Verizon’s roadmap for the next few months leaked onto the interwebs a little over three weeks ago. One of the devices on said roadmap was the Pantech Breakout, which we knew absolutely nothing about … until now that is. According to an anonymous tipster who sent an image to Android Central, the Breakout will be a 4 inch smartphone running Android 2.3, it’ll sport a 1 GHz processor paired up with 512 MB of RAM, and best of all it’ll connect to Verizon’s blistering fast 4G LTE network. Considering Pantech is a budget brand, could this very well be a budget smartphone? The spec sheet lines up with the rest of Verizon’s current 4G LTE smartphones, but those are due to get an update this fall to more powerful dual core beasts with larger screens that feature higher resolutions. The Breakout may very well be what replaces the LG Revolution, Samsung Charge, and HTC Thunderbolt.
Now according to that roadmap we mentioned earlier, the Breakout is set to launch this Thursday, the first of September, so it’s not going to be too long before we get additional details. How low will this thing have to be priced in order to move? Free with a two year contract? Less than $100? Considering most people stick with their devices for a while, at least a full year, then why would they want to buy this instead of coughing up $200 up front and picking up whatever flagship is out on the market? It’s not like your monthly bill is going to change; 4G LTE will remain expensive for the foreseeable future, and minutes/messages cost the same regardless of the handset you walk out of the store with.
It’s funny how the specs the Breakout promises to deliver were once considered top of the line. Now they’re potentially being demoted to nothing more than average.