Customer Reviews

Palm Pre Plus Phone (AT&T)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It is unfortunate that Amazon doesn't list the specs for this phone. The good news is that the specs are the same as the Verizon Pre Plus.

FYI, the Palm Pre Plus is a fantastic phone. Don't be scared off by the lack of specs listed here...

This is the most innovative, powerful, and easy to use smartphone on the market.

The wireless touchstone charger is amazing, and AT&T includes it with the phone. That's worth $40-$50 to buy it separate.

I ordered this phone via Amazon Wireless as an upgrade from my Palm Centro and the shipment was prompt. My husband has the new iPhone 4 but is envious about the ease in which multitasking can be done on this phone. The notifications are top notch and Palm did a great job. The screen, the keyboard, the OS, and call quality all make this smartphone one of the best out there. Sadly, Palm isn't marketing this phone enough. I would highly recommend this phone after using it for over 4 weeks.

Because there aren't really any true "reviews" on this product on amazon, thought I'd just take a shake at it. It's my first review with my first smartphone, so don't expect anything spectacular to come from this. ;) Rather than rehash over the same features that have been carried over from the Pre Plus over on Verizon, instead I'll just go over simple features such as build quality, battery life, and some of the AT&T exclusives.

Build Quality: 9/10

The build quality of the AT&T phone is pretty decent as far as a slider can be. The one I bought bought opened and closed with an obvious snap. While closed there was absolutely no wiggling when applying pressure to either side of the phone. I'm happy to say that this doesn't change much when it's open, except for maybe a 1mm give that nobody but the most absolute perfectionist would notice.

Another thing I noticed different on the AT&T Pre Plus is the keyboard feels better spaced than the Verizon version, and the buttons give more of a "clicky" feel. They feel the exact same, but when typing it's obviously smoother and more natural on the AT&T version.

Some of the differences between the AT&T and the Verizon version might simply be there because I could have gotten a very decent quality phone my first try. And the Verizon version I was comparing it to was a display one at a store. Other people claim to have a lot of trouble in many aspects with Palm products, so I may just be very lucky. Don't take everything I say here as fact when deciding, "Is this the phone for me?"

Battery Life: 6/10

Battery life is, unfortunately, pretty terrible. I've done all the tips and tricks given at [...] and this has added possibly an extra hour of life to the phone, but even then it still lags behind much competition. I get an average of 5 hours hard use, and 10 hours medium use. For most people this probably wouldn't be the best outcome for them.

That said, I can't really compare this version of the phone to its Verizon counterpart. The life may be better because of build quality, or possibly worse because of the version of Web OS on it. All I can say is that carrying an extra battery is definitely a good idea no matter what.

AT&T Features: 8/10

The only truly new thing on the AT&T version of the phone is the AT&T navigator. For the first 30 days it's free, but afterward you must pay (I think it's $9.99). The phone as a GPS worked well, but didn't really wow me or anything. I think that if AT&T offered the navigator free rather than just a 30 day trial, it would've really made this phone compete against the Verizon one in terms of carrier specific features.

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Lastly I'll go ahead and say the price is, of course, worse right now on AT&T than on Verizon. On Amazon it's currently $[...] for the AT&T version, which is the same as Verizon if buying from the carrier's site. Unfortunately the Verizon version is only $.01 on Amazon with contract. So far the only thing that AT&T has on Verizon is the unlocked version, which is $[...] vs $549. If you want unlocked, then AT&T is the way to go. Especially because it uses GSM.

So which phone do I think it's best to go with? If pricing and features are your thing, then Verizon is best because of Amazon's $.01 deal and the free Mobile Hotspot is the best.

In terms of quality I'd say AT&T comes barely on top. Either way it's really hard to choose and ultimately it'll come to which carrier you prefer. They are both the same phone after all! :D

I researched this phone for a while before buying.

Reviews on the verizon website make it look like the worst phone ever. technical problems like screen freezing.

The AT&T website has mostly positive reviews, so I was not sure what to do. I bought it on Amazon bc of the great price.

I love the phone. works great and the ease of use with applications is awesome. was easy to transfer all my contacts and calendars from previous version of the Palm (treo) to this phone. screen is good. camera is good. works great as a phone. internet works well. keyboard small but not hard to use at all, prefer to i phone keyboard and crazy blackberry storm. an extra charger at work or car is helpful. easy to find cheap accessories.

love this phone

as for the screen, it froze the first day whenever a call was made/recieved. i called palm help and there was an easy fix. if you use a screen protector and its not on flat and even, the screen will assume there is pressure against it and will go blank when making a call, and wont turn on until the pressure is gone. so you think it blanked out, but the phone is just waiting for you to hang up.
simple fix - remove/replace the screen protector. the one i had on was pulled up and bent in the corner. the phone works great now.

