Here in the West, it’s safe to say that Pantech isn’t a household name, and certainly not a brand that the average consumer thinks of when they go to purchase a new smartphone. In South Korea however, Pantech is a quality brand and one that competes on the same page as LG and Samsung. Last year they released one of the first devices with a fingerprint sensor, the Secret Note, which was also a sizable device to compete with the Galaxy Note in Samsung’s backyard. With the Vega Iron released last year, Pantech took a leaf out of HTC’s book and created a device that looked stunning, and was built out of premium materials.
According to a report from Korea, the company is looking to release a follow-up to the device, one that could come with a larger display. Last year’s Vega Iron was announced with a 5-inch Full HD Display, with a Snapdragon 600 and 2GB of RAM. This year’s Vega Iron device could feature a 5.2-inch display a la the G2 and the Xperia Z2. The official that was quoted by Korean media has said that the device is heading for a release in May, which would make a lot of sense ass the original Vega Iron was announced last April. Just as the original did, the Iron 2 is said to feature a quality metal chassis and again focus on design and build quality rather than features.
So, for all intents and purposes the Iron 2 is set to be a refinement of the original, a tactic that pretty much everyone seems to be employing in 2014. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, and considering that the Galaxy S5 has disappointed more than its fair share of Samsung fans, Pantech might find the Iron 2 much more successful in Samsung’s home market. We’ll wait for the device to launch to see how successful it becomes, but with a good-looking device like this, we think Pantech might be able to climb the ladder a little this year.