Motorola Krzr K1m (Sprint)

8 out of 10 - Excellent
Exceptional Cellular Phone
Though cautious in purchasing first generation electronics and with this being my first Motorola cellular product; this purchase decision has ...
Though cautious in purchasing first generation electronics and with this being my first Motorola cellular product; this purchase decision has fulfilled my expectations. Avant-garde form factor aside, the MOTOKRZR has performed admirably within my usage requirements.

Outstanding call quality/clarity; intuitive (Sprint) user interface; responsive soft-touch MP3 controls; excellent interaction/clarity with Bluetooth headset (Motorola H700); crisp vivid screens; and uncomplicated transfer of files from PC to handset via micro SD although having to remove the back cover on the hand set to access memory card will prove challenging if frequently required. Build quality is top-notch with a solid feel in hand while in use with comfortable ?wearing? on your person (pocket or carrying pouch) when not in use. Magnesium case finish is superb and the quartz overlay on the front cover is a nice touch which adds protection and enhances the overall space-age look of the phone. Battery life has been highly respectable with nearly 3+ hours talk time although this is lessened with extended use of Bluetooth peripherals. Speakerphone is a little ?buzzy? at times but turning the more then ample volume down to the lowest setting will help. The Sprint UI and pre-loaded software is very user friendly and enhances the Sprint Power Vision experience with quick media downloads and smooth Web surfing.

Migrating from the standard stable of Sanyo products usually offered by Sprint to Motorola has been a pleasurable experience, and I highly recommend this product (especially Sprint subscribers) to anyone seeking a clever, attractive handset with quality reception and a bevy of multimedia capabilities. Read more
by bocaboo (see profile) - November 8, 2006

10 out of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.

5 out of 10 - Average
Thorough Review
I purchased the MOTOKRZR K1m from Sprint over the phone on November 18, 2006. I received the phone on 11/...
I purchased the MOTOKRZR K1m from Sprint over the phone on November 18, 2006. I received the phone on 11/28/06. I have used it now for more than 1 month. I am extremely familiar with Sprint as I have been a Sprint customer for 3 years. I use about 1500 minutes per month, PowerVision, have taken over 2,000 pictures with my previous phone (a Sanyo 8200). There are things I like and things I don't like about the K1m phone which I have categorized below as Good, Bad and Ugly. I sent all of these issues to Sprint with the intention that they would produce a software update. So far to date, there have been no software updates for this phone.

Let me say this too before anyone tries accusing me of bashing. I am a Sprint shareholder. I used to own Nextel stock, but now own Sprint as a result of their purchase of Nextel. So, I would love to see the stock do well and maybe this review will get to a Sprint executive who can fix these issues. Also, since I have been a Sprint customer for 3 years, I would have thought that

The Good:
1. Styling - sleek, modern, bling.
2. Rubber/metal/glass provides great feel. Rubber backing provides a non-slip surface (unlike the RAZR).
3. Width - perfect width for holding and dialing with one hand. Does not cause as much strain on your hand and fingers as the RAZR.
4. Length - perfect length because the microphone is actually at your mouth.
5. Weight - feels just heavy enough, like there is some actual meat to the phone making it feel solid, but light enough
6. No external antenna. Great for putting in your pocket.
7. External media buttons - cool factor is nice the first time your try it.
8. Improved placement of volume, camera and utility button on the base of the phone rather than on the flip like the RAZR which prevents you from accidentally turning down the volume on the phone when opening it (like with the RAZR).
9. Blue backlight is nicer than on the RAZR. The RAZR backlight is a blinding blue compared to the more subdued KRZR.
10. NFL mobile is a cool application. I am a football fan and love it.
11. On-Demand is fast. You can get stock quotes, scores, news extremely fast. It is customizable. Scrolling through the On-Demand menus is super fast (unlike most other menus in the phone as you'll read below).
12. Bluetooth is straightforward and works well. I paired it with an H670 headset (looks like a KRZR) and it worked well, but with some static.
13. I have had great luck with battery life. I recommend setting your backlight to turn off after 10 seconds to conserve it. If you are just using the phone to make calls (without bluetooth), you will get great battery life). When you start using applications (web, camera, camcorder, bluetooth), battery life suffers.
14. The battery cover is secure, yet easily opened to access the battery and memory card.
15. Screen clarity is great, much better than the RAZR.
16. PowerVision is much faster than Vision.

The Bad:
1. There is no way to adjust the screen brightness (Verizon's K1m has this feature. Also, my previous phone, the Sanyo 8200 had this capability).
2. There is no way to set the backlight control to ALWAYS OFF to conserve battery power ((Verizon's MOTOKRZR K1m has this feature. Also, my previous phone, the Sanyo 8200 had this capability).
3. There is no way to set the keypad backlight to ALWAYS OFF to conserve battery. (My previous phone, the Sanyo 8200 had this capability).
4. There is no way to set a different screensaver on the external display vs. the internal screen. (Verizon's MOTOKRZR K1m does this. Also, my previous phone, the Sanyo 8200 had this capability).
5. The camera does not take pictures of EXACTLY what is showing up on the screen prior to the picture being taken. The actual picture ends up with more area around the image than what should be there. (This was not the case with the Sanyo 8200 - what you saw was what would show up).
6. No To-Do list or notepad.
7. When songs are playing, media buttons on front of phone are too easily touched causing songs to be paused. There should be a lock setting on the phone to prevent this.
8. Memory card is in a poor location and is difficult to remove.
9. The speakerphone, while sufficient for listening to calls is not great for people on the other end of the conversation.
10. Screen size is very small and some applications are hard to see the print.

The Ugly:
1. Sprint's customer service (by phone - I bought over the phone, not in store). This definitely makes #1 on my Ugly list for 2 reasons: 1. I would have never imagined that the whole experience (from buying this phone as an upgrade to dealing with their customer service department when I started experiencing issues with the KRZR K1m would be so unbelievably terrible. Honestly, there is no other word to describe it, but as terrible. Multiple promises were made by them when I purchased the phone. They offered me PowerVision Ultimate for $15/month vs. the standard $25/month, and on my wife's phone (she got the Red RAZR), they offered her $7.50/month for the PowerVision Ultimate. In addition, they offered me UNLIMITED text messaging for $8/month and my wife 500 free text messages per month. After I received the phones and checked my account and talked with customer service, they WOULD NOT HONOR what they promised me with the PowerVision. They are charging me $10 for the standard PowerVision and my wife $10. They did at least honor the Text messaging promise. 2. When I began experiencing the problems mentioned below with the phone, SPRINT PROMISED MULTIPLE TIMES to send me a replacement phone. I am STILL WAITING FOR IT and I have STILL NOT RECEIVED any replacement.
2. Extremely sluggish. The phone pauses and hesitates when moving through menus, scrolling down through CONTACTS that have been entered in the phone, viewing pictures taken with the phone. It can't keep up with simple requests. It freezes up for no reason as well. (My previous phone, the Sanyo 8200 had no problems with this). THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE FOR A MODERN CELL PHONE.
3. When listening to Sprint TV music (e.g. Sirius Hits), if the phone is closed (to conserve battery by alllowing the display to turn off), either when using a headset or just listening with the speakerphone, it takes about 30 seconds before the music will play through the headset. Sometime it never plays through it, yet the phone still says SPRINT TV IS ON. Sometimes the external and internal displays stay on instead of turning off.
4. The user has to click far too many times to get to an often used function. e.g. in order to view my Text Messaging Inbox, I have to click 5 times to get to the first message, plus one more to open the first message in the inbox. Give me the option to have a direct link to open the inbox right up.
5. In Text Messaging, they don't allow the capability to set Insert Contact as the DEFAULT function when entering in the To: field. People rarely enter a phone number in this field, yet that's what the default is. Most people just enter a name from their contact list. This could be done by creating another option under Settings/Others/Text Input called Default Entry.
6. When emailing pictures taken with my old Sanyo 8200 from the Sprint Pictures website to my MOTOKRZR K1m, the image gets cropped a lot. It should not do this. The entire image should remain.
7. When taking a picture with the phone, if you don't let the phone process the picture, you could find that the picture was not saved in the phone. e.g. try taking a picture, then hit the back button. Then go to My Pictures / In Camera and you'll see that the picture you just took will not be there.
8. No way to add my own MP3's or AAC files to play with the music player. Sprint makes you buy their music or download their free songs (they offer about 10 per month from no-name bands).
9. Calls drop frequently. Hard to tell if this is because of the hardware or the Sprint service. I didn't have this problem with the Sanyo 8200, but then again, it was operating on the older Sprint network. Read more
by TomGator1 (see profile) - January 1, 2007

