Good basic phone November 8, 2011

Reviewer:  sheldan 

I love this phone. I replaced my broken chocolate touch with this phone. For someone who doesn't want to spend the money on a data plan, this phone is a perfect fit. This isn't a smart phone, but it is great for someone who wants a touch phone. Good reception, easy to use and very thin and light. It does take a little getting used to if you have never used a touch screen. I wouldn't recommend it for heavy texters. I love that I can use the internet and chck my email with ease. All in all I am very pleased.

So far, I'm not overly impressed by this phone. Junk. November 9, 2011

Reviewer:  J. Caffarella  (Littleton, MA) -

Please read my 7/9/12 update.

My fiance and I both have LG Chocolate Touch phones. After nearly 2 years of use, my phone works perfectly, but her internal speaker started to fail, probably the result of too many drops in the driveway, so I replaced her Chocolate with a Pantech Hotshot, primarily due to the lack of basic phone choices (those that don't require a data plan). Out of the box, my first impression was that the candy apple red color looks nice. The touch screen on the Hotshot is the same size as the Chocolate (3.2 inches), but the Hotshot is a bit longer (by about 1/2 inch) and 1/2 the thickness of the Chocolate. It's so thin, in fact, that it's somewhat difficult to hold flat in your hand. I'm hoping a silicon case will add some thickness and make the phone easier to hold. The touch menu of the Hotshot is similar to the Chocolate, but I find myself continually pressing the camera button on front to activate the phone, which it doesn't do. The On/Off button is oddly situated on top of the phone. On receipt, I fully charged the Hotshot and the next day my fiance and I took it into a Verizon store to transfer contact data from the Chocolate to the Hotshot, and for activation. The Hotshot died 1/2 way through the transfer process. Verizon gave it enough of a charge in-store to complete the transfer and activate. We got the phone home and left it on the wall charger overnight. By the next evening, and without any use whatsoever, the phone was showing no bars on the battery indicator. Assuming a defective battery, I contacted Pantech and Amazon for a replacement. Pantech requires return of the old battery before they'll issue a replacement, which is fine if you don't mind being without a phone for 3 weeks. Amazon, a company with the best returns policy of any e-tailer I've dealt with, sells the phone only and doesn't have a surplus of batteries and spare parts to give, so they arranged for a replacement phone to be shipped to me, along with a return label for the defective phone. At the time I purchased the Hotshot it was newly released and so there weren't many reviews. In hind sight, I wish there'd been more reviews or that I'd done more research on Pantech products prior to purchasing the Hotshot because a common complaint among owners of this brand of cell phone is that they suffer from shorter than average battery life. According to the specs, a full battery charge is supposed to provide 5 hours of talk time and 14 days standby, but based on other reviews I read and my own experience with this phone, those claims are grossly overstated. The replacement phone is scheduled for delivery tomorrow. I'll post a follow-up to this review to report the length of battery life I'm experiencing with the replacement phone.

UPDATE 2/6/12: The replacement phone is working well and doesn't suffer from the same short battery life as the first phone. My fiance (there's a ring but no date) reports that after some period of prolonged use, she really likes the phone and says the speaker quality is better than the LG Chocolate it replaced. Also, after I wrote my original review, I purchased an inexpensive silicon case, which adds the bit of thickness this phone needed to make it easier to hold and use. I, on the other hand, am not entirely sold on this phone (especially its length, which is longer than the LG Chocolate) so I'm holding out replacing my LG Chocolate until, in my opinion, a suitable (basic phone not requiring a data plan) replacement comes along.

UPDATE: 7/9/12: For the past few months, the phone has been acting up with the touch screen failing to respond. Generally removing the battery and replacing it will correct the problem, so I replaced the battery thinking it was at issue, given the problem I had with the original battery, but the touch screen problem persists. I never experienced these sort of problems any of the LG or Motorola phones I've owned, not even after 2 years of ownership. Based on my experience with this phone, I'll never buy another Pantech product or recommend Pantech to anyone. FYI, my 3 year old LG Chocolate Touch continues to work flawlessly.

Better Than I Expected! January 17, 2012

Reviewer:  Steve-SRP  (Twin Cities) -

I'd love to have an iPhone, but refuse to pay for a data plan. I've had the Pantech Hotshot for a couple of months and have been satisfied with it in most respects.

Things I like:
- It's thin but solid construction
- The touch screen is reasonably good (don't expect iPhone performance it's more like your car's GPS touch sensitivity)
- Decent reception and battery life. I live in a town of 50,000 that has good tower coverage.
- Durable - I put mine through the washing machine and after a day in front of a fan, it came back like new.

