Throwback Review: Microsoft Kin One Smartphone!

A throwback of the ill-fated and commercially disastrous Kin One.
Find it on Amazon: goo.gl/5xP2MA
Details:
Kin was a short-lived mobile phone line from Microsoft designed for users of social networking.Microsoft described the phones' target demographic as men and women between ages 15 and 30.It was manufactured by Sharp Corporation and sold through Verizon Wireless.
Microsoft invested two years and about US$1 billion developing the Kin platform,beginning with their acquisition of Danger Incorporated The Kin was based on Windows CE.
The Kin ONE and TWO went on the market on May 14, 2010. Within two months, Verizon stopped selling the phones because of poor sales. Microsoft scrapped its planned European release, stopped promoting the devices, ceased production, and reassigned the Kin development team to other projects.
Microsoft updated its unsold Kin inventory with firmware that removed their social and web-based features, and in December 2010 offered these re-purposed units through Verizon stores as limited feature phones, the Kin ONEm and the TWOm. In January 2011, Microsoft shut down the kin.com website, which controlled most of the earlier phones' features.
The Kin project was first known by the codename Project Pink, and began under direction of Microsoft executive J Allard.
600MHz ARM 11 Nvidia Tegra processor
2.6-Inch TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Internal 4 GB storage, 256MB RAM
5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED flash
Built-in Zune player
Geo-tagging, face and smile detection
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
Up to 200 hours of standby time
82.6 x 63.5 x 19.1 mm (3.25 x 2.5 x 0.75 in) 110.6 (3.88 oz)

[@TofranBohk]

I think when people label this as one of the worst phones of all time, they are silly. I think it's cute!

[@miltymail]

I still have mine too. I think the main reason they canceled it was because it was a Chick Phone aka a phone girls would like.

[@amb600cd0]

@@miltymail thats still a huge market ao i doubt thats why

[@Fujibean]

Worst phone? I was obsessed with this when I had it - still have it and pull it out once in a while. It’s neat!

[@JC907AK]

Ahhh Zune music, I actually loved Zune music software it was way ahead of its time.

[@elenag6277]

This was my first smartphone, I still have it!!

[@wannapats1]

Does it still work?

[@leogrievous]

Sharp was actually the manufacturer of the sidekick as well.

[@subliminalescape2149]

I still have this phone. It’s such a shame it’s no longer supported. It’ll work to make and receive calls, send and receive texts, albeit limited, as the texts are blank texts from newer phones. The internet surfing is no longer possible as it’s not really supported.

[@wannapats1]

Subliminal Escape so sad...

[@jeevanlal5546]

Do you still have it bro. Cuz I need one. Just for collection

[@subliminalescape2149]

@@jeevanlal5546 yes, I do have it.

[@jeevanlal5546]

@@subliminalescape2149 I want that phone brother, if you're willing

[@wannapats1]

Sad......

[@spiderside3892]

I cant believe I found this video. I had one of these things when I was a kid because I insisted to my apple-loyal father that I would not have a phone with a touch screen. I must have been 11 or 12 when I got it, and I had an ipod nano too, so I pretty much only used it to watch youtube in the terrible little browser. I used it for at least two or three years and my god did it run slow after that. Full seconds would go by between me touching the screen and anything happening. But I loved my little egg phone

[@tristenlaws5155]

I wish I could find mine I loved this phone!

[@LynetteBarrerapink]

I had the KIN TWO and I loved it! I wish I still had it.

[@jurgenwklein]

Hey. Thank you so much for this experience. Of seeing such an unique phone! Great review. I'm looking for one to buy and keep to my collection. :)

[@MsMRkv]

Not a bad phone.

[@sarahc.8838]

Kevin Velásquez I agree it’s you’re opinion

[@gotDIBS]

I loved this phone

[@wannapats1]

I still want it though! And I’ve never had it.

[@RetroModern3]

I have used to have one I loved it

[@wannapats1]

@@RetroModern3 do you still have it even now?

[@RetroModern3]

@@wannapats1 Yeah as a collectors item

[@sayatang4893]

Collection of what exactly? Are people collecting old phones? What for? Doesn’t everyone keep their old phones?

[@will_it_work]

You glossed over the USB port. USB Mass Storage support? MTP supported?

[@jeevanlal5546]

I really like this phone and I need one. But I can't find it anywhere. Please help

[@amb600cd0]

if you ever found where that sells please let me know

[@simbiods3]

like a big smartwatch in 2010.

[@michaelboccafola-fritz540]

can you download apps on this

[@miltymail]

No it didn’t do that but the online cloud was so cool! Every photo you took automatically stored itself to the “Kin Studio” which was in the cloud. Hardly anyone knew what that meant at the time. You could edit your photo up there. As an artsy person I recognized right away the cool features the phone had and still I miss using it the way I did when it first came out. All I wanted in a phone was texting and photos and music made easy. I didn’t need video games but I guess dudes wanted that so the phone was scrapped.

[@beautifulthailandsoundofnature]

Do you sell this phone?

[@user-fp2yl6dk9w]

Anyone know where I can buy this now?? I’m from the UK.

[@riopato2009]

And then they killed Windows Phone...

[@theviking2877]

This guy is totally wrong. It was a great phone, it was just a couple years too late.

[@akagami6113]

I have one of them.

[@SirSki1]

It's a smartphone users nightmare

[@riopato2009]

I'd like to see how KaiOS would run on this hardware or maybe Puffin. Possibly Android GO. Not everyone needs a full fledge smartphone.

[@miltymail]

Don’t look at it as a smart phone. It’s a really cool cell phone.

[@wheepinangel4723]

I use to have it, the quality of porn is terrible

[@neoandroid4203]

First!!