Pantech C630 review – basic look, better features
Thumbs Up:
Lightweight handset with advanced highlights – multimedia features, GPS, and 3G support
Thumbs Down:
Dull design and lacks self-portrait viewfinder for camera
Inside the Trunk:
Technology: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
Band: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Phone Design: Candy Bar
Caller ID: Yes
Other Features: TTY Compatible, Bluetooth, 1.3-megapixel camera
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
The Pantech C630 has 64MB internal memory and micro-SD card slot for external storage. The additional features are A-GPS, stereo Bluetooth, GPRS EDGE, and Web browser.
1.76 inches LCD display has 176×220 pixels resolution that supports 262,000 colors. The 1.3-megapixel camera features 4x digital zoom, self-timer and video recording. It can take still pictures in four resolutions: 320×240, 640×480, 1024×768, and 1280×960. The video recording resolutions are 176×144 and 128×96.
The 930mAH lithium ion battery has a life of 300 minutes talk time and 384 hours of idle standby time. Accessories supplied inside the box are AT&T navigator insert, desktop charger, battery, user manual, and wired headset.
Razzle Dazzle:
The Pantech C630 is 4.1 inches long, 1.7 inches wide and 0.46 inch deep and weighs 2.8 ounces. It has dull look with rounded corners. The soft-touch back cover provides comfortable feeling while holding in the hands.
Inside Dope:
The Pantech has built the high-end cell phones like the Pantech Duo and the Matrix as well as simple handsets like the Breeze and the C150. On the other hand, the Pantech C630 looks basic from its look but has advanced highlights like some multimedia features, GPS, and 3G support. It costs $39 with two-year AT&T contract. You will find the charger jack and the volume rocker on the left spine, whereas the camera lens is on the back. The camera key and the micro-SD card slot sits on the right spine. The C630 overall has a dull design and lacks self-portrait mirror for camera. The call quality was average while testing, but suffered with a bit echo even on normal calls. If you need a basic phone with 3G support for AT&T, then the C630 remains an inexpensive option.
The 1.76 inches LCD display has 176×220 pixels resolution that supports 262,000 colors. It exhibits vibrant images with vivid color despite of its small size. You can change the backlight time, the brightness, the color theme, the font style, and the menu type. Its menu interface is quite similar to that of other AT&T phones.
The navigation array is underneath the display and includes two soft keys, Talk key, four-way joystick with middle confirmation key, Clear key, and the Power/End key. The north, south, east and west directions of the joystick works as shortcuts for new text message, the contacts list, the instant messenger, and My Stuff menu respectively in the standby mode. In standby mode, you can press down the joystick to open the Web browser and use the Clear key as shortcut for calendar app. The alphanumeric keypad is flat and looks gridlike. The keys are spacious and separated with a bit groove between them.
The Pantech C630 can store 1000 contacts in its phonebook. Each entry can save five phone numbers, a memo, two email addresses, a mailing address, and a URL. These contacts can be categorized into caller groups. You can also pair them with one alert tone, a ring-tone and a photo for caller ID.
The basic feature set includes 16 ring-tones, a stopwatch, a unit converter, a calculator, a world clock, a voice memo recorder, a notepad, a calendar, text and multimedia messages, an alarm clock, a speakerphone, and a vibrate mode. The advanced highlights are Web browser, A-GPS with AT&T Navigator for voice guided turn-by-turn directions, 3G support, stereo Bluetooth, mobile web email and instant messengers.
The mobile Web email supports NetZero, MindSpring, Juno, Earthlink, Comcast, BellSouth, AT&T Yahoo, Windows Live Hotmail, AIM, AOL, and Yahoo! Mail. We like that the Pantech C630 comes with preinstalled Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, and AIM.
AT&T has also included its services in the Pantech C630 being a 3G phone. It includes AT&T Cellular Video for streaming video content via partners such as NBC and ESPN, and AT&T Mobile Music for streaming audio and downloading music through eMusic and Napster. The other included music services are streaming music video, XM Radio, song ID service, and MusicID. kYouw ill also get AT&T Video Share – video calling service that allows streaming one-way live video to another compatible cell phone.
The inbuilt music player supports AAC+, SMAF, WAV, MMF, iMelody, MIDI, and MP3 audio formats. It features play-lists, equalizer with six presets, playback controls, shuffle and repeat modes.
The 1.3-megapixel camera features self-timer, and video recording. The still capture options are a timer sound toggle, shutter sound toggle, brightness, three quality settings, four color effects, four white balance settings, and four resolutions. You can record the short video clips for MMS and longer for storing on memory card. The overall picture quality was average with overcast colors and some blur. The recorded video clips looked jerky and pixelated.
The Pantech C630 comes with three games: Diner Dash 2, Bubble Bash, and Tetris. It also comes with some applications: Mobile Banking, WikiMobile, The Weather Channel, and MobiTV. You can personalize the C630 with available tones and graphics. More options, applications and games can be downloaded via AT&T Media Mall.
We made few calls through quad-band based the Pantech C630 via AT&T service for testing. The overall call quality was average. We received muddled sound at our end with some echo occasionally. The callers received clear and loud sound at their end, but they could tell we were calling via a cell phone. The speakerphone calls were of average quality with a bit hollow volume.
The audio quality was also suffered with hollow and tiny volume at speakers. We received better listening experience through the stereo headsets.
The Pantech C630 has battery life of 5 hours of talk time and 16 days of idle standby time. Its digital SAR rating is 1.36watt per kilogram in accordance with the FCC radiation tests.
Nitty Gritty:
If you need an affordable and entry-level 3G handset, then the Pantech C630 remains a good choice to buy.
