Motorola ZINE Cell Phone Review - Organizer
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Marianne Schultz Published on January 28, 2009 Comment on this |
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| PC users will be happy with included software that will manage PIM data synchronization for you, but Mac users will be left out in the cold. The ZINE offers basic PIM management, even more than we often see in other feature phones, but it probably won't be enough to handle very busy users with lots of appointments and tasks to track. The calendar and contacts applications offer a good number of fields to record details for individual items, but the tasks and notes applications are pretty bare-bones. | |
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Synchronization (6.33)
You can sync the ZINE with your PC using the included Motorola Phone Tools software that's included in the box. Once you install this software, it's easy to set it up. You can sync your contacts, calendar, and tasks with the ZINE and customize what is synced out of these items as well. Mac users are out of luck with no sync software included and it's not currently compatible with the iSync software included with all Macs, though there may be a 3rd-party option out there.
Syncing can be done via USB with the included cable or via Bluetooth. You can choose to sync with Outlook or the Windows PIM apps on your PC.
Alerts (7.0)
Alerts for calendar items are not set by default and must be switched on for each event. When an alert sounds, the screen shows you options to view or snooze the alert for 5 minutes. If the Profile's default alert sound is used, it sounds once and does not repeat if you happen to miss it, though you'll see the on-screen alert when you get back to the ZINE. When setting an alert, you can choose between fixed settings of 5, 10, 30, or 60 minutes before, or 1 day or week before, or choose a custom option where you can specify the number of minutes before an event's start time when the alarm should sound. We like the custom option but if you want the alert to sound 36 hours before the start of event, you'll have to do a little math first before setting it, and we find it odd that 15 minutes isn't one of the fixed alert settings you can choose. An alert will vibrate only if designated as such in the active Profile.
The default alarm sound is determined by the active Profile, though you do have the option to customize it with a video or audio file from the voice notes or ring tones media folders. What's really nice is that you're also able to record a video or voice note right from the new event dialogue. We noticed that a voice note recorded for the alert in the new event dialogue will repeat ad infinitum when it sounds, unlike the default profile sound that will sound only once. This is a really nice level of customizability with the alerts that we'd love to see on other devices, particularly some smartphones we've seen.
Over-the-Air PIM Sync (0.0)
The ZINE is not capable of syncing PIM data over-the-air using the cellular network.
Adding Contacts (5.77)
To see how easy it is to add contacts to a device's contacts list, we time how long it takes to enter the first name, last name, and phone number of test contacts starting at the home screen in the unlocked state.
The contacts list
With T-Mobile's MyFaves feature on by default on the ZINE, the quickest way to add a normal contact is to press the down button on the D-pad to get to the phone book. From there, the Options menu offers Create Contact as the second item. Adding our test contacts took an average of 17.33 seconds on the ZINE, one of the better scores among our comparison phones, behind only the Razr2 V8. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
Looking/Sorting/Search (3.5)
Contacts on the ZINE can be sorted alphabetically by first name or last name. If you designate a category for each contact, you can also filter the main view by these categories. The categories offered by default are Family, Friends, and Work, though you can add customized ones as well. You can search through your contacts list using multi-tap on the keypad, though it will search only by the name designated to be first in the Sort settings.
Searching through the contacts list
Fields (6.80)
When creating a new contact, there are 30 fields available between 4 tabs, and the Options menu in 2 of these tabs will allow you to add 4 more fields. There are no customizable fields, but this is still a good amount of room for you to store information about your contacts.
The new contact dialogue
Speed Dial/Voice tags/Voice command (8.5)
The ZINE has 9 speed dial positions, of which the number 1 has been designated for Voicemail by default. The ZINE also has a voice command system that does not require voice tags or training for each of your contacts. This feature is activated by holding down the Send button for a few seconds. The ZINE recognized all 5 of our test contacts and dialed them successfully.
The voice command prompt
We did notice that the voice command system is annoyingly persistent - if it does not recognize your command, it will try to get you to repeat your command and there's no button that will stop if it you just want to cancel it without starting some other activity at the same time, and saying Cancel doesn't work.
Adding Calendar Items (6.03)
To see how easy it is to add calendar events, we time how long it takes to enter a test event starting at the home screen in the unlocked state and stopping when the save button is pressed. With no shortcut key defined by default to get you to the calendar application quickly, you'll need to go down a couple of levels in the menu to get there. However, using the keypad to more quickly choose menu items speeds this up a bit compared to using the D-pad.