9 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 comments posted to this opinion

7 out of 10 - Very good
Outstanding!!
I have been w/ Sprint for a long time and my last phone the now discontinued mm7400 was good. Now ...
I have been w/ Sprint for a long time and my last phone the now discontinued mm7400 was good. Now that Sprint has the KRZR it is a wonderful addition! I love that I can transfer MP3's and video clips to the KRZRs' 64 MB Micro Sd card. I wasn't too impressed w/ the ring tones so using the KRZR memo feature, I recorded my ring tones from my other phone and then just "assigned" them to the appropriate features. Battery life is extrordinary. $260 w/ a two year contract is a bit steep however it is a fantastic phone/mp3 player. Don't forget it has Bluetooth which paired w/ the Motorola H700 without any trouble. You can wait till after the holidays to purchase yours but for me, this is one great buy!!

5 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
1 comment posted to this opinion

9 out of 10 - Spectacular
Beautiful Product, but this phone may not be for everyone.
Phone: Krzr K1m for Sprint

I've feel like you, the consumer, should fully understand the ups, downs, and "personality"

...
Phone: Krzr K1m for Sprint

I've feel like you, the consumer, should fully understand the ups, downs, and "personality" of the phone you're researching. Because you're going to buy a phone and probably use it for two years, I would like present to you an extensive review for this phone to make your choice easier.


First Glance | First of all, I want to say that this is a beautiful phone. Because of its design and material, it has a more sturdy, solid feel. This phone is all black. The front, back, key pad, and even that "cheese grater" texture one the bottom (which is a silver color on other phones). It does not look like the the phone in the picture/video on this website. It closes nicely but also may require two hands to open. I now figured out a personal trick to open it with one hand forcing my thumb in the crevice to encourage it to open. It does flip the rest of the way by itself after the phone is opened up to (approx) 60 degrees. In the end, the phone opens up to about 170 degrees.

The "Krazy Reflective" Phone | There are three external media buttons (previous, play/pause, and next). When the previous and next is held down, you can also FF or REW through the song if you're looking for a certain part. The awesome thing, I think, about these media buttons is they're inactive when music isn't playing. You have to go to the Music player, select and start to play a song, and then when you shut it - they glow that vibrant blue. Some people may find this to be a CON, but I wouldn't think so. I've had friends in their college lecture halls start playing songs loudly due to the sensitive external buttons. [ For the people in the business world, one wouldn't want this similar event to occur during a meeting. ] The 1.3 Megapixel camera is...fine, and its designed into the phone (under the glass) so that there will never be dust, dirt or direct scratches to the camera lens. I would say the 1.3MP camera is better than my last VGA camera. I wouldn't use it to take my wedding pictures. But you got to remember that it's a phone first with the convenience of a camera. Judging by how big a typical 4 MP camera is, im amazed they got 1.3MP into this "stick" form. And now that there's less phone to weigh your pants down, buy a digital camera if you're that picky. It does also take 30 second videos. The back is made of a more soft dull material - almost rubbery - wont scratch, and I don't hesitate setting the phone down on a hard surface. On the side, the USB port used for computer connecting and charging your phone has a cover to keep it from getting dirty, and is connected to the phone so you can't loose this cover. The front does get a lot of fingerprints, but...really now - you have to make a sacrifice. If you hate finger print smudges, get a ordinary RAZR or less attractive phone. But this can be easily fixed with a warm, moist breath and a wipe on the t-shirt. It sometimes takes extra work to be beautiful. The speaker is nice. Music sounds amazing. I think the speaker has improved since the RAZR (listening to my friend's phone). The speaker for the ringtones and when using the speakerphone, is on the back of the phone near the bottom. It's kind of an...odd place, but when I slip it into my pocket, I be sure and point that the back part away from my body just in case - so I can hear the speaker.

