Palm Pixi Plus Review - Introduction and Design

Reviewed by: Emily Anderson - Feb 12, 2010

Introduction

The Palm Pixi Plus packs speedy Internet and a unique messaging system into its compact shell. The phone operates on the Palm WebOS platform, so it stays connected to the Internet at all times and offers real time update notifications whenever a text or multimedia message, email, instant message or social networking update arrives. The platform also groups messages by person instead of message type, making conversations fluid regardless of the messaging source.

The Pixi Plus has a keypad and a touch screen, a happy medium for those that want something more than a multi-tap or even a QWERTY keypad phone but aren't quite up for a touch screen alone.

While the Internet system dominates the Pixi Plus' functions, the phone is a bit lacking in entertainment, or at least free entertainment. The phone has plenty of room for extras like music and applications, but that's because there isn't much beyond the basics built into the phone. The Pixi Plus has the ability to hold numerous applications and keep owners connected, but the applications come at a price, and the integration of messages may create a list too long for some phone owners.

Design

Palm Pixi Plus Front The Palm Pixi Plus measures a pocket-friendly 2.17 inches across, 4.37 inches long and 0.43 inch thick and weighs just 3.26 ounces. The slim, all-black phone has a soft coating and gel-like keys arranged in a keypad located below the reflective, 2.63-inch screen on the phone's face. The keys are raised to a point where it's harder to make typing mistakes, but there isn't much room between the keys, so those with chubby fingers may have some issues. There aren't any keys just for numbers (they share room with letter keys), which makes dialing a number a bit cumbersome.

The back of the phone has dual speakers and the lens of a 2.0-megapixel camera and an LED flash. The top of the phone has a power button a 3.5mm headset jack and the right side of the phone has volume keys, a ringer switch and charger/micro-USB cable outlet.

The Pixi Plus has a sleek, incognito design. It's more lightweight and slimmer than many HTC and Blackberry designs that also combine a touch screen and a keypad, but the screen is still large enough to use to watch videos or surf the Web without squinting at the screen. The keypad, though, does feel the squish a bit and the keys are pretty narrow and close together.

Out of the box, the Palm Pixi Plus comes with a standard lithium-ion battery, an AC phone charger, a micro-USB cable and a getting started guide.

Next >

This article is Copyright 2002-2012 Mobiledia Corp. and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from Mobiledia. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact us.