Customer Reviews

Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5 Unlocked Phone with 5 MP Camera, Wi-Fi, MP3 Player, and MicroSD Slot--International Version with No Warranty (Graphite Gray)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The phone part's great. Motorola's been making communications equipment for years, and their experience shows. The Crystal Talk feature work like a charm. I could be heard talking while standing under an elevated train rattling overhead. By comparison, try an iPhone, whose phone portion is on par with phones I owned in the '80s.

And the Kodak camera works amazingly well. The Night Mode gets surprisingly good results at very low light levels. And in daylight, the pictures are on par with what I've gotten from small digital cameras. Very impressed with that as well.

The device itself is quite nice. Well put together, totally solid construction. Nice materials. A pleasure to handle.

The downside is that the software is a pain. Different parts of the device seem to have been put together by different developers. And navigating around between different parts of the phone is baffling. But slowly, I'm getting used to it and I've gotten the Bluetooth to my computer (to download photos - great feature) to work after lots of trial and error.

Overall, the two key parts of this phone are excellent. It's just the overall integration that's not up to standard. Net result: I'm pleased.

The first time I saw this phone, I knew I had to get it. It looked so stylish, and at such a reasonable price. It had many features I liked, like the 5mp camera, 2.4 inch screen (I cant handle anything smaller than that) and sliding lens cover, which doubled as a camera on/off switch.

I kept this phone for about 2 months before I lost it. I bought a SE w902 to replace it, but I missed my ZN5 too much, and 2 weeks ago, bought a new ZN5 and sold the SE.

Likes:

- Stylish. eg flat keypad, "take the photo" button is stylishly disguised as a diagonal purple chrome button on the side.

- Bright screen with scratch resistant glass- very shiny, smooth and nice.

- The default purple Kodak theme for the UI is attractive imho.

- Slim, yet solid build.

- Easy to open a new sms message and send. To send, just press "send" once, unlike other brands, where you have to press "send", then press "yes" for "are you sure?"

- Very customisable menu- can reorder items and lists.

- Affordable.

- Comes with 3.5mm headphone jack, so can use your own.

- Camera:

*Quality is so good that you can use as an actual camera, if you dont mind a fixed lens camera. Of course, be sure to charge the battery before you go out.

*Panoramic photo feature is interesting, and often results in a good quality pic.

*Like many mobile phones, you can take multiple photos quickly. However, most will only let you do it as VGA size, or maybe let you choose one ("best shot"). The ZN5 will let you save all the photos you take, and at full size- up to 5mp. Excellent.

*Sliding lens cover doubling as quick on/off switch is practical.

*Dedicated buttons for viewing photos.

*5mp camera takes good photos, especially in good light.

*Camera xenon flash is very bright, excellent for indoor photos in the same room.

*Kodak software fix works well to lighten up dark or underexposed parts of a photo.

Dislikes:

- My second phone has a glitch. After I take a photo, it saves, then the screen goes black, as if you have closed the lens cover. All the other software lists are there, just no picture. My first ZN5 never had this problem.

- My first ZN5 did, however, turn itself off after being turned on for a few minutes. I have read others online saying this is because the battery slips from its contact slightly, turning the phone off. My second ZN5 doesnt have this problem.

- Video is pitiful. I mean it is so bad that it looks grainy, even on the 2.4 inch screen. Such a waste of high quality lens.

- Battery got hot after prolonged camera use.

- The word "Kodak" on the camera lens cover. I dont think Kodak is a very prestigious brand and detracts from the Motorola.

- The sms dictionary is still screwy- strange words instead of the expected word, and you cant add words to a customised dictionary (well, I havent found out how to, at any rate)

- Camera- Panoramic feature only lets you move horizontally, so cant get vertical collage effect like with the SE "manual" panoramic feature.

-mp3 player is ok, but not as good as SE.

- Reception was poor on my first ZN5, and average on my second one. Dont know what the hype about Crystal Talk is, because there was no crystal with my talking.

- After downloading the contacts from my sim card, it added "/1" to the end of every contact. No idea why that is. eg "Adam" become "Adam/1"

There's probably more things I do and dont like, but I cant think of them at the moment. Overall, it's not perfect, but I like it and I think I'll be keeping it for a while.

