We go both ways in our Pantech Matrix review, loving the calling features but wishing AT&T had done more with messaging. Check out our complete hands-on look.
Review summary of the Pantech Matrix:
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 The Pantech Matrix is a familiar design, in fact it's almost exactly the same size and shape as the Pantech Duo, a Windows Mobile phone with a similar, dual-slide design. That's good and bad, as we definitely like the compact shape and slide-out keys on this phone, but the design could use an update, both in terms of the shell, which could be a bit thinner with easier-to-use buttons, and in terms of the interface. While the standard AT&T menus might be more accessible than Windows Mobile, they don't do this phone justice as a messaging competitor. The lack of messaging options, like the ability to set our own POP or IMAP e-mail accounts (so no Gmail for this phone) also hurt the device significantly. Music playback was fine, and the Web browser was surprisingly robust, but we're waiting for a carrier to find a middle-ground user interface for these messaging phones, instead of just stacking on the same old tired designs. Release: October 2008. Price: $80.
Pros: Dual-slide design is still unique. Great call quality. Capable, if sluggish, Web browser.
Cons: Interface nothing special. Lacks many messaging features, where this phone should excel. Mediocre music experience with no headphone options.
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Full Pantech Matrix Review:
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Design - Good
We liked the Pantech Matrix a year ago, when it was called the Pantech Duo and it ran a version of Windows Mobile. Since then, Pantech has clearly updated the look a bit, adding some color and new navigation buttons on the face of the dual-sliding phone, but the user interface has taken a serious hit. Considering the old interface was Windows Mobile, that's saying quite a bit. Unfortunately, the Pantech Matrix defaults to the most basic AT&T interface design, with all the same apps, icons and options as we'd expect to find on any low-end AT&T multimedia phone. This is too bad, because there is clearly a new and blossoming audience for simple, QWERTY-sliding non-smartphones, and these folks could use a better interface design. We'd like to see an interface designed all around messaging, but instead the Pantech Matrix gives us the most rudimentary AT&T messaging apps. The keyboard on this phone was also very wide and not comfortable enough for daily use. It all seems like a missed opportunity to try a new direction for the phone market.
Calling - Very good
Call quality on the Pantech Matrix was very good, with calls that sounded clean and clear. We had fine reception, with 4-5 bars of AT&T's 3G HSDPA service in our lower Manhattan office and in suburban New Jersey. Calling time should be much better. We got just over 4 hours, which seems low until you realize that Pantech only promises 3 hours of chatting. Blame the HSDPA network for being such a battery hog.
The address book was very simple on this device, and we were disappointed that the phone lacked some of our favorite calling features. Notably, there is no voice dialing option on this phone. This is a feature we consider a necessity while driving, so this phone is for passengers only. The speakerphone was also a bit light for our tastes. Bluetooth pairing worked fine in every attempt we made.
Messaging - Mediocre
For messaging, the Pantech Matrix is shockingly light on features. We expect e-mail capabilities for all our favorite services, a wide selection of Instant Messaging clients, as well as SMS and MMS messaging. At least we got the simple SMS messaging we desired. For e-mail, AT&T's e-mail app provides a list of presets, and if your service isn't on the list, no e-mail for you. We use Gmail and an Exchange for our personal and corporate e-mail, respectively, and neither of these were supported. For IM, there is AOL, MSN and Yahoo, but the client looks seriously dated. Every messaging should have gotten a customized upgrade for this phone, but instead it feels very much like last year's model, or maybe the year before.
The keyboard on the Pantech Matrix was also a problem for us. We found the top row of keys butted uncomfortably against the top lip of the dual-slide, making typing a chore. Also, the keys were very wide, but not tall enough, so our fingers had to travel awkwardly far, and we still missed the key. We did like that holding down a key activated the symbol above. This is a great trick that all cell phones should use. Still, we'd like to see a much wider keyboard with more space for each key.
Multimedia - Mediocre
The Pantech Matrix did better for music than it did for messaging, but it still wasn't anything to write home about. Oh, wait, there's no Gmail support, so we won't be writing to anyone, anyway. Digs aside, the phone had no trouble recognizing most of the music we synchronized with Windows Mobile, but the music player was as basic as could be. None of our album artwork came through in the sync. Also, the phone has no headphone jack, and it uses a rare, proprietary port from Pantech, with no adapter in sight. Stereo Bluetooth headphones worked just fine, but wired cans were out of the picture. We liked that the music player kept going as we performed other tasks, and playback was controllable from the standby screen. But this wasn't enough to convince us that AT&T and Pantech had made even a half-hearted attempt at making the Pantech Matrix a multimedia phone.
Web browsing - Very good
The Pantech Matrix surprised us with a capable Web browser, though the small screen was an issue here, and surprisingly the network was also a problem. Though the phone uses AT&T's 3G network, the Web browser was exceedingly slow. The phone chewed through our own image-rich homepage without any trouble, and everything was displayed neatly, but it took a few minutes to chug through every thumbnail image. The phone is capable of displaying only a tiny portion of a Web page on the screen at once, and scrolling was very slow. If you dig through the browser, you'll find a nice thumbnail view, like a basic mini-map that gives you an overview of a Web page. But this was only enough to impress us a little, and it didn't make browsing much easier.
GPS Navigation - Good
For GPS, the Pantech Matrix uses AT&T Navigation for turn-by-turn directions. It's a nice app, and falls in the mid-range for carrier-supported directions. It's not as feature rich as Verizon Wireless' VZ Navigator, but it got the job done. The phone had some trouble finding us near our lower Manhattan offices, but once we got onto the highway, heading for the Jersey suburbs, it was all smooth sailing.
Camera - Mediocre
The camera on the Pantech Matrix is a 1-megapixel affair, and images look the part of a tack-on feature. Images were drab and dreary, with very little detail and plenty of noise.
Self portrait
The self-portrait shot was easy enough to snap, but the results were disappointing, with skin that looks like an oil painting and greyed-out colors all around.
Street scene
In this street scene, too, all the colors seem to be heading towards grey. Details are very hazy, and not just because of the momentary lack of direct sunlight.
Glass, concrete and sky
The sky was not purple above this building, let us assure you. Clouds look pixilated, like the edges of the steel structure, as if they were printed by a dot-matrix printer.
Price and availability
The Pantech Matrix is available now on AT&T for $80, after a $50 mail-in rebate.
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