The Palm Pre Plus review

by Colin Hilder  |  February 10, 2010

Following the positive reviews for Palm Pre that appeared in the summer of 2009, Palm released on January 25 the revamped version of the Pre, the Pre Plus, with a double storage capacity and more tweaks added to the looks and inner workings. Let's take a look at what this pebble-like device can offer.

On the outside

On the outside, the Palm Pre Plus is similar with the simple Pre, keeping the same sizes, which are 59.5 mm (2.3 inches) in width, 100.5 mm (3.9 mm) in height, and 16.95 (0.67 inches) in thickness. The home button is gone, being integrated in the LED background, which provides a smoother sliding experience. The same LED spot returns users to the Deck of Cards home screen. The phone boasts an impressive 3.1. inches HVGA multitouch screen which really makes for an enjoyable viewing experience.

The keyboard has changed, introducing buttons that are easier to click, unlike the previous Pre version where the keyboard was more rubbery in style, and the sliding is swifter. In general, the Pre Plus is pretty much your average Pre, although not in a bad way. The pebble shape of the phone provides a good grip, and as the official statement said, it has a better built.

On the inside

The Pre Plus, launched for Verizon Wireless on January 25th 2010, has double the memory and internal capacity, which greatly reflects in the phone's browsing and using performance. Several apps can be open and in use at the same time, while the user can still enjoy playing a game like NFS.

As for the platform software, the Palm Pre uses the Palm company's Linux-based operating system webOS. The Pre Plus has planned an updated version of the webOS, v 1.4, that will appear sometime this month, as Palm has announced at the CES event. This update includes, primarily, the capacity of recording and editing video, and a Flash plugin for the webOS browser. In the last version tested, 1.3.5.1, the navigational system was replaced by Verizon's turn-by-turn application, and while it offers more on-the-side info like local info, weather conditions and news, the former navigating app, Sprint navigation had a more thorough GPS software.

A great addition to both Pre Plus and Pixi is the Mobile Hotspot app, a program that enables users to set the phone as a connection source for a maximum of five devices that can tap into the network across WiFi. While it may drain a little more battery than usual 3G, the Hotspot app is very easy to use, although it has an extra price of $40 for the first 5GB, with $.05 for additional MB.

While the overall webOS works good on the Pre Plus, there are still issues concerning the battery life for phone calls longer than 30 minutes. During such a lengthy call, the battery life can downsize significantly, and this is an issue that should be taken into consideration in future developments. Problems aside, the webOS platform integration on the Palm Pre Plus performs flawless, managing to joggle heavy use of multiple apps at the same time. While other mobile systems like the iPhone OS and Android share some really popular apps, the webOS is versatile and can be easily spanned into tons of equally cool apps, provided that Palm will manage to build a steady and extensive enough community of developers for their mobile OS. Which is not a far fetched reality, as there are already a series of interesting apps for the Pre and Pixi Plus.

This will be achieved through the open PDK, the Plug-in Development Kit with tools for developers to built apps that are as visually and content entertaining as the ones for Palm's main competitors, iPhone and Android. The Pre Plus is a phone that can surely compete in hardware (graphics and speed) with the iPhone, so there are high hopes for the pebble phone.

The Pre Plus comes with a 3 megapixel camera that can be used to take photos, and it has a built-in flash. Users can not edit the pictures taken in any way, but the photos are of great quality and even in low light conditions they have bright and clear colors. Needless to say, the touchscreen is bright and all menus and apps look beautiful and well integrated.

The Palm Pre Plus has a rechargeable replaceable battery that can last up to 5.5 hours of continuous talking, or up to 14.5 days in standby mode. Usually, the mobile Hotspot app drains the battery a bit more, so it's good to have around a spare battery, a charger or the charging dock, which comes in the form of the Touchstone™ Charging Dock (sold separately for $49.99).

The Pre Plus comes at a price of $149.99 for a two year contract and $100 mail-in rebate. Lovers pay attention! For an online purchase on the sole date of February the 14th, Verizon has a pretty awesome deal of “buy one get one free” that offers a free Pixi Plus at every Pre Plus or Pixi Plus bought.

So there you have the Palm Pre Plus, a phone both versatile and (really) good looking, shaped to provide the best in connectivity and performance. If developers get the taste of it and start building on the immense potential the webOS advertises, then the Pre Plus has big chances at being contender for the place now occupied by phone like the iPhone, Nexus One or Blackberry.

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