Pantech Perception

“With its crisp display, above-average performance, excellent camera and fast speeds on Verizon's 4G LTE network, the $99 Pantech Perception has the makings of a great buy. We especially like the Starter mode for first-time smartphone owners. Unfortunately, our perception of the Perception is clouded by a battery that won't last you through the workday.”

“If we were back in January, the Pantech Perception would be a halfway decent mid-level smartphone for the price. But as we mentioned earlier, with higher end devices from last year being discounted down to under $100 on-contract, it is really a tough sell for the Perception. Even though we like its 4.8” 720p Super AMOLED display, overall styling, and ease of use, the poor camera quality and digital-sounding call quality is holding it back – not to mention it comes running Android Ice Cream Sandwich instead of Jelly Bean.”

“Pantech did an admirable job with the Perception. It has a simple but charming design and offers more customization options than most other devices. The Perception's screen is quite good, call quality is excellent, and battery life is stellar. Though I wish it had a more modern version of Android, the software tools added by Pantech give the Perception plenty to work with. The performance of the software was fine across the board. About the only thing that really bugged me was the weird focusing issue with the camera.”

“The Pantech Perception is a fine addition to Pantech’s archive of relatively unique devices, and makes one wish they’d continue to push forth in the USA for a more on-time release. This device could have been a really great addition to Verizon’s ranks if it’d been brought to the market right around a year ago. Unfortunately, since it’s being shown here in the Spring of 2013, this release falls flat in the face of its much more robust competitors.”