Surprisingly sturdy February 9, 2013

Reviewer:  Daniel L Bertke  (Hays, NC United States) -

I dropped this phone in salt water, pulled it out and wiped in on my jeans. When I got back to the car, I took the battery out, feeling it was probably useless and dead. When I got home about an hour later, I put the battery back in and it worked! Haven't had one problem with it. This is, however, a replacement for a new one that had speaker problems. The guy on the line at Verizon suggested that I get a refurbished replacement since they are quality checked, whereas most of the new ones are not. Good tip!

I hate this thing so much... and I am usually quite generous towards buggy technology. February 1, 2013

Reviewer:  Brian 

I got this phone because it was free on my plan and all the other phones cost at least 50 dollars. I very quickly found it annoying, but decided to keep using it in the hopes that these minor annoyances would pass. They did not. They only got worse. Much much worse.

Cons:
- Touchscreen often fails to respond, or responds with significant delay. This causes you to be unable to answer calls even when you press the "pick up" 3 times and wait 20 seconds for it to work. Many times I have typed ENTIRE SENTENCES on the touch screen, the phone does nothing, and then 10 seconds later like 3 letters appear. When I tap the "backspace" button, it freezes, and then deletes the entire text message.
- User Interface is flawed, several graphical bugs occur during phone use. Not all of them interfere with use of the phone, but still show how carelessly it was designed. Some of them very much do interfere with phone usage.
- Comes pre-installed with junkware (Ads for crap you don't want)
- The following is the procedure I need to go through to send a text message to my friend Steve:
Turn On -> Slide Unlock -> Contacts -> S -> Steve -> Text -> Add Text -> (Actually Typing Message) -> Done -> Send. Seriously WHO THE F*K designed this.
- Camera app is very poorly designed.
- Calender app is very poorly designed
- Lots of messages/titles are worded poorly or wrong (Outgoing Calls is labeled as "Dialed Call From:", even tough it is a call dialed TO that person)
- No really... it's like the entire interface was designed by first year computer science students who just took a single course in intro programming/app development (and failed it).
- half the time you press something, it just does nothing. Then you wait 5 seconds and press it again, and it presses it twice and opens something you don't want

Pros:
- Light
- Thin
- Durable enough that it has not yet broken from the many times i threw it against a wall or floor in infuriating frustration. Before you ask, these problems led to my throwing the phone... not vice-versa.

TL;DR:
The entire development team for the user interface and processor on this phone should be immediately fired. Your phone is bad and you should feel bad.

Basic phone for little to no use January 10, 2013

Reviewer:  Michael Donnelly 

This is only good for use as an emergency phone for leaving in the car in case something bad happens. As a phone, sound quality is poor. Texting is terrible on this touch screen. I've used other touch screens, so I have a basis for comparison. This cost me a penny, and I got what I paid for. I've since linked an old phone to my account so I don't have to use this one. Don't waste your money.

Worst phone ever January 1, 2013

Reviewer:  Msal 

This is absolutely the worse phone I have ever had. It turns off randomly, drops calls, and they keyboard is crap, texting is almost impossible to do. Not only was the phone awful but Verizon did not stand behind their product at all and want over $100 for an upgrade. Do not buy this phone.

Worst phone ever do not get I'm warning everyone.:( November 15, 2012

Reviewer:  chad 

Ok I had the Cocoate touch from verizon before I got this phone and now I got this phone during e summer time and I got it from bestbuy for $0.00 and decide to buy it cus it looks just like the iPhone so I brought It and took it home and not even 24 hours it started freezing and being e camera doesn't even work anymore. Went back to bestbuy and they said to call verizon so I decide to go across the shopping center to verizon instead and told them and they said you need to call tech support so I did after I left and they said to me we going todo a hard restore and see if it still froze and which it did and they said we will send you a new one and I told them no I want another free upgrade and which they did for me and now I have the iPhone 5. BEWARE THIS PHONE FREEZES AND CAMERA BUTTON WILL NOT WORK HAFT THE TIME.

Not worth getting. A lot of bugs. September 28, 2012

Reviewer:  Casey 

I have had this phone for about 6 months now.
pros : Good Battery, decent camera, pretty solid in design
Cons: Very slow to respond
Texting issues. Characters don't send to screen.
Freezes on Verizon Splash screen randomly
Random calls to contacts and/or recent calls
Alarm Clock bugs. Setting multiple alarms for different days causes issues.
No software updates for quite sometime and phone is still available in stores.

I am about to go back to my samsung rogue or Alias II. I like basic phones because it saves a lot of money, but they really have been putting out some lame ones out because of they want to move everyone to smart phones.

Junk. DO NOT BUY September 27, 2012

Reviewer:  sky 

this is by far the worst phone i have ever owned. the touch screen randomly locks up and you are literally locked out of your phone unless you take the battery out and restart the phone. also when i am making phone calls the phone will randomly turn off. very annoying, very frustrating. DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE.

STRONGLY dislike this phone August 28, 2012

Reviewer:  FourD Labs  (Illinois USA) -

This phone is without a doubt the worst wireless phone our family has had over several years. With 5 phone lines and two careless teenagers, we've had a lot of phones over time. This one was my selection for just a basic phone. I don't use it for anything else and would barely consider what I do as WORKING with the phone. The phone is S L O W even trying to answer an incoming call. The answer button is too close to the disconnect button. I wait thinking I've answered a call and nothing happens. I "answer" again and it disconnects because I haven't given it long enough. I am almost to the point of paying full price for a different phone as I so am so unhappy with this one. Don't waste your time or money, even one cent is a waste.

It's alright, just some minor problems. August 27, 2012

Reviewer:  Jacky 

I got the Hotshot because I wanted an upgrade from my LG Chocolate. At first, it was pretty amazing: the touch screen was responsive, it's very light, and the battery life was pretty good. But in about a month, the phone notified me that there was an available update. Thinking it would only make me phone better, I let it update. This may be a sheer coincidence, but after the update, my phone seemed to slow down. There would be a a 5 second lag from when I press a button and when it would run on the screen. The phone would randomly turn off and back on by itself, usually during a call, receiving a call, or listening to music. At times, the touch screen would stop working, so I would have to remove the battery, put it back in, and turn it on. But despite that, everything else seems to work fine. If you think you can deal with these minor problems, then I wish the best of luck to you. (:

It's a cheap phone. August 25, 2012

Reviewer:  M. Kristina 

My brother and I both have a Pantech Hotshot phone. My parents purchased it for us about 8 to 9 months ago. Me being 14 and him being 16, we do text almost non-stop. This phone freezes, shuts off randomly, and barlely holds a charge. My brother's phone has been sent to the factory over three times and the problem is fixed for about a week then it goes back to the way it was. Mine wasn't too bad at first, it froze and all that, but nothing serious. A few months later, my neighbor (who's in his late 30's) got the phone and he is dissatisfied. He's not a big into texting as much as my brother and I are, but the freezing happened to him often. To be honest, if I was asked about this phone; I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone. You're better off buying an LG Octane, or something simple and it will cost you less money in the longrun than using this phone.

Wish I Chose A Different Phone August 15, 2012

Reviewer:  kenzie.dubs 

I've had this phone for 3 months now and it worked well for the first month. However, after just a few weeks I began having several problems. The touch screen is very frustrating for a few reasons. One, it freezes when you text on it. Another issue I have is it doesn't always sense that you've touch the screen at all. For example, when I try to hit the end call button, it often times doesn't react. Every once in a while I can get the phone to recognize I am hitting the end call button but more times than not I have to wait for the other person to hang up. Just as I have issues ending a call, I also have experienced problems with answering calls because the phone doesn't recognize I have touched the answer call button. My last reason for not liking the touch screen is that the individual number/letter buttons are too small. This makes it very difficult to text efficiently. I have now gotten to the point where it is easier to just simply call someone rather than text them, which can be very inconvenient. I have become so tired of this phone that I have actually decided to get an iPhone because I am tired of purchasing poorly made basic phones that only last a few months at best. While I do not like this phone at all, there are a few good things about it. I like that the sound is easy to hear so that even though I have difficulties with the phone before and after the conversation, during them my phone is fine. The camera is what you would expect with a basic phone, not grand but it works. One thing I did really like about this phone is that it is very stylish and a good weight. As far as web browsing goes, I do not have a data plan so I can not speak for that, but I have heard many negatives about it. All in all, I'd rather have a phone that doesn't make me want to slam it into the ground after every use than one that is stylish, has a sub-par camera and decent sound.

Stay away from this horrible cell phone July 24, 2012

Reviewer:  vagus 

This cell phone has too many problems.
1. No ring when calls come in.
2. Get frozen suddenly.
3. Calls were cut off several times.
4. Finally, black screen.

Pantech Hotshot Review July 1, 2012

Reviewer:  Technology Review Guy 

I activated the pantech hotshot a few days before Christmas. It was an easy to use touchscreen cell phone. I started taking pictures, and customizing the phone the way that I wanted it. The camera takes good pictures in well-lit areas. The keyboard for texting was a good size but it was a slow experience. The touchscreen is not multi-touch, so it doesn't recognize two fingers touching the screen. Calling was good on this phone. When I put music on the phone, the speakers were loud and clear. After playing around with the phone, I decided to go on the mobile web, since I do have a data package. The Opera Mini Web Browser was well organized and easy to use. When it came to typing in a website or typing in general, it was horrible. The keyboard on the mobile web is too small! When it is in portrait mode, the keys were bigger than in landscape mode. I would press the wrong keys on accident and typing in the mobile web just made it very frustrating. When I would watch videos on YouTube, the video was very small and I just didn't use the web at all! The phone is good when you don't use any web related things on it. Overall, it is good for pics/videos, calling, texting, and other basic functions. The phone would shut down about 3 times out of the day. The battery life became shorter and drained very quickly. After a while, I decided to purchase the LG enV touch. I wanted the touchscreen and a physical QWERTY keyboard and flash in the camera. Happy with the decision I made!

Stupid Phone!!!! June 13, 2012

Reviewer:  Xena 

Never buy shuts of can't hang up after a call, you have to wait for the other person to hang up the screen kept freezing while i was typing plus on screen keys are to small

WORST PHONE EVER!!! June 4, 2012

Reviewer:  MIsuzyq 

I have been a Verizon customer for MANY years and have had wonderful phones. This one however, is horrible!!!!!!! The touch screen is a joke. It is so slow that it is frustrating. When you are on a call and have to put in pin #, passwords, etc. it is a pain.

Would NEVER recommend this phone. It is junk. Pure junk!

Pantech Hotshot Phone May 27, 2012

Reviewer:  Linda T. Jones 

Well i tried this phone and it was the worst phone ever,I hate to text with this phone the key pad do not respond to touch at all and its to small, but it dose have good sound quality and the speaker phone works well so if you are just getting this phone for talk and nothing else then OK its good but if you want to text and talk then you should look for another phone i am getting another phone because this phone is the worst Verizon what were you thinking about when you made this phone.

Don't like it April 30, 2012

Reviewer:  lakeshore 

bad phone!
1. Shut down with no reason.
2. calls are lost.
I wish I didn't sign the 2 year contract.
I will not use any phone from Pantech and
Verizon.

MUSIC LOVERS, GET THIS PHONE! April 20, 2012

Reviewer:  Taylor  (virginia , USA) -

After having this phone for about a half a year, I have to admit, It is an ok phone. It is very basic and should be mainly a first phone. The touch screen can become a little unresponsive if you have a lot of memory build up, (Messages and photos etc.) but builds your patients. Now if you really enjoy listening to music, defiantly get this phone! It comes with a 2 gigabyte memory card and I have over 100 songs. Video is also pretty good. I would recommend getting an 8 gig memory card so you don't have to worry at all about how much space you have left for a very long time.

Hope this helps your decision!

PIECE OF JUNK!!!!!! April 14, 2012

Reviewer:  K. Lori "book fiend"  (AL) -

I was really anxious to upgrade to a touch screen phone, but I didn't want to renew my contract with Verizon. When I saw this phone for a penny with a two-year contract, I thought I'd just go for it. I can't say enough bad things about this phone. Maybe I just got stuck with a lemon, but I feel compelled to warn others about the defects I've encountered.
First of all, if you do a lot of texting, this isn't the right phone. The virtual keypad is difficult to impossible to use. You really need to buy a stylus or you'll be hitting all the wrong keys. And really, if you're going to type with what amounts to one finger, texting gets old real fast.
Next, the send key is at the bottom of the screen so that it's easy to hit it while typing in any letters on the bottom row of the keyboard. I can't even count how many incomplete texts I've sent because of this.
Then there's that little screen with the drop-down menu that gives you a list of words to choose from, once you type the first couple of letters. What's with that? When texting, you don't type in whole words. At least I don't, because I have a limited number of texts every month. But texting is also my main means of communicating with my sister, so I need to have something reliable. And you can't turn off the drop-down feature, so it's there interfering with your view of your message. I read the entire instruction booklet, and I can't find anything indicating how to turn off this feature.
Then there's the little problem of answering calls. How many calls are you willing to miss because, when you go to drag up the screen to unlock the phone, it doesn't work? I've gotten to the point where I almost threw the phone against the wall because of this. And I have all the patience in the world. But this phone has me so upset, I turn into a raving lunatic when this happens. And it happens often.
The only other feature I can speak about is the camera, which is not even worth using.
Since I don't use any other features on this phone, I can't trash them.
Please save yourselves the frustration of ending up with this truly awful phone. When I finish this review I'm heading out to the Verizon store to have my old phone reactivated.

Pantech Hotshot Phone April 7, 2012

Reviewer:  robert wellman  (HALIFAX, MA, US) -

I got this phone for 1 penny, worth all of that, but not much more.
The phone shuts off whenever it feels like it, while texing or talking.
If you have any kind of temper stay away from this phone, mine wound up in pieces after throwing it against the wall.
I gave it one star because you can't give 0
STAY AWAY.