Photos: Hands-on with the Motorola ZN5
Yesterday we got our hands on the recently announced Motorola ZN5, which boasts Wi-Fi and a 5-megapixel camera jointly developed with Kodak
Motorola fans rejoice! All both of you! Not only has Moto been making new phones (that don't resemble the Razr), it's actually started to make some decent handsets again. We liked the Rokr E8 a lot last month and now Motorola's launching a new camera phone in partnership with Kodak, called the ZN5, which we got to fondle yesterday.
The Motorola ZN5 feels and looks very cool. From the moment we picked it up we immediately noticed that it wasn't a Razr, which is a good place to start for a company that's been flogging a dead horse for years. Boasting a 5-megapixel camera and Kodak technology, Motorola reckons that this is possibly the best camera phone ever made. Click on the next few pages for more info. -Andrew Lim
To activate the Motorola ZN5's 5-megapixel camera, you simply slide open the cover on the back -- we were impressed by how quickly the camera started up. Taking pictures was also very fast with little to no shutter lag. Picture quality seemed excellent on the screen, but we'd need to download them to a PC to see how it compares to other 5-megapixel camera phones.
After you've taken a photo you're given the option to upload it to a Kodak gallery or you can use Shozu to upload it to a variety of different sites, such as Flickr and Facebook. You have the option to upload over Wi-Fi or EDGE but we're really disappointed that there's no 3G.
Considering Motorola hasn't entered the camera phone market in a very big way before, we were really impressed with the addition of a xenon flash. Shots in low light are considerably better lit than using an LED photo light. Again, we need to test it out further, but from what we saw initially we're definitely excited.
As you can see from the Kodak logo on the camera cover the Motorola ZN5 is co-developed by Motorola and Kodak, but ominously Kodak didn't make the sensor or the lens. Kodak's involvement was purely in the camera's interface and processing, such as the company's 'perfect touch' technology that adjusts the colour and lighting.
Something you may not see in the Motorola ZN5 adverts but will make a big difference is a 3.5mm jack, which means you can plug in your normal headphones. Other noteworthy features on the ZN5 include a microSD slot for adding memory and CrystalTalk technology, which improves audio quality during calls.
The ZN5 is due to come out in September and will be available on pay as you go, which hopefully means it won't be too expensive. We assume you'll also be able to pick it up for free on a monthly contract. We'll have more info on the ZN5 later this month when we get it in for review.
This is a sample shot taken (not by us, we should point out) with the Motorola ZN5 in relatively low light. It's fairly well balanced but we need to test it out for ourselves before we can make any final judgements. If you want to see the image at full resolution you can download it here.