Microsoft Kin Reviews Appearing: Mixed Impressions
Microsoft surprised a lot of folks when it announced its new line of “almost smartphones” aimed at teens and young adults. The Kin phones are designed as cool phones that tap into the social networking scene. The Kin One and Two are not quite smartphones yet much more than feature phones. The venture is a risk for Microsoft, coming so soon before Windows Phone 7 in just a few month. Kin phones are hitting the hands of a few reviewers, and if the reviews are an indication of how consumers will receive them Microsoft may have to rethink a few things.
The Good
Most reviewers are impressed with the hardware of the Kin One and Two. The Kin One seems the most interesting of the two phones due to its unusual shape, and it is appealing. The interface of the Kins seems well suited for the social networking tasks that are front and center on these phones. Most found Facebook and Myspace particularly easy to work with, but Twitter not quite as easy to use.
The Not So Good
Reviewers are mostly in agreement that the biggest problem with the Kin phones on Verizon is the plan pricing. The phones are not full-featured smartphones yet the plans required to use them are as expensive as if they were. The Kin requires a $30/month data plan, and while that is unlimited it’s pricey for a near feature phone. Throw in the $15/month for the Zune plan — it is a teen phone — and the Kins get pretty darn expensive. There might have to be some serious begging to get Mom and Dad to pick up one of these. Especially when a Palm Pre Plus is now much cheaper on Verizon than the Kins, and it is a full smartphone.
The Really Not So Good
While the software on the Kin excited many of the reviewers — given the unique way it handles social networking — it also frustrated some of them. Some find the Kins to be laggy and slow, others found them to be unstable at times. Many of them found the cameras to be hard to use due to slow operation. It’s never good when phone reviews use phrases such as “consistently crashed” and “downright crash-prone.”
Several of the reviews found the web browsing and social networking experience to be not very good, and even frustrating. This is not the way a social networking, online phone can operate and be the cool kid’s phone.
Review Roundup
Bear in mind that phone reviews are very personal things, and a given phone can generate a totally different experience for each reviewer. I recommend you read as many reviews as you can before you form a final impression on the Kin. This list contains by no means every review, but here are the main ones I’ve found so far:
Engadget described the KIN’s browser as “abysmally slow and buggy”. The browser is based on IE7. What’s worrying is that this is the same browser that will go into Windows Phone 7. There will be no alternate browsers on either phone.
I think Microsoft had a good idea in bypassing competition with the iPhone and Android and going after a different niche. The idea was a good one, but I think the execution is going to hurt them.
The expense of it combined with buggy camera and lack of xBox Live Integration is definitely going to hurt them. Those are huge features for the demograph their going after and without that, the idea is more than likely going to remain just a great idea-not a successful endeavor.
I just see it as being a huge failure for two reasons. First is price, requiring a $30 data plan on top of a voice plan is going to make it very expensive. Second is games. There are no games. The first thing kids look for is games to play or download. As one reviewer put it, it is cheaper to get a Palm and then you have a full smartphone and games for a lower price.
I have a review unit. A software update got pushed out on May 5 that did speed things up a bit, though hardly solved all the problems.
To Tim F’s point about the browser, it identifies itself as “compatible; MSIE6;Windows CE; IEMobile 6.12;en-US;Kin Two 1.0″
And in the universe where the cool, hip users of this phone live there is no YouTube…
My prediction? The Microsoft Bob of phones.