Palm is back! At least, a smartphone carrying the brand name, anyway. The new Palm phone is a tiny handset, designed to help people looking to step away from their all-singing, all-dancing flagship smartphone.
The palm-sized device is being pitched as a secondary smartphone, which shares your phone number and runs on Android 8.1. It’s a Verizon exclusive in the United States and costs $349.
The minimalist device has full access to the Google Play Store and will fully sync with your iOS and Android phone, but it is designed for folks who only want to use their phone sparingly, perhaps when going away for the weekend, or out at dinner.
Palm puts your digital life in a device that's about the size of a credit card, so you can leave your smartphone behind when life comes calling. Learn more at https://t.co/j2aIvDYkDV pic.twitter.com/ggWlwtisXk
— Palm (@palm) October 15, 2018
The home screen icons sit larger on a 3.3-inch LCD screen (445ppi), with an 800mAh battery. There are 12-megapixel and 8-megapixel cameras along with the Snapdragon 435 processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. So, effectively, the credit card-sized, 62.5g device can do anything you want it to, but the experience is such that you probably won’t want to.
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The device comes from a Silicon Valley startup who purchased the rights to the Palm name from TCL last year. NBA star Steph Curry is an investor and “brand advisor” too.
We built Palm with a 12MP rear camera and 8MP front camera, so you can quickly capture that beautiful landscape or snap a quick selfie pic.twitter.com/eO7068c0Fb
— Palm (@palm) October 15, 2018
Almost a full decade ago, the new Palm Pre running the intuitive new webOS software was to lead the smartphone fightback against the emergence of the iPhone and Android.
The pebble-shaped handset had a pop-up QWERTY keyboard with a neat touchscreen interface and it going to be all things to all people. Except it wasn’t.
Fast forward to late 2018, and webOS runs on LG smart TVs and phones baring the name Palm are back.
This handset comes amid a growing trend of users seeking minimalist phones in order to trim back on their screen time. We’ve seen re-releases of classic devices from the likes of Nokia aimed at those who want time away from the supercomputers sitting in their pockets.
Are you seeking a scaled back smartphone experience to lessen your screen time? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
