Should you buy the Palm smartphone?
The new Palm is a tiny phone you're supposed to carry around as a secondary device when you don't want your big phone with you. It's a great idea, but it doesn't get performance basics right. PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.
What are the pros and cons of Palm phones?
One of the big advantages of a Palm versus an unconnected handheld/wearable, or versus a simple phone like the Punkt MP02, would be the ability to tap into your social circles. If it can't, then this small phone has a big problem. The Palm phone can use a PIN or facial recognition to unlock, as it doesn't have a fingerprint sensor.
What is Palm phone and how does it work?
Instead of running webOS, the Palm Phone is an Android-powered device with a custom launcher. While it technically works as a standalone smartphone, it’s meant as a companion device so users can leave their primary handset at home on the weekends.
Do Palm phones still work on Verizon?
A few months later, Palm relaunched the device as a phone that could be used entirely on its own. And now, the company is offering an unlocked version for the same price as the original — $350 — that is designed to work on AT&T and T-Mobile as well. Those who want to use the Palm as a second device on Verizon are still free to do so.
Is Palm phone good for kids?
Running on the Android operating system, Palm is a great first phone for kids, and not just because it's water-resistant and uses Gorilla Glass. It also includes location tracking and intuitive parental control options.
How long does the Palm battery last?
With Life Mode, Palm gets an all-day battery life. Life Mode users can get through a full day with Palm's intended use. Charge time: about 68 minutes.
How much does Palm phone cost?
$349.00Palm phone comparison to other kids phonesProductPhone priceBest overallGabb Z2$99.99Best kids smartphonePalm Phone$349.00Best for budgetsBLU Advance L5$39.99Best kids flip phoneJitterbug Flip2$99.991 more row•Dec 13, 2021
Can you use Palm phone as main phone?
Yes, you can connect your Palm on its own phone plan.
Is Palm phone waterproof?
There's an armband for it, and it's waterproof, so you can take it swimming. But also, being small, it's less immersive than your standard smartphone. It's less suck-you-in compelling.
Why is my palm battery blinking?
There is an LED light on the top of the Palm and it blinks 10 times to indicate when your battery is flat. At this point, you need to put the Palm on the USB charger provided in the kit. It charges through a micro USB port located on the bottom of the device.
Can smartphones last 5 years?
Can A Smartphone Last 5 Years? An average smartphone lifespan is 2-4 years. But you might still be able to reach the 5-year mark, if you treat your phone gently and carefully. However, at about 3 years in, you might start to notice that your phone's hardware is outdated and has problems handling modern applications.
Is Palm phone discontinued?
Shortly afterward, TCL confirmed its plans to revive the Palm brand on future, crowdsourced smartphones....Palm, Inc.Traded asNasdaq: PALMDefunctJuly 1, 2010 (company) 2011 (brand)FateAcquired by HP, retired use of Palm brandHeadquartersSunnyvale, California , U.S.6 more rows
Does Palm phone work with iPhone?
Your Palm can send and receive calls and text messages using the same phone number that you use on your primary device so that you can keep your conversations moving while on the go. In this video, we will go over how to sync text messages and calls between your Palm and an iPhone.
What network does Palm phone use?
Palm works with most major carriers in the United States, including Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. To use an unlocked Palm in the U.S. you just need a SIM card from the carrier of your choice. Learn more about band support here.
Does the Palm phone only work with Verizon?
A: The U.S. carrier unlocked Palm works with Verizon or any subsidiary networks of Verizon network. The U.S. Unlocked Palm is not compatible with the AT&T network, the Sprint Network, or T-Mobile or any subsidiary networks of either AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile using the same cellular bands and frequencies..
What can you do on a Palm phone?
0:275:37Palm Phone hands-on: an Android phone for your phone - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipButton on it you press it it turns the screen on you swipe up to unlock. It. If you double tap it.MoreButton on it you press it it turns the screen on you swipe up to unlock. It. If you double tap it. It will launch the Google assistant.
How can I make my palm battery last longer?
Five Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Battery on PalmTurn off background data syncing. Apps are constantly trying to upgrade, which drains the battery. ... Turn off Wi-fi and Bluetooth antennas when not in use. ... Disable apps you do not use. ... Use Life Mode. ... Minimize notifications.
How do you know when the Palm Ccell is fully charged?
