Customers RAVE about: Good sound quality for MP3’s and voice, takes nice pictures and good battery life and apparently good reception.

Customers RANT about: Finger print magnet, slender keypad not suitable for larger fingers, small screen, no full version games and few ringtones/backgrounds pre-loaded. No 3G support or external music controls.

SPECIFICATIONS: 176×200 pixel LCD screen, 2.0MP camera with built in flash, mini USB port, Bluetooth class 2, MP3 ringtones, quad-band GSM, 3.6oz weight, 5.8 hours max talk time, 300 hours max standby time, 20MB internal memory with microSD expandable memory up to 2GB, 500 contact capacity phonebook, PC sync capable, picture and ringer caller ID, voice dialing, custom graphics and ringtones, WAP/web capable via EDGE data support, multimedia messaging, captures up to 25 minutes of MPEG4 video, alarm, calculator, calendar, voice memo, speaker phone, some versions have push to talk, and JAVA J2ME.

OVERVIEW: Pronounced “crazer” and released late in 2006, the KRZR K1 is based off the strong selling RAZR but is longer and slimmer. The similar K1m version has external music controls but a 1.3MB camera, supports half as much memory in the microSD slot and lacks Bluetooth capability. Moto-sync coordinated the calendar and contacts with your PC. The slender design, while attractive, is impractical as the viewing screen is small and the keypad crowded making text messaging difficult. The EDGE network is no 3G either. The blue shell vs. the silver attracts fewer finger prints but the glossy surface while still show prints either way. It might have been impressive 2 years ago but technology has moved on and the KRZR K1 is merely average today. Clam shell designs are no longer the design to have and Motorola cannot keep improving off the RAZR platform. The KRZR K1 makes sense for people who wont watch videos on their phone or others stream a lot of data and can deal with the narrow screen and keypad making the KRZR K1 strictly a value proposition.

OTHER OPTIONS:
* Motorola RAZR V3
* Motorola Z9
* LG CU720 Shine

Rated: from 368 votes

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Price $359.99 at Best Buy
Read Reviews and Compare Prices (Starting at $49.99)

$249.99 or $49.99 with 2 yr contract and mail in rebate through AT&T online store.

Customers RAVE about: Attractive, shiny style, good array of features, good reception, high quality camera, big screen and high quality feel.

Customers RANT about: Heavy, hard to navigate, joystick too sensitive/too small, flat keypad, texting is difficult, camera operation in low light, scratches easily, poor Mac support, tinny speakers, and short battery life.

As part of LG’s Black Series mobile phone line up, the Shine is the successor to the Chocolate and has itself been succeeded by the Secret. While the Shine isn’t the latest mobile gadet, its features and design are quite up to date and its eye-watering price tag is a clear indicator the Shine is anything but obsolete.

Available in silver, red and black, the Shine is a slim all metal design with a mirror finish. Some special editions were launched in 2007 but are not availabile anymore.

REVIEW:

Sold through AT&T, the Shine is a slim, shiny, slider phone with joystick navigation and typical keypad featuring flat buttons. The display functions as a mirror when not lit and the phone’s body is made of stainless steel.

The display is a good size for viewing TV and provides a rich array of colors. Using “multi-angle vision technology” the display can be viewed from multiple angles and the main menu is simple to use. The joystick used to navigate is small and extremely sensitive making menu selections frustrating and the accompanying soft keys are difficult to use as well. The keypad is similar to the Razor, being flat and crowded so if you had/have a Razor and the keypad is a major issue for you, do not buy this phone. The keypad makes dialing diffcult and texting even harder, those without slender fingers will encounter some difficulty. Although one should always try an activated, operable version of the phone they wish to purchase, that goes double here.

The phone has all the features one would expect of a phone at this price. As a multimedia phone it has internet capability using a 3G network and has email, Bluetooth, music playing capability and a camera. A word of warning. I have an AT&T contract including a data plan. Though AT&T offers many music, video and internet options, only a few of them are free. Basic internet and AT&T’s own Cellular Video site come free but everything else is extra which can push your monthly bill well north of $100/month. I have also experienced many issues with AT&T’s network service and 3G is not available everywhere so check with your local AT&T about coverage.

The 2.0 megapixel camera takes excellent photos and video. Camera options include a resultion range between 1600 x1200 to 320 x 240 pixels and zoom. The flash fails to compensate for low light conditions.

Call quality is good though the speaker phone’s quality was not. Neither are the built in speakers when listening to music.

FEATURES:

* 2.0 MP camera with digital zoom
* speakerphone
* voice activated dialing
* video recorder
* Music player supports WAV, AAC and MP3
* Micro SD card memory slot
* 70 MB internal memory expandable to 4 GB
* alam clock
* calculator
* 500 contacts capacity phonebook
* JAVA enabled
* 180 minutes maximum talk time
* 250 hrs maximum standby time
* multimedia messaging
* instant messaging
* office documents viewer
* Bluetooth
* Synchronization with PC
* mobile email
* internet browser
* games
* conference calling
* world phone

Rated: from 492 votes

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