What we liked: At $50 with a two-year service agreement, the Pantech Burst is a wonderful 4G LTE value. The screen is sharp and the internals are better than expected.
Room for Improvement: Battery life is average at best and the camera autofocus leaves much to be desired. Speakerphone is either tinny or slightly muffled depending on volume.
Review at a Glance: For the price, the Pantech Burst is easy to love. Considering the hardware, AT&T could easily have charged $50 more. Sharp color options and minor personalizations keep it from feeling generic.
First Blush
Specs include a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, a 5-megapixel camera, and 4G LTE. Powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the phone is available in Ruby Red with black accents. The form factor is unremarkable but the color and accents give it personality. It fits comfortably in hand and feels neither cheap nor heavy. The Super AMOLED display grabs attention immediately with contrast and clarity familiar from Samsung’s lineup.
User Experience
The lock screen uses a circular drag interface for six quick-launch icons including phone, email, and music. A camera shortcut would have been a better inclusion than some of the defaults. The notification shade includes quick toggles for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Preloaded apps include AT&T Navigator, Amazon Kindle, Qite Lite, an RSS reader, and Yellow Pages Mobile alongside the standard Google suite.
Camera
The 5-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front cameras perform adequately in good light with Instagram-style filter options. Indoors under fluorescent light is acceptable. The main weakness is autofocus lag after taking a shot, making it poor for action, animals, or fast-moving subjects. Video records at 720p rather than 1080p, which is reasonable given the price. Playback looks crisp on the 4-inch display and audio capture is solid.
Sound
Speakerphone is a clear weak point. High volumes are muffled and distorted; low volumes are hard to discern. Anyone who listens to podcasts or audiobooks on speakerphone should plan to use Bluetooth instead.
Battery and Network
The 1680mAh battery is rated at 4.5 hours talk and 10 days standby, but real-world results fell short of that. Battery life was not the worst encountered but was clearly a compromise. Competitors at the time were starting to ship with 2000mAh batteries, which makes this look worse in comparison. First-time Android buyers coming from feature phones should be prepared for the adjustment. LTE was not available for testing in the review area; the network was still rolling out to new markets at the time.
Wrap-Up
When you consider what you get for $50, the Pantech Burst is a genuine deal. It’s not a device you’d use to replace a current flagship, but it’s more than enough for a first Android or a budget upgrade. If Pantech can deliver this kind of hardware-to-price ratio consistently, they have a real shot at carving out space in an increasingly crowded market.