While the Power Supply is charging, the small LED at the top of the device will light up and remain lit. Once the device reaches a full charge, the LED will flash 20 times and then turn off. If the device is plugged into an active USB port or wall adapter and the light is not lit, it has a full charge.
How long does CCell battery last?
CCell Palm Vape Battery The CCell vaporizer has a 550 mah built-in battery, which is good for 200 puffs before recharging. Therefore, this battery should last a day or longer, or at least 250 puffs.
How long does a Ccell battery take to charge?
Palm battery will reach a full battery charge in as little as 1 hour. While the Palm battery is charging, the LED light at the top of the device will light up and remain on. Once the vaporizer is fully charged, the LED light will flash 20 times and turn off.
How much does a Palm phone cost?
The device is still only available through Verizon, but the good news is that from now until May 1, 2019, the device is only $199 (assuming you sign a two-year contract with Verizon).
What is the back of a Palm phone?
Like almost every other device on the market these days, the Palm Phone features glass on the front and back of the handset , brought together with an aluminum frame.
How much battery does a Palm phone have?
There isn’t too much to say about the Palm Phone’s battery. It only holds 800mAh of juice, and even with the small display I got just two to three hours of screen-on time.
How to go back to home screen on Palm?
You can tap it once to go back, twice to go to the home screen, and long press to open the Recents menu.
What is life mode on a Palm phone?
Basically, the company made an ultra-powered Do Not Disturb mode that silences all incoming notifications and doesn’t show anything when the phone’s screen is off.
When did TCL buy Palm?
When TCL bought Palm from HP back in 2014, many hoped the Chinese company would breathe new life into the company. At long last, TCL has brought a new Palm-branded phone to the market, but it’s nothing like what once was. Instead of running webOS, the Palm Phone is an Android-powered device with a custom launcher.
Does Palm have a headphone jack?
As if I even had to write it, no, the Palm Phone does not have a headphone jack.
Palm features
The Palm Phone isn’t strictly for kids. It’s also marketed toward adults who want a smaller phone, so it has full smartphone functionality. Expect a high-definition display, two cameras, dual speakers, and facial recognition.
Parental controls sold separately
Based on customer testimonials featured on the Palm site, we expected this phone to have integrated parental controls. As it turns out, Palm’s parental control setup process involves downloading Google Family Link. It’s a free app, so that’s a plus.
Palm phone battery life
Because it’s a small phone, the Palm’s battery doesn’t last nearly as long as behemoths like the iPhone. But that might be a blessing for a kid’s phone—they’ll have to limit their phone time to preserve battery life.
Final word
The Palm phone is a good smartphone for kids because it’s more affordable than its cumbersome competitors. Adults won’t appreciate its poor battery life or limited storage, but we consider this a perk for kids since it helps regulate their phone use.
Palm phone FAQ
The Palm phone’s tiny size makes it much easier to tuck into a pocketbook when your dress doesn’t have pockets—or into an armband when you want to track a workout. It also happens to be a great size for kids to hold with one hand.
When will Palm phones be released?
But the finished product doesn't quite deliver. By Philip Michaels June 18, 2019.
How to unlock a Palm phone?
There's no fingerprint sensor on the Palm, which instead relies on facial recognition to unlock your device. Press the power button and a lock screen appears; stare at your phone for 2 seconds or so, and it'll unlock.
How much water can a Palm phone drop?
With an IP68 dust- and water-resistant rating, you can drop your Palm in a little less than 5 feet of water without any worry. And the gold band around the phone looks pretty slick, too.
How much does a Palm watch cost?
You'd certainly pay more for the watch — the Apple Watch Series 4 starts at $499 if you want LTE connectivity — but you'd get a device that offers the same features as the Palm in a form factor that's better suited for at-a-glance uses. And the watch throws in health and fitness tracking features not found in the Palm.
How many buttons does the Palm have?
There's just one button on the Palm — a power button that wakes the phone and puts it to sleep with one press. Two presses summon the built-in Google Assistant, while a long-press lets you power down the phone.
How long does it take for a Palm to die?
The Palm died after 2 hours and 38 minutes, which is more than 7 hours less than the 9:48 average we've gotten from full-sized phones.
What is life mode on a Palm?
