Two displays are present on the K1: an internal 1.9" TFT screen and an external STN screen. The internal display supports 262,000 colors at 176x220 pixels, while the external display supports 65K colors at 96x80 pixels. Both displays get the job none, though neither can be considered earth shattering by today's cell phone standards. Note that the internal display on the K1m is listed at 65,000 colors, not the 252K of the unbranded GSM K1.
The internal display is clear and bright, with good detail and vividness of colors. However, it's not particularly large or high-resolution, so it can't display the same number of characters per line or lines at a time as the current crop of phones QVGA screens. Really, this was only an issue when using the WAP Web browser or browsing the messaging or Email inboxes. Inboxes, in particular, suffer as they only display one line of information per header - as opposed to the two lines (subject and sender) common on handsets with better screens. Alas, there are always tradeoffs to be made when trying to combine form and function.
Though small, the external display is quite handy. The screen shows a scaled-down view of the internal display during standby mode, providing time, network status, and messaging info along with whatever wallpaper image is currently in use. Relative to its reduced size and resolution, images displayed on the external screen are crisp and clear. The external display also doubles as a viewfinder for the camera, allowing for photo and video taking while the phone is closed, and it also displays current track and playlist information when the handset is being used as a music player. I particularly like this last feature, as it - combined with the phone's externally-mounted buttons - lets the user select and listen to music without having to open the phone up.
Call quality on the K1 was excellent. The quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM radio performed well on T-Mobile's network in the San Francisco Bay Area, pulling in reception and carrying calls as well as any other phone I've tried. Voices were clear and loud and callers reported no trouble hearing me on the other end.
Quality was also good, if not outstanding, using the built-in speakerphone. Somewhat strangely for a top-of-the-line phone, the K1 did not come packaged with any sort of hands-free headset. While compatible stereo headphones with an in-line microphone are available from Motorola, no mention of them was made in the "MOTOmanual" packed in the box (wireless solutions were mentioned). As a single mini-USB connector is the only accessory port to be found on the K1, a wired headset cannot be used while the phone is also charging or connected via USB to a PC.
The manual does include instructions for pairing the K1 with a Bluetooth headset, and A2DP stereo Bluetooth is supported. Apparently Motorola plans to promote the use of its wireless stereo headphones with the KRZR, which seems appropriate enough given its futuristic styling. I tried the phone with a (mono) Bluetooth headset, and it paired easily, yielding good audio.
The built-in audio player worked fairly well, though its features are rudimentary when compared to the more advanced music players found on current Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets. Track titles were displayed, but the phone was unable to read artist information from either AAC or MP3 files I'd encoded using iTunes software on my computer. I experienced lags when switching between tracks, and while playlists are supported, overall music management features are minimal at best. Audio quality was decent, relatively speaking, over the built-in speaker. As no headset was included with the K1, I could not test the quality of stereo audio playback.
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4.7
