the social networking support. It looks quite funky too and hence will go well with school guys.
