Motorola ZN5, XPERL, whatever the hell it’s called hands on
Don’t even ask how this one showed up on our desk this morning. But it’s here, the much-awaited much-rumored 5 megapixel camera phone from Motorola with the Kodak lens. This is a slider phone running on the MOTOMAGX Linux platform, and it’s actually not the worst looking phone. There is one major issue we ran into before we even started playing with it and that’s that the 5 megapixel camera is NOT autofocus! The fact that Moto doesn’t get it is really disheartening because they could have had a decent phone in the market which they desperately needed. In terms of specs, the device is a quad-band EDGE phone (FAIL) has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 100MB of internal memory, microSD slot, and a “ROKR” type touch wheel which also serves as the 5-way navigational pad. We’re going to do a whole review on it soon, in the meantime, check out the pics in our world-famous gallery!
Tags: EDGE, handset, kodak, Motorola, perlx, Wi-Fi, zine, zn5
On May 29, 2008 @ 12:29 pm, Randomguy Said:
A 5MP camera with no AF? No wonder people with Moto phones are laughed at over here…
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On May 29, 2008 @ 12:35 pm, yo Said:
This doesnt look a bit like zn5 which is found on a number of sites…
this is some other phone
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On May 29, 2008 @ 12:55 pm, Rajat Said:
This ain’t the ZN5. BG you’ve unveiled a new phone!! The ZN5 ain’t a slider…
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On May 29, 2008 @ 1:07 pm, The Boy Genius Said:
Yeah, think it’s a new model, not sure on the model name, though…
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On May 29, 2008 @ 1:08 pm, andrew Said:
i would have to agree BGR has the phone pictured as something totally different.
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On May 29, 2008 @ 1:12 pm, Jonathan Said:
What is with Moto and their crappy, nonfunctional keypad designs lately?
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On May 29, 2008 @ 1:56 pm, Rajat Said:
I had written about a ZN200 sometime back… Ain’t there a model number written beneath the battery??
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On May 29, 2008 @ 1:58 pm, Nitesmoke Said:
Moto people must be highering technicians with down syndrome to design their specs. 5mp with out auto focus and 3g is retarded.
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On May 29, 2008 @ 2:26 pm, yo Said:
but this has wifi…for me it is as good as 3g
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On May 29, 2008 @ 3:30 pm, GIAN R Said:
Is it me that just sees this or does every Cellphone Maker Company just make phones that resemble BlackBerrys in there mid section design ….you know…call / end button layout….Example SAMSUNG….lawsuit back around 2006 for completely copying design….thats another old story thought……
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On May 29, 2008 @ 3:36 pm, andrewkfromaz Said:
I like the form factor and keypad way better than the N82 I was looking at a while back - this looks way slimmer despite the slide. If the photo quality is roughly equivalent I may consider this thing despite the lack of 3G (I use T-mo anyway lol) and it kind of excites me to think that this could be T-mo subsidized as well… That would really tilt the scales in this thing’s favor compared to buying the ~350 Euro N82.
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On May 29, 2008 @ 10:24 pm, Jeff B. Said:
It would be one helluva phone…if it had fucking 3G and AF!! WTF?!?!?!?
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On May 29, 2008 @ 11:44 pm, sean Said:
one thing i will give motorola (and nokia) credit for over lg and samsung is that their phones are quadband!!!
i don’t where all you posters are from but i’m from america and we use the 850 band. the 1900 alone doesn’t cut it, especially indoors. i know because i used to have to motorola razr v3x triband. it sucks!
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On May 30, 2008 @ 1:06 am, girlgenius Said:
u guys know that a lot of cam phones don’t have AF right?
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On May 30, 2008 @ 3:34 am, specced Said:
It’s not the worst phone I’ve ever seen, and the MOTOMAGX platform might be alright, but it just doesn’t do it anything for me. I see this, then I see new Nokias or Samsungs, and the Moto looks… like something I wouldn’t want in my pocket. The last cool thing Moto did was the kickslider, and look at where that went. Nowhere. They need a complete design, production, brand, and marketing revamp. Not another “me too” wannabe RAZR phone with the same design team just doing the same thing over and over again. Moto’s name and image have taken a beating lately, they need to start concentrating on that, rather than crappy phones.
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On May 31, 2008 @ 7:42 pm, Munford Said:
Hello, Moto, why bother with making such crap?
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On May 31, 2008 @ 9:17 pm, Avatar Said:
@Jonathan, Dude they have the nicest keypads ever… Nokias are cramped, SE lack actual buttons , Samsung have always been nasty, and LG seem to be moving awat from pysical buttons all together..
So Motorola FTW!
They have ALWAYS lead the way for design,
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On Jun 1, 2008 @ 9:53 am, toysandme Said:
Autofocus is not necessary IF the 5 MP sensor is very sensitive to light and IF there is a good wide angle lens. Small sensors have a huge depth of field and if the diaphragm is stopped down enough everything will be in sharp focus from a short distance to infinity. Kodak got some very interesting patents on noise reduction a couple of years ago and this could be the first implementation with this technoloy.
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On Jun 1, 2008 @ 12:15 pm, SamCurt Said:
@toysandme: Agree. Remembers those focus free cameras? Since the size of the the projected image is small (by a very small aparture, F/16 or smaller), the need to focus is no longer necessary. Nobody uses a cellphone camera for really serious use anyway, and the removal of a need to autofocus actually increase the speed of imaging.
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On Jun 6, 2008 @ 11:36 am, Robert Said:
How much longer for the full review? I have been tracking this panchromatic sensor since Kodak announced it last year. Make sure you try low light shots and fast moving shots.
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On Jun 11, 2008 @ 2:26 pm, Robert Said:
No time soon?
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On Jun 15, 2008 @ 7:04 am, evil Said:
crap:P
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On Jun 17, 2008 @ 6:14 pm, niko Said:
why are you all so quick to pass judgement on a phone that you can only see in low quality pictures? yes, motorola does have a lot of problems and a lot of crap phones and they desperately need to stop selling razrs, but I think this is one of the nicest looking phones moto has put out lately. i just dont understand why you instantly think motorola phones are crap, im sure the majority of you have owned one of their phones at one point in your life
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On Jun 23, 2008 @ 4:07 pm, Question? Said:
Was this phone ever verified? It sure looks a lot like a black version of the Z9. It obviously isn’t the ZN5, so I am wondering if it is instead a version of the Z9 and only has a 2MP camera.
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