Motorola Krave ZN4 User Reviews

I bought this phone less than a year ago. I was so exited because it is such a cool looking phone. As soon as I got it I tried texting on it, it was a little hard but I figured I'd get used to it. After about a week of having it I got really good at it, and I loved it. Then a few weeks went by and it got really glitchy. it would text and press buttons on it own. The front screen when you would close the flip stopped working within a few days. I was so dissapointed in this phone. After about 3 or 4 months of having it the screen when white and said 'add slr' which I had no idea what that was. It never ended up working. So I ran it over with my car, that's how much I hated it.

This was my first Motorola phone.  I previously owned a couple of LGs that worked flawlessly.  This phone has made me extremely wary of Motorola and I therefore will not be buying the Motorola Droids.  I will also read reviews on cell phones before I buy one ever again.  I was suckered in by the Krave's sleek style and seemingly cool features.  It was my first touch screen and I was excited.  However, this phone is terrible.  Sure the sound quality is good, but in this day and age, a cell phone has to be more than just a talking device.  It should be able to text well and perform other operations just as easily.  The texting is abominable.  I swear the reviewer "Albiewan" was either paid to write his review or he's never actually used the phone or he's trying to be different.  I have had this phone for almost a year now, longer than eight months for sure.  My contract is being renewed soon and I will most definitely get rid of this piece of crap.  My brother owns the same phone and he insists the texting only works when the phone is hot.  The texting only works for me when my hands are not too cold, not too hot, not sweaty or clammy, but just right.  So if you just went for a run and want to meet up for lunch with a coworker in half an hour, you can't reply for a half hour until your hands stop sweating.  Even if I wash my hands and then pick up the phone, it hardly ever works.  It is terrible because my house gets hot at nights and I can't text ever.  There's also the annoying feature of the stupid pop-ups.  Whenever the inbox gets full, it would be nice for a small notification, maybe at the top of the screen?  Instead, pop-ups come up when your inbox is 80% full, when it's 81% full and so on until it's 100% full.  These pop-ups aren't quick and helpful.  They stay up for over a few seconds.  Maybe it wouldn't be such a problem if I wasn't already frustrated with it being my third time trying to send a text.  When the temperature isn't just right, it will take ages to send a text.  You have to type slowly and deliberately and even then it doesn't work.  Other letters will come up instead, and sometimes it's okay because instead of "where" I will type "wherr," but other times the letters just screw up completely and it becomes unreadable to the receiver.  Sometimes I will be typing a text message and the touch screen will somehow think that I am repeatedly pressing "R" and spam my message or it will think I'm repeatedly pressing the backspace and erase my message.  It will become spastic and start hitting random buttons.  The only way to fix this is to close the screen and wait a few seconds and even then, it will most likely start up again.  I try to keep my messages short in times like that, which is bad because my friends like to type in paragraphs to me.  There are somethings people complain about that aren't really problems, such as the random playing of the TV or Movie viewer in one's pocket.  Just keep the lock button on and that problem is avoided.  Also with the blank screen during calls, sometimes if you press the "Home" circle key at the top of the phone, the screen will light up again, but honestly- that sometimes doesn't even work.  It is really frustrating not being able to answer a text during a call or to turn the speaker phone on/off.  The camera function is alright, but there isn't a flash or editing feature.  There isn't a timer or anything except a picture.Also, I'm not sure if this problem is fixable- I haven't figured out a way- but the inbox only holds 100 texts and some amount of pictexts that I haven't discerned yet, mostly because I don't get many of those.  Once the inbox holds 80 texts, it starts up with the annoying notifications.  However, the outbox can hold at least 400 texts.  Maybe this can be changed, but I find it extremely annoying.  Why would I want to save sent messages as opposed to incoming ones?  A really lame feature if it can't be remedied...This phone SUCKS.  No more Motorola for me.  Not to mention the fact that sometimes text messages won't come in.  People will call me up asking, "Why haven't you answered my text yet?"  I will reply that I didn't receive any, but hang on.  So I turn off the phone and turn it back on and I get flooded with the seven text messages my phone wouldn't deliver.  These texts also don't say what time they were actually sent, just what time I received them, so I have no idea at what time Jim wanted to go to the movies or Katie wanted to know my work schedule.  My friends at school commented that their Motorola phones do that as well sometimes.  So I see this problem as a Motorola thing, not just specific to the Krave.  I never had that problem with my previous LG phones.  The Kraves need to be burned and Motorola needs to shape-up drastically before I will ever purchase another phone from that company...

