Pantech Element Review

Introduction:

After spending some quality time refining its line of Android smartphones, with the Pantech Burst impressing us of late with its balanced appeal and low-cost price point, Pantech is finally getting its toes wet and going after the tablet market. So far, the AT&T customers have been treated to the premium offerings available with the HTC Jetstream and Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, both of which offer 4G LTE speeds, but the Pantech Element aims to naturally entice people with its lower price point – while still retaining similar specs to its rivals. Moreover, it’s able to better differentiate itself thanks to its waterproof aspect, which should no doubt catch anyone’s attention, but it’s blatantly obvious that it’ll require more to stand equally with its peers.

The package contains:

• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• Quick Start Guide
• Safety and Warranty Guide

Design:

Right off the bat, we’re reminded of the Pantech Pocket from not too long ago because the Element flaunts the same 4:3 aspect ratio – thus, looking very squarish by nature. Although we have some difficulty holding it in one hand because of its wide form and slick feel, we’re content by its solid construction thanks to its sturdy plastic body. Honestly, its conventional design eerily makes it look like an over-sized smartphone, since its speaker and front-facing camera are positioned exactly where we normally find them on a phone. Differentiating itself from most tablets though, the Element is IP57 certified, which means that it can survive being submerged under water for up to 1 meter for 30 minutes. However, unlike some of the rugged smartphones out there, the Element can still incur damages from drops – so technically, it isn’t a ruggedized device.



Since the Element is waterproof to an extent, all of its ports are well protected by plastic covers that require firm closures to ensure maximum protection – these include its microHDMI port, microUSB port, microSIM card slot, microSD slot, and 3.5mm headset jack. Meanwhile, its dedicated power button and volume control are extremely tactile and distinct to the touch.

In the rear, its 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash is tucked away towards one corner, while the patterned design of the rear shimmers at certain angles – albeit, it’s a finger print magnet like no other!


Display:

Initially, we didn’t take much notice to its 8” LCD display, but after manually cranking up its brightness, we have to say that we’re impressed. Sure, we’re not thrilled to find it boasting a measly low resolution of 1024 x 768, which is pales in comparison to some of its rival, but honestly, it’s sufficient enough to allow our eyes to distinguish fine text from a good distance away. Furthermore, its high brightness output, neutral color reproduction, and wide viewing angles allow us to visibly make out anything on-screen without much trouble. Humbly speaking, the Pantech Element’s display is very likeable in many aspects.

Interface and Functionality:

By now, we’ve expressed our discontent of continuing to see Android devices launching with anything except for Ice Cream Sandwich on board, but nevertheless, we’re not all that saddened seeing ICS doesn’t have a dramatic change with its interface over Honeycomb. Dishing up a mostly stock Android 3.2.1 Honeycomb experience, the only thing different about the Element are the minor makeovers found to its app panel and on-screen Android buttons. Aside from that, it doesn’t deviate from any other Honeycomb flavored tablet on the market, as its boasts all the phenomenal personalization aspects of the platform. Even though Pantech has specifically mentioned that the tablet is upgradeable to ICS, there is no confirmed timeline on when we’ll see it arrive.


Mainly due to its smaller display, typing can be a bit of a challenge for those with larger digits due to the overall cramped feel of its on-screen keyboard. Nonetheless, the stock Honeycomb and Swype keyboards exhibit responsive rates to keep up with our peppy rate of inputting text.

Not surprisingly, the Gmail and standard email apps are appropriately laid out to take advantage of the spacious confines available with the tablet – so organizing emails is a pleasure to handle. Moreover, setup is a breeze seeing it simply requires our email address and password for automatic completion.



Processor and Memory:

In the past, Pantech has rarely been known to push the envelope with its hardware, but as we’ve seen on the Pantech Burst very recently, the Element follows in suit by running a modern processor that’s fit for undertaking of a tablet. Powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8060 processor, it delivers some very delicious results with various benchmark tests, which in turn keeps it in good company with many of the top devices out there. In addition, it excels in maintaining a rigorous performance that barely shows off any hints of slowdown or lag with most functions. When it comes down to it, this is indeed one speed demon that doesn’t stutter for a moment with its performance.

Out of the box, the Pantech Element’s internal memory is broken down to 12.33GB for media storage, while another 770MB is strictly reserved for apps. Then again, there’s always that useful microSD card slot that’s ready to supplement its capacity.

Internet and Connectivity:

Relying on HSPA+ connectivity, since AT&T’s 4G LTE network has yet to make its way to our location, we’re content with the speeds it’s able to present us. Complex pages like ours load in no time at all, while accurately rendering everything in full fidelity – much like what we find on any desktop browser. Even though heavy Flash sites can reduce its responsiveness with navigational controls, it’s never to the point unusable, and in the end, its web browsing performance is more than adequate for our needs.


Obviously, data speeds should no doubt be blazing via AT&T’s 4G LTE network, but with HSPA+ connectivity, the Element is able to establish speeds up to 8Mbits/s down and 1.5Mbits/s up, which are up to par with other HSPA+ enabled devices from AT&T’s stable. Not surprisingly, it features the usual staple of connectivity items, such as aGPS, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, but it’s strangely missing mobile hotspot connectivity.

Camera:

In general, tablets aren’t known for their photo-taking capabilities, but with the Pantech Element, we’re thoroughly tickled by the pleasant snapshots it’s able to produce with its 5-megapixel camera. Although it tends to over-sharpen details, colors are on the neutral side for the most part, which converge together to produce acceptable shots. As expected, low lighting shots come out rather noisy looking, with colors being more bland in tone, but its LED flash manages to sharpen things a little bit.


Regretfully, we’re absolutely disappointed by the shabby looking 720p videos the tablet records. Muddying its quality tremendously, it’s diminished by its indistinct details, choppy capture rate of 19 frames per second, and heavy artifacting. Above all, our eyes can’t get over its poor looking details, which ultimately makes it far from being high definition in any way.

Pantech Element Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Well, there’s nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to playing music, seeing that it boasts the all too lovable stock Honeycomb player. Aside from its spiffy looking 3D carousel interface, our ears are amazed by the boisterous tones its single speaker is able to produce – though, a tiny bit of strain can be heard at the loudest volume setting.

Video playback is hardly a test for the tablet, since it eloquently plays our test video that’s encoded in DivX 1920 x 1080 resolution with no issues at all.

Sharing multimedia content couldn’t be any easier for the Element, thanks to its microHDMI port that provides all of the usefulness of having a mirrored experience on our high-def TV.

Performance:

As much as we’re curious to see how its 6,400 mAh battery is better able to handle all of rigors surrounding 4G LTE connectivity, we’re quite content by the generous battery life we get out of it via HSPA+. Easily getting by a solid day of normal usage, we find its reach extending into a second of day – where we find it at 20% capacity by the end of the night.

Conclusion:

Considering that this is Pantech’s first foray into the tablet scene, we’re astounded to see that they’ve been able to present us with an admirable effort with the Pantech Element. Yeah, it might not boast the same brand recognition as some of its rivals, but nevertheless, you can’t count it out since we’re compelled by its balanced performance and offerings. Without a doubt, it’ll catch a few eyes on the way since it’s the only Honeycomb tablet on the market that we can honestly survive through some minor spills and submersion under water, which you don’t see that often. In terms of pricing, it’s not that bad when you take account that it offers 4G LTE connectivity for only $299.99 on-contract or $449.99 outright. All in all, it’s a resoundingly great starting point for Pantech as they continue to impress us with their surmounting efforts in the market.

Android Version: 3.2.1
Kernel Version: 2.6.35.11-perf
Build Number: HTK75

Pantech Element Video Review: