It’s been a while since we didn’t post anything on Technopoda. We’re very busy and don’t have much time to write. We still are involved in the Tech though. For more than a month we had the Palm Pre 2. We used it quite a while. I one day thought about buying the Palm Pre, but I quickly realized that Palm wasn’t big enough to create something really interesting. The product is nice though, software wise, Web OS is very interesting and is featuring some very good elements. Here is our review:

Hardware:

First, I never really thought that the Palm Pre’s design was amazing. It is a “fat” phone (it takes too much space in my pocket), the screen is meh and too small and the keyboard is almost not usable for someone with big/long hands (like me). The idea of that keyboard is really good though. But it is way too small, I would like to use that on a device almost twice bigger (a Galaxy S?). Moreover, the Palm Pre 2 is almost the same as the Palm Pre and the Pam Pre Plus. This piece of hardware is now “retro”, Palm needs to move on… One thing I really love about this phone though: its main button (under the screen), which notify you when you receive something (just like the Nexus One) and I love the fact that you can use it to go back in the menus.  We also loved the built in 16 go, even if there is no Micro SD slot.

Software:

This phone comes with (HP) Web OS 2.0. I must admit that I didn’t really know Web OS 1.+, but this OS is quite smooth, even if I think it is not fast enough sometimes – I’m an Android user, I like to go fast between menus, visual effects are a bit annoying sometimes. I really like the OS, the “cards” concept and the really efficient multitasking. I’m not a huge fan of the notification system though: then again, on a bigger screen I think it would rock. I really don’t understand the use of the “main menu”, where you have your wallpaper: unlike IOS and every other Mobile OS, you can’t put any icons or anything (not even notifications?). I think it is a waste of space. Another problem: there are not enough apps on the Web OS market, and especially free apps. Anyway, I like the OS, but it needs to run on a new piece of hardware and it needs to get modernized.

The Palm Pre 2 as a smartphone:

A phone is a phone, no one will argue about that. This phone is quite efficient: the sound is good and the way the phone acts during calls is nice. The speaker is decent. Palm knows how to build a phone, for sure. The big problem though is the battery and its autonomy. First, the battery is removable, that is good news, especially cause its autonomy is ridiculous: with a normal use (web, calls, pictures and Sms, but not “none stop”) I killed the battery in less than 4 hours (I almost go through a day with my Nexus One). This is really ridiculous… The phone dies within 2 days when you don’t use it (connected to the network), my nexus one can survive at least 3 days (I think more, but I never tried more..). This phone is really thick but it has a very small battery, Palm needs to create a new device! Web OS deserves better than this.

Conclusion:

I’ve been a little bit severe with that phone cause I really wanted it to be an awesome device. It has a really good software and a physical keyboard. But this piece of hardware is old and not good enough… I really think Palm can do better,  few years ago they created something interesting with this device, with some great ideas (the main button, the physical keyboard, ..), but now this thing is ancient, and for an heavy smartphone user (Iphone, Android, .. users) it will be hard to switch to Palm. Web OS needs apps, and it needs to get adapted for bigger screens, so much space is wasted…