Pantech Matrix Pro – missing flash, Wi-Fi, and touch-screen
Thumbs Up:
QWERTY keyboard, alphanumeric keypad, 3G support, threaded text messages, 2-megapixel camera
Thumbs Down:
Lacks Wi-Fi, sluggish performance, flat numeric keypad, bulky design
Inside the Trunk:
Technology: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
Band: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Phone Design: Dual Slider
Caller ID: Yes
Other Features: GPS/A-GPS, Instant Messengers, threaded text messages, full Microsoft Office Mobile Suite
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
The Pantech Matrix Pro runs on the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system. Its micro-SD expansion slot accepts up to 32GB.
2.4 inches LCD display has 240×320 pixels resolution. The 2-megapixel camera features CMOS optical sensor, 4x digital zoom, self-timer, multi-shot mode, and video recording. It captures still photographs in six resolutions: 176×144, 320×240, 640×480, 800×600, 1280×1024, and 1600×1200. The video recording resolution is 176×144.
The supported audio formats are Real Audio, AAC+, SMAF, MIDI, WMA, WAV, MP3, and AAC. The 1320mAH lithium ion battery has a life of 180 minutes talk time and 250 hours of idle standby time.
The Pantech Matrix Pro ships with USB cable, charger cable, a case, and one Getting Started CD of Microsoft ActiveSync and trial Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.
Razzle Dazzle:
The Pantech Matrix Pro The Pro is 4.2 inches tall, 2 inches wide, and 0.9 inch deep; and weighs 5.34 ounces. The dual-slider design makes the Pro bulkier; still lighter than the Helio Ocean 2. The phone opens and closes with snap due to sturdy sliding mechanism. The gray-blue color scheme provides a professional look.
Inside Dope:
The Pantech Duo was first Windows Mobile smartphone for AT&T. It was named “Duo” due to its dual-slider design. However, the Duo had cheap plastic housing and flimsy sliding mechanism. It could not be a success like its predecessor Helio Ocean. Now, the company is back with another Windows Mobile smartphone – Pantech Matrix Pro. It continues to have dual-slider design like its predecessor – the Duo and the Matrix. The Pro costs $180 with two-year contract after mail-in-rebate of $50. It features better call quality, and 2-megapixel camera; but lacks Wi-Fi.
2.4-inch LCD display of the Pantech Matrix Pro has 240×320 pixels resolution that supports 260,000 colors. It exhibits colorful images and sharp text. On opening the keyboard, the display rotates automatically to the landscape mode. The Windows Mobile 6.1 has provided similar menu interface like HTC TouchFlo 3D. The home screen displays call and appointment history and provides instant access to applications and information. You can customize the home screen with background images and different themes. We are disappointed that the display is not a touch-screen.
The navigation array sits underneath the display and includes two soft keys, round toggle with center confirmation button, Home button, Talk key, Back button, and the Power/End key. The array has small keys except the circular toggle. The Back and Home buttons are raised; while others are flush inside the surface. You can slide down the phone vertically to access the alphanumeric keypad. It has flat and slippery keys that are separated with delineations. The bottom row consisting of asterisk, zero and pound is narrower than top three rows.
Now, turn the Pantech Matrix Pro to 90 degree clockwise and slide it up to reveal full QWERTY keyboard. It has bigger and more spacious keys than the Duo’s keyboard. All the keys are raised above the surface to provide better typing experience. As already mentioned, the display will rotate into landscape mode on revealing the QWERTY keyboard. We typed the emails and messages on this keyboard without any problem.
The Record key and the volume rocker are located on the left side of the Pantech Matrix Pro. On pressing the Record key will work as Quick List key to show menu of sound profiles, power and task manager; while you can hold it for voice command menu/voice recorder. You will find the charger jack and camera button on the right side. The micro-SD slot is located on the bottom, while camera lens sits on the back.
The Pantech Matrix Pro can store contacts limited to available memory and SIM card can hold additional 250 contacts. Each entry can save 12 phone number, instant messaging handle, home address, and email address. You can organize the contacts into caller groups and pair them on polyphonic ring-tones, and a photo for caller ID. The basic feature set includes a vibrate mode, voice commands, voice dialing, a speakerphone, world time clock, a voice recorder, task list, a notepad, a calculator, an alarm clock, and quad-band GSM with world roaming.
The smartphone comes with Internet Explorer 6 Mobile with Flash Lite, HSDPA/3G support, full Microsoft Office Mobile Suite (for Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Microsoft OneNote, and Jetcet PDF reader. The messaging features include text and multimedia messages, instant messengers (Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and AIM), Xpress Mal for POP3/IMAP4/SMTP accounts, and Microsoft Direct Push Technology to sync Outlook tasks, calendar, contacts, and emails.
In addition, the Windows Mobile 6.1 OS also provides the threaded text messages. The onboard Bluetooth supports profile of file transfer, stereo audio streaming, and modem. What’s more – the Matrix Pro has GPS support with AT&T Navigator app for turn-by-turn directions.
AT&T has also included its broadband services including AT&T Cellular Video for streaming video content via partners like CNN and ESPN, and AT&T Mobile Music to buy and download on-the-air music via eMusic and Napster. Moreover, there is MobiTV for watching live TV, and AT&T Video Share for streaming one-way video call with compatible phone.
The Mobile Music contains Windows Media Player Mobile; Pandora for personalizing Internet radio stream; MobiVJ for streaming video music; Music ID; and XM subscribe. The Windows Media Players supported AAC, WMA, and MP3 audio formats.
The 2-megapixel camera of the Pantech Matrix Pro features 4x digital zoom, multi-shot mode, and video recording. However, there are no self portrait mirror and flash to improve picture quality. The still capture options are brightness, self-timer, three quality settings, five white balance options, four color effects, and six resolutions. You can record small videos for MMS and longer in standard mode.
We made few calls through quad-band based the Pantech Matrix Pro via AT&T service for testing. The overall call quality was good and impressive. We received clear and loud sound at our end without any static. The callers received natural sound at their end. The speakerphone call quality was average. Both of us received echo sound in background with hollow and tiny volume. The music playback on the speakers also provided low volume. We will recommend you to use headsets for listening music and hands-free calling.
The Pantech Matrix Pro performed slowly and sluggish while testing. It took few seconds to launch the applications including Windows Media Player and rotating display. On the bright side, the smartphone provided good 3G speeds. The video clips buffered instantly and played back fine without any further loading.
The battery life of the Pantech Matrix Pro is 6 hours of talk time and 12 days of idle standby time. Its digital SAR is 1.07 watts per kg in accordance with the FCC radiation tests.
Nitty Gritty:
The Pantech Matrix Pro provides both QWERTY keyboard and alphanumeric keypad. It lacks Wi-Fi, flash, self-portrait mirror, and touch-screen.
If you need two keyboards at your smartphone and can work with above drawbacks, then buy – the Pantech Matrix Pro.