Verizon gave me this phone for free because my other one was outdated and it looked cool and I got plenty of compliments! But I don't like it because the screen goes black when I am in the middle of trying to use it! Also the screen is unaccurate because you might press one key when you text, and get another one that you did not press.If you HAVE ANY PROBLEMS TEXTING go onto youtube and type in "Motorola Krae ZN4 qwerty-Text messaging Tips " and it will give you some great tips on how to text acurately and the phone responding to what you type. So far it as worked! But as for the phone, I am going to get the 8gb iPhone 3gs for only $99 with at&t!!!

this is my first phone and i am overall disappointed with it... I don't know if everyone else feels the same way but to me, this is garbage. it looked good but it is frustrating to text on, and it is unresponsive. i would not recommend this phone

I am glad to see it is not just me that is having problems with the Krave.  I, too, could document enough problems with my phone that Verizon replaced it.  The replacement is doing the same thing.  The television on the phone will randomly come on with no one even close enough to it to have set it off.  My screen will go black and I cannot get it back on to be able to complete functions I need to complete for longer telephone calls that  requires answers into a computer system.  I cannot text on it and find that if I hit a letter on the left side of the key board, a letter on the right side might actually show up.  I will attempt to get a different phone from either Motorola or Verizon.

I love the look of the krave and love the tone quality, (I have some hearing loss) but the touch screen is so sensitive that when I touch it to scroll through my contact list it calls the number I touched to scroll down.  Sometimes I've given up calling the person I want.  After calling tech support I was told to just touch it more lightly.  Of course, I'd tried that and it didn't help.  Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do about it?

After I dumped AT&T (Big mistake) my family and I went to verizon for a new phone plan.  My parents got basic flip phones, and I splurged a little for the Krave, only because I liked the way it looked, and the touchcover intrigued me.  Little did I know, the touchcover was literally useless, and was more of a burden than a feature.  The worst part of this phone is the touchscreen.  It simply does not work if your hands are oily or greasy.  Texting is impossible with this phone, as it will take you about 5 minutes to type three words, as it will hit every letter except the one you want to hit.  When you make a call, the screen goes dead every time, so I can't dial phone extensions, put my phone on speaker, or switch calls.  Then there comes the resetting problem.  The batter also does not last more that 3 days in standby.  I do not know how they rate these batteries, but I feel someone is getting scammed.  This phone will randomly reset over and over again.  I sent it back to verizon and got another one, but it did the same thing.  Stay away from this phone if you don't want trouble, because that's all this phone is.

this is a copy of what i sent to VZ cust service today:
My wife and I purchased the motorola krave when we began our service with verizon. She has not had a problem with her phone, but I cannot operate them. I attempt to touch one part of the screen, and other parts light up. I have video-recorded this incident at least twice.
http://uploading.com/files/73m478fc/1130090941a.3g2/
I brought the faulty phone back, and they gave me a new one. That phone had the same problem, so I brought it back.  Again, it was replaced with the same phone, with the same problem. Yesterday I went to the store on Hamner in Norco, CA, and insisted that i not be given a replacement krave. Manager JODIE refused, and said I had to do that within the first thirty days. I understand that sometimes new products dont turn out like u want them to, but trying to stick the customer with the cost is pretty low. I gave the faulty product more than enough chances, and to insist that i somehow burned up MY opportunity to replace it is rediculous. What really happened is I was railroaded away from replacement options long enough to make vzon an excuse to make me keep it. Not acceptable. There was no reasoning with the extremely unhelpful 'manager', named JODIE at Norco, so I took the only option that would allow me to continue to use my subscribed service, and I bought a new phone. Of course she wouldnt give me that without making me sign a new service agreement. Also, not acceptable.  I expect verizon to credit me the full purchase price including tax for the replacement i had to PURCHASE. Also the terms of my contract should be reset to their original parameters.  Any result other than this falls short of satisfactory, which would be a shame, since other than this hardware issue, I am basically satisfied with the service.
im posting this everywhere i can to help inform consumers of this scam.

