I have yet to discover and use all the features on the KIN but so far i am pretty impressed with what i see so far. The KIN ONE no doubt has its short comings and it is in a strange limbo between a smart phone and a feature phone- i do really miss some features of my HTC Incredible such as navigation, stocks, calendar, notes, and a task list. Though it hasnt been a big enough deal to be frustrating and switch back. I haven't touched my HTC Increbile since i connected my KIN ONE to Verizon's network. And the Incredible has been my favorite phone so far. So that does say a lot.



Back to basics:
I think what draws me to the KIN ONE is the extremely well thought out UI- kin (pun intended) to the Zune. This UI is applied to a back to basics approach to the phone. I feel like they started with "Let's build a communication device." not "Let's build another smart phone". I like the power of the Android devices and like many of the smartphones they application masters, but horrible at the fundamentals of a mobile phone. Making and receiving a phone call on the Motorola Droid is a horrible experience and i have heard iphone users say the same.

Build quality
Good, a little hollow feeling, but buttons press nicely and it does feel like it will hold up well. The slider on the phone is robust and stays in place. One of the most frustrating things about the Motorola Droid was that the slider didnt stay in place- just picking up the phone would start to separate the two halves. Would i change anything? So far not really, havent seen the need for "better build quality" that would add expense to the phone. I feel like it will hold up well.

Keyboard
The keyboard works very well for its size and feels similar to the Palm Pre, but sits better in your hands and has more room for your fingers. The one think i dont like is the placement of the phone key. I keep hitting it when trying to press the "shift" (green button) key. I like the idea of a dedicated phone key for quick access, but its awkward placement.

Camera
I havent been too impressed with the camera so far. What is really disappointing to me is the poor macro performance. Up close shots are really important to me because I use my phone a lot for capturing notes, receipts, item numbers... things i want to remember but dont want to write down. Picture quality is mediocre, but does do a pretty good job of low light shots when set to night mode. I do really like the camera button on the top. Its quick access to your camera and photos all in the same "app" so to speak.

KIN Studio
I havent had a chance to play with this that much yet, but i have managed some contacts and photos. I love having direct controls of my phone on a big UI on the web. This cloud connection should be standard on all phones.

Zune Pass
I love this. Now i have all of my music and TV shows accessible in a very familiar Zune UI. The sound quality is so far good, but i havent done any critical A/B testing. The big dissapointment though is the really poor quality Bluetooth audio streaming... being able to stream my Zune playlists to the Creative ZiiSound D5 would be great- however as i mentioned here the sound is unlistenable. bluetooth-audio-streaming-distortion-issues-t7.html


I will get more into the details on the KIN ONE over the next week as i use it and I will be writing a full in-depth review after i have spent some time with it. Too many of the well know tech bloggers have put out some extremely short sided and rushed reviews of the KIN that didn't really give readers a legitimate perspective of the KIN. I hope to give you all a real perspective on what the KIN is all about.

So what questions do you have about the KIN ONE? AME!

Does kin one have any apps... does it have youtube?

Do you have any gripes over the small size? I would never be able to live with a phone that small.

acesxclaw wrote:Do you have any gripes over the small size? I would never be able to live with a phone that small.

Upon buying the Kin I was looking forward to having a smaller phone in my pocket but i was concerned about the smaller resolution 320x240 pixel screen since in my eyes more screen real estate is always a plus. So i do like the smaller physical size but do make a mark against the Kin for a smaller screen... its certainly a trade off.

However... The way that the UI is designed makes it incredibly usable on a screen half the size. The only difference between the Kin ONE and Kin TWO is the length of the vertical lists- whether its a menu or media or rss. With the Kin ONE you just have to do a little more scrolling but i feel as if the user experience is only marginally hindered by a screen half the size. This is very apparent when using the Zune App on the Kin verses the Zune HD... the experience is nearly the same.

Lem7 wrote:Does kin one have any apps... does it have youtube?

This first version is more or less app free. I Imagine that they will trickle out like they did with the Zune HD and we are already hearing rumors of them releasing Instant messaging apps really soon.

I believe that they're going to release a messenger application. Didn't the Sidekick have an IM application? Since the Kin phones seem to be the spiritual successor to the Sidekick, you would think that they wouldn't remove a key feature of the phone.

jdroleskey wrote:I believe that they're going to release a messenger application. Didn't the Sidekick have an IM application? Since the Kin phones seem to be the spiritual successor to the Sidekick, you would think that they wouldn't remove a key feature of the phone.

Yeah, and i think that what they will be doing is focusing on messaging and communication. Currently the Kin does a really great job of being a communication device- kind of taking the phone back to its roots but in a social media / next generation web kind of way. But it certainly needs IM and other pieces plugged into the puzzle.

I think the KIN needs a lot of work, but could potentially rule.

How are the studio and the website that goes along with it?

I don't get why the Kin phones doesn't have a microSD slot...