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Kin Two (photos)

CNET takes a hands-on look at the Kin Two for Verizon Wireless.

Bonnie Cha
Bonnie Cha was a former chief correspondent for CNET Crave, covering every kind of tech toy imaginable (with a special obsession for robots and Star Wars-related stuff). When she's not scoping out stories, you can find her checking out live music or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California.
Bonnie Cha
1 of 7 Sarah Tew/CNET

Kin Two (Verizon Wireless)

The Kin Two, along with the Kin One, will be available in Verizon stores starting May 13. The cost of the Kin Two is $99.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Both devices will also require a $29.99 unlimited data plan.
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2 of 7 Sarah Tew/CNET

Design

Unlike the Kin One, the Kin Two has a more traditional touch-screen phone design. It measures 4.25 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide by 0.75 inch thick and weighs 4.7 ounces, so it's a bit hefty but feels solid in the hand.
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3 of 7 Sarah Tew/CNET

Keyboard

The Kin Two's keyboard is reminiscent of the Sidekick LX's--not surprising since the Kin phones are made by Sharp, which also made the Sidekick for Danger and is now a part of the Microsoft family after the April 2008 acquisition. The circular buttons are on the smaller side, but there's a nice amount of spacing between them so that cuts down on any mispresses.
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4 of 7 Sarah Tew/CNET

Bottom view

On the bottom, you'll find a Micro-USB port.
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5 of 7 Sarah Tew/CNET

Right side

The right side of the phone features a volume rocker and a camera activation/capture button. The camera key, however, is placed awkwardly on a downward slope, which made it difficult to press and often resulted in a fuzzy image.
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6 of 7 Sarah Tew/CNET

Camera

The Kin Two is equipped with an 8-megapixel camera and flash and can record HD video.
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7 of 7 Sarah Tew/CNET

Picture quality

Despite having an 8-megapixel camera, we weren't terribly impressed by the photo quality. The colors were a bit washed out and the overall image looked soft.

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