Palm Pre (Sprint)

It’s the smart phone you can’t help but root for. Not because Palm (not to mention Sprint) is on the ropes, and needs a hit. It’s because the company’s new webOS out-innovates the competition in many ways. The eagerly anticipated Pre ($199 after contract and $100 rebate) beats the iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry when it comes to multitasking, and especially in how it seamlessly unifies your contact and calendar information across multiple Web services. Plus, the Pre’s slick Activity Card–based interface is downright addictive.

Of course, the Pre has its share of flaws—some of them glaring. Apps can be slow to open; the device has mediocre battery life; and you can’t search your e-mail. The bottom line: the Pre isn’t necessarily worth ditching your current (or future) iPhone or BlackBerry for. But it is, by far, the best smart phone on Sprint’s network, and a very strong first showing for the webOS, especially given that the company started from scratch.

Design

With its pebble-like shape and arc slider mechanism (which reveals a clever mirror) on the back, the Pre looks like a smart phone from the future. Its glossy black finish exudes cool, even though it makes sliding the display upward to reveal the keyboard a challenge. The Pre feels a bit slippery, but it certainly doesn’t feel cheap, although the plastic body lacks the metallic accents found on other premium smart phones.

Given that the Pre includes a full QWERTY keyboard, the fact that it weighs just a bit more than the iPhone is an accomplishment (4.8 ounces versus 4.7). The Pre is understandably thicker, but also shorter than the iPhone, measuring 3.9 x 0.7 x 2.3 inches (compared to 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.5). This makes the Pre easily pocketable, much like a typical BlackBerry Curve, only smaller.

To be this compact, however, Palm had to make a couple of trade-offs. First, even though it’s positively brilliant, the Pre’s 3.1-inch touchscreen is noticeably smaller than the iPhone’s (3.5 inches), or the T-Mobile G1 (3.2 inches). You’ll be zooming in often to read Web pages. The other caveat is the Pre’s cramped keyboard (more on that later).

There’s no question that Palm took a minimalist approach to the Pre’s design. The single center button beneath the display minimizes open applications or brings you back to the main dashboard screen (called Card View) at any time. This button also glows when you have incoming notifications.

The left side of the Pre houses two narrow volume buttons. Up top, you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack, Palm’s trademark ringer on/off switch, and a tiny, raised Power button. You’ll also need to press this button when the display turns off after a period of inactivity (which you can set). We would prefer that Palm let Pre owners use the larger and easier to access Center button for this purpose.

A power/USB jack populates the right side of the phone, behind a small plastic door, and the bottom of the Pre houses a back panel release button to access the battery.

So what’s missing? Nothing is particularly wrong with the design, but, in some respects, we think Palm left too much on the cutting room floor from its Treo line. Specifically, we would have liked to see a dedicated camera launch button (for grabbing a quick shot), or at least a user-customizable shortcut button.