The new event dialogue
On the ZINE, it took an average of 16.59 seconds to enter a test calendar item, putting the ZINE in the middle of the pack among our comparison phones. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
Calendar Views (3.89)
The ZINE's calendar offers 3 views: Day, Week, and Month. Out of the box, the Month view is the default view shown whenever the calendar application is opened, and this can be changed in the Options menu.
The Day view shows the selected day by hours by default, though this can be changed to a task-focused list in the Options menu that will show only events on each day without the hour blocks. This view shows you the most information about upcoming appointments since the event's name, time, and location.
The day view
The week view provides the best global view of your availability in a given week where scheduled events are blocked off with a darker line. You can choose to see a day's events in detail by selecting the day, but getting back to the week view from the day view is a little frustrating unless you have chosen the week view as your default view, or else choosing Back will take you back to the default month view. In the Calendar Setup menu, the week view can be set to show 5, 6, or 7 days.
The week view
The month view provides the least information about your schedule, with only tiny bars on days where events are scheduled to represent busy time. Selecting a day with the D-pad brings you to the day view, and clicking Back will take you right back to the month view as long as it's set as your default view in the Calendar Setup menu.
The month view
Calendar items cannot be assigned to groups or categories, unlike contacts, and thus cannot be sorted or viewed this way. Calendar items cannot be searched, either. Those of you who like to keep your calendar records for a long time or indefinitely should note that the ZINE's default setting is to delete events after 2 weeks.
The calendar's set-up menu
Overall, the ZINE's calendar offers more settings than we typically see on feature phones but not as much as found on smartphones, unsurprisingly, though it's still roughly on par with most of our comparison phones.
Fields (10.0)
When creating a new calendar event, there are 14 fields for entering details about it and the ZINE covers all the basic here, allowing you to set recurring events, albeit with limited recurrence options, all the way to inviting others via email and setting a custom alert sound. The ZINE ties with the Motorola Razr2 V8 in this area, which is not surprising considering they share the same manufacturer.
14 fields on 4 tabs
Adding ToDo/Task (7.51)
To see how easy it is to add a new task, we time how long it takes to go from the home screen in the unlocked state to the moment a new test task is saved. There's no shortcut menu option or D-pad shortcut to get to the Tasks application easily, so it takes a little navigating to get there with the default set-up.
The new task dialogue
It took an average of 13.31 seconds to complete this test on the ZINE, putting it second only to the Nokia N82 among our comparison phones. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
To Do/Task Sorting and Prioritizing (7.0)
Tasks can be sorted by due date or priority through the Options menu. You can also choose to filter the main view to show tasks that are due, incomplete tasks, or completed tasks. Tasks cannot be assigned to custom categories and thus cannot be sorted in this way.
Task sorting options and the main tasks view
Fields (4.0)
When creating a new task, there are 5 fields available: title, due date, status, priority, and notes. Unfortunately, there's no way to set an alert for a task to act as an audible and/or visible reminder for you to do something.
Adding Notes (3.53)
To see how easy it is to add a note, we time how long it takes to go from the home screen in the unlocked state to the moment a new test note is saved. As with Tasks, there is no easy shortcut to get to the Notes application though using the keypad's number shortcuts to more quickly select menu items helps greatly.
The new note dialogue
It took an average of 14.16 seconds to complete this test on the ZINE, behind the Motorola Razr2 V8 and Sony Ericsson W50i. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
Note Interface (2.0)
The ZINE's notes application interface is very straightforward with no bells or whistles, making it dead simple to navigate. Notes cannot be assigned to categories and sorted accordingly, nor can they be sorted alphabetically. The one thing you can do to notes is to flag them, which bumps them to the top of the list and puts a small flag icon next to them so they stand out a bit more.
The notes list
Note Formatting (0.0)
There are no options whatsoever to change fonts, sizes, or other aspects of the format of notes.
Voice Memo (4.0)
The ZINE has a voice memo application found in the Fun & Apps menu, one level above where the Calendar, Tasks, and Notes applications are located and it has the same exact interface as found on the Motorola Razr2 V8. There is no one-touch recording, but it's easy enough to start recording once you get to the application by pressing the center select key of the D-pad. By default, the recording length for voice notes is unlimited and they are saved to the phone's memory, though this can be changed in the Options menu. You can also go directly to the folder where previously-recorded voice notes are saved directly from the application.
The voice notes interface
Voice memos can be sent to others, though you'll need to do this from the media folder where voice notes are saved or choose to attach one while creating a new MMS message.
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