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Reviews icon Palm Pre Review

Palm Pre Review

Published on: 12 June, 2009 by PhoneArena Team

Performance:

Callers were pleased with how we sounded on the Pre, rating us 8.5 out of 10.  We felt they sounded about the same.  On both ends there was no one thing, callers weren’t hollow or quiet or anything of the sort, but they just weren’t perfect.  Still, the Pre grades out well above average on the call quality scale. Another cool feature of the Pre is simultaneous voice and data...with a catch.  You'll have to be connected to Wi-Fi, but if so you'll be able to browse the web and IM while on a call.

Many have complained of poor battery life so far, but with a phone that advertises multi-tasking so heavily we are not surprised.  As with any smartphone, the more you are doing the worse your battery life will be.  Palm sent us some battery tips (such as the Wi-Fi tidbit we gave you earlier) which includes not keeping your IM account signed in all the time, since that requires a near constant data connection.  The rest are fairly self-explanatory, such as low signal strength and higher backlight levels will result in more battery use.  In our testing we got through the day just fine, though were definitely low by the end of the day.  If we had gone out that night we would have needed to charge the phone.


Conclusion:

The Pre is the best phone we’ve ever used.  That said, it’s still not perfect.  Apps will bring it closer to perfection, and Palm/Sprint are targeting fall to be able to say “there’s an app for that.”  Quite simply, it’s a brilliant phone and we appreciate the detail put into both the hardware and more importantly the software.  It at least matches the iPhone, and often trumps it, in just about every aspect.  We have of course not yet used the 3G S, but unless Apple has some serious tricks up their sleeve (they don’t) the Pre has it by the throat.  We cannot stress how much we love this phone, it quite simply gets it and delivers on the experience.  Palm, welcome back.  We missed you.

Palm Pre Video Review:

Palm Pre




Pros

  • Um, this thing is sexy.
  • Beautiful hardware design.
  • Beautiful software.
  • Wonderful integration of contacts, calendars and your life with Synergy.
  • Gorgeous, responsive multi-touch display.
  • QWERTY
  • Easy to develop platform.

Cons

  • Casing could be a bit higher quality.
  • We’d love to see voice dialing and an onscreen keyboard (T9 please) but this could come.

PA rating

  • Design 8.5
  • Display 10
  • Camera 6.5
  • Sound Quality 9
  • Battery 7.5
  • Connectivity 10
  • Multimedia 10
  • Organizer 10
Excellent
9.9
out of 10

How do we rate?

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User comments

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-2
1.
9.9!!!! thats too high,the palm pre is a good phone but not that good to be the highest rated one!
-3
11.
So how much did you charge for that score? Im just curious, it must have cost all of 20 bucks!
Reply to this comment
Reply to AVCOC Hide 1 replies to this comment
+2
3.
as a representatitve of verizon i must admit that sprint and palm did a really good job with the release of the pre and i truly hope it shuts up the iphone users!
+3
4.
I agree... iPhone users are the worst.. has anyone seen the South Park episode where Kyle's dad gets a "hybrid" and then moves to San Francisco and there is a "smug" storm? Everyone I know thinks they are superior and so incredibly hi-tech just because they own it, even though none of them use it for anything more than they would an ipod touch. Let's just hope that Pre users don't fall into the same line of "Smug"... otherwise George Clooney's speech from the Oscars could make a supercell that would wipe out all of what is left of sprint's network... (if you don't get this comment just watch the episode).
Reply to this comment
0
28.
HAHAHA so true... By the way that episode is hysterical.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #4 ( Show )
+2
30.
Southpark is indeed enjoyable.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #28 ( Show )
0
44.
lmao that episode played tonight....
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #4 ( Show )
Reply to metalpoet Hide 4 replies to this comment
+2
5.
Not trying to be an ass but if you average up the scores you get an 8.9. There probably is some different way of calculating the total score though.
0
13.
Phone Arena is ignorant and they don't make any since. they obviously choose favorites when it comes to phones and their OS. Don't get me wrong I think the Pre looks like a great phone but I think Phone Arena completely over hyped the Pre in this review.
Reply to this comment
+1
14.
After about a while theyll be wanting to change some of this stuff. Any phone that ive had I loved for about a month or two and i got tired of it.

One more thing, wouldnt the Pre be a little complicated for the Average Joe?
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #13 ( Show )
+1
15.
I got a good laugh out of the average joe reccomendation, this was review obviously a foregone conclusion paid for by the corporate interests that birthed this phone.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #14 ( Show )
0
23.
Wow, seriously, are you all iphone users bashing the review?! The phone has recieved generally positive reviews from all major reviewers and just because PhoneArena's is super high doesn't mean they were bought off?! Should I say that they were bought off by Apple for giving the Touch Pro a lower score then many sites just because they say that after the diamond it felt old?!

And seriously, for average joe, this is probably the best smart phone out there. It offers an easy to use interface and is a smart phone unlike most smart phones that are blackberry or window which offer very little in user friendly handling.!!! Average Joe doesn't always have to be about having the dumbest phone out there, they obviously rated it based on how easy it is to use for a smart phone that offers just about everything, or will offer soon enough!!! Read the reviews before asking Steve Jobs what kind of demeaning comments you can post on the competition's reviews. Yes the iPhone might be a great phone, but it is in no way a smart phone and if you read the review you can see how the phone deserves quite a high rating on its own merits...
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #15 ( Show )
+1
25.
i dont know about everyone else but im not an iphone user and never have been and probably never will be. As you can probably tell by my name im with Verizon. I read the review from here and other websites and i know this is a good phone. I was just saying that the unweighted average of scores is 8.94 to be exact not 9.9.

And also WebOS looks a little too complicated to me so i don't think it would be for the average joe. I also never said that average joe had to have the most basic phone around. I just wouldn't see one with a smart phone.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #23 ( Show )
-1
26.
if webos is too complicated for you i dont know what to tell you man. have you taken an iq test lately?
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #25 ( Show )
0
27.
no but im not stupid ciz i have 5 honors classes in school. The whole gesture bar is a little unnecessary to me.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #26 ( Show )
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38.
i was going to take your post seriously but then you used since instead of sense....really? are you serious?
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #13 ( Show )
Reply to LGVX1993 Hide 8 replies to this comment
0
7.
I sold my iPod Touch because it was not longer needed now that I have a Pre. For people that want games iPhone/Touch will always be king IMO. I want something that would replace the need to get on my laptop to do simple things and the Pre does that and then some. The web browser is almost perfect for a v1.0 as well as the media player. WebOS is just incredible...like the review said it is missing some pretty key features at the moment but some Palm has already confirmed they will come in future OTA updates. I think my favorite thing it the way SMS and email notification come through. It is just so well done and I can't imagine not having it now. The hardware build is my biggest concern. I think I will be exchanging mine because the keyboard slider does not slide out like it does on my wifes Pre. Battery life is really the only other issue which is why I picked up the Palm car charger which come with an extra data cable so I can charge at home, work and in the car. I look forward to the SDK being released to the public as well as the software updates from Palm. Once it has Flash support, notification light, video recording and soft keyboard I will be set with my dream phone!
+1
9.
I agree, this phone is awesome. I wish it already came with the ability to shot video but I guess it isnt that big of a deal since the updates will be OTA. I was really excited Sprint took on a phone that will actually live up to its hype and be competitive in the wireless industry. My main concern though is when Palm is gonna push out its WebOS to other providers. I'm glad its release to AT&T was just delayed. Hopefully for a while!
Reply to this comment
Reply to SellPhones82 Hide 1 replies to this comment
+1
12.
Im an iPhone user, and I dont find myself criticising other phones. There are a lot of features on the pre I would love, multi-tasking looks amazing, and the screen looks a lot more impressive then the iPhones. After 3 generations, it's time for apple to update the look and feel of the iPhone software, the screen could use an update as well. If the Pre were offered at Rogers, and had more than 8 GBs, and after expansion of the app catalog, I could see myself buying it.
+1
16.
Finally a level headed iPhone user! People like you are hard to come by. Almost all iPhone users treat their phones like its their child and get soo defensive if anyone says anything negative about the phone or trys to compare to another phone. But I do agree the iPhone should change the look on it but then again they haven't needed to update it because it sells. But now that they might actually be getting competition they may have to do something more then just update the software.
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Reply to joolian Hide 1 replies to this comment
+2
17.
It's funny the rivalry between the Pre and the iPhone. The Pre people consider it to be superior to the iPhone, and the iPhone people think that it's not even close to as good (of course the iPhone people don't want a phone to be better or they lose their perceived superiority over everyone else).

Well, I'm a Pre owner, and I used to have iPhone envy until I got my Pre. I still think the iPhone is a good phone, and without it, the Pre probably wouldn't have been as good as it is. That being said, I have always considered myself open minded. I want the best technology, and what the best is tends to change constantly.

For those of you complaining that the Pre can't possibly be as good as the iPhone and it can't possibly rate a 9.9, you really need to get one in your hands and really see what it does (with an open mind), and I think you'll agree that it is really that good. Synergy is just pretty amazing. It's never been so easy to combine information from so many sources before. I was blown away by how easily it syncs with Facebook, Google, and Exchange (although it took a little work to get it figured out at first, although I hear they will be working on that one). All of those sources just combine into one place so nicely it's almost like a dream.

The few things that there are to complain about can be fixed with updates, so although it does have a few rough edges, I still think this is the most amazing phone I've used. iPhone people might be unhappy that their phone now has a serious contender, but just as the Pre took a lot of great ideas from the iPhone, I'm sure that iPhone will take a lot of great ideas from the Pre, so the Version 4 of iPhone will likely be a much bigger and better update than ever before as they try to compete with Synergy and the multitasking that the Pre offers.

iPhone is built on a good OS, and I think they can probably do a lot more with it than they have, but they have been content to sit on their butt and only offer trivial upgrades to the iPhone for the last few years. Pre has topped them (IMO), and now iPhone will have to fight hard to come back on top.

Basically it's good for everyone concerned. Competition is a good thing. iPhone sitting on it's butt is exactly what Palm did back in it's heyday that almost put it out of business. Apple brought it on themselves to be one-upped because they didn't keep their edge.
-1
33.
Well, a 9.9 suggests a nearly perfect phone (ideally anyway), so I'm hesitant to agree with their score (which doesn't jibe with their review) entirely. I think it deserves to be in the 9s but not so high. It's obvious from previous articles that Phone Arena just absolutely has fallen in love with the Pre so it's no surprise that they over-hyped themselves prior to the release and then while holding it in their hands. Remember when we all first over-studied that one exciting thing finding out every single thing we could about it and then when we got it, it was still so exciting? I think that is point and case here with Phone Arena. After a month or two, a new shiny toy that is going to revolutionize the world is going to come into view and they are going to drop their Pre like a hot rock.

On top of that, their review sounded very similar to the Touch Pro 2s so I wonder why that is an entire point lower than the Pre... something to think about.
Reply to this comment
Reply to zyxwv88 Hide 1 replies to this comment
+2
18.
I agree that the review seems as if it's over-hyping the phone, but when I tried out the phone, and then read a whole bunch of reviews (engadgets, gizmodo's, and now phonearena's) I am taking the "cons" of the device into consideration and I personally can't think of anything that really irks me as being a deal-breaker. The mobile OS palm has created is one of, if not the best (takes a steaming dump on the iphone's). THe only thing that bothers me is the lack of a micro sd card slot, but I'm sure other palm devices with the webOS will end up being amazing :-)
Reply to this comment
-1
19.
Yea, the 9.9 seems like a VERY biased score. I am calling foul on this review.
-1
41.
i bet it was just a typing error. It's supposted to 8.9 and they are kinda close on the keyboard
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Reply to baldilocks Hide 1 replies to this comment
+2
20.
I like how it get's a 10 for multimedia and local connectivity; yet it doesn't support WMV format and it doesn't support object/file transfer over bluetooth... I tried to transfer a customer's contacts from his old sanyo over bluetooth and the Pre was unable to receive them! Come on, even a crappy sanyo phone has better bluetooth handling!
0
29.
amen
Reply to this comment
Reply to ralph_denicia Hide 1 replies to this comment
-1
21.
I can't understand battery life not being a bigger issue. The review simply says: it does a bunch of stuff at once, so crappy battery life is OK. WHAT??? My 3G has twice the battery life and loses next to nothing in functionality. The 3GS will have more than twice the battery life. These devices are for people on the go, not people that are at chargers all day. I have to give my 3G a full charge nearly every day. A pre just wouldn't work for me.
+2
22.
and if palm locked down the pre and didnt allow multitasking like the 3g then it would have better battery life too. it would also be a worse phone. that, plus gsm is better than cdma for batteries.
Reply to this comment
+1
24.
From what I hear, the 3g has about the same battery problems so if that works for you, if you use it the same way, you should be fine. The 3gs could run into the same problems if they start working the phone harder, but as of right now, the simple tasking that the iPhone does being locked down to no multitasking. Sure it will have great battery life and easy to improve upon so for someone whose main concern is having a fun touch screen phone with great music and webrowsing capibilities that is great on the go and lasts a good time on batteries, the 3gs will definately be the way to go. Also, yes GSM is a lot easier on batteries, and has many great perks. Coming from a Win-Mo user though, you find ways around the battery life, and its expected when being able to have a phone that lets you be a power user... The great thing is though, you can always get reserve batteries, which the iPhone still sadly doesn't allow.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #22 ( Show )
Reply to ayephoner Hide 2 replies to this comment
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