Editor’s Note: Portions of this review were taken from our earlier review of the Palm Pixi (Sprint).
The Palm Pre’s younger, less powerful sibling, the Palm Pixi, has returned, this time on Verizon Wireless with the same “Plus” moniker. What does the Plus include? Wi-Fi and mobile hotspot capabilities on a new network, with the promise of video recording and integrated Flash support arriving with the next webOS update in February. Otherwise, the Palm Pixi Plus is identical to the original Palm Pixi, save the Verizon Wireless logo in the upper right corner. Priced at $99.99 (with a two-year contract from Verizon Wireless and a $100 mail-in rebate), the Pixi Plus is a good entry-level smart phone for users who want a messaging device that can do more. However, for just a $50 premium the Palm Pre Plus gives you a bigger screen and better graphics capability.
Design
Not since the Motorola Razr have we been impressed with just how much technology a phone maker has crammed into such a thin and light design. Measuring 4.4 x 2.2 x 0.4 inches, the Pixi Plus is taller but much more svelte than the bulbous Pre Plus (4.0 x 2.4 x 0.7 inches); the Pixi Plus even has a smaller profile than the iPhone 3GS (4.5 x 2.4 x 0.5 inches). More surprising is just how feather-light this smart phone is, weighing in at just 3.3 ounces. Compared to the Pre Plus and iPhone 3GS (4.9 and 4.8 ounces, respectively), you’ll barely notice the Pixi Plus is in your pocket.
And yet this smart phone feels pretty solid in hand, particularly with the rubberized back cover. The front of the device is dominated by the display and lots of black gloss, which has a modern aesthetic but picked up fingerprint smudges quickly. The right side of the phone has a ringer switch, two distinct volume buttons, and a microUSB charging port, while the left side is completely clean. A small power button is on the top left side, and a 3.5mm headphone jack is to the right.
Two speakers flank the 2.0-megapixel camera lens and flash on the back. To personalize your Pixi Plus, Palm offers five back covers designed by various artists, which include Skull and Hummingbird designs. If artistic flair isn’t your thing, Palm also has interchangeable solid color backs in black, blue, green, orange, and pink available for $19.99 each.
Display and Keyboard
The good news is that the Pixi Plus’ 2.6-inch, 400 x 320-pixel capacitive display supports multitouch gestures, including pinching to zoom in on Web pages and photos. We also found it to be fairly responsive and accurate. However, while you’re not giving up that much in the way of resolution versus the Pre Plus’ 3.1-inch screen (480 x 320 pixels), some will be turned off by the Pixi Plus’ smaller screen size.
For example, when surfing the Web on the Pre Plus we can usually make out the text when we flip the phone to landscape mode, but on the Pixi Plus we had to zoom in first to start reading. Likewise, the screen felt too narrow for reading image-heavy e-mails and Web pages. We found ourselves constantly scrolling and zooming in and out just to read a full Web page. We also noticed that the Pixi Plus’ display was dimmer than the Pre Plus, though not enough to sour the experience.
Typing on the Pixi Plus, on the other hand, feels much more BlackBerry-like than the Pre Plus. Because this phone has a candy bar design (instead of slider), Palm was able to create a layout with raised keys. We were quickly tapping out everything from e-mail replies to Web addresses within the first few minutes of using the device.
