[Android General] ekion:
About this phone

Just for anyone interested in this phone I just want to say it sucks.

I thought the price to spec ratio was awesome so I bought it. Oh boy did it disappoint.

Firstly, the rom and kernel development is next to zero. The roms and stuff mainly deal with the SMS and language availability. I don't feel there is a improvement over the stock versions. It is frustrating knowing that it is capable of so much more but it fails to deliver. I hate the kernel on this phone. In deep sleep mode the battery still drops like a rock. Now I know why they give you two batteries, because it is needed for 1 day use.

Secondly, Pantech seems like they forgot about the vega racer 2 since the release of S5. A830s has been stuck on 1.30 for half a year or so. It wouldn't look so ugly if S/K/L is on the same version (1.35 which is superior IMO, gf uses the L). I wouldn't hold my breath for ICS 4.04 let alone JB.

Thirdly, the camera sucks, the headphone out sucks, the OTG and HDMI also sucks. Watching the Vega Racer 2 commercial with it focusing on camera function and music playing I thought it will be good (better than average) but nope. The camera optics isn't good and even using other apps (Vignette, Camera 360) couldn't save the photos. The headphone out is normal, probably i expected too much here but I find that it isn't as clean as the headphone output of my galaxy tab. Using neturon player couldn't save it either. The OTG and HDMI out integration with the OS isn't smooth. I had to download stickmount to get OTG working and sometimes it wouldn't read. The HDMI out is crap. It isn't easy to use. They couldn't have implemented this better into the rom but nope.

Fourthly, it has an assortment of bugs and problems. Sometimes I feel that this phone isn't running a S4. It lags occasionally that even my galaxy tab (ICS custom rom) feels much smoother than it. Occasional flash videos in the browser causes it to "not responding", sometime other apps can pop the "not responding" when it feels like it. I had to flash it to the official 1.30 several times a month. It was fun when flashing is for the experience but not when it was mandatory. The phone had turned off by itself, touch sensing went ape ****, frequent "not responding" apps pop ups, SMS sending troubles, lag when turning screen on, suddenly call record function makes blank audio, and some others.

Well, my phone died today. I was trying the HDMI out cable at a shop and the screen just went blue. I reboot, it shows the SKY logo and then all I see is a illuminated black. No carrier logo. No android. No nothing. Putting the phone in download mode and reloading the stock 1.30 doesn't help. Going to send it back to the seller and see what is up.

It is my own fault for choosing this phone and I can't blame anyone but I just want to let people know my experience in case they, too, thought that the price/spec ratio is awesome. The trouble is not worth the pain. Frequency issues, SMS issues, buggy/laggy rom, neglected official support, and barely existing development community. Choose a tried tested and true phone. Even if does cost a bit more and everyone has the same phone; it is worth it.

Here are some links that I use when trying to flash my phone and getting it to work the way I want it to.

http://bbs.anzhi.com/forum.php?mod=forumdisplay&fid=723&page=1

http://www.isky.co.kr/prt/productInfo.do?intprdseq=1302

http://www.tinhte.vn/threads/1332525/

http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=362279

Hope they are useful.