Things that annoy:
- The display turns off when the phone is held vertically (how you typically hold it when you're talking on it). Sometimes this happens when I'm texting though. It requires a couple button pushes to bring it back.
- It takes about 30 seconds for the phone to go to sleep and I haven't found the short cut to disengage the touch screen. As a result, sometimes when I drop it in my pocket, i can hear it beeping and have to pull it out to make sure it's not calling someone.
- Battery life is okay, not great.

Very happy! December 22, 2011

Reviewer:  B. Whitney  (Brea, CA) -

I wanted a touch screen phone without a data plan and this is the only one that Verizon offers. I've had it about a month now and am VERY happy with it so far. It is one of the lightest and thinnest phones I've seen. People with Iphones are jealous of it in fact. I've had no issues whatsoever and love the touch for texting, although I have to use a stylus because my fingernails seem to get in the way but that's okay. Still easy to text. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that doesn't want a data plan.

Hold Off November 7, 2011

Reviewer:  BradTheDad 

Just a word of warning. The Mobile Email does not work on this phone. Apparently they were only installed with a trial version and cannot be updated to the full version. You will be able to use email until the trial is over, then it will be locked. Hope a fix comes out soon or I may have to warranty the phone.

First Impressions November 2, 2011

Reviewer:  Steve "RvTime"  (Where we Park It!) -

My wife wanted a touch screen phone and this seemed to fit that requirement. Sound is good. Reception is fine. No dropped calls yet. She does not really text that much. Apps are few for this phone and they are too expensive. (Who pays $1.99 a month for solitaire? I wish there was a android phone with wi-fi and no data plan that did not cost an arm and a leg. Price was great here on AmazonWireless. If you really read the specs for this phone and know what you are getting I think you should enjoy this handset. I'll try to update in a month or two.

GREAT PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! February 11, 2012

Reviewer:  Shawn Deal "shawn5090"  (iowa) -

No, I am not a spokesman for Pantech....lol. This phone is really a great device. If you are looking for a phone that is touch screen and thin and doesn't need a data plan than look no further. I own an ITouch and a Creative Labs 10" tablet. I like both of them very much. The touch screen quality on this phone is somewhere between the Itouch and the tablet. It does stick on occasion but just be patient and it will come. You can get alot of features that are almost as good as a smart phone but at half the price. It was between the new IPhone and the pantech. I chose the pantech because I dont need data. Its not an IPhone but it come very close.

Pros:
- Touch screen is good
- no data plan
- very thin
- good features
- camera is nice too.

Cons:
- Can't update firmware
- Touch screen can freeze once in a while but not for more than about 10 seconds
- still need to use data to get some cool features

Decent non-smart phone, very thin. May 3, 2012

Reviewer:  speaketh 

My Samsung Sway was dying after many years of abuse, and my ideal replacement phone was as thin as the sway, not a smart phone, and on Verizon's network. The hotshot was the only phone meeting these criteria offered at the time of purchase (early 2012), so I reluctantly ordered one despite fairly poor reviews. My phone works much better than reviews led me to expect, and I am satisfied.

Positives:
+ Amazing battery life, even for a non-smart phone. 4-5 days easily.
+ Good call quality
+ Decent camera
+ Loud and clear speaker -- you can even listen to music from the phone's speaker in the car driving at highway speeds.
Real 3.5 mm headphones port makes it easy to use the phone to listen to music.
+ Easy to interface with computer. The mini SD card is buried under the battery, but you can transfer to/from it by connecting the computer and phone via USB cable.
+ Of course, it is super thin!

Negatives
- Sluggish UI. The phone is a little slow to react sometimes, and can skip when playing music.
- Slightly creaky case. Since there are no moving parts other than the buttons, I still expect the phone will physically outlast all the flip/slide style phones.
- Minor UI design issues. Most screens allow vertical or horizontal viewing, and rotate to adapt. They forgot this feature on a few screens, and hitting a vertical screen when you have been doing things horizontally is a little annoying.
- The touch screen keyboard is slightly smaller and more challenging to text with than the iphone.

I don't use data, so I can't comment on those features.

All in all, I am happy with my purchase. Don't expect an iphone, and you wont be disappointed either.