Should you buy it? It depends on what you want. Do you need video? Give it a miss. Want a lot of fancy features and games? Give it a miss.

Want a stylish slim phone with a great camera at a low price? The ZN5 should be in your top 3 list of phones to try out.

First phone where I actually use almost all of its features. I have had it for about a week and can't stop playing with it. It's now the only thing I have to carry around, mp3 player, camera, phone, internet device(with WiFi), and I love it. This phone was made for me.

Was thinking about getting other phones, iphone, g1. But they force you to buy the most expensive data plan for the phone to be fully functional that is way too much money for me.

Only con I have found is it has an internal micro SD slot under the battery.

I have the locked version, but you can still get google maps on it if you download it a bunch of times, very cool free app!

Also the voice recognition works fine for me (I had problems at first but all you have to do is wait till after the beeps to say your command). And for the radiation concerns, they give you a free stereo headset with the phone (a pleasant surprise).

I have been a loyal Motorola user for some time, starting way back with my silver Timeport flip phone, V300, RAZR V3, RIZR Z3, W490 and now the Zine ZN5. The OS is just intuitive to me and the icons and graphics have always looked better to me. Whenever I look at other brands, namly Samsumg (even the newer ones), they always feel clunky (I also owned a Samsung S105 before the V300). This phone keeps alot of the navigation that I'm famaliar with and adds some nice tweaks to it. There are tabs on some menus making it easier to scroll through options.

Some features I like, which also prompted my upgrade, are wifi, nice large screen and the FM radio. I have tried the FM radio on a Nokia phone and reception was really weak. This pulled them in nice and clear. Only downside it you have to be using headphones, but that is needed on other phones as well with the FM radio feature. Of course the major selling point is the camera! It only took a few minutes to get the hang of taking pictures. You have to press pretty firm to get the picture to take, but its just a matter of getting a feel for it. The pictures are nice and clear. Low light was a little grainy, but still good with the flash. Not a complete camera replacement for me, but perfect for getting those split second shots that you always wish you had a camera handy for.... and now I do! Surfing the web with T-zones was also much zippier than my RIZR. That was unexpected, but very noticable. I have finally been able to get Opera mini to work. Go to [...] to see how to hack the phone and update the firmware. Magx Reloaded is a very nice firmware.

I was a little suprised at the size being almost the same dimensions as my iPod touch, but about 1/2" narrower. Its about the same height and thickness. Its not too big at all though and the phone feels nice and solid like my ipod. Another physical feature that is obvious is that its a bar style phone (I usually stick with flip) and the screen can be subject to scratching. I will certainly be getting screen protectors for this phone. I have also dialed someone from mistake in my pocket due to hitting buttons. There is a manual lock on the side, but I wish there was an option for an automatic lock like my RIZR.

Something to note is I bought this off ebay with the seller claiming it was about two months old. The "messages" button would audibly click but it would not pull up the messaging menu (probably why she was dumping the phone). Before returning it, I did a reset with code 000000 and then the messaging worked fine. Hopefully just a glitch that is fixed now. Overall, I'm very pleased with all the features this phone offers and feel its a keeper!

Pros:

-High-end 5MP camera with xenon flash and auto focus

-Easy to use controls

-WiFi

-Decent battery life (3-4 days)

-Price ($100 with 2-year contract)

Cons:

-no 3G

-Menu scrolling sometimes slow

-low video capture resolution

-Only 1 color available

This is a great phone with a high-end camera integrated. With its price, you usually get a 1.3/2MP pin-hole camera module these days. But this 5MP camera (with great optics, fast auto focus, and effective xenon flash) is one of the best you can find in a phone for the price. The Nokia N95 has a 5MP camera, but it is quite expensive. The image colors for the ZN5 also looks better than the N95.

Unlike your typical Motorola phone (which don't usually generate a market buzz), this ZN5 separates itself from the pack. If Motorola keeps making standout phones like this, they can get some market share back. Normally I don't get Motorola phones, but this is an exception.

Call quality has been good so far (I own this phone for about a month now). Real-life battery life has been decent, with 3-4 days per charge. Given the pros, I really enjoy this phone. The cons didn't bother me too much so I would highly recommend this phone. Searching online, I also found many positive reviews for this phone (CNET, NYTimes, etc).

