Here comes Pantech Jest 2 from Verizon Wireless

Here comes Pantech Jest 2 from Verizon Wireless

Pantech Jest 2 followed the unique Pantech Jest (2 stars) wasn't all that funny, and sadly the brand new Jest 2 isn't a lot of an enchancment.  It swaps the primary version's fatally flawed touchpad for a correct five-way management pad, and it's now a real world cellphone as properly.  for those who need one thing small for voice calls and frequent texting, it's solely a decent, middling selection now.  apart from its odd shape, this mobile cellphone nonetheless doesn't stand out in any approach. Here's more about Pantech Jest 2.

Pantech Jest 2 Design, Controls, and Voice Quality

The Jest 2 seems so much just like the unique version, which isn't an awesome factor at all, however not less than it's snug to make use of.  It measures a squat three. 7 by 2. 6 by 0. 6 inches (HWD) and weighs four. 1 ounces.  The smooth, shiny plastic and rounded edges make it particularly straightforward to slide the Jest right into a pants pocket or purse, whereas the rubberized again panel provides consolation throughout lengthy cellphone calls.  the two. 4-inch, 320-by-240-pixel liquid crystal display appears to be like vibrant and colourful.

The managements are an enormous enchancment over the past model, with a daily five-way management pad entrance and heart and two  operate keys in lieu of finicky capacitive buttons.  Pantech additionally moved the 4 principal perform keys down a bit, and blended them right into a single button bar with a textured floor that's simple to make use of one-handed.  Pantech left the unique keyboard largely intact, though the brand new one has extra attractive, metallic pink accents and brighter backlighting, which seems sharp.

not like the primary model, the Pantech Jest 2 is an actual globetrotter, with dual-band 1xRTT (850/1900 MHz) and quad-band EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) assist for calls made abroad.  however regardless of the 3G/CDMA sticker on the side, the Jest 2 is squarely a 2G-only gadget.  There's no Wi-Fi either, however function telephones often don't have Wi-Fi.

Voice high quality was fairly poor, with a honking, midrangey sound within the earpiece that was uncomfortable to pay attention to.  Transmissions via the microphone sounded skinny and brittle, with lots of avenue noise filtering via.  Reception was common.  Calls sounded high quality by means of an Aliph Jawbone period Bluetooth headset ($129, four stars) and the Nuance-powered voice dialing labored properly over Bluetooth.  The speakerphone sounded a bit harsh however had respectable gain, if not fairly sufficient to be used open air.  in contrast with the primary version, battery life fell virtually an hour to five hours and fifty seven minutes of discuss time, however that remains to be fairly good. 

Pantech Jest 2 consumer Interface, Apps, and Multimedia

This is actually simply a voice name and texting phone, however we'll dive in and speak about its different options simply for completion's sake.  the house screen's animated wallpaper is cute.  the principle menu consists of 9 icons organized in a grid sample.  Verizon lastly dropped its ridiculous $5-per-month cost for e-mail, and now offers you free entry as half of the $10 knowledge plan (which additionally allows you to browse the Web).  One good bonus: You get Opera Mini because the default browser.  Opera's server facet compression helps with delivering internet pages extra quickly, although there's solely a lot you are able to do on 2G; keep on with WAP websites and it really works nicely sufficient.  you furthermore mght get voice-enabled, turn-by-turn GPS instructions with VZ Navigator for a further $10 per thirty days.

The Jest 2 nonetheless isn't a lot of a multimedia phone, although.  The non-standard 2. 5mm headphone jack makes discovering respectable sounding earbuds nearly unimaginable.  There's simply 44MB of free inside memory—bizarre, because the unique model had virtually a gigabyte free.  no less than the Jest 2 acknowledged all tracks on my 32GB SanDisk microSD card, not only those in a particular folder.  Music tracks sounded clear and brilliant by Plantronics BackBeat Go Bluetooth headphones ($79, four stars), and that i heard not one of the dropouts that plagued the primary Pantech Jest.  Standalone video playback is out, although.

Pantech Jest 2 digicam and Conclusions

The 2-megapixel digicam has no flash or auto-focus, and is, to place it bluntly, a complete catastrophe.  There's a few second of delay between if you hear the shutter sound and when the picture is definitely taken, which means you'll should sit completely nonetheless or threat blurring the end result.  Even after I did sit still, pictures had a lot of colour noise and have been by no means utterly sharp.  The video recorder can be fully useless, due to its most 176-by-144-pixel video size, which is barely bigger than the decision of an iPhone app icon.  There's no excuse for this on a telephone today, even a free one, particularly since loads of low-end units with 1. 3-megapixel cameras snap usable photographs.

function telephones are a tricky promote to start with these days, because of steadily dropping smartphone costs.  The Jest 2 acquits itself higher than the primary model, however simply barely.  It's an honest purchase in the event you wish a free cellphone for plenty of texting and voice calls, and also you have a separate point-and-shoot digital camera and iPod.  one other good texting different is the LG Cosmos 2 (Free, three stars), with its higher voice quality, extra conventional dimensions, roomier horizontal QWERTY keyboard, and second numeric keypad.  our favourite characteristic telephone on Verizon wi-fi stays the admittedly costly Casio G'zOne Ravine 2 ($199. 99, four stars), which gives stellar voice high quality and stands as much as loads of abuse, though it's not a texting telephone just like the Jest 2.

Benchmarks

Continuous speak time: 5 hours fifty seven minutes

Pantech Jest 2 is a small phone with a big feature.

Posted in: Verizon Wireless