We had a feeling we'd get a mixed bag of reviews as soon as we first saw the
Motorola Krave ZN4 -- it's one of those love it or hate it type things, you know? In some cases, reviewers chose to focus on the positives, noting that it was cute, unique, a good music player and a phone that would last and last without a recharge. Another batch of critics couldn't hold back the whip, pointing out that it lacked WiFi, packed a lackluster browser, included yawn-worthy software and offered a keyboard that was "straight-up awkward." As expected, overall ratings hovered between just below average to just above average, and it seems this phone will be exactly what you make it out to be. Moto fans will likely have plenty to cheer about, but those without a dog in the fight may want to give the writeups below a more thorough glance before dropping $149.99 and agreeing to a super-sized 2-year commitment.
Read - PC Magazine
Read - PhoneScoop
Read - Laptop Mag
Read - DigitalTrends
Read - CNET
So it's more like a phone, and less like an internet appliance. That seems reasonable for many people, actually.
And that's the point of the phone. It isn't meant to super phone. Just play some music and be a simple phone. A lot of phone users only want that.
I would disagree. With smartphone pricing getting closer to $99.99 w/ 2yr agreement, I think this flip is over-priced.
That's what most people I know want, a phone. That works. That doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
Goodbye, Moto.
Doesn't look bad, but after seeing phones like the X1 and the Omnia anything less seems lacking.
this phone has great sounds, with 3.5mm jack ,
not bad for $ 150
If you're a Verizon subscriber, and you're dying for a touchscreen phone, I'm not sure why you'd choose this over the Dare. They'd both be annoying as hell to use, but at least the Dare doesn't have that cover to get in the way of typing.
the flip is way cool you can type through it has sensor in it and the speaker works without wires the flip is the cool thing reminds me of the Startrek tos comunicater
The flip is quite redundant - it seems the benefits are not really worth the additional hassle while for example using the QWERTY keyboard imho.
Other than that, quite nice actually. A little bit sluggish, but nice.
Do a flip-free and thus thinner version, Moto!
Moto MING2
$149.99 should be prepiad price... try selling this on e-bay [No reserve]
I don't know, I think it look cool. The browser gets mixed reviews, as some said it was decent, (plays youtube), and some said it is pretty much crap. It is certainly a great phone (excellent signal strength, call quality, and speakerphone), and the touch screen is very responsive. The janky animations are troubling, but overall, it looks like a good and unique value for 150.
actually this phone looks pretty rad!
i do not understand this obsession with wifi on phones.
It's due to people living in areas where 3G isn't available, or cannot afford/do not want to pay for wireless internet on their phones.
You'll understand once you use a phone with a good web browser, rich email client, streaming media client, and/or ability to run VoIP apps. Really any one of those makes me disregard any phone without WiFi at this point.
excactly, all this started with iPhone. i HAVE the iPhone, i HAD a V3i and just got a V9 for Turbo3G (which i use via my pC in the train). Its great to browse on the internet on the wifi with IPhone, for a week. Now its a very expensive remote control for my iTunes library and the third portable music player in the house. The point is, a mobile phone should be primarly "Mobile" and a Phone. If I want to browse the internet, work in photoshop or play Callof Duty, i have a computer. Motorola makes good phones. iPhone is a revolutionary technology product. But as a phone its overpriced, clumsy to hold against the ear and doesnt fit my trouser pocket, or belt clip. maybe i am crazy but i like the flip models, something i like about snapping it shut after a call, well thats jus me. Moto is clever to put in the simple feature of a 3.5 headphones jack in all their current phones. works perfect.
Like the RAZR, ROKR, KRZR, I'm surprised they didn't stick to their original naming scheme and call it the KRVE
No wonder MOT stock is at all time low. MOT needs to fire all the current phone designers. They need to put their act together to be more innovative.
What is that the MING 2008 reiteration of an reiteration?
That should have "a" not "an" but nice to see Moto back in action now with the return of vowels. Glad that they figured out what was ailing them and fixed it.
I went to the store today to try this out. I was very disappointed. The OS is very unresponsive and ugly.
