Motorola KRAVE ZN4

Discontinued
14th October 2008

We have some good news and bad news about the Motorola KRAVE ZN4 - the good news is that Motorola have taken the Motorola MING concept a stage further and are aiming it at a market other than China.. the bad news is that the Motorola KRAVE ZN4 is aimed at Verizon's CDMA network in the US and anyone else who's interested will just have to do without.

At first glance, the Motorola KRAVE ZN4 looks like just another touchscreen phone, but with an added plastic cover.. so not much different from the MOTOMING range in China. But the clear plastic cover isn't exactly what it appears to be.. because the cover itself is touch-sensitive and has almost-invisible electronic circuitry embedded in it.

This dual-touch technology is certainly very clever.. but what is it for, exactly? Well, when open the KRAVE ZN4 presents a full menu on a large 2.8" 240 x 400 pixel display, but close the lid and the menu options get much simpler and the effective display shrinks down to 240 x 320 pixels. So, most basic operations can be carried out with the cover closed. Another clever feature is that the "M" logo on the cover acts as a speaker when the ZN4 is open.

The concept may sound very strange, but it isn't too far removed from the sort of thing that the old Sony Ericsson P990 and earlier phones did, because they also had a simpler menu with the flip closed and a fully featured menu with the flip open.

The Motorola KRAVE ZN4 has a comprehensive multimedia player, and it can also display streaming video over Verizon's 3G EV-DO network. there's a web browser, email client and a virtual QWERTY keyboard for when you need it. There's a built-in accelerometer to change between landscape and portrait displays, microSD expandable memory (up to 8GB), stereo Bluetooth and a 3.5mm audio jack too.

However, the KRAVE ZN4 lacks WiFi or GPS, and the camera is a fairly basic 2 megapixel unit rather than the impressive Kodak camera found in the ZN5. And (of course) there's no GSM support at all, so it cannot be used in Europe or pretty much anywhere outside the US.

It's not as bulky as you might think at 105 x 51 x 19mm (4.1 x 2.0 x .75 inches) and 130 grams (4.6 ounces). The battery life is quoted as about 4 hours talktime and an impressive 20 days of standby time.

We really would like to see something like the ZN4 in Europe, but with a decent camera, WiFi, 3G support and GPS. We know that Motorola can do all of these things, and with the KRAVE ZN4's clever flip function, they have proved that they can still innovate.

Motorola say that the KRAVE should be available during October on Verizon Wireless. Verizon's call plans are fearsomely complicated, but with a new two year contract you can get the ZN4 for just under $200, there's also a $50 mail-in rebate available which will give you a debit card that you will probably lose straight away.