The Palm Pre is a very good phone, and an exciting addition to the smartphone world. We enjoyed our time with the phone, and would have no trouble recommending the phone. But to who would we recommend it? iPhone users might be put off by the less intuitive interface, which would be a shame because they would miss the snappy feel of the e-mail and address book apps. BlackBerry fans might gripe about the smaller QWERTY with those grippy keys. That would be too bad, because the Palm Pre does all the great consolidation of e-mail, contacts and messaging that BlackBerry users take for granted, but extends these to social networking and Internet search, as well. So, here's how to know if you should buy the Pre. Do you use Gmail, Exchange and a variety of e-mail and scheduling services? Do you text, twitter, Google Chat and send messages over Facebook? Do you have dozens of duplicate phone book entries that need some organization? If so, the Palm Pre is an impressive way to bring a lot of disparate services together in an organized, intelligent way, and it might be the smartphone for you.
The BlackBerry Tour is a solid business smartphone with loads of messaging options. Thanks to diligent work by RIM building some very useful apps to connect to the major social networking and instant messaging services, the BlackBerry Tour isn't too buttoned up for business, and it makes a solid all-around choice. In fact, the phone has solid multimedia features with good music hardware and one of the best video players we've used on a smartphone. The screen is also fantastic, perhaps the best we've seen on a business device like this. Still, more and more the BlackBerry platform is showing its age. The Web browser is nearly useless compared to the desktop quality browsers you'll find on other advanced smartphones, even on new Windows Mobile devices. The calendar and messaging apps, while powerful enough, were downright ugly to use, and the phone still relies heavily on long, confusing, textual menus for settings and advanced features. Further, while Verizon Wireless fans have been clamoring for a new BlackBerry with a keyboard as an alternative to the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm, we'd have trouble recommending the BlackBerry Tour over AT&T's BlackBerry Bold, which can run all the same apps, but which also uses Wi-Fi. RIM has definitely polished the BlackBerry design to a glossy sheen, but there are better smartphones out there.
The Nokia E71x is an easy phone to recommend for business users looking for a powerful device in an attractive, slim shell. It's one of the better smartphones on the market, and certainly its near the top of AT&T's lineup. The interface could use a serious overhaul to make it more convenient, intuitive and downright pretty, and AT&T did little to improve this phone from the unlocked Nokia E71 besides adding a raft of trial software and carrier-specific extras. Still, the phone does a very good job at nearly everything, with e-mail, Web browsing and call handling as standouts. At twice the price, this would be a good choice, but with a starting bid of $100, we think AT&T and Nokia have a winner on their hands.
The Nokia E75 is more than a slider version of the Nokia E71 (or Nokia E71x on AT&T). Many of the problems we had with the latter phone have been worked out, leaving us with a more polished and pleasant device. In fact, the Nokia E75 is our new favorite among Nokia's Eseries business phones, and it's one of the best business-focused phones on the market. For features and productivity software, the E75 can't be beat, with advanced Office editing tools that beat similar Windows Mobile devices, and a better Web browser, camera and multimedia kit than most BlackBerry phones. The design is slim and solid, and we think it will appeal to buyers who don't want an obtrusive QWERTY slab up front, but would rather have a stylish phone with a hidden, sliding keyboard. Plus, the keyboard itself is wide and comfortable to use. The aging Symbian S60 interface drags the phone down a bit, and some of the signature features, like the Business / Personal switch, didn't live up to our expectations. Still, we think this phone should have appeal beyond the unlocked market, and serious business users tired of the same old touchscreen tablet or QWERTY slab would do well to give this phone a look.
With its silky, smooth keyboard, best-in-class business calling features and solid performance all around, the HTC Touch Pro 2 is the best Windows Mobile smartphone we've seen. It's big, but that extra size and weight also comes with a large slide-out QWERTY and an extra-large battery, along with just about every other feature you could imagine. Multimedia fans will be disappointed by the lackluster player and poor hardware support, especially the missing headphone jack and internal memory. But business users could hardly do better. HTC has crafted a dazzling interface and managed to keep the high resolution screen very responsive to touch input, as well as stylus use. U.S. buyers might want to wait for an American version with U.S. 3G band support, but zealous importers and buyers in this phone's target market should snatch this one up without fear.
