Palm Centro Smartphone

Last Update: Review of Palm Centro by PC World (24 July’08)

Palm Centro is a smartphone featuring 2.2″ 320×320 pixel display with up to 65k colours, CDMA 800/1900MHz, 1.3 MP camera, web browser, QWERTY keyboard, hands-free, MicroSD card slot and v1.2 bluetooth. The Palm Centro smartphone is available in Onyx Black and Ruby Red (out Nov) on Sprint’s EvDO network for $99 with two-year contract.

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Palm Centro Reviews

PC World reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

The Palm Centro is an attractive option not just for Palm devotees but also for anyone seeking an inexpensive smart phone with a QWERTY keyboard…Pros: Petite, attractive design, excellent call quality and battery life. Cons: Lacks Wi-Fi and GPS, Plastic case feels a bit fragile”
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Trusted Reviews reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

“The Palm software has always scored big on ease of use in my book, and it does so again here. But the hardware suffers from a cramped keyboard, small screen and proprietary interfaces. Without Wi-Fi or 3G it lags behind the leaders in the Windows Mobile and S60 camps too.”
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Pocket Lint reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

“The good: QWERTY keyboard, Palm OS easy to use, small, touchscreen. The bad: No 3.5mm headphone socket, no Wi-Fi, no 3G, no Bluetooth 2.0, no Java and no flash for the 1.3 megapixel camera. Verdict: The Palm Centro isn’t a hip smartphone for the “youth” market as promised.
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MobileTechReview reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

The Centro isn’t a revolutionary, cutting edge device. But in its own way, it’s starting a quiet revolution: this is the first touch screen PDA or smartphone to sell for only $99 at introduction. And it covers all the basics well: good phone quality, web browsing, messaging and email (including push email) along with MP3 playback support (once you get a hold of a stereo headset). the usual Palm ease of use, strong PIM apps to keep you organized and a QWERTY keyboard that’s sure to please former feature phone users who are tired of T9. And we’re happy to see Documents To Go 10 included with support for reading, editing and creating Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. ”
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TreoCentral reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

The Centro is 4.2″ tall and .7″ thick. That’s a bit thicker than most feature phone users may be used to, but it’s significantly thinner than a Treo. Just as importantly, though the Centro has an “aggressive” curve on its backside — the effect of which is to make it feel incredibly good when held in your hand. It feels very natural…The important number is this one: 35 hours. That’s about how long I’m able to get off a single charge with moderate to heavy usage. ”
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Video review of Palm Centro by ShinyMedia;

CNET reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

The good: The Palm Centro for AT&T offers users an affordable and easy-to-use smartphone. The compact handset also features Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and a full productivity suite with push e-mail capabilities. The bad: The Centro for AT&T lacks 3G and doesn’t support stereo Bluetooth headsets. Also, the QWERTY keyboard is tiny. ”
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Video Review by PhoneArena;

PCWorld has a preview of the Palm Centro and writes;

“To test the Centro’s performance as a cell phone, I made several phone calls–with excellent results. The people at the other end sounded as good as on a landline, and they reported that I sounded great, too… Web browsing with the Blazer browser over Sprint’s EvDO network was a sheer delight. Pages seemed to leap onto the screen, especially from sites that have been optimized for mobile browsers. Even nonoptimized sites appeared quickly.”
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PamInfoCenter reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

“Because of the Centro’s positioning and lower price target you have to overlook the omission of certain features. After all, even with its ripe age, tired look and intermittent faults the Palm OS still remains one of the most intuitive smartphone experiences. By no means is the Centro perfect device but the smaller size and updated software bundle combined with the low price provide a decent value for a capable smartphone.”
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WirelessInfo reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

“With its small size, ease of use, and powerful feature set, the Palm Centro is probably a good choice for a chatty teenager that wants more than just a Razr. Heavy texters will appreciate the QWERTY keyboard; even though it’s not the best, it still does better than a regular phone with a small keypad. Parents will also appreciate the reasonable $99 price with a contract.”
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PDAStreet reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

“Call quality was great in our testing, with no dropped calls and consistently clear reception…Palm rates Centro is rated for 3.5 hours of talk time. With average use, we found it lasted for about 3 days between chargings”
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Engadget reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

“Firstly, this reviewer, having switched to the 750 and its Windows Mobile interface, had quite a shock returning to the Palm OS. We forgot how fast and responsive it can be, and it was a reminder of why we liked Palm to begin with. We know that WM has a lot more bells and whistles, Symbian is kept current, and the iPhone’s OS X iteration is fancy as all get-out, but Palm still shines in a lot of ways. The system is fast, has very low loading times for applications, and makes getting most tasks done crushingly simple.”
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PalmInfoCenter reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

“The Cento has a 1.56″ x 1.56″ inch, 320 x 320 pixel TFT display that supports up to 65,000 colors. It’s a nice screen and the smaller size isn’t an impediment, it actually looks a lot sharper due to the increased pixel density. It’s also plenty bright and is more than adequate for daily use when toned down to about 50% on the brightness slider.”
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CNET reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

The good: The Palm Centro sheds some of the weight and bulk of Palm Treo to make for a more compact smartphone. It also carries an attractive price tag and offers a lot for the money, including Bluetooth, EV-DO support, push e-mail, and a suite of productivity apps. The bad: The Centro’s QWERTY keyboard is extremely cramped and the hardware feels a bit toylike. The phone’s speaker is on the weaker side, and it lacks Wi-Fi.
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LaptopMag reviews the Palm Centro and writes;

“The Centro also comes preinstalled with the PocketTunes Deluxe (normally $39.99). This application lets you listen to your favorite MP3s, AAC files, and DRM-protected WMA tracks, which you can download to the 64MB of onboard storage when you sync your phone with your computer or by simply playing the songs stored on your microSD Card. Music playback was good, but the speaker is located on the back of the phone, so don’t plan on listening to music with the phone sitting on a table.”
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Palm Centro Videos