No, it's not 3G, but this budget-priced Treo still comes with plenty of messaging and productivity bells and whistles. Does the 680 hold its own against the smartphone competition?
Review summary of the Palm Treo 680:
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 While it's lacking the 3G capabilities of the latest Palm Treos, the budget-priced 680 still delivers the goods with its robust messaging and PIM features. Marking the first U.S. Treo without an external antenna, the 680 boasts the same e-mail and productivity apps as its 3G Treo brethren, as well as Bluetooth dial-up networking for laptops. That said, we're disappointed by the lack of voice commands and Wi-Fi, and sticklers for office document formatting should pony up to update the bundled Documents To Go application. Release: November 2006. Price: $200.
Pros: Stellar messaging options; solid scheduling app; powerful document reader and editor; easy PC syncing; Bluetooth dial-up networking.
Cons: EDGE data access only; no Wi-Fi; no built-in voice commands; some document formatting glitches in included Documents To Go 8 app.
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Full Palm Treo 680 Review:
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Design
Besides the welcome lack of an external antenna, the new, consumer-oriented Treo 680 is a dead ringer for its 3G Palm OS counterpart, the 700p. The keypad is still smallish, the function key layout is essentially the same, and the 320 x 320 display still looks sharp, bright and vivid. One interesting change is that the MMC/SD/SDIO slot sits on the right side of the 680, protected by a plastic flap, rather than along the top of the phone. And while the 680 is roughly the same size as the 700p (4.4 by 2.5 by 0.8 inches), at 5.5 ounces it's more than a half ounce lighter than its 6.1-ounce Palm OS sibling.
Messaging - Very good
As with the 700p, the 680 comes up aces in the messaging department. The bundled VersaMail app lets you check POP/IMAP mail, as well as Microsoft Exchange accounts through ActiveSync. The setup couldn't have been easier; we just entered our Exchange username and password and we were soon checking our messages, calendar and contact info. Those craving push e-mail can connect using Good Messaging, and Cingular's Xpress Mail serves as an able desktop redirector for messages, PIM info and even documents residing on your PC. Palm's VersaMail packs in myriad options, including copy/paste and while-you-type searching for contacts within the "To:" field, and you can view more than 240 characters in the message interface, far above our preferred 160. That said, we were disappointed the 680 didn't improve upon the 700p by bundling an instant messaging client.
Productivity - Very good
As with the Treo 700p, the 680 comes bundled with DataViz's impressive Documents To Go app, which makes for easy viewing and editing of Office documents. We had no trouble panning around PDFs using the stylus, and we could tweak formulas and view comments in Excel documents. We had some problems with images in our Word documents; specifically, they had a tendency of disappearing when we saved our changes. However, upgrading to the latest version of Documents To Go (for a $30 fee, natch) seemed to solve those formatting snafus. We were also a bit annoyed that zooming in and out of documents took a couple taps of the stylus.
Scheduling - Very good
The 680's Palm OS scheduling app is starting to look a bit long in the tooth compared to the latest Windows Mobile calendars, but it's still packed with features and a cinch to use. Tapping the 680's calendar button cycles you through the various agenda, day, week and month views, and tapping on an event in the week view launches a pop-up window with all the details. We had no trouble syncing our calendar with Palm Desktop or via ActiveSync, and could copy details from the well-integrated address book into an event with just a couple of taps. Well done.
Calling - Very good
In our tests in Manhattan, calls on the quad-band 680 sounded loud and clear over Cingular's GSM network, and we got strong reception on the street and in our NoHo office. Treo aficionados will notice that Palm has given the 680's calling interface a makeover; namely, you get tabs for dialing, favorites, contacts and the call log, which is a nice touch. The 680's conference calling feature has also been refined, making for easier group calls and simpler call holding and swapping. As usual, the Treo allows for while-you-type contact lookups from the dialing pad, but once again, there's no out-of-the-box voice calling, a major omission for a smartphone in the 680's class (although a separate app is available for purchase).
Laptop sidekick - Mediocre
As its model name implies, the EDGE-only 680 takes a step back from the 3G 700p, 700wx and 750v Treos with its 2.5G data speeds -- guess that's the price you pay for a bargain-priced Treo. The 680 allows for dial-up networking over Bluetooth, although we wish it also performed tethered modem duties via USB, which could simultaneously charge the phone while it's making power-hungry data calls. Syncing our contact info, events and other files was easy with the bundled Palm Desktop app. Like all the other Treos we've tested, the 680 lacks built-in Wi-Fi, which forgivable considering the 680's sub-$400 price.
Multimedia - Mediocre
Since it's only equipped with EDGE, the 680 doesn't come with the ability to tap into Cingular's mobile video offering, although the capable PocketTunes media player is included for sideloaded video and MP3/WMA music files. Web browsing on Palm's Blazer browser is above-average for a smartphone -- large, complex sites like the New York Times home page loaded fine, though with a few formatting glitches -- although it can't hold a candle to the top-notch browser on Nokia's new E62. Palm's recently revamped picture app lets you display slideshows complete with transitions and audio captions (a nice touch), while the on-board 1.3-megapixel camera takes solid, if not awe-inspiring, snapshots.
Related phones: Latest Palm Treos
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Palm Treo 700p
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Score: 60% When: May 2006 Worth: $250 - $650 Carrier: Sprint, Verizon Wireless
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The 700p brings speedy 3G data access to the Palm OS line of Treos, along with wireless modem capabilities, Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and even live TV. Ben Patterson gives this long-anticipated smartphone the once-over.
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