Today we have had the opportunity to review a very powerfull mobile with 4G technology, we are talking about the Pantech Vega R3. Thanks to Powerplanetonline to ship this phone for this review.
The Korean brand Pantech is not so popular as other Korean brands like LG and Samsung, outside their country, but, in the local market, Pantech is as competitive as the others and many people use their devices everyday. I have reviewed to show it and to compare with other models to run the benchmarks and show that is more powerfull than other mobiles more famous.
One of the highlights of the phone, as you can see in the photo is the 4G LTE support which is starting, at least in Spain and in other countries, so it’s a mobile ready for the future with this high speed connection. Lets see the complete specifications:
- Android v4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
- SIM: Single SIM Micro-SIM
- CPU: Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon S4 QuadCore 1.5GHz
- GPU: Adreno 320
- RAM: 2GB
- ROM: 16GB
- 2G: CDMA 800/1900 GSM 850/900/1800/1900
- 3G: HSDPA 2100 CDMA 2000
- 4G: LTE 800
- Screen: 5.3 inches IPS Pro
- Resolution: 1280 x 720
- Multitouch
- Audio jack 3.5mm
- Rear camera 13MP autofocus and flash LED
- Front camera 2MP
- Video 1080p@30fps
- GPRS
- EDGE
- HSDPA+
- LTE
- Wifi 802.11 a/b/g/n
- Bluetooth v4.0
- NFC
- microUSB v2.0
- Acelerometer
- GPS / A-GPS
- Batería de 2600mAh (x2)
- Dimensions: 144.7 x 74.3 x 10 mm
- Weight: 168.5g
As you can see a very complete phone and according to the package, I want to highlight that it includes 2 batteries and a external charger. Everything can be viewed in the unboxing video:
Specifications
Screen
Great 5 inches screen with a resolution 1280 x 720, realistic colours and a very good angle of view. The resolution is good for this screen size.
Camera
For the camera, I prefer to show 2 videos, recorded with the mobile instead of describe it:
1080p
720p
With 13 mega-pixel the camera is a good point also for this mobile.
CPU
I decided to compare its Snapdragon S4 Pro against my Galaxy S3 to show which is the difference between them, so I recorded 3 videos with 3 different benchmarks, 3D Mark, Antutu and Quadrant. The videos are recorded in Spanish and something similar to English, so, sorry for the English:
Antutu Benchmark
Quadrant Test
3D Mark
The videos show that the Vega R3 is faster than Galaxy S3 and smoother in 3D processing as the 3D Mark shows.
Software
The software it was the only problem as the mobile is only in English, Chinese and Korean, in this review, as is in English, this is not a problem, but for the Spanish market can be a problem. The UI is little bit different from the pure Android with a similar touch like HTC Sense, but with less changes.
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Aspect
For this, I prefer to publish the photos I took:
Conclusion
In general I liked the phone, it is a good and powerfull phone. I couldn’t test the 4G as my city hasn’t the 4G coverage yet (next year maybe) but should be a very high speed connetion (I prefer to have better 3G coverage than 4G, but this is a business and they need to sell more products).
I don’t like the dust protector for the audio jack, it is like a gem that you insert on it to avoid dust, fortunately, you can remove it.
The sound and vibration is strong and good quality. As 3D is very smooth you can play to new games without problems.
The second battery it is very usefull and also, if you have the external charger is much better. I carry always a second battery for my S3 but I don’t have an external charger, and after this mobile maybe I will buy one of them.
I want to thanks powerplanetonline.com to send the phone for the review and if you are interested in the phone, you can check the product page. If you have any I can try to help you.
[ Source vía Gizchina.es ]
So this is what a review should look like 🙂 Only you forgot to mention the SD slot.
And of course, the price.
Im still waiting on the bear basic if it will ever be sold hehe 😉 For now loving my Xperia SP!
I saw it on merimobiles for $419.99
They crippled the phone to 1 3G band(2100) and 1 4g band (800).
So it looks great but this limitation renders this phone to 2G in most of the world.
Exactly. That 4G is just a marketing trick so they can say “this phone has 4G” but in most countries you won’t be able to use it, including Spain so even if reviewer had 4G in his city, this phone would be useless.
Pantech products look nice and have good specifications. However, when you live outside Korea and there is a problem with the phone, how will you get the problem fixed and/or repaired?
Thats pretty much the same for almost every device talked about here. Once you buy you are pretty much at the mercy of the reseller/ grey importer who most of the time don’t care once they have shipped the item. Thus the perceived lower price.
Pantech are a really cool non mainstream Korean brand though, really decent devices I have seen them.
Doesn’t look like good value. Similar price and spec as LG Nexus 4 but you get old android and 4 G
Hey Eduardo do you know of a solution to mediatek phones zooming in and picture becoming dark as soon as we start recording video? Many of us would appreciate it as it’s very annoying while taking video indoors 🙁
Let’s get some facts straight
ALL phone for the korean local market came with 3 carrier model,
The model number ending with L/K/S for carrier LG U+, KT telecom, SKT telecom respectively
You may ask, what’s the difference?
Mainly is the 2g/3g/4g band support and the pre-loaded carrier apps.
The L model of the R3 support 2G GSM 900+1800, 3G WCDMA 2100, 4G LTE 800+2100
The S one with the same 2G+3G support, plus 4G LTE 850+1800
The K one with the same 2G+3G support, plus 4G LTE 1800
So, if you’re a north american/latin america reader planing on getting this phone?
The BAND support in your country may be VERY limited for you, with only 2G GSM support, it will drive you carzy!!!
AND korean phone from seller outside korea(mainly chinese) is very famous for refurbished second hand phone pretending to be brand new with the fake box, fake battery, fake everything except the phone it self.
P.S. Lot of vega R3 second hand only being sold for around 250 usd in Hong Kong/China famous selling site Taobao