Lets see, where should I start?  The touch screen is terrible compared to other touch screen phones.  Phones like the Dare and Voyager you actually have to press the screen to get it to work.  The Krave however you do not.  The Krave's touch screen is heat sensitive and not touch sensitive.  So putting your finger close to the screen without touching can actually press buttons.  Its very annoying when texting.
This phone is very bad for texting on.  I text a lot and want to be able to text fast but this phone does not let you.  Half the time when I use this phone, the response time is incredibly slow.  I have to wait half a second from the time that i press the screen and when the letter appers in the message.  Also, I am having alignmnent problems.  I will press the letter I want to press and the one under it or beside it or above it will get ressed.  Very annoying and frustrating. 
This phone has many software glitches.  It constantly freezes when I'm in the middle of a text mesage.  I have to close the cover and start over. 
If you like listening to your music while texting or messing around with your phone, dont get this phone.  As soon as you exit out of the Music Player the music stops;  unlike the Dare and other phones. 
This phone has little features.  You cannot edit the pictures you take.  You cannot change the setting of the camera or camcorder.  There is no stopwatch on this phone.  If you like customizing your phone, this phone is not for you.  The only things you can change are the wallpaper and the banner.  There are no display themes you can choose from. 
The clear cover on this phone is pointless.  The only things you can do from it are play music, watch tv, view your pictures, or use verizon navigator.  You can only view messages from the front screen if you get a message while the cover is down and you view it without lifting the cover up. 
The speakers are high quality. 
The web browser is pretty functional.  Very easy to use.
This phone vibrates a little everytimeyou use the touch screen and gets annoying after a while.  Its too bad you cant change this setting. 
The look of this phone is pretty good but I would trade looks for functionality and performance anyday. 
And be sure to lock the phone because buttons will get pressed in your pocket.  Mobile tv gets activated a lot.

I have had the Krave for 8 months now and have mastered all the little subtle things it has to offer.  Motorola has been diligent with its software/firmware upgrades and has obviously listened to the minor complaints.  This little phone is packed with features and will reward you if you take the time to discover what makes it work best.  This is especially true of the html browser.  At first it seems annoying to move that weird cursor around but after a while it makes sense because fingers are not reliable and the big circle cursor makes sure you get the link you want.  Pages load quickly and there are options to load favorites easily.   True it is not for heavy texting but for casual texting it is literally fun to use.  The predictive text feature is intelligent.  Sound quality is among the best, if not the best I've ever heard.  My Krave was accidentally submerged in lake water for several seconds (a pier broke and I literally fell in the lake) and appeared to have died.  It dried out within an hour and slowly came back to full use!  Now that is amazing!  The tactile vibration, while slight, is just enough to let you know that what you have touched is what you will get.  I have discovered that the extended life battery will not give you that much more than the normal battery and is not worth the expense or the added bulk.  It doesn't have wifi but unless you really need it and are willing to plunk out more $$ for the data plan then don't get this phone.  I have been in the cellular world since the days of the bag phones and have had many cell phones but I would rate the Krave as among the best I've ever had the pleasure to use and rely upon.  Remember, take the time to get used to this phone and you won't be disappointed.  The Krave will win you over if you have the patience to learn the technology that makes this one amazing cell phone.

I was a little wary when getting this phone because of all the negative reviews, but I still bought it. Now I am glad I did. The screen is very crisp and excellent. The touchscreen is also very sensitive and scrolling is a breeze. I like the interface and the cover touch screen is also responsive. Sound quality is great; I use the Krave as my mp3 player now (it has a 3.5mm headphone jack). I also like that it has a microsd memory card slot. The Krave is good for watching movies too, but it lags sometimes on fast parts and action scenes. The camera and camcorder arent very great, but I dont take a lot of pics and videos anyway. Texting is hard on this phone, however. DO NOT get this phone if you are a heavy texter. Sometimes the touchscreen works well when texting but sometimes it does not. I would press the letter "i" but get "u". Its not a good texting phone. The animations on the phone are a bit slow and laggy, but I don't really mind. Oh yeah, did I mention how cool it looks? everybody I showed my phone to likes it alot. Overall, its a really good touchscreen phone, but do not get it if you are a heavy texter.

