Microsoft Kin Two Phone

Microsoft Kin Two Review - Introduction and Design

Introduction he Kin Two, like the Kin One, is all about social networking. A constant stream of Twitter, Facebook and MySpace updates piles onto the phone's main stream throughout the day. But with updates organized and sized in a readable way, the stream never gets too cluttered. Microsoft Kin Two It also eschews being so simple a person can't find or will miss an update if checked semi-regularly. The phone makes it just as easy to send updates as it is to receive them. Other parts of the phone get less attention. There's no instant messaging on the phone, no extras like visual voicemail or photo editing options, and messages and emails are stored separately, as are contact entries from various sources. The Kin Two is a fun option for young social butterflies and the limited, flat-fee entertainment options make managing the cell phone bill easier. But people that want more applications, downloads and extra options may get bored with the phone. Design The Kin Two definitely has a more approachable look than the Kin One. While the Kin One is close to square-shaped and compact, the Kin Two is less likely to turn heads with its more standard look and measurements of 4.38-inches long, 2.36-inches across and 0.64-inch thick. The Kin Two also looks more professional, with its all-black exterior. Whether blending in is a good thing or a bad thing depends on personal taste. The Kin Two is a horizontal slider with a full QWERTY keypad tucked under its face. The keypad is wide enough to make mistyping difficult, but a bit short. As with the Kin One, the number keys are all arranged on the top row of keys, a configuration Blackberry users will have to get used to. The screen view can go from horizontal to vertical based on which way the phone is turned. The screen has touch screen options for zoom, moving left to right and back through panels, and making selections. There's a back button below the screen and an earpiece above the screen. Volume and photo capture keys are on the right side of the phone, a USB port is on the bottom, a headphone jack is on the top, the power button is on the top right corner, and the back of the phone has the flash and lens for the 8.0-megapixel camera/camcorder. The Kin Two has a sleeker look and a larger screen than the Kin One. At 4.7 ounces, it's about 0.8 ounce heavier than the original, but most will appreciate the extra space, especially people that like to see things in a larger font. It may not turn heads, but that may be the idea. Out of the box the Microsoft Kin Two comes with a battery, a USB power adapter, a micro-USB cable, a stereo headset, a quick start guide, a warranty guide and a product safety guide. Camera Where most smartphone cameras, including the one on the Kin One, stop at 5.0-megapixel, the Kin Two has an almost unheard-of 8.0-megapixel camera. Images come out crisp and clear, but not so sharp that one can make out minute details in the photo. Microsoft Kin Two As with the Kin One, the LED flash isn't that much help, but images are less likely to come out dark on the Kin Two. Pre-picture settings options include large, medium or small resolution; flash on or off; night, burst or auto mode; and lighting adjustments for home, office, sunny, cloudy or normal conditions. These are the same options the Kin One has. Also pictures can't be edited, only shared or placed somewhere on the phone, once shot and video recorded with the camcorder have no sound and can only be deleted, not edited, once captured. Settings for the video are high or email quality resolution and auto or night mode. Videos have decent quality, but the camcorder doesn't work well in low light. The night mode function helps this situation, but images only get lighter after they've been focused on for a few seconds, so moving the phone around a lot while recording will produce a poor product at night. The Kin Two's camera is stronger than the Kin One's and has a better chance of producing bright, colorful images. But the difference isn't that immense, and the settings and editing options, which could use an upgrade, are the same. Also the same is the fact that the camcorder doesn't record audio, which is a poor choice given the technology available on most smartphones. Basic Features The Kin Two is made for social networking-crazed teens. Instead of offering just one glimpse at a time of what's going on on Twitter, Facebook or MySpace, as is the case with the Palm Pixi Plus and Motorola Devour, Kin Two users can see a full stretch of updates from these networking sites. The list items are large enough to be easy to read but small enough not to clutter the main screen, where the list appears. The Kin Loop system integrates any of the above mentioned social networking accounts into the loop, and any older posts can be seen by selecting "more" at the bottom of the list. Any time a person wants to share a comment on a social site, they can simply type it into a status update line at the top of the main screen. For more complex sharing, there's the Kin Spot. A