Photo gallery: Palm PreThe following review is published by CNET.com in the US. Information about network capabilities and some phone features are specific to North America and are not available down under. Palm intends to release the Pre in Australia towards the end of the year with local pricing to be announced.
Design
The Palm Pre's design is unlike that of any smartphone we've seen to date, but if we had to give a point of comparison, we'd say it somewhat resembles the HTC Touch. It's a bit like a pebble, with its smooth, black, lacquered finish and rounded edges. And, like the iPhone, Palm keeps it simple by keeping external controls to a minimum.
The face of the device only has one control: a centre button that will take you back to the Deck of Card view. The centre key is a bit deceiving in that it looks similar to a trackball navigator, so there were times where, out of habit, we would try to navigate a page by trying to scroll up and down using the centre key, but you can only press it like a button. On top of the unit, there's a power button, a silent ringer switch, and a 3.5 millimetre headphone jack, which we're always happy to see. The left side features a volume rocker, while the micro USB port is on the right. Finally, on the back, you'll find the camera, flash, speaker and removable battery.
In its closed state, the Pre is slim and lightweight — it fits nicely in the palm of your hand and is certainly more pocket-friendly than the iPhone. Some have worried about the durability of the phone, since it's made of plastic. We didn't throw it off a building or anything, but we thought it felt quite solid, not cheap or toy-like. The only negative things we'd note are that the phone is a smudge/fingerprint magnet and the slider design can feel a bit rickety at times.
The sliding mechanism is smooth, however, and the screen clicks securely into place when pushed up. There's a bit of a curve to the phone in its open state, and we preferred keeping it that way when talking on the phone, since it felt more comfortable against our cheek. The slider also, obviously, houses the Pre's full mechanical QWERTY keyboard.
The lack of a physical keyboard was a big reason why some people chose not to buy the iPhone. There will be those who argue that the iPhone's on-screen keyboard is fine and just needs some getting used to, which is fair enough. I was still able to type faster using the Pre's keyboard than the iPhone's, but I also have small hands so it was easier for me to punch the keys. However, I can definitely see people with larger thumbs having problems and, unfortunately, there's no on-screen keyboard option at this point.
Touchscreen
We have to say the Pre's display is one of the main highlights of the phone. It measures 3.1 inches diagonally, so it's smaller than the iPhone's and some other touchscreen devices, such as the T-Mobile G1 and the Samsung Omnia, but what it lacks in size, the Pre makes up for in quality.
The 24-bit colour HVGA display is vibrant and sharp with its 320x480-pixel resolution. Images, text and web pages all looked amazing. We'd say it's on par with, if not just slightly crisper looking than, the iPhone's screen. The Pre's display has a built-in accelerometer so the screen orientation will automatically change from portrait to landscape mode when viewing photos, videos and web pages. The accelerometer is fast and changes pages without any lag. There's also a proximity sensor, which will automatically turn off the display when you lift the smartphone to your ear for a phone call.
The capacitive (meaning it responds to the touch of a finger) touchscreen is pretty responsive. There's no haptic feedback, but white rings will appear around an icon or menu item to let you know that the screen has registered your touch. To scroll through lists, you can drag your finger along the screen or give it a quick flick to get through longer lists. The on-screen dial pad is simple, with large buttons, and it includes shortcuts to your voicemail and call log.
The Pre's screen is multi-touch, which is a fairly big deal since the iPhone has long stood in a class of its own with this functionality — but not anymore. Like the iPhone, the Pre allows you to zoom in and out of pages by pinching your fingers apart or close together; double-tapping the screen will also achieve the same task. In addition, swiping left to right on an item, such as an email or call log number, will give you the option to delete it.
User interface and navigation
We'll say it outright: the Palm Pre isn't the most intuitive device to use, at least at first. When you fire up the smartphone for the first time, there's a brief animated tutorial to familiarise you with the various gestures, such as swiping right to left in the gesture area to return to the previous page. The gestures are also illustrated in the quick start guide, but even so, it takes some time to learn all the various commands.
The home screen looks easy enough to understand, with a simple tray along the bottom that includes shortcuts to the on-screen dialler, contacts, email, calendar, and the main menu (aka Launcher). Pressing the Launcher icon will bring you to all your applications and settings. It consists of three panels that you can swipe from left to right (and vice versa), and each panel is dedicated to a more general category. The user interface, in general, is very sleek and fresh, and provided smooth transitions.
The beauty of the Palm Pre is the multitasking capabilities, so you can simply launch another program without having to exit out of the current one. To do this, drag your finger from the gesture area up to the screen and you'll see the home screen tray appear in a cool little wave; from there, you can move your finger to one of the dedicated shortcuts or open the Launcher for a full list. If you want to return to any running apps, a press of the centre button will bring you to your Deck of Cards view where you can simply select the card you want.
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