Pantech Duo Cell Phone Review - Hardware
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Mark Brezinski Published on November 15, 2007 Comment on this |
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Keypad
Text Words Per Minute (9.69)
This score is based on how fast we can type using the phone's keypad or keyboard. We were able to muscle through our test paragraph in 19.81 seconds on the Duo using the QWERTY keyboard, which is about 48.43 words per minute. While fast, we did run into a couple of problems. The space bar being included in the bottom row of keys was one. If you're not used to this, it'll throw you off initially, as the keys no longer line up the way you think they do. Also, the keys themselves hardly have any tactile feedback. It is slightly harder to make a mistake than you'd think, simply because the keys don't protrude far and recess into wells, which basically makes it harder to hit two keys at once.
We also performed this test with the keypad, which received 38.8 words per minute. This is better than average for keypads. As we figure most people will type with the keyboard and it got a better score, we've chosen it as the Duo's representative in this category.
| Cell Phone | Words Per Minute | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 48.43 | 9.69 |
| Helio Ocean | 53 | 10.60 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 49.8 | 9.96 |
| Palm Centro | 39.4 | 7.88 |
| HTC Tilt | 49.95 | 9.99 |
| Nokia N95 | 29.28 | 5.86 |
T9 and Auto Complete (10.0)
The Duo has xt9. Basically xt9 is just an extreme version of normal T9, and it achieves this extremity by incorporating auto complete. This means it has T9, auto complete, and a raucous devil-may-care attitude, which receives ten points.
One Hand Usability (6.35)
For one handed typing, we literally only use one hand to both hold and type on the phone. This means phones with just a QWERTY will receive horrible scores, as it's hard to maintain a solid grip on the phone while typing. Of course, this exacerbates the situation as it's harder to type while the phone is wobbling around.
Thankfully for us, and you, the consumer, the Duo has a keypad. Though keypads don't offer the raw, two-handed speed of a QWERTY keyboard, they're small size means less movement, which translates into less pitch and yaw. Using the keypad, we were able to type out the sample paragraph in 30.21 seconds, which is 31.77 words per minute. This is a good score from a good keypad. We really liked the Duo's keypad, as the keys were small enough to mean thumb travel time wasn't an issue, but large enough to cut down on mistakes and still allow you to see where your thumb should head off to next.
Just for comparison's sake, it took us 41.83 seconds to type out the sample paragraph on the QWERTY, which is 22.95 words per minute.
| Cell Phone | Words Per Minute | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 31.77 | 6.35 |
| Helio Ocean | 28.3 | 5.66 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 26.5 | 5.30 |
| Palm Centro | 26.6 | 5.32 |
| HTC Tilt | 16.93 | 3.39 |
| Nokia N95 | 29.64 | 5.93 |
Keypad Backlighting (4.0)
The Duo has a well backlit keypad and keyboard. The lighting is very even, though not very bright, but we actually like this as some phones with very bright backlights hurt your eyes when trying to read the sybmols. Still, the keys are all legible. There are even some timing controls you can fiddle around with in the settings menu.
Controls
D-Pad/Joystick (4.0)
The Duo's d-pad is tiny. It's responsive, has good tactile feedback, and fairly well defined buttons, but its size will mean those with bigger fingers might have a problem with it. We can definitely see someone hitting surrounding buttons when they're hitting left or right. If your fingers are medium-sized or spindley, then you'll probably be all right with it.
Touch Screen (0.0)
Because it runs the Standard version of Windows Mobile the Duo does not have a touch screen, unlike Windows Mobile Professional devices like the HTC Touch.
Jog Dial (0.0)
The Duo doesn't have a jog dial, meaning scrolling through menus requires multiple taps on the d-pad.
Soft Buttons (4.0)
The Duo has two sets of soft buttons, and neither are very good. The external ones don't have much to help you find them by touch, although their placement in the corners help out in this regard, both because if you overshoot them you won't hit other buttons, and because the case around them has a texture. The internal ones are spaced really, really far away from each other, and since they're on the QWERTY, they aren't anywhere near the d-pad. This means they make navigation far more clumsy and awkward than it is normally. We wish we had the option of using the external soft keys when the QWERTY was pulled out, but alas, they did nothing. As there are two sets of keys, we scored them individually and averaged the scores. We do this rather than weighing one score over the other as users are likely to use both in some regard, but there's no way of determining each user's frequency of use. Just in case you want to weigh this score based on your own experience, we gave the external keys five points and the internal ones three.
Volume Control (3.0)
The volume keys on the Duo is located on its left side. It has a slight dip in the middle, and tiny hills on either side. While not more than a blip in the phone's topography, you'll notice when your finger passes over it. Still, we would've liked a bit more texture to the button. The button has some good snap to it as well, meaning you'll know when you've hit a button. Unfortunately, although the volume keys are linked in the middle, don't mistake them for a volume rocker; you can hit both keys at once.
Power and Standby (4.0)
Power is a secondary function of the end button. If you read our making/receiving calls section, then you already know that we believed them to be about the same as the soft keys, but without the benefit of the textured case around their long side; if you didn't read our making/receiving calls section, then you're skipping around, which we frown upon. Regardless, if you want to turn off the phone, a long press will do the trick. Turning it back on again just requires a click. Standby mode is turned on after a period of idle time. You can alter the length of time in the settings menu.