With the product being a Motorolla phone AND a Kodak Camera combined, You're getting the best of both worlds (and even MP3 player is Easy to use)

I'm a T-Mobile AND a Verizon Wireless subscriber having phones with both companies. I was comparing this to the Samsung Omnia with Verizon as to whom I was going to choose for the better phone with the best options.

For anyone who really does enjoy photography as more a hobby you're probably like me and taking pictures of things quickly. Example: "Oh, A beautiful bird.. I want to take a picture!"

With the Zine, You open the "lens cover" and hit the picture button. You've taken your picture. tada!

The MP3 feature is very easy to use also, enabling you to access this with out having to pay for a seperate feature on your phone to give it this capability. the screen is well lit, and if you follow the directions on charging the battery when you first get it, the battery life is VERY good for what it handles. Using the camera on and off for over three hours only used one bar of power. This phone also has a GREAT Panoramic feature, creating the frames so that it guides you to a perfect panaoramic shot every time. It's a must have if you're a T-Mobile user , and are a camera enthusiast. Did I mention the Video feature? It's great too! Two resolutions to choose from and optiosn of "sendable" and "max" time frames.

Happy filming!

I've had mine for over a year and I love the phone. You know how a PDA is a cell phone with a built in computer?

The Zine is a 5mp digital camera with video, auto focus and flash, with a built in cellular phone, FM radio that works great(!), address book, calculator, calendar, speaker-phone, music player, comes with online contacts storage, email (I have stored all my yahoo and gmail addresses easily and although it is not as complex as my computer- they work without a hitch) and text messenger, decent talk/standby time, caller tunes available and International calling capabilities. It even has a 'TALK' feature and read texts, numbers, contacts list-OUTLOUD, at your discretion. All available and usable WITHOUT an expensive data plan.

It has great memory capability in the memory card and adequate in the phone. It comes with an adapter for the memory card to fit right into your computer directly, video/audio cables to hook to the TV, a USB cord, a decent headset and a Motorola phone tools CD, which doesn't come cheap.

The only couple drawbacks is it has a weak keyboard (I have worn mine out too quickly) and it does not have the capability to 'cut and paste' text. The battery choice could have used some tweaking as well. It wears out easily, starts getting warm at times and drains quickly. I carry a vehicle charger. I am in the market for a better battery replacement, currently.

The only other problem is no one carries Zine so it's hard to find and has fallen to the way-side in lieu of the PDA/BB/Touch-Screen fads.

The cell companies can charge more for phones that REQUIRE a more expensive data plan to even be able to make a local phone call so they sinply don't want to carry a customer friendly phone, like the MOTOZINE 5. Too bad for consumers.

I REALLY wish Motorola would make an updated version. They could count me in!

Bought this phone in September, 2009 and wanted to give it time to prove itself before I gave a review. I love this phone! My true rating is a 4.75 score but went ahead and gave it 5 stars for these reasons:

PROS:

1) Wi-Fi - The wifi works great on my home wifi and when I go to wifi hot spots. If I am within 250 feet of the wireless, no problem at all connecting.

2) 3.5" jack, I can connect this phone to stereo speakers or any headset that I want to for great stereo sound.

3) FM Radio (must use headset). I have been able to get many stations clearly! (Better than on my desk set radio).

4) Email setup - I was able to get on Gmail and Yahoo wonderfully with the built in email on the phone.

5) The calendar/organizer - This is my FAVORITE feature of this phone because I can set alarms to go off during the day with the calendar and use my own voice memos to tell me what the appointment is for! This keeps me so organized!

6) Notes and task list-This also keeps me organized with things that I need to do and notes as well.

love all of the features and find it is fast and easy to use. Mine is not unlocked as I use TMobile. The WiFi is my favorite feature. The main reason that I bought this phone is because of the 3.5" headphone jack and the FM radio and of course the Kodak camera. The FM radio picks up stations so clearly. Also, this phone has a wonderful calendar/appointment feature that you can insert an MP3 file, video or any voice note as your reminder on each calendar reminder. This phone is like having a secretary working for you. I also have a HTC Touch2 phone that is a touch phone and love it, but my Moto Zine is still my favorite as I give it 5 stars! (This superb smart phone does not deserve the bad rating from other people).

