The Palm Pre Plus is advertised as “smart enough for mom”. Over the last month, I have been testing out both the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus. Now that it is time to return them, I wanted to share my thoughts with you…since the vast majority of my readers are moms.
Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus
I found myself favoring the Palm Pixi Plus the most. As my regular readers know, I’m holding out on getting the iPhone until/unless Verizon Wireless services it. Verizon just has better service…in New York City anyway. (That isn’t just my opinion…independent tests show Verizon outperforming AT&T for reliability in NYC. I do my research before entering into long-term contracts!) Anyway, there is much to love about the Pixi Plus along with the fact that it comes on the Verizon network.
I like that it has a a touchscreen and a full keyboard. I can also see how the fact that it is really small would be a selling point for some. I both like and dislike the size. I liked it because it was easy to slip into my pocket. I could make phone calls and check things on the web wherever I went. On the flip side, it was very easy to misplace…I “lost” it three times! Once, it was hidden in a pocket of my purse. Another time, it slipped out of my jacket pocket. The third time, I left it at an event. Each time I thought to myself: 1.”That’s why I don’t regularly return review items. I’m going to have to pay for this phone!” and 2. “That’s why I don’t have a really small phone!” In each case, I was able to find/recover the phone, so all is well that ends well. However, if I were to buy a small phone like this, I would definitely cover it in a bright case so that it would be easier to keep track of it! The only other thing that I didn’t like about the phone was the fact that the screen would sometimes switch direction…leaving me twisting the phone trying to get the text to face the right direction again.
The phone service was good. Honestly, I didn’t use it that much…except for to call my husband. (My family and friends wouldn’t know who was calling them because it wasn’t my regular phone number.) There were no problems there.
There were several things that I think moms who like to keep things in digital format would enjoy about this phone. The contacts section is like a little portable rolodex. The online calendar is also helpful. You can see it in either a daily (by hour), weekly or monthly format. (I actually love that feature, because I like to plan that way – monthly, weekly and daily.) The ability to access your email (by storing your account) was also a helpful tool. I don’t know if it was just me (because I’m not super, duper techy), but I couldn’t access my business mail account for some reason. I don’t think that is unique to this phone though. (I have a Yahoo Small Business account that is linked to my personal account.) That is something that I would have to look into if I were to buy this (or any other) smartphone.
The phone has a whole bunch of other features that I enjoyed. The built-in camera which allows you to both take pictures and record small amounts of video was very handy. The picture quality was decent and it was very simple to send “on the go” photos directly to my Facebook account. My favorite part though was the mobile hotspot. When it is activated, you can use a variety of extra applications on the phone. I primarily used it for twitter, facebook and checking the web for information that I needed when I was out and about. (It especially came in handy when I was buying a new car booster seat for Michael at Toys R Us and wanted to compare some ratings.) My husband also enjoyed the Google Maps information when we had left our GPS at home.
So…yes, the Palm Pixi Plus was “smart enough” for this mom. There is one other Verizon phone that I want to test out (because it has a large slide-out keyboard), before making a final decision. Ease of use is equally important as other phone features for me.
Meanwhile, my husband favored the Palm Pre Plus. It has many of the same features as the Palm Pixi. The touch screen is larger. It also has a slide out keyboard, but the keys on it are much smaller than those on my current cell phone’s slide-out keyboard. This is going to sound really girly, but the only thing that I liked better about this phone was that there is a mirror on the back of a section of it (that I use to check my lipstick). I know…oh, well. Wait a minute, there is one other thing that I like better about this phone…it came with its own little cute pouch. It’s a little thing, but I think that all little tech products (phones, cameras, etc.) should come with a little carrying pouch. (That’s just an opinion thing.) Basically, this phone has all of the features of the Palm Pixi Plus except the mobile hotspot. It just has a larger, brighter screen.
In any event, if I were to pick between the two, I would pick the Palm Pixi Plus. It would be the smartest choice for me. How about you? What is the most important smartphone feature for you?