Day 2 of the Krave test drive. I'm really torn. I'm much more comfortable talking on a cell phone that resembles a landline receiver (I can't be completely alone on this) so I was excited to see a cool phone that opens up nice and big -and the call quality is really good. This part I like.
I'm a big texter and this is the problem. First off, You DO get used to the QWERTY keyboard with the cover in the way. It may mean a little less reach on your left thumb, but the other hand compensates. I'm getting as fast on the keys as I am on my Ipod Touch. The two really big problems could be fixed with a software update and I'd be totally happy with this phone if they were. The Iphone/touch has word guessing technology LIGHT YEARS in head of this phones. And it means on an Iphone you can type fast and messy and it's success rate is fabulous (as you all know). While this phone has predictive text you need to be spelling it right for it to work while Iphone will translate "xojimg" into "coming" magically.
Secondly, in order to send a text you need to hit a lot of keys, and they're in different places on the screen. On my old EN-V, it felt like a just mashed a key and had my text screen opened in a second. With this phone just getting there requires attention. A short cut to the regular text screen (skipping the screen that asks what kind of text message I want to send) would make me happy.
I wish I had some insight into what if any software updates were in the pipeline
im only on day one of my test and i come from an ENV as well. Am I ever going to get used to this phone, or should I just head back in for the ENV2? ?
one more thing, how do you get the QWERTY to show up ? when I turn it sideways nothing happens!
The full keyboard should show up when you click on the body of the text and turn the thing sideways. Is your phone in a case? THat might be messing with its accelerometer.
I've been putting myself through texting bootcamp with this thing and I'm getting faster with it, but I think with this phone you have to come to terms with the fact that it will never be as fast as an actual keyboard.
I think I've decided to keep this phone because I really like making calls on it, I like using the internet on it well enough, I've become okay with texting a bit slower than I used to, I'm holding out hope that they'll come out with a software upgrade that does a better job of correcting spelling, and there just isn't another good, new, cool verizon phone out there.
I am having a hard time making a decision on what phone to get. It was between the Dare and the Glyde(well I quickly nixed the Glyde idea after trying it out at the Verizon store and getting some insight from other people. Now I am torn between The Dare and The Krave, which is a harder challenge then my previous one. Both phones are very cool and offer some nice features, making it very hard to decide. Hoping by the time I am ready for the purchase, when my New Every Two is here , I will have made a decision. Also from reading hoping the Krave gets a software upgrade, even though it really wouldnt make a huge difference to me, since I dont need a SUPERPHONE. Hope to hear some more reviews and maybe one or two will sway me one way or another.
I stopped by the local verizon corp store yesterday and played with the Krave. I am currently using an LG VX8300. I have had this phone for over 2 years and love it. I keep thinking I want to get a touch screen phone and have tried numerous ones. Since I am new to touch screen it was fairly easy to use. But basic functions like one touch dialing and the ability to have hot keys was not there. You can not change the function of the displayed 4 keys or select which function they perform. I use my calendar for everything and having to go thru the menus to get to it was not good. My main purpose of a Cel phone is a "Phone' and good reception and long battery life are inportant. Thanks for the other reviews. An old techy.
As a current Verizon Wireless employee, I know that this phone will have many updates to come.
Was the Voyager or the Dare perfect when released? No...
Just be patient.
http://mobileroar.com/forum
I loved the phone on line until I actually purchased it. It's highly over-rated, it's kind of fragile and you cant delete you call history big turn-off I will probably sell it
I just got my Krave and LOVE IT! Those of you that need internet in your pocket...what for? With laptops, computer coffee shops, a computer on every desk, stand, and just about every room in the house....why? Are you planning on ending up on a deserted island?
Oh and price - I paid nothing...and got a free 4gig card for it too.......wirefly is the place to shop for a phone,...
Had this phone for a week and returned it. The designers of this phone forgot that this was meant to be a Phone. It lacks all of the basic usability features like one touch dial, no easy navigation through tools and settings, the call quality was bad and the touch sensitive surface remained enabled during call and did stuff every time the phone touched the face. The list of disappointing features can go on and on, so I'd recommend to wait for the software update before getting this phone.