Verizon Pantech Breakout, LTE Smartphone Will Sell for Just $99
While most smartphone developers and carriers are touting their finest and most expensive products, Verizon is unveiling a more affordable LTE phone.
The Pantech Breakout, which runs on the Verizon LTE network will be released on Thursday and will sell for just $99 after rebate and with a two-year contract.
The Breakout is being compared to the Motorola Droid Bionic, which was released on Verizon’s LTE network on September 8 and sells for $299.
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The Bionic was developed to compete with other highly coveted smartphones such as the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S2.
The Galaxy S2, Epic 4G Touch, which was released on September 16 on the Sprint network sells for $199 with a two-year contract. The iPhone 5, which is expected to be released anywhere between October 7 and 2012, may be priced at $199-$299, similar to the current iPhone 4.
Basic specs for the Breakout include the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, 1-GHz processor, 4-inch, 480-by-800-touch display, and 4G LTE mobile hotspot capability that can support up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
It also boasts a virtual QWERTY keyboard that supports Swype technology, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with HD video capture up to 720p and a VGA front-facing camera for still shots and video chatting and 8GB of pre-installed microSD.
Pantech, manufactured through Personal Communications Devices is more common outside of the U.S. for producing affordable phones.
The Breakout is Verizon’s first low cost smartphone since it launched its LTE network in December.
The carrier’s other LTE smartphones price for an upwards of $200. In addition to the Droid Bionic, Verizon powers the Samsung Droid Charge, which also sells for $299 with a two-year contract and the HTC Thunderbolts, which sells for $249.