person wanting to share a news feed, search result, picture, video or Web page address can simply drag that information down to the spot, which is a dot at the bottom center of the screen, and then drag into the spot the names of contacts the person wants to share that information with. The spot can be used to send out an item via email or can be uploaded to a social networking site. It's a handy way to do something that would be a more difficult task if performed in the traditional manner on a Web site, given the size of the screen, and works quickly. The Kin Two also has Kin Studio, which is a back-up system for any information saved on the phone. Information is backed-up in an account at Kin.com, so everything from songs to photos saved on the phone can be accessed remotely if the phone is lost, stolen or damaged. It has email, text and multimedia messaging, social networking integration, entertainment from Zune, a browser, an 8.0-megapixel camera, an alarm, a news feed reader and settings, help and search sections. It doesn't have a calendar feature, instant messaging, can't read Flash items, and doesn't have the ability to create PDF or Microsoft Office documents. The Kin Two has most of the basic functions a phone should have, but few extras that will really set it apart on the smartphone market. It's missing plenty of options that business people count on. But given it's demographic, that's probably okay. Social networking is the phone's claim to fame, but don't depend on it for much else. Screen The 3.4-inch screen on the Kin Two makes viewing Web pages, watching videos and organizing playlists a more desirable task than doing any of those things on the 2.6-inch screen that comes with the Kin One. When it comes to smartphone, as long as the phone can still slide into a pocket easily, bigger is better for screens, and 3.4-inches is closer to what most smartphones come with these days. The screen is reflective when turned off, has a 320 by 480 pixel resolution, and images appear bright and colorful. Text isn't huge but for most is easy to read. Touch screen options include zoom, making selections, and moving between panels. The Kin Two has a good-sized screen, enough touch screen options to keep most people happy, and shows images in high resolution. It works relatively fast, but can have a bit of a lag. The screen image can be viewed in horizontal or vertical mode, but beware, the phone likes to switch between the two at the slightest movement. Audio There are two-dozen ringtones to choose from on the phone, plus nine alert sounds and half a dozen alarm sounds. They're all wordless and generic, which may bum out some teens that prefer to have a ringtone featuring the latest hit as their ringtone. The tones sound a bit tinny and simple. As with the Kin One, there are only three levels for volume, and high and normal sound about the same, while the soft level is so quiet it wouldn't be very useful to anyone that wants to hear the phone at all. Call quality is good, music plays clearly, especially on the 3.5 mm headset, but the audio on the phone isn't anything special. There isn't a wide range of volume options, and a greater variety of ringtones would be a bonus in any future incarnations of the phone. Messaging The Kin Two allows users to integrate multiple email accounts into the phone, including accounts from Windows Live Hotmail, Gmail, AOL Mail, Yahoo Mail, Microsoft Exchange and other POP3/IMAP4 sources. The phone also offers text and multimedia messaging. Plus there's the messages rolling in on a regular basis from Twitter, MySpace and Facebook on the main screen via Kin Loop. There are some items missing, though. The phone does not support instant messaging, and, unlike some Verizon phones, does not offer visual voicemail, which is a service that takes a voice message and turns it into a text message. The phone also keeps it simple when it comes to contacts. It integrates contact information instantly from all social networking sites integrated into the phone, but does not allow for contact entries that may overlap to become just one contact entry with information from multiple sources. Contact entries can include information on birthdays and anniversaries, work and home addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers. Each contact can have a photo and ringtone assigned to them as well. There are plenty of method for keeping in touch on the Kin Two, and most users will be satisfied with texting, email and social networking updates. But the Kin Two may not offer enough to keep instant message aficionados and those that prefer a more complex system of organizing contacts satisfied. Entertainment There are two main sources of entertainment on the Kin Two: the Zune subscription and social networking. Watching updates from friends roll in and posting news of your own via the Kin Loop list of integrated social updates can keep users entertained for hours. But if that gets old, users can listen to FM radio, watch videos and download and listen to music through Zune. A free pass to Zune is offered for two weeks. After