Pantech Burst Pro Reviews

We're willing to go out on a limb and crown the Pantech Burst as the new king of budget handsets. It's not perfect and isn't meant to be, but if you can get past minor flaws like the camera and certain UI elements, you'll find yourself in possession of a powerful handset that's capable of keeping up with the network's LTE titans. Indeed, this was the first time we've truly felt proud to whip out a Pantech phone, and we're hoping this is a harbinger of things to come. We'd love to see this particular device become the poster child for entry-level phones going forward -- after all, if this company can do it, so can everyone else.

Pantech has not had the best reputation over the years for their build quality and support, but if the Burst is a preview of what is to come, Pantech might redeem their brand. With the excellent call quality (especially using the speakerphone), the limited number of proprietary apps, and high quality feel, the Pantech Burst might make consumers reconsider purchasing a more expensive device. Previous Pantech users who stated they would never get another Pantech device were enthralled with the Burst's snappy responsiveness and ease of use. If Pantech is able to cause this reaction with others, they will be quite the contender against other smartphone heavyweights.

The Pantech Burst may not have the gee-whiz factor of some of the flashier recent smartphones, but it generally performs well and it's hard to ignore the bargain price. It's a good size, the screen is sharp, battery life is excellent, and performance is relatively snappy, though the camera was somewhat disappointing. While I did experience some major voice quality issues, data performance was excellent and you may not experience any issues if AT&T's network is strong in your area. If you're looking for a new smartphone to show off and impress your friends and family, the Burst isn't for you -- but if you just want a good smartphone and you don't have a lot of cash, the Burst is worthy of consideration. Just make sure that either you're an introvert who never talks on the phone (preferring instead to text and email) or that you have excellent network coverage in your area first, so that the voice quality issues won't be a problem for you.

There is plenty to like in the Pantech Burst. The smartphone packs one of the most powerful CPU and chipset combinations on the market, a Super AMOLED screen, and LTE connectivity, all wrapped into an unpretentious looking package. The Pantech twist on Android Gingerbread is a surprisingly nice touch as well. Throw in a $49.99 price tag, and the handset shapes up as a seriously compelling entry package into the LTE world. Of course, the phone is far from perfect. Its unpretentious look is actually rather dull, while the Super AMOLED screen falls a tad short of the expectations, because of its PenTile matrix. The camera and battery performances are also rather questionable. In short, those are the negatives of the low price, which the Pantech Burst sports.

Buying a budget-friendly smartphone always involves trade-offs, but fortunately the Pantech Burst has very few. AT&T’s LTE network offers blazing speed (in cities where coverage exists), and the dual-core processor keeps the phone running well. But if you’re planning on taking a lot of photos with your phone, you’ll be dissatisfied with the Burst’s camera. The slow shutter speed, paired with the hazy image quality, is this phone’s biggest weakness.

I was impressed by the Pantech Burst's design, feature set, and price when I first learned of the phone at CES. When the highest-end phones sail in at $200 dollars or more, a $50 Android phones seems like it's too good to be true. If you value call quality and long battery life above all else, the fairy tale ends. Yet if you plan to make phone calls sparingly, you'll enjoy a beautiful screen of practical size, a very solid camera with nice color reproduction and impressive detail, and a dual-core processor that moves it all along.

The Pantech Burst is a good smartphone for users looking to tap into AT&T's 4G LTE network on a budget.

Sound the alarm people, but we believe that Pantech has finally produced a winner in our books for AT&T, seeing that the Burst offers a ton of value for its $49.99 on-contract price. Barely skipping a beat, we’re enamored by the arsenal it’s packing along for the ride, and beyond that, it’s also able to match its allure by flaunting a pretty decent design too. Simply factoring its Super AMOLED display, dual-core processor, and 4G LTE connectivity, these three items alone would deem it as a premium priced smartphone, but rather, it bucks the trend by surprising us with something totally different. Sure it might not hit the high marks in all categories, but it’s balanced enough to warrant some recognition as a great solution for those on a budget.