This phone sux! April 10, 2012

Reviewer:   

I've had this phone for 2 months. I cannot believe the problems I've had.
1. I've had calls go to voicemail because I cannot get the phone to unlock.
2. Touchscreen is horrible, either does not recognize or says something different than entered.
3. Incoming and outgoing calls are lost due to NO sound at earpiece.
4. Makes calls on it's own without ANY input from you. Yes, you read that right, makes calls by itself!
5. Cycles on and off by itself. (concerned about battery life?) It does this over and over and over.
6. Says that call is working, (timer is working) but cuts off both ends of call.
7. Constant popup apps that it wants you to buy or use. Navigator, voice recognition and others.
8. I ended a call and when I hit "end call" it popped up a map of the middle east. Are you kidding?
9. In the middle of a call I was going to hit end call and somehow was leaving a memo on the phone?
10. Does not play nice with bluetooth earpiece. Tells earpiece "battery low" even when fully charged.
11. I spent an hour in V having the person doing a complete restore to the phone, it did nothing.
12. I've made numerous calls and had the timer showing over 1:00 and not connecting. That's good for minutes used.

How does a phone with so MANY flaws make it into production? I have a new phone in transit (same one because V will not let me change it and I'm locked into a 2 yr contract with this freaking phone). As I am writing this, this phone is sitting on my desk cycling the screen on and off by itself. This phone is a joke.

Update with phone #2
I returned the second phone they sent me for these reasons.
1. It was shutting off phone calls while IN THE MIDDLE of a conversation to PROMOTE AN APP!
2. The touch screen will not work at times. BTW there are NO adjustments to the touchscreen like other phones.
3. The phone was not ringing until it told me there was a message. I thought I was just not receiving a good signal which was sending callers to voicemail. Nope. While sitting on my desk, the screen lit up saying I was getting a call. No ringing and no vibrate even though both were turned on.

This phone is a POC.

Update with phone #3
This phone is getting returned also.
1. While in the middle of a conversation with a client, the phone shuts off and restarts. That's great for customer relations.
2. Keeps disconnecting my bluetooth earpiece. I have to completly remove the battery to get it to reset.
3. Pop up apps that it wants you to buy is rude, rude, RUDE! I'm not buying your apps because this freaking phone would screw them up too!
4. Touch screen is just as bad as the previous two phones. How many times should I have to hit "end" to get it to end the call?
5. If you have read this far, you will like this. I have the phone on my desk. I have my bluetooth on and walk out of the room. My bluetooth says "phone disconnected". Then it says "phone connected" and I hear the phone making a call, turns out to be the last person that called me. "Hello this is so and so" and I say, "I'm so sorry my phone just called you by itself". I hang up and walk out of the room again. "Phone disconnected". I think, no way it would call someone twice by itself. "Phone connected".....ring....."Hello this is so and so". Yea, I have to APOLIGIZE AGAIN FOR THIS FREAKING PHONE MAKING CALLS ON IT'S OWN!!
6. THIS PHONE IS POSSESSED!!! IT IS THE PLAGUE OF PHONES!! THIS PHONE IN THE HANDS OF SOMEONE VIOLENT WILL CAUSE MURDER SPREES! IF YOU EVER LISTEN TO A STRANGER, LISTEN TO ME, DO NOT GET THIS PHONE!!!

Final update.
I have received a Samsung phone to replace this piece of crap, but not before it did this.
1. While walking around with phone in my pocket, my bluetooth says "outgoing call". The phone randomly picked out someone and made it's own call to them. I scrambled to turn it off. Put it back in my pocket and "outgoing call". It called a different number randomly on it's own.
2. Something this phone has always done but I had no way of knowing if it was the phone or my bluetooth. When connected the bluetooth is always saying "phone one, battery is low". It did this EVERY TWO MINUTES. It would cut off converstions and I would have to keep asking, what did you just say? If I was not on a call it would still say this EVERY TWO MINUTES. It would even do this with the phone still hooked up to the charger and fully charged. Now that I have a new phone, it does not do this at all.

I hate this phone February 4, 2012

Reviewer:  vschmidt 

This phone is horrible. I hate it. The predictive text gives you words that aren't even words. You can turn the phone sideways and type your text but if you have fat fingers don't even attempt. You have to press the screen really hard and it still doesn't work right. When you try to unlock the phone to answer you hang up on the caller. It is cheap and crap and I want my old phone back. You can't send a picture text with a message. Don't waste your time! $0.01 is way too much to pay for it.

not the best phone March 17, 2013

Reviewer:  Peeta 

this phone is okay
i bought it as a replacement for my other phone.

pros: thin
light
touch screen
digital qwerty
battery life long

cons: freezes a lot
music always skips
when you use the digital qwerty, the phone freezes a lot

good starter phone
wouldnt reccomend it for heavy texters

highly recommended if you want a mediocre phone for 4 months tops! March 10, 2013

Reviewer:  cadmiumred11 

I renewed my contract with Verizon last year, and wanted a basic phone that didn't require a data plan. So this one looked nice. It had a big touchscreen, cost me a penny and was RED. wow! I had to get it. I initially had no problems with this phone, but maybe my standards were just ridiculously low. Fast forward a year and a half: battery barely holds a charge, phone turns on and off without warrant, touchscreen freezes up so that one backspace erases the whole text or it only records the 1 out of 10 keystrokes. If I don't password lock the phone, I'll butt dial two or three people. Last night I butt dialed 911. 10 minutes ago, I had this P.O.S. sitting out next to me. I WASNT EVEN TOUCHING IT. suddenly we're 30 seconds deep into a ghost call to the vet, and they probably heard the entire sex scene of the movie I was blasting. Nice going, scumbag phone.

