Microsoft's KIN: A Eulogy
by Brian Klug on July 13, 2010 3:42 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Microsoft
- KIN
- Mobile
Battery Life Testing
Battery life on the KIN was a shocker. It was superb.
Both of the KIN not only delivered above average call times of around 6 hours, but also 3G web browsing times of around 7. But the real shocker was WiFi web browsing battery life, which came in at around 13.5 hours. I ran this test twice on both phones because I was confused. It really lasts that long.
As a quick reminder, our web browsing benchmark loads a set of nearly two dozen webpages, pauses for 20 seconds on each one, and then loads the next page. None of the pages use flash, and the set loads endlessly until the phone's battery is exhausted. Screen brightness is set to 50%, and configured to remain on the whole time. Testing over WiFi is done in the same room as the AP.
For call time testing, we play music on repeat into the microphone of the phone and call another phone, also playing music into it. This simulates voice transmitted and received. The displays are also allowed to go to sleep as they would when used in a normal call.
The result of all this testing is the obvious conclusion that the KINs have incredible battery life. In fact, the WiFi battery life on these devices was nothing short of amazing. It's entirely possible that Sharp aggressively underclocked the NVIDIA Tegra APX 2600 to get these numbers, or that there's other throttling going on when the device is idle. We don't measure standby time yet, but whereas my HTC Incredible would be dead within 24 hours of being unplugged, the KINs would last multiple days in standby.
Performance in the browser wasn't stellar, but pinch zooming and other multitouch gestures felt snappy. At other times, the browser and UI would really feel choppy while scrolling. It was a mixed bag. One thing was for certain however, the JavaScript engine on the KIN browser was abysmally slow, so even though the browser felt decently fast for most browsing, the JavaScript heavy tests we run on smartphones gave very poor results.
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mcnabney - Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - link
Important tools buried within menus.Dependence on a specific computer to sync.
Too damn many things to do just to make a call.
Navigation required a stylus due to tiny menus and icons.
Too many lockups, reboots, battery yanks, and software incompatibilities.
Most devices were EXTREMEMLY unreliable.
Non-existent followed by limited push email support.
I could go on and on....
aebiv - Thursday, July 15, 2010 - link
So make a shortcut where you want it.I haven't synced to a computer in years.
I push one button and dial a number to make a call, or I tell it to make a call.
I'd rather be able to use a stylus, than have a capacitive screen that won't allow for precise input.
I can give you lists of people who have very few lockups, and I've seen quite a few Android and Apple phones lockup as well.
My original Motorola Q is still running strong, so are many others.
Activesync/Exchange support has always been best on the windows mobile devices, the VZ Droid STILL can't get push mail fixed. You have to buy a third party app called Touchdown to get it to work semi decently.
Please, do go on.
kmmatney - Friday, July 16, 2010 - link
If the average person plays with a windows mobile phone and an iPhone at the AT&T store, then they will buy the iPhone - it's that simple.aebiv - Saturday, July 17, 2010 - link
Exactly. The average person bought the Motorola RAZR too.This current trend for marketing a "smartphone" for the masses is leading to a loss of features and flexibility for those of us who truly want a "Pocket PC."
nangryo - Sunday, July 18, 2010 - link
That makes you above average person and under average person I believe.I think you just thin that you are the first right?
What a sad fellow
aebiv - Sunday, July 18, 2010 - link
You don't even make sense here.nangryo - Sunday, July 18, 2010 - link
Living on your dream world eh? Where you assume that everyone is just like youGo then, use your beloved stylus. just don't use it for.... anything else
lol
aebiv - Sunday, July 18, 2010 - link
No, I never said everyone was like me.Do you see me ripping on the iPhone for being a horrible design because it doesn't do what I want? No, I don't. All I am doing is pointing out that there are some of us, who don't want to have a locked down, limited, glorified feature phone that has 3 big buttons on the screen because it is supposed to be "thumb friendly."
You ever try to use RDP on a 3" screen? It is hard enough on a 4.3" screen without a stylus.
mrdeez - Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - link
Its because the Android OS doesn't have any way of completely closing apps once their open. Get Advanced Task Killer and use it every time you sleep your phone. I have seen my battery life go from 4-5 hours to 7-8.aebiv - Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - link
No, even using that in keeping the tasks closed. If you disable sense on the WinMo and go with SPB or use Titanium the battery life difference is even more drastic.