Motorola - Motozine ZN5 review
candybar mobile phone with 5-megapixel camera
Review date: 13 January, 2009. Review by: IT Reviews Staff
The ZN5 is a pretty large device, measuring 50.5mm x 118mm x 12mm, and unfortunately doesn't look particularly inspiring or sophisticated. With a flat keypad the phone manages to pull off its large dimensions without looking too chunky and there's no denying it has a durable, rugged feel about it.
Flat keypads are definitely an acquired taste and for those who like a bit more definition in their keys, operating the keypad is a little difficult as it's hard to distinguish between the spaces, with only a slight raised, Braille-like spot given to every numeric character.
After quite a slow start-up, it's good to see that menu operation is easy to control, with only nine clear and obvious menu icons to contend with, selected by the directional control pad. The LCD screen is nice, bright and colourful with a clear typeface making it easy to see what you're doing, even in sunnier conditions.
When you first access the Main Menu in the top left-hand corner you see a Kodak GalleryLink icon. This is a big feature of the ZN5: you can upload to the Kodak Gallery online straight from your phone. It's easy enough to create your own new account using the set-up via the main menu, or alternatively access an account that already exists. You can also upload to alternatives like T-Mobile's Pictures Album.
When the phone is in Photo/Video mode it is operated on its side using its own dedicated shutter and control buttons. With a half-press the automatic focusing on the ZN5 is quick to respond. There's up to 4x digital zoom using the controls, but unfortunately (as is common with digital zooms) with every level of zoom the quality of the shot diminishes.
We're sorry to report that the quality of the captured shots from the Motozine ZN5 is generally disappointing. Subject to excessive noise, the images tend to be a little underexposed and the focus isn't always accurate. It's a shame that on a phone that makes so much of its photographic capabilities there isn't an option for even a short optical zoom here. An integrated Xenon flash comes in handy for illuminating subjects in lower light conditions, although the range on this is fairly short, so it's only really good for portraits.
Photos aside, as well as being able to browse the Internet through a network connection, the Motorola Motozine ZN5 has Wi-Fi capabilities, accessed through its own dedicated Settings menu. This is great if you want the freedom of being able to access the web without using up your service's data allowance, and should work well enough if you're within a public Wi-Fi hotspot.
There are plenty of different multimedia features on the ZN5, all accessible through a dedicated menu and easily navigated using the ‘Media Finder'. This makes it easy to browse through your captured videos and music files and to search through the available Ringtones, Wallpapers and Graphics.
The bundle also comes complete with a dedicated AV cable so you can 'Aux out' to your television, home stereo or projector. Good organisation and easy access to multimedia material on the ZN5 make it a convenient all-rounder for those who like their phone to double up as a music player and, although there's only 350MB of available internal memory, there's also the option to add in a 4GB memory card.
The ZN5 has a quoted talk time of 349 to 574 minutes and a standby time of 310 to 579 hours, although, of course, with excessive camera use this gets eaten up a little quicker. It still managed to cope pretty well with heavy usage and even after playing intensive games (like Tetris and Sudoku), the battery stood the test of time. As well as charging through the mains, it's also possible to give the ZN5 some extra power using the bundled USB cable through your computer.
The handset is said to have CrystalTalk technology for clear-sounding calls and although there was no obvious voice distortion (apart from the usual service provider reception dips now and again) there did seem to be a very high pitched buzz overlapping the conversation, which could get a little annoying during longer calls.
Verdict
Motorola's Motozine ZN5 is a fairly simple and fuss-free mobile phone with a smooth, durable body and intuitive menu system. Motorola's use of a flat keypad may not be to everyone's taste and it can be difficult to operate (especially when texting) as the numeric characters are close together. The connectivity features on the ZN5 are excellent and there's a welcome Wi-Fi addition. However, considering that the device's main feature is its photo sharing capabilities and integrated 5-megapixel camera, the photographic quality is disappointing. It's all very well offering a high resolution but as the images are so noisy, you wouldn't want to print at full resolution, leaving it a bit of an empty gesture. With this in mind the price of the ZN5 is a little steep.
Company: Motorola
Contact: 0870 9010555