I got it from AT&T on day 1. One word... Awesome
I am in love with webos now. It lets you do so much with the device. I was able to install all the apps that i need in no time at all. [...] is a good place to start.
One primary reason I went with this phone is the openness of the OS. You are no longer tied to a specific program or computer to manipulate the data.
As previous reviewer mentioned the errors in phone specs on amazon, check it on palm's website to make an informed decision.
Oh and that touchstone charging is out of this world. I got 2 touchstones (19.97 each with touchstone back cover) from radioshack. Try it and you will never want to charge it in the conventional way.

I've had my Palm Pre Plus with AT&T for a couple months. Overall good impression.
Plus: Very compact, nice operating system. Love the touchscreen with the back and discard with the swipe of a finger. It seems rugged, and the keypad is great for me. The basic apps as supplied work very well. I used Palm Desktop on my Mac, as others have noted it is not supported to sync with WebOS; it took some web research but I found a several step process to export that to my gmail account (I forget it now, one time only), after that the synchronization is flawless. The display can be seen pretty well even in bright light and with sunglasses on, and it doesn't crash. I most enjoy the mapping and other gps based apps.
Cons: Battery life is mediocre even with suggested precautions. Barely 12 hours with a 30-45 minutes of talk time. Camera is so-so other than medium range snapshots, and of course flash is modest. Number of apps is very limited at this time, not a problem for me as I don't play that much.

I bought this phone from AT&T. Its awesome phone great display. It has a friendly design you will be comfortable
while you hold it. The only problem I found the battery finish quickly I need to charge it every night. Also the app market have few apps compared to the IPhone appstore but this is not a big deal to me because all apps that i need are available.
Buy it and enjoy with webOS

Well, where can I start. The phone was everything I was looking for in a phone. Aesthetically,it is beautiful!! The phone has a shiny black face and a black rubbery back. It is slick and sophisticated in appearance. The phone is definitely sized appropriately. I was looking for a phone that was not rectangular or brick looking in appearance like the general population of new smartphones and the Palm Pre Plus fit the profile. It has plenty of curves and has a slide out vertical qwerty board that makes it so smooth. In general, all of its applications are simple to install and use. The phone is very functional and is exactly what I wanted in a phone as it has all the tools I was looking for. Great organizer, great calendar, great contact apps. Hands down, most impressive phone I've owned.

Pros:
- Beautiful and comfortable design.
- Great screen/display resolution.
- Responsive touchscreen.
- Multitasking: can use more than one application at the same time.
- Physical (slider) qwerty keyboard.
- Good call/sound quality.
- Good music player; great sound with headphones.
- Camera takes wonderful pictures.
- Camera flash can also be used as a flashlight.
- Can be charged without cables, with the touchstone charger.
- The proximity sensor automatically disables the touch screen and turns off the display whenever I put the phone up to my ear and turns it back on when I take it away from my face.
- Besides the calendar, it seems pretty fast.
- 3.5mm headset jack, unlike the Palm Treo (2.5mm); but most phones now have 3.5mm.
- Good web browser.

Cons:
- Terrible battery life. I can use it for a day with moderate use: I don't check emails on my phone and talk less than one hour a day; I use wifi for a few minutes a day. Higher capacity batteries are available, but they significantly bulk-up the phone and can't be used with the touchstone.
- Most Palm App Catalog applications are only available in the USA. I live in Central America and cant' access the App Catalog; therefore, I can't download applications from it. I have to use Preware or Homebrew (unofficial freeware), which only display some free apps, most of which are being tested.
- No application to sync with Outlook. I had to buy a $40.00 external application to be able to sync; and can only do it at my home network.
- Most applications are web-based; so they can't be accessed unless there's wifi or with a data plan with available service.
- Can't edit MS Office documents; can only view them. And - of course - can't sync any files.
- Small, cramped keyboard. I don't have big hands, and have to type with my fingernails. Also, the edges are higher than the rest of the keyboard, so the keys next to the edges are difficult to press.
- Calendar takes over a minute to display appointments over 6 months ahead/behind.
- Bluetooth can only be used with audio devices; which means I can't send or receive files from other cell-phones or computers.
- No zoom on the camera.
- Instant messaging only for Google Talk and AOL; I use Yahoo Messenger.

The Palm Pre Plus, is just amazing.
The way I see it, in terms of the OS's polish and design, WebOS is the iPhone's only real competition (until Windows Phone 7 arrives). I tried Android before switching to the Palm Pre Plus, and I just hated the ugly and awkward OS that is Android. Google services are great as always, but the Android OS is not really fun to use.

The Palm Pre Plus is also nicely designed and feels good in the hands, I love the no button front and I just really like the simpleness of it.

Although the Hardware is somewhat outdated now and the battery life isn't that great, trust me you will love the Phone.

Pros:
WebOS
-Multi-task is a breeze, WebOS is really fun to use and easy to learn.
Hardware
-Nice artisan design, that feels good in hands and can easily stand on its own feet when compared to current phones.
Memory
-16GB Internal Memory.
Touchstone Charger
-Nice way to charge your Phone.

Cons:
Battery Life
Small App Catalog
-Which will grow through time, so far there are some really nice apps.

Final Thoughts:
Come on people support this great OS. Give it a try!