The Inside | The only major down side of this phone, is that it's a little slow. I know that this was a design first phone, I wish they would have used a few extra MB of RAM. When I open the phone, Contacts is the left soft key. When pressed, I've noticed it took about 3 seconds before the phone book was loaded. The slowness can be the greatest CON when there are many commands or buttons pushed at one time. It might need a few seconds to catch up to where you were headed. It's not a significant slow phone, just some commands take more time than others. It can be easy to adjust to the OS system speed. The phone has bluetooth, speaker phone, and MP3 ringtones. My last phone didn't have any of these, so I'm ecstatic about these features. These all work amazing - I'd give a 10 out of 10 hands down. The bluetooth quickly and effortlessly connects to my (Apple OS 10.4) computer and I can easily send full length songs to the phone's media player - so no need to buy songs from Sprint. I can also copy the pictures from my phone to my computer, and pictures from my computer to my phone. For example, I can use clear pictures taken with my digital camera in the past to set as a person's picture ID......or choose/design my own wallpaper. I also have the ability to "cut" certain parts of songs on the computer into a 30 second clip. To get something specific to play as a ringtone, it needs to be sent to you in a message form, I believe. There are some websites that then let me upload a 30 second mp3 file from my comptuer - they then send me a text message and I go to the given URL and it downloads into my ringtone folder. I have about 6-30second clips from songs on my phone already. I like to do this myself (not only because it's free, but) because I don't like the limited music selection to download - or I would like a specific 30 seconds from a song. Now days, it's all about personalization. You also have the ability to buy 3rd party ringtones on other websites, and have them sent to your phone. Getting ringtones through text may require a pay-as-you-go per kilobite plan, or a Power Vision plan. I have the Power Vision Plus Pack. It's 20 dollars a month (free for the first month) and I get unlimited web, unlimited pix/vid messaging, Free OnDemand and Mobile TV options, as well as one free full song download from Sprint a month. The Tools folder has Alarm clock (5 alarms), Calendar, Voice Record, Calculator and World Clock.

The Key Pad | The key pad could also determine if this phone is for you or not. It could be small for bigger hands. I don't consider my self having big hands, but when texting i occasionally use the tip of my finger where the nail meets the skin. Then again - look the the buttons on the smart phones. I really can't give you the best description of the key pad feel - you must try it and see how it feels for you. I really like the comfort when using the RAZR key pad, but Id rather choose the slim, durable, and smaller phone. The key pad glows that Motolora blue - similar to the RAZR key pad.

Comparing RAZR to KRZR | I like the durable feel of the KRZR. It's a little thicker than the RAZR, but in a good way. It's heavier, but it's so thin and small, it's an insignificant CON. The RAZR feels better for typing, but can be too wide for some. I hardly notice the KRZR is in my pocket sometimes. AND - Who doesn't have a RAZR? When shopping for a new phone, buy one that finally makes the RAZR owner jealous.