With its focus on weaning you off your smartphone, the Palm's most notable feature is Life Mode. Flip that on, and you won't be bothered by any calls or texts. Once Life Mode's on and your screen is off, your Palm won't ring when someone calls, texts won't make the device buzz and notifications will remain as silent as the tomb. Turn the screen back on, and messages and notifications will sync up.
Face unlock and battery issues
Palm provides a form of face unlock with the Palm, and it works well — I really liked how it would work even when I rotated the phone. It's noticeably slower than the iPhone's Face ID, but, while I could live with that, I really missed the iPhone XS's raise-to-wake feature.
Average camera
The rear camera on the Palm is a 12-megapixel camera with and LED flash. Credit: Zlata Ivleva/Mashable
Not the phone you thought it was
And I say this as a person who recognizes the need to be less immersed in the digital world and live more in the moment. I don't bring my laptop to meetings if I can help it. I have set times every day and on the weekends where I consciously put my phone in its charger or on a counter and leave it there. It's also been banned from my bedroom.
Why buy the Palm Phone?
It feels a little strange criticising the Palm Phone, partly because there’s no precedent for a handset of this type, and partly because there’s undoubted appeal to its dinky design.
What OS does the Palm phone run on?
Palm Phone – Software. The Palm Phone runs on Android 8.1 Oreo, which isn’t the latest version of Google’s OS – but we’ve never encountered a phone where it matters so little. Google’s OS is largely sequestered behind a highly streamlined UI that’s got more than a hint of the Apple Watch’s watchOS to it.
How many mAh does a Palm phone have?
The Palm Phone’s tiny 800mAh battery, on the other hand, feels borderline defective. It’s truly abysmal.
How big is the Palm phone screen?
The Palm Phone’s diminutive dimensions obviously have a major effect on the number of components, not least its display. At 3.3 inches, this is comfortably the smallest smartphone screen out there.
What processor does the Palm use?
The Palm runs on a Snapdragon 435, which is an ageing lower-end chip made by Qualcomm. This is a 1.4GHz octa-core processor made using an outdated 28nm process, which means it’s both slow and inefficient compared to more modern chips.
Is the Palm Phone a failure?
The Palm Phone is a noble failure. It’s a device that bravely explores a new path to recovering some of the lost time and attention that successive smartphones have stolen from us. Ultimately, though, it ends up stranded in a no-man’s land of tiny text and insufficient stamina.
Does the Palm phone have a 3.5mm jack?
More consequential than the Palm Phone’s lack of a 3.5mm jack (USB-C being the sole external port) is the complete omission of a physical volume control. There’s a power button on the right hand edge, and that’s it. If you want to adjust the phone’s volume, you’ll have to pull down the notification menu within the OS.
How much does a Palm phone cost?
It costs $350 and shares your phone number, acting as a second device on your line in the same way a connected smartwatch would.
What does life mode do on a Palm?
If there’s one bit of custom software that encapsulates this dichotomy, it’s “Life Mode,” Palm’s cloyingly named feature that’s meant to minimize distractions. When Life Mode is on, the phone goes into an airplane mode when the screen is off. With the cellular and Wi-Fi radios turned off, you won’t receive any notifications.
What are the problems with Palm?
Here are some of the problems with the Palm phone: the camera is terrible, the operating system doesn’t have the latest Digital Wellbeing features that are ostensibly the whole point of getting this phone, the face unlock feature is likely insecure, there are no physical volume buttons, its custom software only occasionally helps with its tiny screen, it’s preloaded with a fair bit of bloatware, it’s terrifically slow, and (most of all) the battery life is downright atrocious.
Does Verizon have a Palm phone?
The Palm phone has been available for a few months to Verizon customers and on a few international carriers. The idea behind it is compelling: instead of carrying your attention-sucking phone around, you can carry this tiny thing. It shares your phone number, but it doesn’t share all of the apps and social media angst you have on your main phone.
Is the Palm phone a smartwatch?
Subscribe here. But the Palm phone isn’t a smartwatch. It’s a full Android phone.
Can you call Lyft with a Palm phone?
Where a traditional feature phone can’t call you a Lyft, the Palm phone can. It theoretically eliminates some of the hassles of getting a second phone.
Is Palm phone good?