that, users have to pay for the service. But anyone that's run up a bill with multiple downloads may prefer the flat monthly fee (or at least whoever's paying the bill will). Music can also be uploaded to the phone from a computer and arranged by albums, artists and playlists. The absence of games and extra applications, or any way to add them to the phone, is unusual and a let down. If the phone is marketed to teens, one would think arcade and video game-style entertainment would be prevalent on the phone. With iPhone and Android application stores stuffing more option in every day, it's also an interesting choice to leave an application store off this phone. Music lovers and those just wanting to stay in touch and maybe download a few videos may be satisfied with the Kin Two's entertainment options. But for anyone seeking unique options or looking for a phone that's more for business and pleasure than simple communication, the Kin Two isn't the best pick. Internet The Kin Two operates on Verizon's high-speed network and connects quickly to the Internet through its 3G service or a Wi-Fi connection, so going without a signal shouldn't be much of a problem. The browser provides full HTML views of Web pages, so you'll see the same look on a computer as you'll see on the phone. Some zooming is required to be able to read everything on the page, but it's not as hard to read the fine print on the Kin Two's larger screen as it is to peer at the Kin One's 2.6-inch screen. The Kin Two offers a relatively enjoyable Web surfing experience. There are two different ways to connect to the Internet, and Web pages look the way they would on a computer. Because the browser is not a system anyone's used to seeing on a computer, though, the navigation experience can be trying. There's no Flash support or ability to create tabs, so expect only a basic Web experience. Storage The Kin Two, like its cousin, comes with 256MB of RAM. Internal memory totals 8GB, more than the 4GB on the Kin One. There's a good amount of memory on the Kin Two, just not a lot of opportunity to use it. With limited entertainment and application options, most of that memory is designed to handle the endless news and social networking feed. The battery can last through a six-hour conversation, but not much longer, and can remain on standby without a charge for about 10 days. Connectivity The micro-USB cable connects the phone to a computer so a person can upload song files onto the Kin Two. The phone also connects to Bluetooth headset and hands-free devices (dual audio and video profile supported) and a 3.5 mm headset. There are plenty of ways to connect to the phone, but Kin Two is really about connecting to others with social networking and news feed integration. There aren't many options for Bluetooth use, but the target audience for the phone, teens, isn't big on it anyway. Conclusion The Kin Two has some upgrades from the Kin One, including a more powerful camera/camcorder, a bigger screen, and a less conspicuous color scheme. It also has a downgrade from the Kin One in internal memory and its keypad is a bit harder to type on since the keys are shorter. But plenty of things about the Kin Two that could use an upgrade are just like the Kin One. There's no calendar or calculator, simple basics on most phones, and instant messaging is unavailable. The 8.0-megapixel camera takes decent shots, but there aren't many setting options and zero editing options. The Zune entertainment system is unfamiliar to most users and doesn't allow users to get the games and applications so many other smartphones allow for. While most other companies strive to offer as many applications as possible to attract customers, the Kin Two hangs its hat on social networking. The Kin Spot and Kin Loop technology make for an easy-to-manage and easy-to-read experience keeping up with Twitter, Facebook and MySpace friends. If that isn't enough, Kin Two users can also keep in touch on email or through text and multimedia messaging. The phone also connects to computers and Bluetooth devices, has lots of storage room to support the Kin Loop, and has a screen large enough to make reading messages a snap for even people with poor eyesight. The Web browser offers a speedy experience available through a 3G or Wi-Fi connection, but the browser doesn't support Flash or tabs and can be confusing to navigate at first. Sound quality is alright, but there are few volume level options on the phone. The design is sleek and more standard than the Kin One, but it's heavier than its predecessor. Microsoft Kin Two The Kin Two isn't for conducting business. Anyone used to creating PowerPoint files and Word documents and emailing them off on the fly, checking a stock ticker application on the ride to work, and seeing contacts and messages in one stream similar to the social networking list on the Kin Two's main screen would simply find this phone frustrating. Those looking for a simplified phone experience focused on chatting, sharing and seeing what's new with friends with near-real-time updates are better candidates for the Kin Two.