- Easy-to-use clamshell phone with streamlined design and quad-band GSM/EDGE connectivity
- Large display font and keypad with backlighting, three Quick Call keys for most frequent callers
- VGA camera captures stills and video; Bluetooth connectivity for communication headsets
- Up to 3 hours of talk time, up to 240 hours (10 days) of standby time; measures 4 x 2 x 0.7 inches (HxWxD)
- Includes: handset, rechargeable battery, charger, quick start guide, user guide
Amazon.com Product Description
Sleek and streamlined for those looking for an easy-to-use clamshell phone, the Pantech Breeze features a larger display font and keypad with backlighting, simplified user interface option, and one-touch Quick Call keys for frequently called numbers. This affordable quad-band GSM phone is great for roaming the globe, and it offers access to some of AT&T’s more advanced services like MEdia Net, email, instant messaging, and games. The Breeze also features a VGA camera for still photos, Bluetooth connectivity for communication headsets, dual LCD screens, and up to 3 hours of talk time.
Three programmable Quick Call buttons lie below the LCD, while the keypad offers over-sized numerals. |
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AT&T Service Options
This phone operates on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 networks and can handle high-speed data connectivity via AT&T’s EDGE network (which stands for “Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution”), with availability in more than 13,000 US cities and along some 40,000 miles of major highways. This third-generation, high-speed, mobile data and Internet access technology is fast enough to support a wide range of advanced data services (with average data speeds between 75-135Kbps), including video and music clips, full picture and video messaging, high-speed color Internet access, and email on the go.
The phone has a built-in web browser for MEdia Net downloads and mobile web browsing. AT&T’s MEdia Net service enables you to receive and send emails, read news headlines, get weather updates, download games and ringtones, and more.
Phone Features
The Pantech Breeze was designed for those who want the most important features, literally, at their fingertips. It offers a combination of easy-to-use features, including a simplified user interface option, larger display font and keypad with backlighting, and one-touch Quick Call keys for frequently called numbers. Additionally, the Breeze has dedicated keys for easy access to a camera and speaker phone features. The internal 2.2-inch LCD has a 176 x 220-pixel resolution and support for 262K colors for exceptional depth, while the external screen measures 1 inch and has 65K colors and a 96 x 96-pixel resolution.
The VGA-quality camera shoots still photos with a maximum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels–perfect for sharing via email or MMS messaging service. It also has a 4x digital zoom and an LED flash for snapping pics in low-light conditions. This phone can also capture short video clips.
Because the Breeze is Bluetooth enabled, wireless headsets can be configured with the phone for total hands-free operation; it also includes a headset jack for wired earpieces.
In addition to voice calls, text messaging (SMS), and MMS capability, you can also connect via Instant Messaging (IM) services such as Windows Live, Yahoo!, and AOL. The Breeze has a hearing aid compatibility of M3/T3.
Vital Statistics
The Pantech Breeze (C520) weighs 3.4 ounces and measures 4 x 2 x 0.7 inches. Its 850 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3 hours of talk time, and up to 10 days (240 hours) of standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies.
The things that I like best about this phone so far, are the large display, the large raised buttons. Also, the sound is very good, and the ringer seems to be very loud. That being said, this phone currently has a major drawback for me. The keypad light only stays on for abot 5 seconds. There is currently no way to change this light on time in the software. You can extend the time that the display screen is lighted, but not the keypad. For others this may not be a big issue, but for me, I am finding it very difficult to use the keypad in low light situations.
Rating: 3 / 5
I purchased this phone because I have big fingers and the large buttons of the Pantech Breeze seemed a welcome change from the microscopic buttons on just about every new phone made now.
Pros –
1. Big buttons.
Cons –
1. Programs (games) and phone numbers you CAN’T delete.
2. I can’t crank this thing loud enough to hear people unless I’m in a quiet room.
3. Phone must be centered very precisely over your ear or it sounds muffled.
4. Perhaps I have a lemon, but this phone constantly dies and tells me I have no service. This happens in the city.
I will -not- be looking at any Pantech products in the future.
Rating: 1 / 5
While the thought behind the phone (including the simpler “breeze” mode) is nice, the implementation is often disappointing.
For example, there’s a long list of various service numbers (musicID, 411, voiceCall, etc) hard-coded into the phone’s contact book and cannot be deleted. Why not allow the consumer to pick and choose which numbers to keep in her own phone book is a mystery to me.
While the phone is touted as particularly usable for elderly people, the power plug is finicky and requires a lot of coordination to use correctly. In various parts of the interface, large font becomes tiny and hard to read.
It’s clear that Pantech is headed in the right direction, but they still have a way to go.
Rating: 3 / 5
[The only good thing I can say about this phone is that, unlike several that preceded it, I haven't lost it. On the other hand, the phone performed so poorly that I had little occasion or reason to take it places. But I'm about to "lose" it--deliberately. The garbage pick-up is tomorrow (I'm not about to give it to someone, thereby inflicting upon them the pain and sheer exasperation it has caused me).]
I’m frankly mortified that, upon a hasty first impression, I gave this phone a rave review that led to some readers purchasing it. It’s a seductive-looking phone which, moreover, appears to offer the same simplicity and convenience of the Jitterbug without the dumbed-down factor. Within the first 3 months, it frequently refused to dial even the 3 large-button numbers, requiring that I go through 2-3 separate maneuvers, such as depressing a miniature panel adjacent to and indistinguishable from an identically-appearing panel. At times it asked me, upon depression of one of the three numbers, to hit “Send”; at other times, it said, hit “O.K”; at other times it rerouted me through a complicated menu system with 8 or more choices, then more choices (at least 3) concerning the item that had just been selected. And there were times when pushing one of the 3 big buttons brought forth the message: “For Emergency Use Only”(!?). The darn thing kept ringing (silly songs) with unwelcome offers from ATT–for MP3 songs or “art” decor–or simply because the battery was low. It periodically racked up charges for items it apparently “thought” I had ordered when I was trying to turn it off or silence it. The instruction manual, I finally determined, is incomplete, inconsistent, and misleading–written by someone unfamiliar with English, then proofed by someone who “fixed” the grammar but not the meaning. Even some gadget-proficient youngsters to whom I turned for help were perplexed by what turned out to be the most disastrous phone of my life. Apparently AT&T has dropped it from its offerings, or is about to: I can easily understand why.
From here, it’s unclear where to turn. Anything would be preferable to this throwaway piece of junk. I’m joining A.A.R.P. and looking into the Jitterbug phone–not the 3-button, no-number model but the slightly more sophisticated model in black. The Pantech has apparently been changed from “elderly white” to more understated black, but the device needs help beyond any mere color change: heroic measures are in order. But you would do better not to put yourself in a position to require them. Not only is the Breeze far from a breeze, but the included camera, mp3 player, movies, etc. would befuddle anyone over 60 even if they felt like using them: this thing can’t even make a simple call! Although the Jitterbug has received its share of complaints, one of them is not the inability to locate your own cellular number (which is buried deep in the menu system of the Pantech Breeze). Time to bury this phone.
Rating: 1 / 5
I’ve had this phone for 3 months and it is for EVERYONE! Large buttons.. bright screen.. Bluetooth.. my own mp3 rings assignable to whoever calls (My wife’s call says I LOVE YOU).. easy to use in both the EZ mode and advanced mode, etc. The only thing wrong is that it has low signal strength when on the fringes. Other phones have 2 bars when this one has none. But if you mainly are within a good cell signal, look at this phone seriously! You’ll like it!
Rating: 4 / 5