Multimedia Phone Reviews

A preview of the new satellite DMB Phone from Pantech has been posted over at Gizmag 'South Korea’s Pantech Group today announced the launch of the IM-U140 handset, a satellite digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) handset that provides users with a genuinely unique mobile phone experience via its innovative design. With DMB, the phone obviously receives television but it has an interesting arsenal of features including four channel stereo speakers, a 3 megapixel camera with an image stabilization mode, MP3 player and TV-OUT and FM transmitter functionality meaning it can play the MP3s it contains on your car radio f’rinstance. Finally, the QVGA 262K colour TFT LCD display is designed to pop up automatically at a 30 degree angle and the touch screen vibrates when touched, enhancing the overall unique feel of the phone.'

A reiew of the "Small and light" affordable Pantech C120 cellphone has been posted over at InfoSync World. 'While the pleasingly thin (0.5 inches) Pantech C120 qualifies as a low-end phone, it certainly doesn't feel cheap. Navigation is handled by a five-way navigational joystick which was pleasantly stiff; indeed, we never made selection errors. The phone sports a VGA camera, and the 1.5-inch, 120 by 120 pixel, 65,000-color screen looked merely adequate, with the low resolution making for blocky-looking text, while colors seemed a bit washed out.'

CNET have posted their review of the Pantech C120 handset for Cingular. 'In the cell phone fashion show, the Pantech C120 doesn't even get invited. Its basic candy bar shape is about as minimalist as you can get, and its ordinary silver color scheme makes no effort to stand out. That's not a bad thing by any means, and it's almost welcome after seeing so many design-centric models this year, but it's clear the C120 is not meant for anyone hoping to stand out on the street. At 4.06x1.67x0.53 inches, it's a hair taller than many flip phones but small enough to slip into a pants pocket. At 2.65 ounces, it's slightly heavier than its predecessor, but this time Pantech built an internal antenna. The phone feels mostly comfortable in the hand--though usually we prefer a bit more girth--and it had a solid construction.'

CNET have published a review of the Pantech PN-218 mobile handset. ‘Like its CDM-180 counterpart, the PN-218 lacks traditional cell proportions, so it looks almost square when viewed from the front. It's a strange shape to say the least and it's still a design we're not entirely comfortable with. It's not that it isn't pretty--indeed not every cell phone has to be--rather, it's just that the PN-218's dull silver color scheme and overlapping square shapes make it look like a kid's walkie-talkie. At 3.02 inches high by 2.15 inches wide by 0.96 inch thick and weighing 3.79 ounces, the PN-218 is marginally bigger and heavier than the CDM-180 and it has a surprisingly solid feel. It still slips easily into a pocket, yet the square shape can feel a bit awkward in the hand. But that's a judgment call on your part.’

Laptop Magazine have published a review of the Pantech Duo dual slider handset. 'The dark-gray body with textured metallic trim has a simple elegance suitable for the boardroom or a night on the town. At 4.6 ounces, the 4 x 2 x 0.8-inch-thick Pantech duo slips easily into a shirt pocket and is lighter and more streamlined than the 5.6-ounce, 0.9-inch thick Ocean. (On the other hand, the Ocean justifies its bulk with a sharper two-megapixel camera, more robust instant messaging, better MySpace integration, and GPS.) The duo's round corners felt good in the hand, providing a solid grip even for those with large mitts. On the right side of the phone are keys for launching the voice recorder and 1.3-MP camera. We appreciated the raised volume keys on the left side.'

A review of the Pantech Duo Windows Mobile 6 double slider phone has been posted over at Brighthand. 'Everything starts with the Windows Mobile Today screen. This has five program shortcuts; a link to download AT&T’s Xpress Mail application; the next calendar appointment; the current phone profile; any new SMS/MMS messages; and another shortcut section devoted to AOL, Windows Live Mobile, and Yahoo Go. To put it simply, there is a lot to do and no touchscreen to do it, so scrolling is involved. Thankfully, there are 10 different Today screen themes to choose from, with many of them cutting down on the amount of information shown. Once you get past that initial shock of so much information being at your fingertips, you can begin to actually use the Duo. Dialing a contact is as simple as sliding up the face of the device to expose the number-pad. Typing in a number will automatically search for matches.'

Technology Reviews have published a review of the Pantech Duo smartphone. 'The Pantech Duo is a Windows Mobile smartphone with a cool trick, it slides out in two directions, revealing a regular phone keypad when you slide it up and a QWERTY keyboard when slide to the side. The Duo is a small device, if a little on the thick side, but unfortunately it suffers from poor construction, which gives us concern regarding its durability. The Pantech Duo is currently available from AT&T for $199.99 after a mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract agreement. Thanks to the regular phone keypad making a call on the Pantech Duo is a straightforward affair, just slide out the keypad and start dialing. As a Windows Mobile device the Duo comes with a complete set of organizer features, including an excellent address book and calendar.'

MobileTechReview have published their review of the Pantech Duo 2-way slider Windows Mobile smartphone. 'The Pantech Duo is the same thickness as the juggernaut AT&T Tilt. Simply, there's no way to make a skinny phone when there are two sliders involved. To make the device as thin as possible, the QWERTY keys did suffer: there's very, very little key travel and no doming. This makes for a less than ideal thumb typing experience, though we did like the width of the keyboard overall and the large keys. The keyboard is backlit and easy to read (letters are white and numbers and the Fn key are noted in light blue). Keys are generally where you'd expect them to be with the exception of the spacebar which has moved up from the desktop keyboard and sits in between the V and B keys on the bottom row.

The Gadgeteer have published a review of the Pantech Duo (C810) Windows Mobile 6.0 smartphone. ‘In hand it is solid, but almost doesn't pass the gadgeteer squeeze test due to some slight flexing and creaking of the plastic casing. Most people won't go around squeezing their phones like I do, so I think this phone will be fine for normal day to day use. I'm not sure I'd want to use it in environments that would need a more rugged device though. I sure wish it had a metal casing instead of plastic, as I think that would raise it to another level.Made of shiny dark Grey plastic, the Duo is a smudge and fingerprint magnet. I find myself constantly polishing it on my pant leg to wipe the marks off. Most of the front surface of the phone is occupied by the 2.2 inch color display, which is bright, crisp and easy on the eyes. Above the display is the speaker and status LED. Below the display is the navigation button grouping.’