Palm Pre Reviews
After posting a summary of the Palm Pre Review by Engadget it is apparent that billions of these will be published soon. Instead of covering each one individually, we’ll collect them all here for your convenience!
Think of it like this. The software is agile, smart and capable. The hardware, on the other hand, is a liability. If Palm can get someone else to design and build their hardware—someone who has hands and can feel what a phone is like when physically used, that phone might just be one of the best phones on the market.
I’m bored of the iPhone. The core functionality and design have remained the same for the last two years, and since 3.0 is just more of the same, and—barring some kind of June surprise—that’s another year of the same old icons and swiping and pinching. It’s time for something different. The Pre may have hardware that’s worse than the G1/G2, but the whole package—the software and the hardware—isn’t bad. It’s good. It’s different. That’s something we can get behind. I can’t wait to see what Palm gets dealt in their next hand.
So do the Pre’s perks (beautiful hardware and software, compact size, keyboard, swappable battery, flash, multitasking, calendar consolidation) outweigh its weak spots (battery life, slow program opening, ringer volume, Sprint network)? Oh, yes indeedy. Especially when you consider that last weak spot might be going away. Verizon Wireless has announced that it will carry the Pre ‘‘in the next six months or so.’’ Can you imagine how great that will be? One of the world’s best phones on the best U.S. cell network? If the story of Palm’s rise from the ashes really is like a movie plot, then that twist will give it one heck of a happy ending.
3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
Despite some missing features and performance issues that make it less than ideal for on-the-go professionals, the Palm Pre offers gadget lovers and consumers well-integrated features and unparalled multitasking capabilities. The hardware could be better, but more importantly, Palm has developed a solid OS that not only rivals the competition but also sets a new standard in the way smartphones handle tasks and manage information.
Ultimately — carriers and developers notwithstanding — what Palm has done is not only a major feat for a company of its size (and its dire position), and we think it’s an important step in the evolution of mobile computing. Just like the iPhone’s notches up the ladder, and the G1′s contributions, the Pre moves the game forward in a very real way. We know this won’t be the last of the webOS devices, and we know that as Palm improves its products, so will Apple, RIM, Microsoft, Google, and the rest of the smartphone gang. Unfortunately for them, their work just got a little bit tougher.
Once the initial Pre launch is over and done with and all the hype, smoke and mirrors are clear though, we can see Palm being pretty successful moving forward. Hell, Palm has converted tons of people into raging Pre fanboys before they could even see the phone in person! Very Apple-esque. More carriers will get the Pre, more handsets will be released and WebOS could very well keep things interesting even if the hardware is lacking.
The device seemed to live up to some expectations but fall short on others for this reporter, who played around with the Pre for just a few days.
The interface does feel new and interesting with some lovely bells and whistles. But features like photo-viewing and surfing are sometimes painfully slow and social networking integration does not go as far as this correspondent hoped.
“I consider the Pre to be potentially the strongest rival to the iPhone to date, provided it attracts lots of third-party apps, which it sorely lacks at launch. Its design is much better than that of the two other main iPhone-class competitors: the T-Mobile G1, which uses Android, and RIM’s touch-screen BlackBerry Storm.”
“Whether you get a Pre or not, its brilliant software will leave its mark on the phones you buy in the future, just like the iPhone did after its debut.”
I’ve been testing the Pre for more than two weeks and like it a lot. Pre is easy on the eyes. I can’t think of a more comfortable cellphone in my hand. It has a lovely screen for taking in YouTube videos or browsing the Web. The “always-connected” software foundation at its core, which Palm designed from scratch and calls WebOS, is slick and rife with possibilities.
The Pre emphatically shows that Palm has not reached the stage of suffixes. And multitasking rules!
WIRED Great look and superb feel. Well-conceived OS with multitasking and instant notification. Physical keyboard. Utilizes iTunes to load and refresh content.
TIRED Multitasking puts a big suck on the battery. Sprint exclusivity will be annoying to Palm-philes on a contract with AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile. Keyboard is puny. If Apple blocks the handset’s access to iTunes, Pre users are hosed.
4 out of 5 stars
We’ve seen many smart phones come and go since the original iPhone, and the $199 Palm Pre is the first device we’ve tested whose user interface not only matches up well to Apple’s offering, but also beats it in some areas. The Pre isn’t just cool and fun to use; its highly integrated approach to calendars, contacts, and messaging, the way it elegantly multitasks, and makes apps and notifications accessible across the device change the game. Plus, Sprint’s $69.99 plan includes unlimited data and text messaging, whereas AT&T charges extra for text messaging.
The Palm Pre smartphone ($200 with a two-year contract from Sprint as of 6/4/09), along with the company’s much-anticipated webOS operating system, has had quite the buzz building up since its splashy launch in January. While the Pre isn’t perfect, it definitely does not disappoint: I found the WebOS interface clean, engaging, and intuitive. My main issues were with the hardware itself.
It is easy to forget that when the iPhone launched, it also had software and hardware issues. The difference is that Apple was effectively pioneering a new market, so it had plenty of time to get the formula right. Palm, a struggling company going up against surprisingly strong competition, faces a vastly more difficult challenge. I am pulling for the Pre, but I wouldn’t want to bet my iPhone on its success.
The Pre offers a lot, but has some glaring omissions. If you’re willing to give up features such as video capture and don’t mind being limited to 8GB of storage, the Pre will offer you excellent personal information and messaging management along with a user interface that outperforms many others in return.
The Palm Pre is the sexiest handset since the iPhone—and it also marks the dawn of a major new smartphone platform. Although it lacks third-party apps and has some battery life issues, it’s much more fun than any other phone Sprint offers.