Pantech Burst Review: Inexpensive but Powerful

Overview

Considering the fact that phones these days are getting bigger and bigger, to the point that they're almost competing with smaller tablets, the Burst is certainly refreshing. It's a "just right" sized model with a relatively large display that still easily fits in your hand and in your pocket.

Like most typical smartphones, when you look at the front of the Burst you'll see the large display and not much more. Turn it over and you'll see the silver Pantech name on the bottom of the back cover, which will be either Ruby Red or Titanium, depending on the color you choose. There's no real texture, but the edges are rounded and graduated in all the right spots so it feels good in the hand.

Construction is solid, with no obvious flaws or any strange flexing in the case of the device. The Burst weighs 4.32 ounces and I would describe it as medium weight -- not so light that you forget it's in your pocket, but not so heavy or thick that you feel weighted down either.

Display

The 4-inch Super AMOLED display is quite nice, and very bright. Since the emphasis here is on portability, I believe that the Burst has made a good compromise. The screen is large enough to be seen easily, without any squinting, but it does take a little getting used to since it is relatively tall and narrow.

Keyboard

You'll be using the virtual keyboard to enter your text on the touchscreen, since the Burst doesn't have a physical QWERTY keyboard. I didn't have any trouble at all with typing on the screen, though I was a bit slower than usual in portrait mode. That is somewhat to be expected, since the screen is a little narrower than I'm used to.

Other Buttons & Controls

The power button is on top of the device, and is almost flush-mounted so it's hard to find when you're blindly fumbling. The same is true of the volume buttons on the left side of the Burst as well (shown here). The charge/sync port is on the right side, and the headphone jack is on the top of the device, across from the power button.