Comparing KRZR to KRZR | I chose the Spring KRZR because of the color, and the freedom. Verizon has a similar KRZR K1m, but it's not consistently one color (as you can see in the CNET visual aids). I also DONT LIKE AT ALL Verizon's watered down menu that all their phones conform to. The reason you may choose the Motorola over the LG could be because of the operating system. Instead you have Verizon's OS that they use to override all their phones (except the PDA/Smartphones). Also, I thought I heard that Verizon is strict on their media content. They don't even allow third party ringtones on their phones - so good luck with your free customized ones. Cingular is expected to release a Blue one (GSM version K1) with a few upgraded features (2 MP camera for starters) but have no report when they're going to release it. A Cingular employee said that it wasn't on their december "list" so it may be pushed back to January or further.

What's In the Box? | Sprint included the phone and the USB charger and the usual stuff, but what REALLY caught my surprise, was that they included a free 64MB transflash card for the phone. It slides in directly into the phone by removing the back phone cover. This is great to take and store more photos/videos/music (but not ringtones). They offer transflash cards in higher capacities (128MB, 256, 512, 1GB and may possibly support up to 2GB) if you would like to have more space. I always forget how small these pieces of memory are - they are like half the width or less of a dime.

I would recommend this phone to anyone. Although it might be a little slow for your taste in some tasks, this phone is a sexy attention grabber. Ive have it for 3 weeks and I still can't stop looking at it. You can't wait for your phone to ring.

4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.

5 out of 10 - Average
So Close But so far...
Let me first start out by saying I have only had the phone for a few days and I really ...
Let me first start out by saying I have only had the phone for a few days and I really like the look and feel of the phone for the most part.

This phone has tons of potential I just feel like they cut some corners or didn't really thouroughly think about certain features of the phone.

I could do with the phone being slightly wider or longer to accomodate a little bit better spacing for they keypad area being as that I have pretty large hands and it can sometimes be difficult to txt accurately because your thumbs can accidentally hit adjectant keys.

The next thing I'm not crazy about is the lag that occurs when doing just about anything... if you hear the phone ring/vibrate and immediately open the flip face it oftentimes just glitches and never shows you the incoming call or txt... you then have to close and reopen the phone, then navigate through what sometimes feels like an endless slow maze of menus of missed calls/txts to try to find what you missed.

The delay definately makes things annoying in situations like this because options will appear and you will hit keys but the phone will not respond for quite a while... I counted up to 4 seconds in some instances... This sometimes makes you wonder if you actually hit the key or not.

For those of you who use txt messaging frequently you might like to know that the whole txting situation seems very clumsy to me... To even send a message you need to go through your slow contact list or select the send message where you then need to go back to your laggy contact finder where you run into delay issues which result in you never really being able to quickly find who you want to be txting... there is no "recent contact" list that you can use to select someone ...so you always have to rely on going through your entire contact list or your recieved texts and reply straight from there which are both major pains in the neck.

On the flip side, the call clarity seems to be pretty good for the most part... definately better than my previous phone.

The mapping feature is nice to have for on the go situations... it would be nicer if it was real time with turn by turn instrucions...but that's just nit picking I suppose

On the whole I think the phone is ok... it has tons of potential but it just seems like they really missed the mark in terms of making a GREAT phone...

If I had a wish list for this phone I would have them go with a faster processor (I assume that's why the phone reacts slowly) and a more simple, intuitive interface... I would like to see more funtionality "behind the scenes" available through settings and utilities menus so that you could setup the phone how you want... as it stands now it feels exactly like how an engineer would set something up... so that you could do something once slowly and methodically without any hiccups... but when it comes to reality when you're on the go you need something can can work with you quickly and easily... something this phone definately falls short on. Read more
by skubasteve79 (see profile) - December 29, 2006

3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

5 out of 10 - Average
GOOD LOOKS BUT WHAT ABOUT FUNCTIONALITY AN UNBIASED OWNER REVIEW
I have always over the years been a fan of Motorola phones, but stopped buying them after I owned one ...
I have always over the years been a fan of Motorola phones, but stopped buying them after I owned one of the first Razrs to hit the US market due to poor software and terrible menus. I have been using an LG Fusic on Sprint and decided to try out the Krzr, I got the phone for only $70 from Sprint. Ok first the looks and feel of the phone are excellent, but typical of what has gone on with Motorola I feel over the years, the looks of the phone are the only thing it has going for it. The software on this phone is so slow that the phone can not keep up with your key strokes as you dial a number or enter your password for voice mail. I tried to deal with it for a week and just yesterday had my old beat up Fusic turned back on. Come on Motorola a full second of pause in between menu options at this date and time is unacceptable. Also what about a status light that lets you know you have missed an incoming call. I mean most users do not want to always have to press a button on the phone to see if a call or message has been missed. Also the battery life of this phone is a joke. A full charge barely lasts the day if you use the phone even lightly. Very disappointed, the phone will go up on EBay. Hope this helps anyone out considering this unit, to sum it up if looks is all your after in a phone than go for it, but if you need good functionality to go with it than definitely pass on the Krzr. Read more
by supra16 (see profile) - December 28, 2006

3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

9 out of 10 - Spectacular
Sprint has FINALLY done it!
I change cell phones at least once a year (sometimes more), and quality wise, this is the best phone I'...
I change cell phones at least once a year (sometimes more), and quality wise, this is the best phone I've had. The phone calls are crystal clear and it's really easy to use. Only thing stopping me from rating this as a 10 - the sound quality is a little mechanical (the Samsung A900 is still the best for music playback). All in all - a wise purchase for me! Read more
by KAYEsq (see profile) - November 9, 2006

5 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.

4 out of 10 - Mediocre
Loved it for 2 months, Now I Hate It!
I bought this phone 2 months ago from a SPRINT store. I immediately fell in love with it. It is ...
I bought this phone 2 months ago from a SPRINT store. I immediately fell in love with it. It is a perfect size, feels great, and sounds good talking on it. However, after a month and a half, my battery has nearly quit. At first I could go 3 days without recharging, now I must charge 3-4 times a day. ...

Many trips to SPRINT stores, many phone calls to SPRINT customer service, and I have been told that the KRZR K1m has a known faulty battery. It is not fixable at the present time, and there is no timeline for a fix. No replacement batteries are available. I was given a used battery from another KRZR and it failed immediately.

I have full insurance, but SPRINT claims that once my phone passed the 1 month phase, they are not responsible for battery issues. I can not order a replacement, since none are available.

After 2 months, my KRZR is virtually useless unless it is plugged in.

Other issues: I have been unable to get the MP3 player to work. The mini SD card does not work in the adapter if I put it in my SD card reader. I can not plug the USB cable into my computer and communicate with the phone at all. There is no means to hook up a headphone, so I must by an expensive blue tooth to listen to music.

I recommend that no one buy this phone until battery issues are solved! Read more
by dandidriksen (see profile) - February 2, 2007

2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

8 out of 10 - Excellent
a nice upgrade from the razr
overall this is an excellent phone but a bit pricey at this point. it's an upgrade over the razr ...
overall this is an excellent phone but a bit pricey at this point. it's an upgrade over the razr in terms of looks, but substance-wise it's pretty much the same. the software is still slow (will moto ever fix this?) and bland. call quality is excellent - crystal clear. haven't been able to test the battery life yet, but what can you expect from such a small phone? Read more
by treesara (see profile) - November 8, 2006

2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
1 comment posted to this opinion

8 out of 10 - Excellent
Overall I like this phone so far.
This phone is a very nice looking phone. I wouldn't say is the best phone out there, but at ...
This phone is a very nice looking phone. I wouldn't say is the best phone out there, but at least is not freezing on me like my former M1 from Sanyo. I was a little hesitant to buy this phone, but it was either the M1 or this one. I decided to try the M1 and that didn't work. Actually had 2 M1's and both had the same problem, so my number 2 choice became the Krzr. I wish the software wasn't slow, but overall is a great phone. Hope this helps guys... Read more
by Arroyojosem (see profile) - February 6, 2007

1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.