Palm Pre Plus review

Does the Pre Plus do enough to justify a re-release?

The definitive Palm Pre Plus review
The definitive Palm Pre Plus review

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The Palm Pre Plus promises 5.5 hours of talktime and 350 hours on standby, but on the modern smartphone, talk-time is very much a secondary consideration. Like most of the other top-end do-it-all devices at the moment, extensive use during the day will pretty much wipe out the battery.

Using push email, browsing constantly and watching YouTube is a real drain on the Pre Plus' fuel tank. Multitasking is a great addition, but it goes without saying that the more you leave open, the more the battery will suffer.

Palm pre plus

You'll need to charge it every day, without question, but what else is new? It does seem to drop very fast once it gets under 50 per cent, but touching the top battery icon at the top of the screen will let you know exactly how much you have left. It'd be nice if that was reflected in time rather than percentage.

Once the battery completely dies, it does need to be plugged in for a couple of minutes before you can switch the device back on again, which is really annoying, especially when you take into consideration the Pre Plus' epic start-up time.

We're talking nearly two minutes (1.47 to be exact) of looking at a pulsating Palm logo before it returns to a functional state.

There is of course the wireless charging with Palm's Touchstone technology, but that costs around £40 and we can do without.

Maps

Naturally, Google Maps is pre-loaded onto the phone, and the web OS edition is one of the better incarnations. The app pinpoints your current location lightning-fast, while directions searches are also remarkably rapid.

Palm pre plus

Both graphical and satellite maps render very quickly, even when moving around the map and using multi-touch to zoom in and out. If you're heading to a destination, a handy guide at the top of the screen gives you information on your next turn.

Palm pre plus

Android users now have turn-by-turn navigation, but there's no sign of Google deploying that to anything outside of its own operating system just yet and there's nothing like Co-Pilot or TomTom featured in the naked App Catalog.

Palm pre plus

Chris Smith

A technology journalist, writer and videographer of many magazines and websites including T3, Gadget Magazine and TechRadar.com. He specializes in applications for smartphones, tablets and handheld devices, with bylines also at The Guardian, WIRED, Trusted Reviews and Wareable. Chris is also the podcast host for The Liverpool Way. As well as tech and football, Chris is a pop-punk fan and enjoys the art of wrasslin'.