Pantech Laser Review

Introduction:

If there happens to be one handset manufacturer that places a lot of emphasis on producing solid quick messaging devices for AT&T, it has to be none other than Pantech. It was only recently that we began to see them to craft touchscreen devices, with the Pantech Pursuit being their first, but now we might be witnessing the culmination of all their hard work leading up to their latest device – the Pantech Laser P9050. Although it might not resonate widely in the face of some endearing smartphones, the Laser is being dubbed as the thinnest handset in the world to pack a QWERTY keyboard – so it'll be interesting how it excels in the lucrative quick messaging category.

The package contains:

• Pantech Laser
• Travel charger
• Interactive Tutorial CD
• Quick Start Guide

Design:

Pantech has always been known to incorporate some interesting designs, much like the one evident with the Pantech Duo, but the Laser sets a new standard for all other devices coming out after it. From a quick glace, it's obvious that they took the design of the Pantech Pursuit and basically flattened it out – enabling it to be extremely streamlined (0.39” thick). The all plastic housing is customary out of the manufacturer, but it still manages to stay away from being cheap feeling, which at the same time, enables it to not feel heavy at all (4.06 oz). In all honesty, the most striking part of the handset is how it's able to be extremely thin while still packing a physical landscape style keyboard.



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

Although a lot of attention will be paid to its compact form, its 3.1” AMOLED touchscreen will surely open some eyes with its 400 x 800 pixels resolution and support for 262k colors. Naturally, its resolution provides for some stunning clarity and detail which makes even the tiniest of text look sharp. Furthermore, its AMOLED panel exudes some rich and brilliant looking colors that will attract your eyes to its aura. However, it relies on resistive technology which still requires a firm press to register. Nonetheless, it exhibits some good viewing angles, but of course, it'll still require you to cover it outdoors in direct sunlight.



Beneath the display of the Pantech Laser, you'll find the usual culprit of physical buttons – the send, end, and back/clear keys. Sufficient in size, they are more than easily pressed with their tactile feedback. To the left side, you've got a lock button, while on the right edge you'll only find the volume rocker – both of which have a subtle feel to them. Unfortunately, the handset lacks a 3.5mm headset jack – which means you'll have to rely on the microUSB port on the top edge for everything.



In the rear, you'll locate the 3-megapixel camera and speakerphone. Removing the flimsy rear cover will provide you access to the SIM card slot, battery, and microSD card slot – the latter of which can't be accessed unless the battery is taken off.



The opening and closing mechanism of the handset is fairly snappy and provides access to its 4 row QWERTY keyboard. Now in order to keep the handset as thin as possible, it was only fitting to find the buttons somewhat flush. However, they are ever so slightly raised to still provide some distinguishable features between them. We like that they are spaced enough from one another and average in size – which is further supplemented with their good tactile response. Ultimately, we enjoyed using the Pantech Laser's QWERTY as it didn't pose any problems while typing casually.

Interface and Functionality:

When so many AT&T feature phones rely on the same looking interfaces out there, it's so refreshing to see that Pantech decided to use something different with the Laser. Although there are similarities with the Pursuit, especially when it basically employs the same three panel homescreen layout, the 3D cube like effect when switching panels complements its overall uniqueness. Moreover, there is a good deal of personalization with its homescreen interface – like the fair amount of animated clock options available. When you get to the main menu, it of course resorts to the usual grid-like view, but it's enticing since scrolling between the three panels is so swiftly executed. Undeniably it is these kinds of small touches that make the Pantech Laser so impressive in its class.




With a maximum capacity of 1,000 contacts, it should prove to be more than adequate for most people. Moreover, there is a decent amount of information that can be associated with each contact – like phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays, and notes.



For those who just prefer to input text the customary way, you'll be happy to find the option of using the touch keypad to be fitting. In addition, you can use the hand writing recognition method if you're daring and have some patience. There is no landscape on-screen option, so that means you'll have to use the physical keyboard at that point – which undoubtedly provides the best experience. And just like other AT&T handsets, it comes included with AT&T's Mobile Email app that makes setting up generic email clients a breeze. As an alternative, it also provides access to some common instant messaging services – like AIM, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger.



If that's not enough for you, you've also got AT&T's Social Net app which will provide you a centralized area for all your social networking needs as it aggregates your accounts all into one app. It's worth noting that there are icons in the main menu for Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, but they simply launch the web browser and present you the mobile web versions of their respective sites.



In following closely to other AT&T handsets, you'll find specific apps like AT&T Music, AT&T Maps, AT&T FamilyMap, AT&T Navigator, and AT&T Radio. As for third party options, it'll naturally be accompanied with the usual suspects of apps – like Where, AllSport GPS, YPmobile, Mobile Banking, MobiTV, MobiVJ, My-Cast Weather, PicDial, and Star Tweets.

Finally, there are a decent amount of AT&T apps preloaded with the phone – such as AT&T Navigator, AT&T FamilyMap, AT&T Music, and AT&T Radio. In addition to them, you'll also find other third party apps like Where, AllSportGPS, Loopt, MusicID2, YPmobile, MobiTV, Mobile Banking, PicDial, and FunScreenz.

Multimedia:

For all that we've seen so far, it would've been nice to see its 3-megapixel camera excelling over its equal competitors. Instead, we're greeted to some average looking shots that have a tendency to look over-exposed which results in some fine details being lost. When taking images indoors where lighting is sparse, there is some noticeable noise that can be seen in them – which at the same time, produces some muddy looking shots. For some people, it might get the job done in capturing the moment, but it might not make it worthy enough for physical printouts.





Luckily, its better than average 640 x 480 video recording resolution should be appealing since it packs some good detail while chugging along at a frame rate of 15 frames per second. When compared to other feature phones, it's able to exhibit some better quality solely due to its better resolution. In the end, its quality should be more than forgiving for most people to tolerate.

Using the same music player featured in the Pantech Pursuit, it'll display the artist, track title, on-screen controls, and an animated rotating CD while playing a song. It's nothing really too exciting, but it's more than functional at its core. Unfortunately, its speaker doesn't seem like it's equipped in dealing with playing some tunes as it sounds rather weak in tone, but there is some sharpness to it that can make you cringe more than anything else.


You know that its AMOLED display has to be a selling point for those who are big on watching videos on their handsets. And with that in mind, the Pantech Laser doesn't stall one bit in playing back some high quality videos. We loaded a movie trailer encoded in MPEG4 800 x 480 resolution and it didn't post any problems during its entire playback. Not only was it smooth and fluid, but its AMOLED panel is rich in displaying vivid colors that will undoubtedly please your eyes.


Packing along 112MB of internal storage, it should be enough to satisfy the needs of people who don't necessarily take too many photos or videos. In the event that you do require additional storage, it'll happily accept microSD cards.

Internet and Connectivity:

World travelers can bring along the Pantech Laser abroad since it's a quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and dual-band UMTS (850/1900 MHz) device. Adding to its arsenal, it packs Bluetooth 2.0 to enable other wireless devices to connect with it and GPS for all your location needs.

When it comes down to web browsing, which is powered by Opera Mini, you'll only be able to do it in landscape mode. Even though it would've been nice to see support for portrait, the experience is more than satisfactory since it's able to load pages in a timely manner and offers some stunning details with its high-res AMOLED display. As for scrolling, it's somewhat of a tedious process since it doesn't offer kinetic scrolling – so expect a workout for your fingers. All in all, it doesn't take away the fact that it's more than usable, but it's so much more gratifying with its brilliant looking display.

Performance:

Placing all of its strength in the messaging department, the Laser fell flat on its back in the calling quality department. First and foremost, the earpiece doesn't provide for the most audible tones, but it is muddied with some static sound in the background. In addition, the voice of our callers did sound rather mute in tone – which made it even more difficult in comprehending words. Conversely, our callers said that our voice sounded hollow on their end. But when switching to the speakerphone, voices did sound muffled – making the entire experience unflattering to say the least.

No problems in retaining a good connection to the network as the handset displayed sufficient bars and didn't drop any calls during our testing.

Probably because of the AMOLED panel in use, we managed to get a decent amount of juice out of its battery. In fact, we were able to achieve just a little bit under 6 hours before it completely died. Although it's no record setting, it's considered to be average for its group. The manufacturer has it rated for 5 hours of talk and 336 hours of standby time.

Conclusion:

Yes, the Pantech Laser is undoubtedly at the upper end of the feature phone spectrum on AT&T's lineup. But when you factor in all of the goodies it's packing beneath its shell, you'll easily figure out that it soars above other similar handsets like the Samsung Impression and LG Vu Plus. At $99.99 on-contract, it's also one of the most expensive Pantech non-smartphone handsets we've seen to date, but it's accompanied with a level of intrigue thanks to its commanding figure of being the thinnest handset on the market to sport a landscape keyboard. Although it might not prove itself in all categories, it nonetheless manages to transcend in being a messaging phone – plus it makes you look good while doing it.

Software version of the reviewed unit: JJUS09132010

Pantech Laser Video Review: