Pantech Renue, Black (AT&T)

bought this phone from Seaside NY, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PURCHASE FROM THIS SELLER!! because phone did not die within first 30 days of purchase they feel it is okay that it only lasted 2 months before completely dying, taking all my photos and contacts with it because even the phone tech cannot retrieve them from my inoperable phone. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE,

I don't typically do reviews, but decided this one is worth taking a few minutes. If you are like myself, and find paying for a data plan that you don't need or use, ridiculous - then this is the phone for you. It looks and acts, pretty much like a smartphone - with only a few missing points.To sum it up - here is a list of the things I like vs. the things I don't.I like:-being able to mass-delete messages (when you hit delete, checkboxes appear & you can select all, or only the ones you wish to delete.- when you text, there are two steps - you get to 'preview' the message before sending it. I like this because it keeps me from accidentally sending something before I'm ready - but this may be annoying for some people.-has a full, slide-out qwerty keyboard-all screens are fully customizable - you can change the 'wallpaper' for the lock screen, homescreens & even the menu background (though the menu background choices are a tad limited)-can customize your font - I know that's not a big deal, but I found it fun :)- if you miss/ignore a call, a box pops up offering you the option of calling back or sending a message to the caller (pretty handy if you want to let the person know you'll call them back when you can)-touchscreen is pretty responsive - just a tad slower than my smartphone was. Incidentally, I haven't had any trouble accidentally hanging up on people because the send/receive touch-keys are too sensitive. I DO have to be careful when answering a call and removing the phone from my pocket - it WILL reject a call if I accidentally touch the reject touch-key. I've learned to adjust for this by simply making sure to grab my phone by the sides & have virtually eliminated that problem.-love being able to create my own shortcuts & customize my menu screen to act like a bookmark. I don't even use the homescreens, I just put everything I use most on the main menu screen and they're quickly accessed by hitting the menu shortcut on the main homescreen - simple.- easy to connect to your computer via the included usb cable/charger- LOVE the pc suite available for free from Pantech. Very easy to use - I transferred ringtones (which the standard ringtones were nice, I just wanted some of mine) & pics from my old phone with ease. I did have to manually enter my contacts (since I didn't want to bother going into an at&t store) and that too was a breeze, using the pc suite - I just typed in the info on the computer and it saved it to my phone. Very nice feature, since typing them in with the phone keyboard would have been tedious at best.-the screen is large & bright with nicely designed icons.- calls are clear, sound-quality is great - seems better than my old phone, as does the volume - can easily hear it if I leave it lying about the house- love the fact that you can set 'profiles' for indoor/outdoor and at a touch can select which one you want & it will automatically change the volume/vibrate settings for calls & texts, to the selected profile- can assign individual ringtones to your contacts- it is an overall good size - not too big for my pocket, but large enough to be comfortable talking & texting.- SPECIAL NOTE: I have not had trouble with the battery life - it typically lasts me a couple of days before needing re-charged. I was curious due to other reviews on here & let it run without charging to see how long it would go. It lasted nearly 3 days with normal use (calls & texts). What I noticed, is that the battery icon has only 3 bars - when it gets down to one, you automatically assume that it needs charged - as my old smartphone would get down to a small bar & then turn red and I knew it was time to charge. This phone, stays at one bar for a quite a while, then the bar disappears rather than changing color, to let you know it needs charged. Weird, for those of us who have had smartphones, but that's what it does. Perhaps other reviewers have received faulty batteries?- the price was right, (a penny with contract) since my old phone had taken an unexpected bath, thanks to my six-year-old and hadn't been quite the same since, lol.- this isn't really about the phone, but rather the service via Amazon. I had no trouble renewing my contract and paid only a penny (the phone was listed for $50 upgrade, with contract on att.com) and amazingly - Amazon got it to me NEXT day - and that was with free shipping. Wow. A new sim-card was also included at no charge.What I don't really like:- no wi-fi- not a very large capacity for text messages - though I went a full week without having to delete messages, so it's not really a big issue for me. For a heavy text-er, this could be annoying though. At least deleting messages is simple and non-time consuming.- keys on the slide-out keyboard are on the slick-side, making it a little frustrating if you tend to type with your fingernails as I do (my old phone was tiny - an Hp veer, so I got used to typing that way). I am getting more accustomed though. :)- would have preferred actual send/receive buttons instead of the touch-buttons, but if you are careful as I mentioned above, it's not really an issue.- the screen is very smooth & shiny - shows every smudge (I am getting some screen protectors though, so that should help)- the build seems a bit on the flimsy-side to me - very light-weight, Hence I will be purchasing a case to add some durability.- not much variety in cases to choose from - just your standard clip-ons, so I am not very impressed with that.Overall, I rated this phone a five-star, not because I 'love it' - but because I do like it and I believe that as a basic phone, it's a winner. Very nice design & features. It's just so annoying that if you don't want to pay for data service, you have to go to a 'dumb' phone. Anyway, for a 'dumb'phone - this one's pretty smart :)

I bought the Renue after my trusty Pantech Swift was defeated by its one true kriptonite... Water. I loved my phone dearly but decided to try this version based on its advertised "ruggedness" and added megapixel to the camera. After 3 months of ownership. I have noticed that the battery life of the Renue is not as hardy as my old Swift (which could go at least 2 days without needing to by charged), but it still only needs a charge once a night, depending on use (relatively minimal in my case). I have yet to drop the phone on any hard surface, which I did many times over the 3 years I owned my Swift with no damage to the phone operation aside from the negligible dents and scratches to the housing and never on the screen, so I have yet to see the "ruggedness" advertised in the Renue. The greater width and shorter length of the phone and keyboard still feels very comfortable in the hand and texting is so easy. I have also yet to find the memory cap with about 80 contacts and as many pictures and texts at a given time... My Swift needed me to delete things (videos, texts, pictures) after a certain amount in order to function properly. I choose not to use any data on my phones so I have no idea how that function would operate if I did... All in all, I am pleased with the new interface options that the lock screen brings, texting capabilities, and the added megapixel on the camera, as well as the overall performance of the phone. Hopefully here's to another 3 years with my Pantech!

I absolutely loved this phone. It's not a smartphone, which I actually really like about this phone. It's definitely nothing fancy but still has its charm.The only bad thing about this phone... it doesn't work. I've had it for a month and the battery has been garbage since day one. In the beginning, it would randomly turn off. So annoying. Now, it doesn't turn on AT ALL. I will charge it and it will tell me full battery. Right after I unplug it - won't work at all. Horrible. I really, really, REALLY loved this phone when it did work. AT&T won't do anything about it and neither will Pantech. Amazon wouldn't let me return it after 30 days, so basically just a huge headache and waste of money. Bought an Htc One in the end and couldnt be happier.

There are specific features I'd gotten used to on my old LG and Samsung phones, and maybe I got spoiled? I can't block phone numbers (ie: I have a friend who FREQUENTLY dials me by accident by sitting on the phone so it helps to block him, and he can just leave a voicemail, right?) and you have to have SOME kind of data plan (per use) to receive picture and video messages. I also can't forward texts. These are things that were standard on my old phones, but do not appear to be options to even add on this phone.The touchscreen isn't as insanely sensitive as some suggest - in a month or so of use, I haven't hung up on anyone by touching the phone to my face during a call (though the touchscreen becomes active every few seconds during a call, so you can use the keypad, say, if you were listening to voicemail and wanted to use the menu options). So, maybe it's possible, but not something I've had a problem with. The aspects of the negative reviews here that I was worried about are not problems for me and I can't imagine them being a problem. It's a decent little phone overall, especially if you're looking to skirt a mandatory data plan, but I do wish I'd known about the minor issues I mentioned here before buying, because I might've sought out a different phone from a maker I'm more experienced with so I could have the same expectations instead of finding these surprises.