With the KRZR K1, Motorola had an attractive looking yet basic phone that was sure to appeal to many sectors of the market. It was only let-down by some design flaws coupled with lacklustre features. The K3 is clearly aimed at a slightly more demanding clientele than its predecessor was.

The first aspect we are going to check out is the design & construction. Starting with the bad news; the form-factor is still a clamshell and there are no immediate differences to its predecessor. The good news though, is that the materials are of a much higher quality than before and the whole thing just feels more solid and durable.

Bizarrely, the better quality materials actually make the K3 less attractive than the K1. One of the better features of the original KRZR was the mirror-like effect of the front-panel which did help to make it stand out more than many other handsets in Motorola’s line-up, but sadly in the K3 this has been exchanged for some more muted schemes such as Stone or Pearl Grey. To be fair though, although it isn’t quite as striking as the K1 the improvements in materials do make it feel like more of a quality product and less likely to cause concern after taking a few knocks here and there.

The K3 KRZR sports the same keypad as its predecessor as well as on the original RAZR, with wide, yet flat keys which to the untrained eye do appear to be touch sensitive, but this isn’t the case. Although it isn’t a particularly comfortable keypad, there are worse ones going but this is not without its problems. The main issue is that the key outlines mark the screen when snapped shut, meaning that the screen is too tight to the keys when shut.

The quality of the display is worth mentioning as this consistently been an issue for Motorola (in my opinion) since the release of the original RAZR. Thankfully, the K3 steers clear of this problem thanks to a much-improved legibility under sunlight than seen previously. Sadly the same UI has been used from the K1 and this just by itself plays a major part in spoiling the good work seen so far. When compared with the interfaces used by people such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and particularly Samsung, Motorola’s offerings just seem out of date and stale. Here’s hoping something drastic is done soon, though I’m not getting my hopes up.

A 2 Megapixel camera is used and on further inspection it seems to be the same module used in the K1, with no noticeable amendments at all. Although it’s okay, it may have been ideal to add at least autofocus & flash to make it worth purchasing.

What the K3 seems to be relying on more than anything is the update to its connection options to make it worth looking at. This update consists of the addition of 3G technology for video calls. Even better is, that when in supported areas, you can use the advanced data speed of HSDPA when accessing the internet.

A major (but less publicised) improvement is in the music playback. In the K1, you had 2 different players, neither of which were sufficient enough for its requirements. To make up for this earlier error, the K3 uses the widely-recognised Windows Media 11 and this no longer proves to be an issue.

Although it does have its bad points, the KRZR K3 is an ideal purchase for anyone looking for a fast 3G phone that is comparatively basic & functional elsewhere, at the right price of course.