The touchscreen trend finally got to me and so I made the jump and went through two LG Versa's in under two weeks before giving up and trying the Krave.  In short, the Krave does exactly what I need it to! The interface of the Krave is not as ingenious as the Versa, but it's simple to use and understand.  The Krave's connection to Bluetooth is flawless and the phone auto-connects to my car's pre-installed system without fail.  That is something I could never accomplish with the Versa, and believe me I tried everything.  The call quality on the Krave is quite extraordinary.  The only complaint I should mention is that the hinge of the flip does make a subtle creaking sound when I press the opened phone against my head. That took some getting used to, and I would sympathize with anyone who found that annoying.  But, the earpiece is so crystal clear that I can forgive that minor flaw.  The speakerphone is literally the best I've ever used on a cellphone, with a rich and solid tone (loud sounds do not rattle the casing).  I do wish the speaker could be engaged before making a call, but I'll glady put up with that minor inconvenience when the sound is this loud and crystal clear.  I received my Krave April 16th and was pleasantly surprised to find that Motorola & Verizon have updated the interface to allow for speed dials!  They have also added a slide lock on the main screen to prevent unintentional dialing during calls, and the user now has the option of allowing the flip to activate the main menu automatically.  Now, I will admit the Versa was more stylish, user-friendly and just plain fun.  But, the Versa's screen would lock down if I didn't acknowledge missed calls within a couple of minutes. And the Versa ended far too many calls all by itself.  Texting was a breeze on the Versa and I tried very hard to put up with the glitches, but above all else . . . shouldn't a phone allow you decide when to end your own calls? The Krave has not ended a single call by mistake.  I use my phone primarily for talking and the Versa just didnt' work as well as the Krave does when it comes to performing as an actual phone.  What it comes down to is that Motorola makes a quality communication device that simply performs as I expected!  I would definitely suggest the Krave to anyone who needs a usable touchscreen phone, instead of just another fancy new toy gadget. Way to go Motorola!

I've had this phone for about a month now, and while it is certainly a lot "cooler" than my old Chocolate, it is a lot less reliable.  It obviously looks fantastic (whenever I pull it out, people always remark on how cool the clear flip is) and the touch screen is responsive most of the time, but lately it has been freezing a LOT.  Sometimes if I flip the clear screen up, the screen underneath doesn't change and I have to turn the phone off and then back on to unfreeze it.  Texting also freezes up often, and though it usually becomes unfrozen within a moment or two, this can be annoying if you're trying to text in a hurry.  I actually don't know why people complain about the clear flip when using the QWERTY keyboard, I have tiny hands and I have absolutely no problem with it.  At first I found texting to be nearly impossible, but I've gotten used to it and now it's a breeze.  The camera is actually a step down from my old phone's, there are literally no special effects you can use, you can't even zoom in on a picture.  However, you can take a pictue with flip open or closed, and the camera adjusts to whether you have the phone upright or tilted, which is very cool. The display settings leave something to be desired; there is practically no wiggle room in customizing your settings. But all in all, the call quality is good, the battery life is excellent, and messaging is fine.

I'll keep it short.  Cool factor +++.  Usability?  Close, but quite. The touch screen is fun and the accelerometer is a nice touch - texts enter in classic mode when upright, with a full qwerty keyboard appearing when held sideways.  With no speed dial (how the heck did they forget such a basic feature?) you have 2 options (1) try voice recognition & (2) put your favorite 3 people in the ICE tab.  Voice recog was spotty when it was needed, so I went to option 2. Touch screen is geat at the center, only OK near the edges.  Small screen makes the touch screen a joke on certain games - selecting the square you want in Scrabble is (at best) a comedy and Command anc Conquer inside 3" confirms that size does matter for usability.  You also need to lock the touch-through cover in almost all situations, or suffer unwanted issues.  The verdict - Glad I got it, but hope they work the kinks out for Gen-2.