Other Buttons (5.0)
The Duo has a few other buttons not discussed above. The first three are d-pad additions. The home button and back button perform their eponymous duties well, and the back button will also delete entire fields of text as a secondary function. This is useful when opening up an address bar in the browser, since it pops up with a URL already in it. The third button that sits below the d-pad proper is a shortcut to the Quick List, which displays phone profiles and a few shortcuts.
The right side of the phone houses the voice recorder button and camera shortcut. These buttons will only open their namesake programs as a secondary function, however, which we found somewhat annoying. We definitely would've liked them to open with just a normal click.
Windows Mobile Professional phones will let you reassign virtually any key to any application that's currently installed. This is not the case with Standard, as the functionality has been deliberately crippled (same with the Office Mobile software). While we understand this creates device hierarchy, we don't condone the practice of purposefully crippling software or hardware as it's a cheap substitute for innovation.
Display
Primary Screen Gross Resolution (8.0)
The Duo has a QVGA display, which means 320 × 240 resolution. As you can see from the graph below, this is standard. Typically phones with uncommonly large screens will have higher resolution, like the Nokia E90 or iPhone, but standard screens will use this standard resolution.
| Cell Phone | Resolution | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 320 × 240 | 8.0 |
| Helio Ocean | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| Palm Centro | 320 x 320 | 8.5 |
| HTC Tilt | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| Nokia N95 | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
Primary Screen Pixels per Inch (9.09)
Pixels per inch (PPI) refers to how many pixels are compressed into every inch of the phone's display. The Duo's PPI is 181.82, which is above average. This is, of course, due to a standard resolution being squeezed into a substandard screen size. This means that, while images may be slightly smaller than on other phones, the images will look sharper.
| Cell Phone | Pixels Per Inch | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 181.82 | 9.09 |
| Helio Ocean | 168 | 8.40 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 164.6 | 8.23 |
| Palm Centro | 205.7 | 10.29 |
| HTC Tilt | 142.86 | 7.14 |
| Nokia N95 | 153.8 | 7.69 |
Screen Physical Size (5.5)
As you very well could have calculated from the above two sections, the Duo's screen is 2.2" across its diagonal. This used to be a standard size, but phones nowadays are moving closer to the 3" or larger mark. As it is though, the Duo's screen should appear to be an average size.
| Cell Phone | Size Diagonal (inches) | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 2.2 | 5.50 |
| Helio Ocean | 2.4 | 6.00 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 2.43 | 6.08 |
| Palm Centro | 2.2 | 5.50 |
| HTC Tilt | 2.8 | 7.00 |
| Nokia N95 | 2.6 | 6.50 |
Screen Brightness (4.7)
To test screen brightness, we first max out the appropriate settings (if they exist), then browse to a blank white web page, make it full screen, and hold the phone two inches away from a light meter.
The Duo measured 74 lux, which is about average. On the chart below are two phones that exceed 100 lux, but these are exceptional results. The Duo's screen should mean you'll have no problem reading the screen. You should even be able to use the Duo as a makeshift flashlight should the need arise.
| Cell Phone | Brightness (lux) | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 74 | 4.7 |
| Helio Ocean | 63 | 4.35 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 105 | 9.50 |
| Palm Centro | 54 | 6.90 |
| HTC Tilt | 153 | 10.06 |
| Nokia N95 | 72 | 4.85 |
Screen Bright Light Performance (4.0)
For this test we shine the lux equivalent of a sunny day on the phone and try to read it. Though there was considerable glare, we were able to navigate normally. The smaller text was very hard to read, however, so those with less than perfect vision might have some difficulty.
Color Depth (6.0)
The Duo can only display 65,000 colors, because this is the most Windows Mobile will allow. Though most users won't notice something like color depth, 65k simply isn't a lot these days. More and more higher-end phones are starting to have 16 million color displays.
| Cell Phone | Colors (thousands) | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 65 | 6.0 |
| Helio Ocean | 260 | 8.0 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 65 | 6.0 |
| Palm Centro | 65 | 6.0 |
| HTC Tilt | 65 | 6.0 |
| Nokia N95 | 16,000 | 10.0 |
Ports & Storage
Power & Data Ports (2.0)
The Duo uses a proprietary port for both power and data. You can also charge via a USB connection, which is a nice feature.
Headphone & Jack Compatibility (4.5)
The Duo uses a proprietary port for headphones. We don't award points for this. It does come with an adapter for a standard 3.5mm jack, however, which does merit a half point. It also supports A2DP for wireless stereo Bluetooth headphones however.
Internal Storage (2.0)
The Duo comes with 128 MB ROM, which should be enough for PIM information and a few pictures. If you plan on using it for expansive albums or music playback, a MicroSD card is a necessity.
Expansion Slot & Format (6.0)
The Duo allows up to 2GB via its MicroSD card slot. Again, if you're a big multimedia user, you'll want to pick one up.
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