Palm recently took the wraps off the second webOS-powered smartphone, the Palm Pixi. This will be a less-expensive option than the current Palm Pre, and will have a different design.
The release of this device is still some time in the future, but I got some time with a proto-type and I recorded a couple of videos of it in action, and also wrote up my first thoughts on it.
Video Preview
There's more video in the Performance section of this review, comparing the Palm Pixi and the Palm Pre.
First Thoughts
I had less than an hour to try out the Pixi, but that was enough time to form some first impressions.
From what I can tell so far, this won't be just a scaled-back version of the Pre, but rather a device with a slightly different focus, designed for a separate group of people.
The Pixi will definitely be smaller than the current model, and while Pre's keyboard is de-emphasized, it's one of the main focuses of the Pixi, making this a device for people who are more likely to use their phone to update Facebook than watch video.
BUILD & DESIGN
As you saw in the video, the Palm Pixi will have a tablet shape, with a small keyboard fixed below its 2.6-inch, 320-by-400-pixel, capacitive touchscreen. It definitely feels much thinner and lighter than the Pre, but you give up some screen size and resolution to get this -- the Pre has a 3.1-inch, 480-by-320-pixel display.
Whether that will matter varies from user to user. I didn't think the Pixi's display felt cramped in my brief testing, but I'm sure there will be at least a few situations where you'd prefer a larger, higher-resolution screen.
There can be no doubt the Pixi will be easier to type on than the Pre. That was obvious from the first moment I picked up the prototype. The current device has a sliding keyboard, so it's sunk down a bit, and is surrounded by a "lip" that you have to work around. The Pixi, on the other hand, will have no such hassles. Its keyboard is going to be out there for easy typing. True, it's a bit small, but unless you have unusually large fingers I don't predict any issues.
The Pixi drops the small numb that's in the middle of the Pre's Gesture Area, and makes do with a small line that glows when you run your finger across it. This is a change I like, as nub looks so much like a trackball I kept expecting it to act like one.
Palm Pixi and Palm Pre Comparison Shots:
For those of you who like the exact figures, the Palm Pixi will be 4.4 inches by 2.2 inches by 0.4 inches (110 mm by 55 mm by 11 mm), and weigh 3.5 ounces (96 g).
For comparison, the Palm Pre, with the keyboard closed, is 4.0 inches by 2.3 inches by 0.7 inches, and weighs 4.8 ounces.
PERFORMANCE
I expected the Palm Pixi to be a scaled-back version of the Pre, and therefore to offer slower performance. That's not the case at all. The two devices perform at roughly the same speed.
Because I knew there would be people who have a hard time believing this, I shot a video of the two performing the same action at the same time:
The Pixi will run the webOS, Palm's new operating system. I'm not going to give a full overview of this here. The short version is that I thinks it's a good option for people who want a smartphone that can help them keep up with their personal and business lives while on the go, especially when it comes to social networking, as it ties in to Facebook, MySpace, and Google's many services. If you want to learn more, I suggest you read my review of it.
By the time the Pixi comes out, Palm will have added Twitter, LinkedIn, and Yahoo support to the webOS.
It's not going to have stripped-down software -- as near as I can tell, everything on the Pre will be on the Pixi, the standard apps and things like Sprint TV and Sprint Navigation. And like the Pre it will have an ambient light sensor, an accelerometer, and a proximity sensor.
This device will have 8 GB of built-in storage, which is twice as much as the rumors had lead us to expect. I'm confident that this is signaling that the storage capacity of the Palm Pre will have increased to 16 GB by the time the Pixi is on store shelves.
This model is going to have Sprint's mobile broadband service EV-DO but not Wi-Fi. I'm sure there will be complaints about this, but not from me. Most people like Wi-Fi in their smartphones so they can save money by not signing up for an unlimited cellular-wireless data plan, but Sprint's going to require everyone who buys a Pixi to get an unlimited data plan. On any device with this type of plan, Wi-Fi is practically unnecessary.
Items in the Pixi I didn't get a chance to test yet are the GPS receiver, Bluetooth, and the 2 MPx camera.
PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS
Palm's Pixi will do what it needs to, add a good second option for those who are interested in the webOS. It's not going to be just a cheaper Pre with bad compromises, but rather a device with equal performance and even a few advantages over the current model.
I expect one of these advantages to be price. Sprint's not talking about this yet, but I'm hoping it gets aggressive and prices the Pixi at $99.99. Still, any calculation of cost will have to include the monthly service charge for voice and unlimited data.
I'll bring you more details on this smartphone closer to the release... which we still don't have a date for.