i switched to verizon in early 07 from over 5 years of nextel(sprint), which is the WORST service of all time and has ONLY motorola phones, which everyone agrees anyway are pieces of crap. my first verizon phone was the alias, which was AWESOME and served me well for 2 years! this is what i got for my upgrade---def should have trusted my instincts on not getting a motorola phone, waste of 200 bucks n so frustrating. it's my third one in about 3 months---shuts itself off, doesn't hold a charge, freezes, storage feautures difficult to figure out, texting is RIDICULOUSLY complicated (system wise not because of the screen)---the touch screen is actually nicely responsive, and i have to give it the classic motorola durability (all of my motorola phones over the years have survived countless throws across the room without scratches...), and the camera is very high quality although there is no flash or sfx...and unless you lock the phone it will go on speakerphone from your pocket because you can use the touch screen through the flip cover thing (cool feature, but annoying as well); also while you're on a call it will sporadically turn the backlight on and off, and on business calls/automated calls etc when you need to use the keypad during the call---UGHH. there is alot i could say---the design is cool and the idea is nifty, but all in all, NO, NO, NO!!!! do not waste your time and money!!! and i can't get another model for 2 more years under 500 bucks apparently grrrrrrrrr

The motorola krave is the best phone I have ever owned. This phone has the best sound quality I have ever heard. It has a lot of glitches and problems when you first get it but the more you use it the better it gets. I highly suggest this phone!!! 

I agree with most of the reviews. I do not like the texting feature, as my fingers always seem to touch the wrong button. I did find a solution for this, if you press just a little bit harder and hold your finger on the letter a little longer too. I did notice the clear button on the texting button freezes up sometimes. This problem is nothing major. I believe the battery life is really good for a touch screen. The main ideal most people have to realize is the phone uses more power. The Krave is not an old flip phone. Who cares what companes advertise on television about battery life. When did anyone start believing television anyway? Best word of advice to anyone who gets this phone: don't even try to read the manual just figure everything out on your own.

I've had the KRAVE about two weeks now and like any phone, you're never going to find a phone that you're 100% satistifed with.  All the review written in this blog are fair about the KRAVE.  It is lightweight, slim, has a nice feel in your hand, seems sturdy, good sound quality, camera is ok, and the touch screen features are slick.  Texting isn't easy and sometimes my fingers miss the letters.  You definitely can't be moving and text at the same time - you literally can't drive and text at the same time which is a good thing.  I think I figured out that motorola phone tools will is not compatible with this phone yet - word is, that an upgrade to make it compatible may be coming.  So far, nice phone, not perfect, and a lot better as a phone than my PocketPC; although, there is not comparison if you're you're looking for a PDA type data manager.  The KRAVE doesn't manage data very well and YES there is NO speed dialing...use voice activiation instead, works great.  The battery life is ok for me - I'm not trying to use it as a replacement for my house phone so I don't get so bent-out-of-shape if I have to plug it in nightly.  There is a better battery available for this phone with the larger back case from motorola.  Easy to get used to, easy to navgate through menus, and CNET review is pretty good if you get to watch it.  Not a bad phone so I think I'll keep it and just wait for the next best one to get my attention.  Not perfect, but good equipment and capability.

The phone advertised 500 hours of standby time and the actual phone doesnt even come close. The actual charge may last 3 days tops with minimal use if your lucky. When I charge my phone, I usually have full bars for about 2 days with no talking then after that the battery charge drastically drops off and requires recharging.
This is actually my second crave, as my first one did the exact same thing and I thought it was the phone but motorola gave me a brand new one and its doing the exact same thing.
I wouldnt think about using the V-cast or nav because it will eat up the battery.
Another thing this phone does is lock up (or freeze up) when your texting and will not let you finish, so you have to close the cover and restart your message.
Also this phone will not allow you to access hotmail unless you pay for it.
Dust cover will no longer close for the battery charger after the second time I charged the phone. Now it just flops around the phone.
I took the phone back to Verizon and asked them about the 500 hour stand by time that this phone advertises and the girl said (get this) THATS in perfect circumstances.
So I asked her what exactly were perfect circumstances, and she said the phone has to be completely charged laying flat on a table untouched, nor used, all features turned off except for the phone.
My last phone was a replacement for my Razor and it was a Nokia 2610. I hated this phone because it was so basic, HOWEVER this little phone runs circles around the Crave, as the standby time litterally lasts 2 weeks between charges and constant texting and phone use.

I think its a great phone and I have no regrets about buying it. does Vmail msging, tv, movies, mp3, and has a camera with better quality that my 7megapixel camera.
 
what i dont like is that you cant access the menu even if the flip is closed and there is no speed dial.
also the screen is very sensitive so if you're not going to use it, put it on hold because the navigation went off on me during church and the speakers are very loud

I bought this phone a few days ago.  I wanted to stay away from extremely common Verizon phones (such as the Glyde, Dare, and Voyager) but a keyboard and/or touch screen with a keyboard was something I had to have (when I talk to friends, I usually text).  I found the Krave and thought the concept was the most interesting out of all the phones I've ever seen.
Many people say the clear flip is useless but it's actually very useful.  The thing I did not like was the fact that the phone isn't as customizable as it should be (you can't even change the icons on the front).  The clear flip is nice because it protects the touch screen.  With the screen closed, you can do a lot of things (usually dealing with multimedia).  I wouldn't say it's an iPod replacement but I have to say the music player isn't bad.  The Krave also features VCAST TV which very few phones support.  Pictures and VZ Navigator can also be accessed without opening.
The clear flip does not get in the way of texting.  There's a certain way of holding it that allows texting to be easy.  However, you have to get used to it.  Picture messaging and video messaging is also great.
The camera is okay.  The only problem is the quality and the lack of settings.  The accelerometer rotates the UI which is very useful.
The touch screen is super sensitive which makes texting a breeze.  Even when the phone is closed, the touch screen is sensitive (which isn't bad because there's a lock switch).  I find that texting on the Dare is harder because it requires more pressure.  Also, when calling people, the Krave automatically turns off the screen when I put the phone to my ear (just like the iPhone and other touch screen phones)
The worst problem with this phone is the software.  However, the phone comes with software updates. The software can get very laggy and glitchy.  A usual problem is the constant restarting which can be fixed by re-programming the phone and updating the software.  The lag is a serious problem.  I hope the software updates can fix all the problems.
The Krave has NO speed dial.  A phone with so many extra features shouldn't exclude basic ones.  However, there's a favorites list but that doesn't help.  The best alternative is voice commands.  Voice commands is actually very nice and doesn't require slow talking.  I spoke normally and the phone understood me.
The browser is usable.  However, I don't expect it to be perfect because the Krave is not a smartphone.
Visual voicemail is a great addition to the Krave.  I think this is the only phone on Verizon Wireless with it.
Overall this phone has great potential as non-smartphone.  With a few software upgrades, the Krave could easily beat the Glyde and other touchscreen phones on the market.  Right now, however, it hasn't reached it's full potential.

This is an aweasome phone. You really don't need a flash for this camera. It takes great pictures. It has 125mb built in! The touchscreen works great and the flip doesn't get in the way for the qwerty keyboard. It even as mobile tv and email. You can also watch youtube videos right on the phone. This phone is aweasome and I highly suggest buying it. 

Not really good. The touch screen was wayyy too sensitive and the flip design doesn't work with the QWERTY keyboard.

This phone was a cool concept for motorola but they just need to stick to low end high production phones. The Dare is so much better than this phone. I honestly don't know why you would buy this phone. It was hard to text and the camera was majorly lacking. Not worth buying. I am sticking with my Dare and you should to.

I got this phone because it was cheaper then the Dare and I have to say, I love this phone! It has a great touch screen that is very responsive. I do agree that the flap does get in the way a little when I try to text with the QWERTY, but I limit my left thumb to only the letters closest to it (letters Q, A, and Z). Also I hope they get new software that makes it more customizable because I don't have the TV, but I have the Browser. I wish I could replace the TV icon with the Browser icon when the flap is down. I don't know what there talking about with the camera. It actually isn't as bad as they say it is. It's working pretty decently for me. You should definitely get this phone!