Claudia experience, share & review

This phone review is way overdue. But I shall just touch on briefly how I felt about the Motorola Zn5 as compared to my own Samsung Innov8. But than again, perhaps I shouldn’t be comparing the two in the first place! You see, the Motorola Zn5 aka the ‘Zine’ is a 5mp camera with a 350MB inbuilt memory while the Samsung Innov8 is a 8mp camera phone with HSDPA connection and a 8GB inbuilt memory. How to fight? But Cnet did a “Prizefight” between the two and Zn5 won! Hmmm…

If you would like to know my thoughts, here they are…

The Zn5 design is quite sleek and slim. It feels good in the hands and the many texture of the phone makes the feel special and unique. I would have preferred a flat behind, but with the 5mp camera, a slight bulge for the lens is acceptable. In fact, this bulge gives a better support when holding the phone in one hand.

The camera feature on the Zn5 is a collaboration with Kodak. (A brand which I’ve not been using or seeing for a long while since I last used a film camera about a decade ago? Yap, the only Kodak product I’d used in my life are their film!) Honestly, because of my ignorance of the brand’s product, I don’t know how good or not good is the camera in the phone as compared to the other Kodak cameras. But with the shots I took of the same object under the same condition with the Zn5 and Innov8, I’ve to say I still prefer the quality and control of the camera on the Innov8.

Here are two different shots taken with the Motorola Zn5 and Samsung Innov8… you tell me which is better. (Click on image for bigger and closer view at 1024×768)

The above is from the Moto Zn5

The above is from the Samsung Innov8

In lowlight condition with the Moto Zn5

In lowlight condition with the Samsung Innov8

From the above, I would say, the Innov8 still has a better camera than the Moto Zn5. However, I prefer the flash on the Zn5 better. It gives a more powerful yet evenly spread lighting when you try taking photos in a dark room.

Here’s a shot of Pooh Bear in total darkness with Moto Zn5 w/flash on…

And the two below also with flash on… the cow in daylight condition and the other shot in a KTV room…

(No! I didn’t drink those beer!)

Moving on to the other factors of the phone…

On the side of the phone, there are minimum control, with just the usual volume up/down, camera shutter and a phone keypad lock switch. And on the other side, there’s just the 35mm earphone jack and the USB cable slot.

Lastly, the keypad on the Moto Zn5 is not something I enjoy punching in SMS with. Besides the small screen, the not-so-browsing friendly window also deters me from using it on the go to surf the net or to check my mail.

Overall my verdict for the Moto Zn5 are as follows:

1. Good enough camera with photo quality suitable for web viewing and small prints.
2. Slim and clean lines makes the phone sleek and easy to carry around.
3. Keypad a tad too small and not so friendly on the thumb.
4. 35 mm jack on the side (like the Innov8) is a not-good.
5. Clever use of in between keys for camera function buttons. But it almost caused me to drop the phone while trying to fiddle with just one hand.
6. I would recommend this to those who need the keypad and a relatively good camera.
7. And if you’re looking for a non-sliding phone with the camera feature, get this.

Still prefers my Samsung Innov8. ^_-