Pantech Pocket Review

Introduction:

Pantech has been known to make some really affordable devices, but seeing that the competition are known to do the same, they’re going to need to work harder to justify why their selections are superior. With its 4:3 aspect ratio, the Pantech Pocket is undoubtedly different from everything else available on AT&T’s lineup, but physicalities aside, will it be enough to stand out above the crop?

Design:

Can you say different? Well, that’s the whole idea behind the Pantech Pocket with its wide all-plastic body and rubberized soft touch patterned surface. Yes, it’s not a common size for a contemporary smartphone, but nonetheless, it’s solid feeling all around to make it appreciable.



You can compare the Pantech Pocket with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Boasting a 4” WVGA (480 x 800) display with an aspect ratio of 4:3, it’s seemingly something that warrants recognition since it blatantly stands out. Unlike its widescreen counterparts, our thumb is able to easily hit and encompass all four corners of the display. And of course, it’s detailed enough to make out fine text, but its weak brightness output, bluish tinge, and poor viewing angles make it difficult to view.

Interface and Functionality:

Rather than finding the more glitzy looking custom interface running on the Pantech Breakout, the Pocket resorts to using the same one used by the aging Pantech Crossfire. In all honesty, it reminds us of a watered down version of HTC Sense, since it employs a very similar lock screens and widgets. It’s decent looking, but clearly lacks the polish of HTC’s premier UI.


Even though it pack a 1GHz single-core Qualcomm processor, it struggles to maintain a reasonable performance when live wallpapers are activated. Clearly sluggish with most tasks, it’s rather frustrating in navigating across the platform.

Using the stock on-screen keyboard, its layout is very easy on the thumbs, but we’re not digging its unresponsiveness. Fortunately, the Swype keyboard option doesn’t stutter with its movement – making it the preferred choice between the two.


Internet and Connectivity:

Thanks to its HSPA+ connection, the Pocket gets complex pages like ours to fully load in no time at all. Unfortunately, its execution with pinch zooming and kinetic scrolling is on the choppy side – and it doesn’t help when things lag extensively when Flash content is present.



Camera:

Plagued by over-exposure, muddy details, and inaccurate colors, there is nothing pretty to find with photos taken by the handset’s 5-megapixel auto-focus camera – and it doesn’t help that it takes close to 5 seconds to snap an image!

Abysmal! That’s the one word that sums up the so-called 720p video recording of the Pantech Pocket. Honestly, there’s nothing high-def with this one seeing that it’s in 3GP format, which results in a ton of artifacting, extremely soft details, screechy audio recording, and plenty of pixilation.

Pantech Pocket Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Interestingly, the music player receives a slight visual tweak that displays a scrollable listing of songs when something is playing. Moreover, it features an eclectic mix of equalizer settings to fine tune its neutral volume output, which doesn’t strain at the loudest setting.


With our test video that’s encoded in MPEG-4 1280 x 720 resolution, it plays smoothly with no issues at all – though, it stretches it by default.

Performance:

Sensitive to say the least, the microphone appears to pick up a lot of background noise, which makes it difficult for our callers to hear us; on our side, voices have a crackling tone through the earpiece. Switching to the speakerphone, its volume output is definitely strong to make out voices.

Maintain a steady 4 to 5 bars in high coverage areas, we didn’t notice any fluctuations with signal strength – also, it didn’t drop any phone calls during our testing.

With its 1,650 mAh battery, we’re able to pump out 6 hours of talk time, which meets the manufacturer’s rating. Meanwhile, it’s still something that requires nightly charges seeing we get by a solid day of normal usage.

Conclusion:

As much as we’d love to give props to Pantech for enabling the Pocket to stand out with its untraditional size, there’s nothing really going on elsewhere to make it a polarizing offering. Actually, it’s more of the same from Pantech’s camp, as they have yet another middle of the road offering that’s affordable on any budget. However, it simply lacks the polish in both the software and hardware side to keep it compelling over the competition – even if it’s priced at $49.99 on-contract. To tell you the truth, you’re better off dealing your hard earned cash into something more magnificent.

Software version of the reviewed unit:
Android Version: 2.3.4
Kernel Version: 2.6.35.7-perf
Build Number: GINGERBREAD

Pantech Pocket Video Review: