Why You Can Trust CNET Kin Two (Verizon Wireless) review: Kin Two (Verizon Wireless)
Kin Two (Verizon Wireless)
Kin Two (Verizon Wireless)
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Editors' note, November 24, 2010: Though Microsoft discontinued the Kin One and Two in June 2010, Verizon brought them back in November and is now selling them as feature phones with modified capabilities.
Portions of this review were taken from our evaluation of the Kin One since they share a number of similarities.
In April 2010, Microsoft finally took the wraps off Project Pink and introduced two new phones targeted at the younger generation of social butterflies: the Kin One and Kin Two. However, the reveal was shrouded in questions and doubt rather than excitement. Who would want this kind of device, especially in the wake of the Windows Phone 7 announcement? Even though Microsoft was very clear in saying that the Kin devices would not appeal to everyone and was specifically targeted at a younger, more social crowd, we were still apprehensive.
Flash forward to now, when we've had a couple of days to check both the Kin One and Kin Two and can see things more clearly. Stepping back from our role as tech journalists and trying to get in the mind frame of the target demographic, we can see how the Kin One and Two might appeal to teens and twentysomethings. The phones offer instant access to favorite friends and a constant connection to them through the tight social-networking integration. They also offer a different and fun user experience than a lot of other full-featured phones on the market.
All of this is well and good, but as we said before, part of the devices' success would depend on the pricing of the phones and data plans. Interestingly, when we first received the phones, Microsoft and Verizon said the pricing would be $79.99 for the Kin One and $149.99 for the Kin Two, both with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. We were just about ready to launch into a tirade when at the last minute we received word that the pricing had been changed to $49.99 and $99.99, respectively--much, much better. Unfortunately, though, there's no adjustment to the monthly data plan. Both the Kin One and Two will require monthly $29.99 unlimited data plans, just like Verizon's other smartphones and 3G multimedia and feature phones. Considering the amount of data the handsets use, it makes sense, but still: the target group probably doesn't have much disposable income, and this may pose a problem to the Kins' overall success. In addition, for the same price (or sometimes less), you can get a full-fledged smartphone, so why would you pay more for less? Hopefully, all parties involved will reconsider the pricing scheme, but for now, we'd go with one of Verizon's other feature phones or smartphones, such as the Palm Pre Plus or the HTC Droid Eris.
The Microsoft Kin One and Two will be available for preorder through Verizon's Web site starting May 6 and will ship within 48 hours. The devices will be in all Verizon stores nationwide May 13.
Design
The Kin Two has a familiar design, resembling a number of other touch-screen slider phones on the market today. The handset is pretty nondescript, aside for some branding on the back, which isn't a bad thing, but certainly is a stark contrast from the Kin One. It will also take up more room in a pants pocket, as it measures 4.25 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide by 0.75 inch thick and weighs 4.7 ounces. It's a hefty phone, but it feels solid.
Of course, one of the advantages of having a bigger device is a bigger screen. The Kin Two features a 3.4-inch capacitive touch screen, so you can see more information at a glance than you can on the Kin One. The screen is also sharper than the Kin One's and includes a built-in accelerometer so you get support for portrait and landscape modes. The accelerometer was pretty quick to change the screen orientation, but it takes a couple of seconds to repopulate the Loop screen with all your feeds.
Similar to that of the Kin One, the scrolling experience wasn't very smooth on the Kin Two. It catches a bit as you try to scroll through longer lists, but the smartphone does offer pinch-to-zoom gesture support in the browser and picture gallery. Again, you get only one physical control button below the display, which takes you back to the previous screen. We really wish Microsoft and Sharp had added at least a home shortcut to easily get back to the main screens when deep in an app, because hitting the back button multiple times is not fun.
To expose the Kin Two's keyboard, just push the screen to the right. The sliding mechanism is smooth and the screen securely locks into place. The 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. There are shortcuts for the phone app, search, and emoticons on the bottom row.
There are other controls scattered around the edge of the phone. There's a 3.5mm headphone jack on top and a power button and volume rocker on the right side. You'll also find a camera activation/capture button near the bottom of the right spine. Unfortunately, it's also awkwardly located on the downward slope of the phone's edge, making it difficult to press while trying to hold the handset steady to take a picture. It usually took us a couple of tries to get a clear picture. As usual, the camera and flash are on the back and the Micro-USB port is on the bottom of the device.
The Kin Two comes packaged in a cylindrical canister along with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a wired stereo headset, and reference material. For more add-ons, please read our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.
User interface
Both the Kin One and Two use the same user interface. The software on both devices was created on the core elements of Windows Phone 7, but the user experience is designed completely around social communication, with the Loop home screen at the center of it all.
Loop displays all your contacts' updates and tweets from Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Windows Live, and will also pull in any content from your subscribed news feeds. It retains a bit of the look and feel of Windows Phone 7 with the tile layout, and you can tap each tile to either read the full story or comment on a person's status. Information is shown in chronological order with the most recent news up top; as more updates and stories come in, stories are pushed down, but be aware that the screen doesn't pull data in real time but rather in 15-minute increments. Your status and image, however, always remain at the top, where you can instantly update your MySpace or Facebook status or send out a tweet by simply tapping the screen. One note about the social-networking integration: though you can upload photos to MySpace and Facebook, you can't upload to Twitter, which is unfortunate.
To the left of the Loop screen, you will find all the phone's apps, such as e-mail, music and videos, phone, browser, settings, and so forth. When you swipe to the right you'll find all your favorite contacts. You can have up to 51 favorites, and adding contacts is simple. You can't change the size of the tiles, but you can rearrange them, as well as apps, by doing a two-finger tap on the screen.
The Kin One and Two aren't just about having access to information; they're also about sharing, and the phones have a unique way of doing so with a feature called the Spot. The Spot is literally a green dot at the bottom of all three home screens to which you can drag and drop content and then add contacts (also through drag and drop) with whom you want to share the information with via text/MMS or e-mail. You can share anything from the Loop screen, as well as Web pages, which we thought was pretty cool.
It's a simple process and works as advertised. You just do a long press on an item until you see a smaller version of it and then drag it down to the Spot; you do the same with contacts. We don't know if it's the most efficient way to do things, but it's certainly different and innovative, setting it apart from many of today's feature phones and smartphones.
In general, the UI on the Kin One and Two can be completely overwhelming at first, much like Motoblur. There's a lot of information to digest, but there are ways you can pare down the feed. For example, you can filter the Loop screen so that only one of your social-networking sites populates the screen. Then again, perhaps for the targeted audience members, this is what they want: to be connected all the time and to have access to all their social networks with just a press of a button. Even so, there's a bit of a learning curve and accessing submenus within apps can be confusing.
Features
There's more to the Kin One and Two than just social networking, however. Of course, with devices like these, phone calls may not be the first choice of communication. If you actually feel like making a call, you can! Voice features include a speakerphone, conference calling, a proximity sensor, text and multimedia messaging, 3G support, and stereo Bluetooth. Wi-Fi is also onboard as well as a full HTML Web browser (more on the browser in the Performance section) and Bing Web and local search.
The handsets' address book is limited only by the available memory; each contact card offers room for multiple numbers, e-mail addresses, custom ringtones, and photos, birthdays, and more. If an individual has a Facebook or MySpace page (and as long as you've synced those accounts to the phone), you can open up an individual entry and then swipe to the right to view any contact info that's been pulled from those sites. It's also possible to link and unlink duplicate contact cards.
E-mail support on the Kin One and Two includes POP3/IMAP accounts as well as Exchange with push delivery, though we certainly wouldn't recommend this as a business device. The Kin doesn't offer a unified in-box, but rather something reminiscent of the Windows Phone 7 hubs that you can swipe to the right and left to view your various in-boxes.
E-mail is well-represented, but we're baffled by the lack of any IM clients as well as any kind of calendar app. There are other omissions as well, such as gaming capabilities and an app store, but we're less concerned with these features since we think there are enough distractions on the phones to keep you occupied, but the first two just seem like no-brainers. When asked about this, Microsoft said it really wanted to nail down the social aspects first, so some features had to be sidelined. However, both the Kin One and Two are built to support over-the-air updates, and the company didn't rule out adding these capabilities in the future.
Among the several unique features that the Kin Two has to offer is a media player that is anything but standard. Along with the Kin One, it's the first Windows phone to come with a fully integrated Zune HD interface, which we daresay is a considerable step up from the Windows Media Player app found on previous products.
Those who are familiar with the Zune HD will be extremely comfortable browsing media on the Kin Two. As on the standalone player, navigation is handled entirely via the touch screen and the tactile back button, and it's a very smooth process. Media is also organized in the Zune HD manner, with the main screen dedicated to five categories: music, videos, radio, Zune Pass, and settings. (Unsurprisingly, photos are separated out because of their relation to the phone's camera feature.) The top screen also features a graphically intense margin of "pins," playback history, and recently added content. This video illustrates this area better than we could ever describe it in words.
Delving into the various menus on the Kin Two's Zune player reveals a simple radio with autoscan and presets; a straightforward video player; and music organized handily into artist, album, genre, song, and playlist subcategories. The music section and playback screen feature prevalent album art, which keeps things visually appealing. The playback screen further offers shuffle, repeat, and "heart" soft keys; the latter let's you like or dislike songs for later sorting. You can listen to the songs through the integrated speakers, or with the included earbuds, which aren't terribly comfortable, but at least provide clear-sounding audio. On the whole, the player provided solid audio and smooth performance during testing, except for a minor glitch that prevented the audio from rerouting from the speakers to the headphones when they were plugged in during playback. Restarting the phone once fixed the problem.
Another distinctive feature of the Kin devices is the Web-based Kin Studio service. This is a bit like Microsoft's My Phone service for Windows Mobile, as it automatically backs up your phone's contacts, text messages, and multimedia files to a secure Web site for free. When you log on to the Kin Studio Web site and enter your Windows Live ID and password, all your information will be there, including a current version of your Loop screen, any news feeds, and call logs. There's also a Timeline feature, which is pretty awesome, as it opens up all the photos, all the people you've been in touch with, and all the messages you've received for a designated time period and places them in a timeline.
Aside from the obvious physical variations, there are a couple of other differences between the Kin One and Two. Most notably, the Kin One offers 4GB of internal memory, whereas the Kin Two offers 8GB. Also, the Two has an 8-megapixel camera--the One's is 5 megapixels--and can shoot HD video.
Performance
We tested the dual-band (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO Rev. A) in New York using Verizon service and call quality was decent. Despite some slight background hissing, we could hear our callers just fine and had no issue using an airline's voice-automated response system. Most of our friends didn't have much to say about the audio quality one way or the other, but a couple of them mentioned that we sounded a bit muffled. The Kin Two's speakerphone was louder than the Kin One's, so it was easier to have a conversation even if we were in a noisier environment, but the audio sounded hollow. We had no problems pairing the handset with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset and the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones.
With support for Verizon's 3G network, Web browsing was pretty swift on the Kin Two. CNET's full site loaded in 35 seconds, whereas CNN's and ESPN's mobile sites loaded in 7 seconds and 10 seconds, respectively. The Kin's browser is a bit clunky to navigate: though it's easy to refresh or favorite a site, it's hard to figure out how to do anything else within the browser, and there's no support for Flash or multiple windows. However, the Kin Two's larger display definitely made the browsing experience better than it is on the Kin One.
The Kin Two has a better camera than the Kin One, but the photo quality was pretty disappointing for an 8-megapixel shooter. Images had a soft quality to them and colors were pretty washed out. In addition, our recorded HD video looked more like standard definition.
The Kin is powered by a 600MHz Tegra APX2600, and the phone struggled a bit to keep up with our demands. It's not like we were expecting the phone to be a power device, but we noticed some delays when switching screens and launching apps. Speaking of which, there seemed to be a lot of unnecessary transition screens when opening apps. Aside from the slight delays, we didn't have any problems or crashes that required us to reset the device.
The Kin Two features a 1,390mAh lithium ion battery with a rated standby time of 9.6 days. The Kin Two fared better in our battery drain tests, providing 5.5 hours of continuous talk time. According to FCC radiation tests, the Kin Two has a digital SAR rating of 1.29 watts per kilogram and has a Hearing Aid Compatibility Rating of M4/T3.