7) The call quality is superb, when I call someone, I can hear them just like on a landline phone! And they tell me that I do not sound like I am on a cellphone, they hear me loud and clear!

8) The messaging is great, you can send text, pictures, videos or audio messages.

9) Great MP3 player, easy to set up play lists and the sound is superb!

10) Camera takes great pictures, great to use when I forget to bring my regular camera!

11) File Manager - You can find files, rename files, delete files from your SD card on this phone. And it holds a micro SD card up to 4 gigs, although I placed a 8 gig in it and it worked.

12) Battery life - can go 2 days using Wifi, camera, phone etc on a charge. And on standby several days! (This phone has the longest battery life on any that I have used thus far).

13) I use this phone as: 1) Phone 2) MP3 player 3) Radio 4) Appointment secretary 5) WiFi

Internet use. It is like having a net book, phone, MP3 Player, radio, and secretary all in one.

CONS:

The only con that I have regarding this phone is that is does not read or write Word or Excel documents and I could not find any apps for this at this time. This is why my true score of this phone is a 4.75. However, because of all of the great things that this phone does for me, I give it this high scores as it is truly a great phone for me! I love all of the features and find it is fast and easy to use. Mine is not unlocked as I use TMobile. The WiFi is my favorite feature. The main reason that I bought this phone is because of the 3.5" headphone jack and the FM radio and of course the Kodak camera. The FM radio picks up stations so clearly. Also, this phone has a wonderful calendar/appointment feature that you can insert an MP3 file, video or any voice note as your reminder on each calendar reminder. This phone is like having a secretary working for you. I also have a HTC Touch2 phone that is a touch phone and love it, but my Moto Zine is still my favorite as I give it 5 stars! (This superb smart phone does not deserve the bad rating from other people).

I have had this T-mobile phone for 2 years now and it still impresses me. First off I bought it because it had great reviews for the camera which I must say is true. It takes better pictures than my Canon Point and shoot digital 8 megapixel camera and this phone is only 5 megapixals!

Battery life is decent. Recently I purchased a new battery for it and usually get a few days out of it before it needs charging. Unless you take a lot of photos with the flash. It will drain the battery pretty quickly so its more for the capture the moment. Video is crappy but don't really even bother taking video with this phone. Memory has not been an issue its pretty good with memory especially if you buy micro sd card for it that is larger than the 1 gig that comes with it.

Its great on custom features like importing your mp3 music to it so its like having an ipod with you. You can even set some of the mp3 sounds as your ring tone or other sound profiles which is awesome and saves you money!

Wifi is pretty decent. Don't use it too much because I hate looking at a small screen but its nice to have in case you really need to check something.

Overall I give it a 4 stars because I have had it for two years and dropped it numerous times. Once even in the snow and had to find it after a few minutes and it still was working just fine. So if you are a person that just wants a decent phone that has options and takes great pictures go with this Motozine. Texting can be a little frustrating due to a little lag from time to time, but you get used to it.

I've owned this phone for more than a year. The ZN5 has an excellent camera, great interface design, great battery life, compact size, good display, and plenty of features. Per the design, it's exactly the phone I want. Hats off to the folks at Motorola deciding what the product should be.

My problems with this phone lie in the execution of the basic phone functionalities, and were around since the first day of use. At least 5 times per day the phone pauses for 20-30 seconds and does nothing. Deleting more than 10 texts appears to cause a major processing crisis within this phone. Mind you, this is a 400mhz Arm Processor. Deleting texts from flash memory should not be a challenge. Moon landings were done with less processing power. Randomly (1-2 times/day), the phone just powers itself off. The mechanics of the battery required me to wedge folded over paper in the battery compartment to keep the battery in contact with the power connector inside the phone.

Aside from the battery mechanics, this all sounds like crappy firmware. I don't remember the version of the firmware on this thing, but it was certainly not of the first few. I bought this a year after product launch. I don't want to spend a few hours to flash the firmware and lose all my data for a fix that may/maynot work. It's a safer bet to just buy a new phone.

It's been frustrating enough that I'm tossing it and buying a Nokia. I just hope they remember the phone part of the phone. I'll see what some nut on the 'bay will give me for it.