Pantech Flex Pro Reviews

Even with the Pantech Flex's low price of $50 on contract, the question of the day is whether it's worth a two-year commitment. To its credit, the phone offers the same level of performance that you'll find in top-tier smartphones, along with a quality display, admirable battery life and access to AT&T's LTE network. Jokes about multiple personalities aside, the Flex includes two excellent software environments that should appeal to experts and novices alike. Pantech's Easy Experience mode is particularly well-suited to the elderly, thanks to its use of large type and its straightforward UI. Meanwhile, Pantech's traditional software environment combines the best elements of Ice Cream Sandwich and adds greater customization options and a number of useful apps.

Unfortunately, the Pantech Flex is a bit hit-or-miss. It's some of the best hardware I've seen from Pantech, and I really like the usability of the phone itself. It appears, however, that slimming all the components down to fit inside the attractive 7.9mm body had an effect on the device's performance across the board. Signal, voice, and data performance were all middle-of-the-road, but battery performance was a hair weak for this class of device. The performance of the user interface was quick, but crashy. The communications tools offered no surprises. The music and video-consumption powers are just fine, but the camera rates poorly. The dual-mode user interface is a neat idea, but I'm not sure how many people will bother with the stripped-down version of Ice Cream Sandwich. Too many of the best features are missing. Even for $50, it's hard to recommend the Pantech Flex. There are at least 10 devices in the $50 price range at AT&T that offer better performance than -- if not the svelte good looks of -- the Flex.

The Pantech Flex for AT&T is a tremendous value for the money, with features and performance comparable with much pricier smartphones.

Factoring all of its features, hardware, and price point, it’s very hard to not like the Pantech Flex. No doubt, it really flexes its muscles enough to make it a fine offering in many ways, and without question, this is the most soundly premium smartphone we’ve seen come out of Pantech. Indeed, it’s still missing the mark in a few key areas, like its camera performance and platform experience, but regardless of that, it offers a ton of value and features at $50 on-contract. Therefore, if you’re not looking to unload a whole lot of money on an Android smartphone, there’s plenty of good reason to check the Pantech Flex out.

For $50, Pantech has crammed a lot into its Flex for AT&T. LTE hands out fast data speeds, the design draws in your eye, and the camera and processor specs sound terrific. On top of that, Pantech's two modes give users choices for how they like to take their Ice Cream Sandwich. Unfortunately, Pantech's ambitions exceed its capability to execute. The camera is unreliable, sometimes taking blurry shots or focusing in the wrong place; the Flex's physical edges feel sharp in the hand; and the standard Ice Cream Sandwich experience feels overdesigned. Taken on the whole, $50 (with a new contract) is a great price for what you get just so long as you're not expecting a handset at the top of its class. Thanks to the easy mode, I would recommend the Flex as a good option for first-time smartphone users, especially those who are looking to save a few bucks.