Pantech Discover Review

Introduction:

Quietly whittling away in the background, Korean based smartphone manufacturer Pantech has been making some strides in the high-end department of late. Not too long ago, we were rather impressed in the direction that they were steering in with the Pantech Flex HD over the holidays, but this time around, they’re taking the correct measures in moving towards even greater glory. Looking at the specs sheet of the Pantech Discover, it seems like Pantech has a formidable warrior that’s ready to compete against some of the titans in the industry, but even better, it has an enticing price point of only $49.99 on-contract.

The package contains:

• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• Quick Start Guide
• Product Safety and Warranty Guide

Design:

Well, another round of adulation is in store for Pantech, mainly because they’ve done a bang up job with the design of the Discover. Sporting one curvaceous body that’s sloping in, out, and all around in the rear, it really does wonders to enchant us over some of the expected industrial designs we’re constantly bombarded with from the top-tiered companies. Sure, it’s still an all-plastic body, but the textured rubbery back casing is appreciated in providing us a good grip in the hand – and a clean finish too! Meanwhile, its slim profile is still something worth mentioning as well, though, its size might still seem to be a bit unwieldy for those with smaller hands. Impressively, the Pantech Discover is one sharp looking dresser that’s ready to dance well into the night with its suave looks.



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

Yup, there are no separate capacitive Android buttons with this beauty, but rather, they’re integrated with the UI since it’s an Ice Cream Sandwich device. However, hanging above the display, we find its earpiece, light & proximity sensors, and 2-megapixel front-facing camera, which has a maximum video capture resolution of WVGA (800 x 480).

A bit offset from the middle, the Discover’s dedicated power button along the top edge feels a bit indistinct to the touch, but luckily it exhibits a decent response when pressed. Nearby, we also spot its 3.5mm headset jack – while on the right edge rests its volume control. Interestingly, this handset features two speakers that are positioned on the top left and right corners, which also gives it an intimidating look. Meanwhile, the standard mic and microUSB port for charging/data connectivity are all found on the bottom edge.

No doubt an odd count figure, the Pantech Discover is packing a higher-than-normal 12.6-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash, which has the ability to capture video in 1080p. With the aid of the notch along the top trim, we’re able to remove its rear plastic cover to gain access to its 2,100 mAh battery, nanoSIM slot, and microSD slot. With the latter, it’s just a bit of an inconvenience removing the battery first to access the microSD slot.


Display:

Carrying along one of the largest sized displays we’ve seen on a Pantech smartphone, the Discover really goes big with its 4.8” 720p (720 x 1280) LCD display, which results in an admirable pixel density of 306 ppi. Naturally, we’re pleasantly surprised by the crisp details it’s able to deliver, but despite that, its colors are a bit subdued, which doesn’t help either when its viewing angles and brightness output are weak. In translation, it doesn’t particularly handle well outdoors with the sun present – so don’t be too surprised with the occasional shielding. Still, it’s nice to see they’ve scaled up with this device.

Interface and Functionality:

On the surface, it might appear as though the Pantech Discover is running the same cartoony customized Android UI (on top of Android 4.0.4 ICS) we’ve seen on many recent devices from their stable, but there are some surprising additions. Specifically, they’ve upped the ante with the multi-tasking implementation, as there are “mini players” for the video and music players, which are overlaid on top of everything – so yeah, it’s neat feature to find. Additionally, it carries over the “easy experience” as well, which is a more unified and streamlined version of the UI that takes out some of the complexities of Android. And it wouldn’t be complete without its own personal digital assistant service with the “Smart Voice” app! All in all, it’s a valiant effort, but it doesn’t make any new strides.


Packing the usual assortment of organizer apps, the only thing that’s different from the usual bunch is the Notepad app, which also features a mini option for multi-tasking. Considering that the app has a mini option, it’s rather strange that Pantech doesn’t offer one to many of the other organizer apps – like the calculator, calendar, or contacts.


With its gargantuan display in tow, the on-screen keyboard is naturally spacious with its layout – and responsive too! Even with the ample layout, it would’ve been nice to see some numbers and punctuations being integrated into the main layout. Rummaging through the standard email and Gmail apps, there’s nothing out of the ordinary with them from other Android smartphones.



Processor and Memory:

Much like its contemporaries, the Pantech Discover is outfitted with a modern processor in the dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus processor – coupled with a strangely lower-than-expect 1GB of RAM. Now, we’ve seen this chipset running exceptionally well with other devices, but with this, it breaks down under the pressure with more processor intensive tasks. Using a graphically intensive live wallpaper, a ton of lag and choppy movements become prevalent – though, with basic tasks, it handles them in an efficient manner. Considering that its benchmark scores are pretty good, the sluggish performance is more than likely due to the custom UI than anything else.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	NenaMark 2
Pantech Discover	5163	9853	57,1
HTC One X+	7244	13439	56,7
LG Optimus G AT&T	7669	11245	60,1
Samsung Galaxy S III US	4520	6111	59,4

At such a low price point, it’s quite comforting to know that the Discover is packing a modest 12.24GB of free internal storage out of the box, which can obviously be supplemented by its microSD slot.

Internet and Connectivity:

Even though it might exhibit some sluggish tendencies when navigating around the home screen with a live wallpaper of some sort, it rarely rears its head in the web browser. Instead, the overall experience is undoubtedly a rich one thanks to its speedy page loads (faster with 4G LTE connectivity of course), instant page rendering on the fly, and smooth navigational controls. Also, it helps that the high resolution of the display is able to definitively draw out even the tiniest of details.


Being a GSM/UMTS device, it’s enabled for global usage, which means it’ll be compatible to work with the majority of networks around the world – albeit, LTE connectivity domestically is achieved through AT&T’s network. Along for the ride, it also features aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, 5GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, mobile hotspot, DLNA, and NFC.

Camera:

In yet another classic case of bigger isn’t necessarily better, the 12.6-megapixel snapper of the Discover doesn’t outperform the 8-megapixel cameras of some the top-tiered smartphones out there. Frankly speaking, it’s quite noticeably lacking in the details department, as its snapped images look more like art paintings than anything else. Beyond the muddiness and over-sharpening, it doesn’t handle dynamic range that well too, which results in heavy over-exposure with lighter sections in images. Oppositely, shots taken under low lighting conditions produce more subdued colors and softer details. Unfortunately too, its LED flash is only effective up to 5 feet away – anything more than that, it doesn’t cast enough potency.



Seeing no breaks whatsoever, the 1080p videos produced by the Pantech Discover don’t live up to camera’s monster sized capacity. Instead, details are drowned out and indistinct, which makes it appear as though it’s on the cartoony side. Adding more insult, there’s a heavy presence of artifacting when panning, which dulls its details even further. Despite that, we do like that it captures video smoothly at 30 frames per second, and that audio recording is clear.

Pantech Discover Sample Video



Multimedia:

Nothing too fancy looking with its music player, it’s worth mentioning that a mini player is also available, which is layered on top of everything else. One would imagine that 2 speakers would produce stunning audio quality, but to tell you the truth, it’s nothing more than average at best – with a little hint of strain at the loudest volume setting.


Without question, the large size of the display makes for an optimal video watching experience, but the washed out color tones of the LCD display doesn’t help in keeping our eyes glued onto it. Despite that, it’s able to effortlessly play a variety of video codecs with little issues. Still, we do appreciate the mini player option that’s available with it.

Call Quality:

Voices on both ends of the line are audible to comprehend, though, the only problem that we notice with call quality through the earpiece and speakerphone, is the crackling tones at the loudest volume setting. We have to say, the speakerphone volume is extraordinarily loud!

During our time using the smartphone, the Discover maintained a steady connection to the network in the greater Philadelphia region – with no issues with dropped calls. In fact, signal strength stayed at a consistent -89 dBm.

Battery:

Testing it with strictly HSPA+ connectivity, the 2,100 mAh battery of the Pantech Discover is able to get us by though a solid day of normal usage with a full charge, which is merely average in our books. However, you can expect the battery drain to be significantly more when it’s used under 4G LTE connectivity.

Conclusion:

Are you strapped for cash and still yearn for some kind of sweet smartphone, but don’t want to settle on a typical entry-level device? Well, you’re in luck because the Pantech Discover is going to be the right fit for you – albeit, it’s still without its own set of flaws. Overall, it doesn’t outperform the class leading contenders in the space, but rather, the Discover has that nice balance between price point and feature set. Not only does it sport one stylish design that’s surprising amongst other things, but at $50 on-contract, there’s plenty of value for the money you’re dishing out – like the software enhancements made with the experience and large high-resolution display. At no point is it going to magically triumph over things like the Samsung Galaxy S III or HTC One X+, but at least there’s hope for those on a tight budget.

Software version of the review unit:
Android Version: 4.0.4
Build Number: IMM76I
Kernel Version: 3.0.8

Pantech Discover Video Review: