Oh how did I ever live without a smartphone? Recently I was given the opportunity to try the new Pantech Matrix Pro available from AT&T and now I am officially hooked. What was it about the Pantech Matrix Pro? Well I’ve never had a smartphone so the experience of having a device that let me access my email, check out VivirLatino, use twitter, take pictures to post on twitter and make phone calls has changed me for life even if it is a Windows Phone.

Yes the Pantech Matrix Pro uses Windows Mobile 6.1 pero I got over that quickly besides, Windows Mobile is handy for edting Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, which you can do on this phone.

The Matrix Pro is not a touch screen phone pero it is shiny and pretty enough that my AT&T touch screen phone user hermana wanted to play with it. The steel-blue metallic finish of the phone also makes it susceptible to fingerprints, especially toddler prints, pero the phone comes with a felted protective cover that is also good for wiping off greasy dedito marks.

One of the selling features is a dual sliding backlit keyboard. One is a regular numerical one for all your calling needs. The other is a full QUERTY keyboard for all your texting, tweeting, emailing and surfing needs. A downside to the dual keyboard is that it makes the phone a little bulky and it feels a little heavy in your hand (2″ x 4.2″ x .9″ (WxHxD) and weighs in at 4.3 ounces to get all specific).

The Matrix Pro features a large LCD screen, which produces great images and video if you are surfing You Tube.

Speaking of surfing, the Matrix Pro does not have wifi on it, which worried me at first since I had heard from AT&T users that the 3G network was a little, um, unreliable. Pero, I must say that in the days I was playing with the phone, I never had a problem once getting online.

Other features include a MicroSDHC slot for additional storage, a proprietary USB connector to synchronize and charge the phone, which means yes another cord to carry around. However I must say that the phone charge lasts a pretty long time even with near constant use.

It’s a quad-band GSM and tri-band UMTS phone which means you can use it globally. It supports Bluetooth 2.0.
Oh and it has a camera, a 1.92 Megapixel digital camera that takes good quality pics and video.

Apparently you can also do video sharing with AT&T Video Share to send live video during a phone call to a user with a compatible phone. Also, the Matrix Pro has GPS support for location-based services such as AT&T Navigator and other online direction programs for the chronically lost.

All in all, I really like this phone for a smartphone novice like me, or for a more experienced smart phone user, it’s a good option.

You can check out an online device simulator for the phone aqui and then buy it here.

You’ll have to drop $179 on a 2 year AT&T contract after a $50 mail in rebate.