Are you ready to take the plunge into the world of Droid, but are overwhelmed with what to look for in a phone to make sure it is a perfect fit? This may be the phone for you! This is Verizon Wireless’ first $99 Droid smart phone!
Phone
The Verizon Wireless Pantech Breakout has all the same features of its more expensive rivals. When looking at the phone it has buttons on the bottom of the devise that are used for Menu (Apps), Home, Back, and Search. This phone is great for someone who is looking to dive into the world of droid, it is not 100% stock Droid OS like Motorola is, Pantech has included its own spin on the OS that helps make it more user friendly and great for the beginner.
The Breakout will link Facebook data (contact’s photo and profile info). There is also a favorites list that can be used as one of your seven screens. Having it set up as a widget makes it quick one touch access to dial some of your favorite people!
The clarity of the phone is good, sometimes almost too good. Mid-conversation it would be so quiet and null of background noise that it would be as if the call had dropped, but it did not! The size of the phone was great and it is extremely light compared to other Droid devises.
Design
The Verizon Wireless Pantech Breakout, is powered by a 1GHz processor which is extremely fast not to mention the 4G LTE network behind it. It does have 512MB of RAM/ROM but that seems to work out ok as long as you move some of the apps to the SD card that helps open up some of the memory.
There’s a power/sleep button on the right side as well as a Micro USB connection which is hidden under a plastic cover above the power toggle, and then a physical camera button below the power toggle on the right side. On the left side at the top is a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top below that is the volume rocker on the left side and the voice control button at the bottom.
Display
The Verizon Wireless Pantech Breakout screen is a 4 -inch, 480-by-800 pixel Capacitive Touchscreen TFT LCD display, which is a LCD display.
Camera
The camera is a 5 megapixel on the rear of the devise with a 720p (1280x720) recording capabilities and a 1.3 front-facing camera it makes it simple to take pictures as well as video chat with your friends.
It took bright, vivid pictures in natural light. There is a small, sad, feature there is no flash included on the Verizon Wireless Pantech Breakout, which makes it touch to take pictures when there is no natural light.
The video recorder captures 720p HD video.
Battery Life
Most smart-phone users have concluded by now that no matter the phone in use it will have to charge every day.
Personal Note: I did manage to keep the Verizon Wireless Pantech Breakout running and unplugged for two plus days before I put I realized I forgot to put it on the charger, oops! I picked it up to run out the door and noticed the battery was in the red!
Interface
Android 2.3 which is running the latest version the Gingerbread OS on the Verizon Wireless Pantech Breakout runs seven home screens. It can run over 150,000 apps that are available on the Android market.
The phone never slowed and scrolling between pages or up and down long lists happened without hesitation. The user interface is wickedly fast and responsive.
Web
Verizon Wireless Pantech Breakout has Adobe Flash 10.2 which makes it easy for watching Web videos on the go.
There is a pinch-zoom feature for web pages it allows for zooming in and out as much as needed. There is a nice screen shot of bookmarked pages, and they can all be viewed in landscape or vertical configurations. That makes it easy to jump to the favorite pages easily.
Conclusion
The old adage comes to mind, with the Verizon Wireless Pantech Breakout, “you get what you pay for.” However in this instance, that is not the case. The price is just a bonus with the phone; it makes the crossover to the Droid world so much easier and more affordable to someone who may otherwise not be able to get a droid. The Pantech twist on the OS makes it very user friendly and it’s is 4G LTE to boot! With the holidays coming this would be a great gift for Moms or Dads who are feeling brave or even that pesky Kid who keeps begging for a Droid!
Specs
Processor: 1GHz Processor
Storage: 1024MB Flash; 512 MB Ramp; MicroSD slot with a capacity for up to 32GB SD card.
Screen: 4.0-inch Capacitive Touchscreen TFT LCD 260K (480x800)
Camera: 5MP rear camera with 720p HD recording and 1.3 megapixel front facing camera
Audio: 3.5mm headset jack
Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, Accelerometer
Weight: 4.868 ounces
Dimensions: 5.0”x2.535”x0.472”
This opinion piece was written by Kris Russo, Account Executive for WEYI
