Pantech G500

Pantech, the third-largest phone manufacturer in Korea, is making its foray in the already crowded mobile market of Singapore. Distributed by Generation Mobile here, the handsets aren't available from the three major operators in town. Strangely, this is the strategy the company employs so as to better manage the prices of its phones. Unfortunately, this results in costlier handsets as consumers don't get to enjoy subsidies from the operators.

Design
Unpacking the silver-colored G500 from the box, you can't help but notice the large 128 x 128-pixel display on its exterior. It's ironical that Pantech has managed to squeeze in an external screen that rivals the main display of current Nokia phones such as the 6230. Flipping open the mobile reveals a generous 128 x 160-pixel TFT. Both screens are capable of vivid 262k colors with contrast and backlight tweaks.

Measuring 85 x 41 x 22mm and tipping the scale at just 90g, this Pantech is one of the smaller clamshells in the market currently. Despite its diminutive dimensions, it offers a reasonably tactile keypad to use. On the other hand, the four-way navigation keys are positioned too close to the other menu selection buttons resulting in a rather uncomfortable operation.

The camera lens along with the flash light are located near the top of the flip. An irksome 2cm antenna protruding out of the top right tarnishes the design of the handset. While the overall finish is good, the build quality needs improvement. The battery doesn't snap on tightly enough to the back of the unit and squeaks when you're messaging.

Features
The unfamiliar menu system of this Pantech may take a bit of getting used to and the transition clips when scrolling through the menu selection can be annoying. Fortunately, the sound can be muted and the phone offers a quicker method by hitting the menu key followed by the corresponding digit.

On the messaging front, the G500 undoubtedly needs improvement. As the phone doesn't offer storage for SMS, incoming messages have to be parked on the SIM card. Frequent texters will be annoyed with the shoddy T9 implementation. Automatic capitalization is unavailable, slowing down messaging when toggling between upper and lower cases. An SMS delivery report feature is missing as well. For MMS, the size limit is 30KB, a far cry from other handsets that average 80KB.

The external screen is put to excellent use by Pantech. Besides doubling as a viewfinder when taking self-portraits, you can access and read your received SMS messages or look up the call history without flipping open your phone.

WAP connectivity is courtesy of the WAP 1.2.1 browser via Class 10 GPRS or CSD. Considering other handsets are offering the newer 2.0 browser, this is a little dated. Road warriors can choose to use the G500 as a modem for Internet surfing on a laptop. However, the lack of an infrared port forces you to do so using the supplied serial data cable.

The 30-second voice recorder is handy for recording short voice annotations or reminders. Other PIM functions include an alarm clock, a calculator, a converter and a stopwatch assist in your daily routines.

If you're an avid mobile gamer, you'll want to think twice before getting the G500. The phone comes with only one game, Smokey, to keep you entertained. Also, you can't download additional games due to a lack of Java support.

Multimedia
The 64-chord polyphonic ringer, powered by the Yamaha chipset, produces a broad range of ringtones to suit your discerning taste. The deafening audio is further supplemented by the vibrating mode to grab your attention even in a busy shopping mall.

You can activate the camera function by the dedicated button on the left of the unit. The integrated camera outputs images up to 640 x 480 pixels and is complemented by the contrast adjustments and a night mode for low-light situations. You can jazz up your pictures with the 10 decorative frames in sticker shot mode, too. The 4x digital zoom available merely stretches pictures at the expense of quality. We find the flash good enough only for taking closeups and portraits. The G500 provides a stingy 2MB of memory for storage.

Pantech has thoughtfully included a host of additional ringtones and images on a CD-ROM so that you can customize your handset via the supplied serial cable.

Battery Life And Reception
This model when tested for compliance had a SAR level of up to 0.793W/kg, well within the 2.0W/kg limit imposed by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

During the review period, we did not encounter any issues with call quality or reception. Although the manufacturer quoted a talktime of up to 3.5 hours and standby time of eight days with the supplied 780mAh Lithium-ion battery, it lasted about two days on average. Fortunately, the additional 1000mAh cell provided should provide enough power for three days of moderate use.

Conclusion
Retailing at S$698 (US$504.04) without line, we feel the G500 is reasonably priced, especially with the additional extended battery, handsfree, CD-ROM and data cable that are bundled in the package. The vivid displays, excellent acoustics and size will appeal to users who fancy pocket-sized phones. Just bear in mind the poor messaging system and lack of Java support.

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