Pantech C610

Overview

The C610 represents Pantech's entry into the high-end feature phone market.

Design

Slim flip phone with vibrant red hue and shiny chrome accents.

Features

Talk/Standby Time: Up to 180 min/ 10 days
Dimensions: 93 x 46 x 18 mm
Size: 92 g
Internal Display: 2" LCD, 262000 colors (TFT), 176 x 220 px
External Display: 65000 colors (STN) 96 x 96 px
Camera: 1.3 MP / 4X Zoom / Self-Timer / Video Recorder / Video Share
Audio: MP3, MIDI, iMelody, MMF, WAV, SMAF, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, AAC+V2
Messaging: SMS, MMS, EMS
Email: POP3 / IMAP4 / SMTP
Chat: AOL / Windows Live / Yahoo!
Memory: 44.0 MB, microSD slot
Battery: 950 mAh Li-ion
Connectivity: Bluetooth 1.2, WAP 2.0, AT&T Navigator for GPS, USB 2.0
Band/Modes: UMTS dual-Band / GSM quad-band

Overall

Pantech is usually associated to the lower end spectrum of phones, especially mobile phones. So the Pantech C610 came a bit as a surprise.

First of all, the design is good. A slim flip phone in a vibrant color, the C610 makes a striking statement from the first glance itself. With a rather blocky design and slightly rounded edges, the phone is easy to hold and fits into the palm nicely. At the same time, it is surprisingly light ذ the initial look tends to imply the phone would be heavier.

The C610 is a high-speed multimedia handset with HSDPA and GPS capabilities, and proves to be one of the most affordable 3G phones on the market. 3G allows it to download music and other customisation stuff like wallpapers without taking too long.

Display on the C610 is more than satisfactory. The inside 2 inch screen displays in clear and crisp detail, the colourful graphics and menu show very well. Pantech seems to have made extensive use of colourful menus in this one. It is refreshing and gives a feel-good factor. The external display has 65K colors and acts as a self-portrait viewfinder.

The camera shoots nice pictures. Video quality is ambivalent among users. The camera cannot be activated when the phone is flipped closed though, which detracts from its appeal.

Most issues creep up where the keypad is concerned. Extremely flat, the keypad is tricky to manipulate and does not provide a very good tactile experience. It is nearly impossible to click through tactile feel alone, so this is a deterrent for the C610.

The other beef with the phone pertains to sound quality. Sound is muffled and is unclear in some instances.

Pros

Useful features
Lightweight
Decent pictures

Cons

Extremely flat keyboard
Blocky design
Call quality not that good
Bad video quality

Special mention

3G phone, provides access to a wide array of services and features.

Conclusion

An overall good phone, especially for its price. Takes some getting used to, especially with the keypad. Camera is okay, picture quality satisfactory while video is not that good. Te Pantech C610 scores well except on sound quality, which can sound muffled.

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