Find out if Palm can kick some ass in Verizon Wireless' consumer QWERTY category, in our in-depth Palm Centro review.
Review summary of the Palm Centro (Verizon Wireless):
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_it00.jpg) When the Palm Centro was new to the Palm line, it made complete sense as an inexpensive, compact version of the Palm Treo. A year later, the phone lags behind the competition in both hardware and interface design. For scheduling and productivity, the phone is a real powerhouse, but those features are likely not what Centro users are attracted to as much as Web browsing, multimedia and messaging, and the phone falls behind in all of these. Not to mention the calling features aren't as easy on the eyes as the AT&T version of the same device. The Centro is still the best Palm OS device on the market, though it barely beats Verizon Wireless' own LG enV2 consumer QWERTY phone. And then, Palm, it's time to come up with a Palm Centro 2. Release: June 2008. Price: $50.
Pros: Tiny size. Full Palm OS for complete smartphone experience. Fast networking.
Cons: Interface and apps are getting very, very old. E-mail is behind the times. No IM clients pre-loaded. Lacks many multimedia features. No GPS or Wi-Fi.
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Full Palm Centro (Verizon Wireless) Review:
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Design - Good
We originally saw the Palm Centro design last summer, but it isn't a design that has grown on us over time. The small keyboard is as tightly packed as ever, with stiff keys that don't travel much. The dedicated buttons for e-mail and the like are flat and positioned close to each other near the screen. The screen itself may have the same high resolution (320 by 320 pixels) we like on our Palm Treo 755p, but this doesn't make the onscreen buttons any easier to press, given the Centro's reduced size. With all of these criticisms, we haven't even leveled our sights on the aging interface, which is getting to look very dated, indeed.
This isn't to say the design isn't good. It's a compact smartphone, but it's still very comfortable to hold during calls. It's very fast not only in terms of Web browsing and network speeds, but also when it comes to simply navigating menus and opening applications. The interface is never pretty, but it's always simple and easy to use. Unfortunately, it hasn't been improved in the year since we first saw it.
Calling - Very good
The Palm Centro on Verizon Wireless makes phone calls that sound very good, but it doesn't quite match the ease-of-use of the AT&T version of the same phone. Calls were clean and clear, even though we only saw a single bar of coverage in our lower Manhattan Verizon dead-zone of an office. We managed a single call that lasted more than four hours, which is good, but not quite as good as the slower, EDGE-only Palm Centro on AT&T. The Verizon Wireless version also lacks the AT&T Centro's improved dialing screen, and conference calling on the Verizon version was a confusing mess, while the AT&T version makes this feature easy and looks good doing it.
Voice Dial is thankfully free on this Palm Centro, and the speaker-independent voice dialing app worked perfectly in our tests. The speakerphone was loud, though not abusive enough for our taste. The contact list isn't much to look at, but it packs plenty of fields, including a few custom fields to add whatever details you like. We synchronized our phone easily with our Outlook contacts, and had no trouble pairing the device with a Bluetooth headset for handsfree chatting.
Messaging - Mediocre
The aging Palm OS just can't compete with the newer messaging features found on other phones. Verizon's Wireless Sync did a fine job of getting our e-mail onto the device, but once on the phone, it wasn't very pretty, literally. The e-mail is black-and-white, very textual, and relies heavily on menu digging and keyboard shortcuts. We miss HTML e-mail and other niceties that improve the messaging experience. Verizon Wireless also failed to bundle any instant messaging clients with their version of the Palm Centro. Though we've used some good third-party IM clients on Palm in the past, it's always nicer to have a pre-loaded, free client on board from the start. Typing on the Palm Centro is also very difficult. The keyboard is tiny, so only the daintiest of fingers need apply.
Scheduling and productivity - Very good
Don't let the phone's small size and bargain price fool you. The Centro includes every ounce of productivity muscle you'd expect from a Palm device. The phone comes loaded with DataViz's DocumentsToGo for editing and even creating Microsoft Office documents, including simple PowerPoint presentations. The calendar app is also plenty robust, with good synchronization features. It isn't quite as thorough as the mobile Outlook calendar and scheduler on Windows Mobile phones, but it is at least comparable to the BlackBerry Pearl's calendar app.
Multimedia - Good
We took some time during this review to dig into the latest version of PocketTunes, the music player that comes with the Palm Centro, and we were generally impressed with what we found. The application has plenty of options, including customizable EQ settings and a good playlist creator. Still, it looks very bland, and most of the best features are hidden under multiple menu layers.
The Palm Centro on Verizon Wireless also lacks all of Verizon's V Cast features. This means no music or video store, and though we're usually not enthusiastic about the over-the-air download services, this phone could use a little extra in the multimedia department.
Web browsing - Mediocre
The Blazer browser is reflective of Palm itself. It's quick and old. Over Verizon Wireless' EV-DO network, Web pages loaded very quickly, but usually looked simplified or poorly laid out. Pictures came through very cleanly, and the Web browser was certainly usable, but pages didn't have that perfect, fresh-from-the-desktop look that we've come to appreciate on the Apple iPhone's Safari browser, or even the S60 browser we see on Nokia's best phones, like the Nokia E66.
Price and availability
The Palm Centro is available now from Verizon Wireless for $50 with a two-year contract agreement.
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