• On CHOW: Groundbreaking hangover cure

Motorola Zine ZN5 (T-Mobile) Video

To play this video, you need Javascript enabled and the latest version of Flash installed. Install Flash now
Motorola Zine ZN5 (T-Mobile)
Created: 11/18/2008
Video description: The Motorola ZN5 is the best camera phone we've seen so far. But it doesn't stop there, as it's a good phone, too.

Motorola Zine ZN5 (T-Mobile) Video Transcript

>> [Background music] I'm Ken Sherman, Senior Editor here at CNET.com. Today we're taking our first look at the Motorola ZN5. This is a new phone for T-mobile service. This is a very interesting phone in a lot of ways. It's a five megapixel camera phone which we've seen a few times before. But it is one of the better camera phones we've seen. Moto actually designed this phone in partnership with Kodak. They wouldn't elaborate on exactly the contributions that Kodak made, but whatever those contributions are it is apparent as this phone has a pretty good camera with a lot of features, and the photo quality is pretty amazing. The phone also has Wi-Fi and what that enables you to do is you can upload your photos instantly to Kodak photo gallery which is an online service. It used to be called a photo. But it's one of the more popular online photo galleries. Really an ideal camera, the camera's just here in the back. You can start it instantly by sliding down that sliding lens cover. It starts the camera automatically. Pretty nice flash as well. It is a Zeon flash, it was a little sensitive in some areas. If we put it on auto sometimes it would flash when we didn't really want it to. And in that case, photos tended to be a little overblown and too much light. It's a nice felt design though. It's a nice gray color with a couple touches of purple here and there. The display is very nice, it's very bright, it's colorful, shows a lot of colors. All you can get in, peruse around the menu easily, they're just simple icon-based menus. Navigation toggle is great. It is raised above the surface of the phone. It may be a tiny bit small for some users, but we found it pretty easy to use. Really tacky, even get your finger in there and just move around and scroll up for the menus if you like. There's an okay button here in the center. There is a talk and end key. A couple of soft keys. A button for a dedicated back button. And a button for actually activating the photo gallery feature. Keypad buttons down below. They are flat with the surface of the phone, but like some of the navigation buttons they have a little, tiny little silver bumps next to them, so it gives them some tacky definition. Really, it's not the best for dialing by feel in some ways. But I suppose after some practice you can get used to that. It does have a mode shift keypad which is what we saw in the Motorola Rocker E8 and what that means is that the backlighting on the keypad changes as you cycle through different phone functions. We'd be able to use this button right here that lights up to access the photo gallery features, so you can cycle through your photos. And then once you're in there, you can send them, you can get them off the phone instantly using this button or trash, delete them instantly using this button. So really nice that way, like the mode shift keypad once you press that again and go back to the camera mode those other controls will disappear. Camera shutter is right here on the top. When you are using the phone, it does have the ergonomics of a regular camera. Use the volume control right here to zoom. Other features on the outside is there's a locking switch here, you can slide that down, it will lock the keys automatically. So if you're carrying the phone in a pocket or bag or anything like that, you won't press a button accidentally. And there's 3.5 millimeter headset jack which is great, we like to see that so you can use the phone's music player which is just a generic media player to listen to your tunes, and you can use your own headset. Finally here on this side, we have a micro USB slot. This is used of course for a USB cable and the charger, so it's good to have that one port. Other features include organizer features, of course messaging, some email, web browser, speaker phone, voice dialing. But this phone is really all about that camera, and again it is one of the better camera phones we've seen. I'm Ken Sherman, this is the Motorola ZN5.

Related Videos

Motorola V195s

The Motorola V195s will appeal to T-Mobile customers who want a Bluetooth phone with good call quality and no camera.

Motorola i9

The Motorola i9 Stature is the sexiest Nextel phone we've seen. Apart from the disappointing camera, it offers decent features and admirable photo quality.

Sony Ericsson K790a

With an amazing selection of features and great performance, the Sony Ericsson K790a is the best camera phone we've seen to date.

Velocity Micro Raptor DCX

The Velocity Micro Raptor DCX doesn't quite cross into ludicrous territory, and by staying disciplined, Velocity Micro has come up with one of the best deals we've seen. This PC is a winner.

Motorola Krzr K1 (T-Mobile)

The Motorola Krzr K1 for T-Mobile offers good call quality, stylish design, and a decent array of features.

Samsung MyShot II SCH-R460 (Cricket)

The Samsung MyShot II doesn't have the best camera, but it's not a bad phone otherwise.

Samsung SPH-M520

It doesn't offer anything new, but the Samsung SPH-M520 is one of the better Sprint Power Vision phones we've seen.

Motorola Active W450

The Motorola Active W450 finally brings a rugged phone to T-Mobile, but not without compromising its usability.

Motorola Razr2 V8 (T-Mobile)

The Motorola Razr2 V8 cell phone for T-Mobile offers an updated, sexy design.

RIM BlackBerry Curve

The RIM BlackBerry Curve (aka BlackBerry 8320) for T-Mobile is the best BlackBerry we've seen to date. It offers Wi-Fi, a best-of-breed design, and excellent performance.

Motorola Zine ZN5 (T-Mobile) Review

The good: The Motorola ZN5 offers a fantastic camera with a wide range of options and excellent photo quality. The plentiful feature set includes stereo Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, the design is sleek and sturdy, and call quality is more than respectable.

The bad: The Motorola ZN5's memory card is located behind the battery cover. The menus can be pokey at times and the camera interface could use a refinement. Also, the ZN5 lacks video editing features and the photo uploading process had a couple of hiccups.

The bottom line: The Motorola ZN5 is the best camera phone we've seen so far. But it doesn't stop there, as it's a good phone, too.

Read full review

Motorola Zine ZN5 (T-Mobile) Specs

Manufacturer: Motorola
Part number: ZN5BLKMOTOROLA

Product Basic Spec
  • Product Basic Spec

Read full specs

Motorola Zine ZN5 (T-Mobile) Prices

Online stores

Store Certified rating Inventory Price
Amazon.com

Rate this store
See store profile
In stock $259.99
Newegg.com

Rate this store
See store profile
In stock $199.99
T-Mobile USA

Rate this store
See store profile
Not in stock $0.00