So needless to say, this phone has been a marathon of patience testing. I just ordered a new phone and I can't wait to pound a dozen nails into this one.

Pretty Bad August 9, 2012

Reviewer:  John Thorhauer 

Not very touch sensitive, lags, hard to use and text. Would not recommend AT ALL. Also, very cheaply made. All this after one day of use. Wish I wasn't on a two year contract with this phone.

Perfect for Simple use July 25, 2012

Reviewer:  reviewer7588 

I Have had no problems with this phone what-so-ever. If you are looking for a phone for the basic stuff( Calls and texting mostly) Then look no further. Have had this phone for 6 months or so and have had absolutely no problems. My Sister in-law has this phone also, and doesn't like it. Turns Out, if you have internet and like apps and whatnot, then this phone is a pain in the lower back area. However, If you want a basic, no-data phone that you will use primarily for the basic stuff. Then it has My recommendation.

Cheap Phone February 16, 2012

Reviewer:  PaleoNerd 

This phone is pretty cheap quality. It lets you listen to music while you do other things like text, but the catch is every time you hit a button or change screens the music skips. Its slow when texting, even without playing music in the background. Its very slow to send picture messages. I know no phone can send a pic message as fast as a regular text, but my old LG Octane was much faster. I like the design and features and just how the phone is set up in general, but its slow and glitchy which pretty much ruins it. I wish I hadnt broke my Octane, I dont think I can handle this phone for 2 years.

unreliable phone December 31, 2011

Reviewer:  kathy 

I purchased this phone as a replacement for my beloved Dare phone which after 4 years the speaker gave out. This hotshot would lock up several times a day. It would ring and I would have to pop out the battery, turn it back on, wait for it to come back up...then call the person back..Ridiculas....it also would not stay synced to my car phone system..probably because of the previously mentioned problem...very disappointing.

Not a Fan November 16, 2011

Reviewer:  Badams 

I got this phone about a month ago and I am not very impressed. The calibration on this phone is horrible. I have to touch the screen like four times for anything to happen.

Texting is impossible December 30, 2011

Reviewer:  Holly Meehleis  (CO USA) -

My LG Dare tragically stopped working this week, and I was seriously devastated. I LOVE my Dare, and I'm still getting over it. I got the Pantech Hotshot in the hopes that it would be similar. It looks sleek, but...

The screen is so unresponsive and slow, and it doesn't respond at all if I use just my fingernail to tap the screen, which is what I'm used to doing. The vibration when I touch the screen feels cheap and texing is a nightmare.

It's difficult trying to text because the screen is so slow at picking up my touch. I have to slow way down and continually go back and correct myself. The way texting is set up is way different from LG phones as well. Instead of being able to hit "next" you have to scroll through a list of words the phone thinks you want. I haven't found a quick way to make a smiley face (on the LG Dare, you just press 1 two times), and I'm forced to navigate through the symbols to find a colon and parenthesis. To top it all off, the phone defaults to "g" instead of "i" when using the 12-number keypad (rather than the qwerty keyboard) for texting. "g love you"?? No. I want my Dare back!

Mr. Freeze June 19, 2013

Reviewer:  Wanda Egelhof 

This phone looks nice but it not!!!!! Verizon has replaced this phone for both my self and my husband 4 times in 18 months. We go it because we only need a basic phone with text messaging, we don't use a bunch of stuff that other phone offer. However, it freeze up all the time, it will all of the sudden decide to shut down and it can take a long time to get it back up and running again. I do not recommend getting this phone ever.

I hate this phone June 15, 2013

Reviewer:  Anonymous 

I have been stuck with this piece of junk for a year and a half now. I bought it online through verizon and it worked perfectly fine until a few months into my contract. Verizon wouldn't take the phone back and get me something new for the same price, so I was stuck with it. The texting on it sucks, when I text someone the touch screen will randomly stop working and it will lag or miss letters that I had pressed. When I make phone calls to places that use a touch tone menu, the phone will blink off and on and I will often have to re-call the number. The sound on my phone went out almost a year ago, so I haven't had any type of sound/ringtone at all. DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE. It is a big pile of junk. I wish that I could be reimbursed.