1st Look: Pantech Duo

AT&T will be soon releasing the Pantech Duo (Slotted Oct. 9th apparently) but is yet to hit stores or online site. I got a chance to play with this revolutionary device (for AT&T at least) for a bit, and snagged some low quality cell phone pics.

I don't want to become a review site, there are much better ones out there, but I did want to cover this handset.

Pros:

• Small, Small is good, being a phone in the pocket sort of guy, this phone is much easier to carry than a blackjack or a 8800, much less a Tilt or a Treo.
• Dual Slide keyboard, You knew that already though.
• Windows Mobile 6, not a watered down version either, you will have ability to edit attachments from the device, and get push e-mail.
  

Cons:

• Pantech, Do I doubt Pantech's ability to build a quality handset? Yes. Hopefully the build quality shown in some of Helio's handsets are shown here.
• No Touch Screen, It's actually a big pain moving from a touch screen device, Windows Mobile 6 has a lot of quirks features that are a lot easier with a stylus (think pop up boxes)
• No GPS, has TeleNav, but no integrated GPS, c'mon Helio has it on the ocean.
  
• Keys are actually pretty awkward, You can see there is only 3 rows, unlike the traditional 4. The spacebar is smack in the middle of where you want to type. Softkey placement takes some serious getting used to.

Conclusion: AT&T would be dumb not to have a phone like this, and hopefully will market it so that it is a well known name, i.e. envy. It is powerful enough for business users, and is a form that will be appealing to the younger crowds (something AT&T is hurting for). It has some drawbacks, what handset doesn't, but integrated GPS would have been nice. It should be hitting stores any day now, at a ripe $250 after $50 MIR. More pics...