The Nokia N97 wouldn't be such a disappointing device if it weren't supposed to be the flagship multimedia smartphone for the largest handset manufacturer in the world. It has some great specs, including that impressive 32GB of storage (expandable to 48GB), a solid, smart design, and hefty battery power. However, the touchscreen interface seems more like a few touch controls laid atop a standard Symbian S60 interface. When the Nokia N97 gets things right, they are right indeed. We thought the build quality, especially the hinge mechanism, was superlative, and most of the external design was spot-on. The keyboard was cozy, even with its unique layout, and our biggest problem was the lack of onboard apps to support the messaging features. In the end, we'd recommend a Nokia Eseries for serious messaging and business users, and a Nokia N85 for camera and multimedia enthusiasts. For true touchscreen fans, we'd look somewhere else.
By keeping things simple and smoothing out the rough edges, literally and figuratively, Samsung has created another fine device for their AT&T Windows Mobile portfolio. In fact, the Samsung Jack may be our favorite device of the bunch (to check out all of Samsung's AT&T WinMo phones, click here). Its battery performance is unbeatable, and it packs all of our favorite features, including super-fast networking, Wi-Fi, GPS navigation and plenty of support for our messaging needs. We even appreciated the thoughtful extras like the turbo scroll navigation button and the ample supply of dedicated shortcut keys. Had Samsung improved the Web browsing experience a bit and tossed out the proprietary USB / headphone port, we might call this our favorite AT&T smartphone, over our current darling the Nokia E71x. Still, for serious business users, this phone is a great choice, and a worthy successor to the BlackJack name.
The HTC Ozone on Verizon Wireless is a solid little messaging phone, especially considering the solid, low price. For a launch price of $50, buyers get a small, fast Windows Mobile smartphone, and if you've been turned off by WinMo in the past, the improved Web browsing and Interface design on this new Windows Mobile 6.1 device might win you back. BlackBerry fans will have to spend a lot more money to compete with this phone, which can keep up with the best of RIM's offerings in terms of battery life, Web browsing and productivity options. We weren't impressed by the selection of software onboard, and call quality lagged behind a bit, but for the price, the HTC Ozone is a great choice for buyers looking for a compact, capable device.
The HTC Snap on Sprint is a nice phone with some solid features, but it may just be outclassed by the competition. We like the solid scheduling and messaging features, and we would have liked the Inner Circle feature if it had worked properly. We appreciate the improved Web browsing with Internet Explorer 6, which finally brings Windows Mobile a little closer to the best browsing phones on the market. We loved the extra large battery, and the slim form appealed to us, even if the specific plastics and materials didn't. Problem is, two other versions of the same phone were already announced, the HTC Ozone on Verizon Wireless and the T-Mobile Dash 3G. Both of these have all of the best features of the HTC Snap (aside from Inner Circle, which we don't consider a best feature), and go farther with Wi-Fi. Plus, the starting price for the Sprint HTC Snap seems awfully high in comparison. The improved features and rounded look mean this phone is ready to compete with the BlackBerry Curve, but really it's biggest competition might be itself.
The T-Mobile Dash 3G is the best looking device to come out of the HTC Snap family, perhaps because it remains closest to the original. But while we liked the look and feel of this device, when it came time to get to work, we had trouble with the trackball and the unusual button and keyboard layout. We liked the snappy interface, with an improved look from T-Mobile, and Microsoft's newest mobile Web browser on board, equipped with Flash Lite support. Plus, for business users, there's hardly a better tool for scheduling and productivity options. The T-Mobile Dash 3G also comes with a great software package, especially for messaging fans and GPS navigators. Still, the phone comes up short in multimedia capabilities, and other T-Mobile smartphones with Wi-Fi also get HotSpot @Home calling, a convenient option for cheap calls, especially in dead zones. T-Mobile hasn't seen a Windows Mobile phone this compelling in a long while, and the T-Mobile Dash 3G is definitely a slim smartphone that's worth a look. But we don't see it knocking the BlackBerry Curve off its pedestal any time soon.
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