Everybody who sees the Palm phone doesn’ t really want to believe me when I tell them that it isn’t any good. For one thing, it’s adorably tiny and decently well-designed. (It looks exactly like a little iPhone X.) People take one look and want it to be good, or at least good enough to fulfill its promise. But the real reason people don’t want ...
Overall Performance
It’s certainly not a powerhouse, but considering its size, we were impressed it even had the Play Store. The PVG100 runs on Android 8.1 (generations behind modern phones like the Google Pixel 5) and is powered by a Qualcomm MSM8940 Snapdragon 435 CPU.
Battery Life
Running on a non-removable 800 mAh lithium-ion battery, the Palm will be dead shortly after you turn it on. If (for some reason) you plan on using it as your main phone, expect to be recharging the device at least 3 times a day, if not more.
Display
If you can get past the fact that the screen is only 3.3 inches, you’ll notice that the display on the PVG100 is actually pretty good! With an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a resolution of 720 x 1280p, this Palm phone comes very close to the PPI of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro (476 PPI) at 445 pixels per inch.
Durability
Despite its small size, the Palm Phone PVG100 is actually a very durable device. The frame is made of aluminum, and the phone utilizes Gorilla Glass 3 on both the front and the back. It’s also IP68 rated (like the Apple iPhone 12 Mini), which means it’s invulnerable to dust and can last up to half an hour under 1 meter of water without damage.
Value
This phone is an impractical and unique device that will probably interest some people, but it certainly isn’t worth $249. It does offer all the features of a standard phone in a compact package, but you can get a similar (though admittedly larger) phone for much less.
Palm Phone PVG100 Wrap Up
Overall, the Palm Phone PVG100 is an interesting concept, but it’s not something we can justify paying full price for. If you can find it on sale then it may be worth the price, but for most people, this device simply won’t cut it. Of course, if you just want a phone that stands out in a crowd, then the PVG100 is the phone for you!
Kevin Foley
Kevin Foley is a writer from Florida who specializes in working with small businesses regarding finance, marketing, & technology. When he's not working on a project for a client, he can often be found listening to podcasts, enjoying time outdoors, or planning his next big adventure
What is the screen size of a Palm phone?
The Palm Phone has a 3.3-inch display with a 1280×720 resolution. This is one of the very few 16:9 aspect ratio displays launched in 2018. Powering the Palm Phone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 chipset with the Adreno 505 GPU. This is paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. To no surprise, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack included, so you’ll have to stick with Bluetooth for listening to music or the speaker itself. It does have WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, noticeably absent is 5GHz support. There is Bluetooth 4.2 with A2DP and LE support. Finally, there is a USB-C port at the bottom for charging.
What is the aspect ratio of a Palm phone?
This is one of the very few 16:9 aspect ratio displays launched in 2018. Powering the Palm Phone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 chipset with the Adreno 505 GPU. This is paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.
Is the Palm phone good?
Somewhat surprising, the Palm Phone actually has some really good hardware. The build quality on this phone is top-notch (and there is no notch). It’s the typical glass and metal sandwich, but it looks really good and feels good in the hand. Unfortunately, Palm did still go with a camera bump, but it is fortunately pretty small. The back and front is black with the metal band around the frame being silver. It gives it a rather nice tone. Nothing too flashy, but it does definitely look high-end. The Palm logo is only found on the back, unlike some other companies that would rather have their logo on the front of the device, which is good to see.
What charger does a Palm use?
Battery: Palm uses a USB-C charger that is compatible with any standard outlet for all-day use. With Life Mode, Palm gets an all-day battery life with typical use:
What is the best phone for a minimalist?
Palm is the best small phone for minimalists, athletes, and families. Your entire digital life now fits in a coin pocket. Perfect for taking a break from your big phone.
How many hours of battery power does a Mophie juice pack give?
Power through jogs and bike rides. The custom mophie juice pack for Palm allows you to get an extra 13 hours of battery power without having to stop to recharge. About the size of a credit card. Palm is small enough to fit in your wallet or hide inside your workout clothes.
Can a palm phone fit in a wallet?
Palm is small enough to fit in your wallet or hide inside your workout clothes. It fits everywhere your big phone can't.
Does Palm have a charger?
For international orders, go here. Battery: Palm uses a USB-C charger that is compatible with any standard outlet for all-day use. With Life Mode, Palm gets an all-day battery life with typical use:
