Would you recommend the Discover?

[Lanky]

The Pantech Discover has been out for over a month now, and I am thinking of upgrading to this phone. I've looked at the specs, and was impressed at what you get for the price. I've seen some reviews on Youtube, but was wondering if anyone has anything that they can share here (basically if there are more cons than pros). To me, it looks like a pretty sweet phone. I currently own a Samsung Infuse 4G, and have been disappointed with its functionality (it has so much lag).

The Pantech Discover will have more than I need for a smartphone, as I do not care for all of the other bells & whistles of the high-end smartphones, not to mention their hefty price tag. I will be perfectly happy with a dual-core processor, as a quad-core seems a bit over-kill in my opinion. I know that it is currently on Ice Cream Sandwich out-of-the-box, but Pantech has informed us that an upgrade to Jellybean is in the works. I am still on Gingerbread on my Infuse, so this will be a HUGE improvement over my Infuse anyway.

 

[GregEdmundson]

I recently purchased one of these for my wife (my phone is a Galaxy s3, after HTC One X after Galaxy Nexus--long story ). My wife has dementia, so the 'easy mode' was attractive. It turned out to be less than helpful, as it is not very configurable.

On the other hand, the phone itself, as well as the custom overlay is unbelievably good. The default keyboard is SwiftKey, and the prediction is waaay better than SwiftKey I paid for on my gs3. No idea why.

I find that this phone is better for power-users than the gs3. This is primarily due to the on-screen buttons. They are pure ICS (back, home, recent) rather than the Samsung choice of menu, back and (physical) home. Multi-tasking is much faster with a dedicated (recent) button than with a long-press of home. For novices, however, that recent button is an opportunity for error.

I have been lurking here waiting for someone to post a decent review Once I figure out how to do proper screenshots, I may have to just do it myself. In the meantime, will be happy to answer any questions. This is definitely a great phone, and if you are considering it, you need to spend more than just a few minutes in a carrier store.

 

[IndyCar fan]

I was in the same boat as the OP: 18 months with my Samsung Infuse, and time to move up. I didn't want to wait for a Galaxy S4, so the choice was either S3 for $200, or Discover for $50 (with another 2-year AT&T commitment).

Looking at the specs, the Discover seems to have S3 specs, plus a 12.6Mp camera. The reviews, including pros and cons, were spot-on. What I've noticed the most:
- yeah, it's weird to have the power button on top, especially if you drop it into your pocket upside-down. You get used to the button location. And a case protects accidental turn-on.
- yeah, the screen colors fade when viewed off-angle.... say when you are balancing the phone on your knee! But this could be considered a privacy advantage on an airplane.
- You are not buying a top-seller, so support will likely be slower than with a mainstream device like the S3. (I think we already went through this as Infuse owners.) At pantechusa.com, the only download is the user manual; no PC Suite software yet. Still waiting for anybody to sell a replacement battery. You can find cases at ebay, though.
- the sound is great

Coming from the Infuse, I love the Discover's slightly larger screen and much higher resolution. The Infuse was getting poky with its slower single core processor. ICS is newer than GB, although I did load a GB keyboard.

I'm not holding my breath for the Jelly Bean upgrade.... no expectations. But it took Samsung forever to upgrade the Infuse to Gingerbread.

Bottom-line, you should already know whether you are a person who wants to support the current behemoth, or whether you are a person who wants to support an up-and-coming hungry competitor. I have already traded my Infuse back in to AT&T... no regrets. :beer:

 

[Lanky]

I paid a visit to an AT&T store today so that I could get a "hands-on" feel for the Discover. It far exceeded my expectations! Even though the S3 has Jellybean, this phone still seemed to impress me more. Besides, it would be nice to not to have a phone that every other Android user has anyway. I don't understand why the Discover isn't getting more attention. When I was tinkering with the phone, I was attempting to run multiple applications to see how much lag there is, and it withstood the test ... hardly any lag at all. I did the same with two other phones that had a quad-core, and I didn't notice much of any difference at all from that of the Discover. I also looked at the viewing angles, and in my opinion, they weren't that bad. So bottom line, I cannot wait to upgrade to the Discover from my cheesey Infuse (I can't upgrade until March 18th ).
The problem that I had with the Infuse was that I didn't do my homework before I upgraded to it. I played with it for a bit when I went to the store to upgrade and said to the salseperson "I'll take it." Now I have done my homework, and I'm sure that the Discover will be definately worth an 18 month investment. I realize that there will always be faster, more powereful smartphones always emerging, but I am not out to always have the best smartphone. I just want one that will accomade my everyday use, and at the same time, not have any lag. Besides, you can't beat the price! I am upgrading at Bestbuy, so I will be getting it for free when I do upgrade

 

[IndyCar fan]

One thing I do miss from the Infuse was the Samsung HDMI dongle, so that I could play video on my Samsung plasma directly from the Infuse.

Now I move the video file to a USB stick, which I then plug into the HDTV.

I have not tried a Wi-Fi connection between the Discover and the HDTV. :dontknow:

 

[tobyornottoby]

I would recommend it highly. It fits my needs and seems well built. Last phone was an HTC Inspire which had a great sup[port community online (not from HTC or ATT). Hoping the same happens with the Discover.

I wish it had Jelly Bean as I am used to Google Now on my Nexus 7. Hopefully they will release it soon. And the battery could last longer but I've only had it for 5 days and haven't yet set it up for better battery performance. I need to learn to put it in Airplane mode at home since I don't get cell service. And adjusting the display (using Display Brightness) should help a lot.

I went to the ATT store expecting to get another HTC but I really loved the feel of the Discover in my hands and got 2 for $20 each plus tax. Very happy with it.