Palm Pixi Plus (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: Palm Part number: palmpixiplus
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- While not a major overhaul, the Palm Pixi Plus adds built-in Wi-Fi and gives customers making the jump from a feature phone to a smartphone even more functionality without breaking the bank.
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CNET editors' review
Palm Pixi Plus (Verizon Wireless) price range: $34.20 - $69.99
- Reviewed by: Bonnie Cha
- Reviewed on: 01/20/2010
- Released on: 01/25/2010
The good: The Palm Pixi Plus brings the addition of Wi-Fi and the capability to use the smartphone as a mobile hot spot. The sleek handset also offers Bluetooth, 3G, and GPS. The multitasking features of Palm WebOS continues to be one of the highlights.
The bad: The smartphone can be sluggish. The camera lacks editing options, and picture quality is pretty poor. No expansion slot.
The bottom line: While not a major overhaul, the Palm Pixi Plus adds built-in Wi-Fi and gives customers making the jump from a feature phone to a smartphone even more functionality without breaking the bank.
Announced alongside the Palm Pre Plus at CES 2010, the Palm Pixi Plus will be making its way to Verizon shelves on January 25. Like its Sprint counterpart, the Pixi Plus is aimed at those ready to make the jump from a feature phone to a smartphone and although it doesn't bring quite as many upgrades or enhancements as the Pre Plus, it has one major feature that the Sprint Palm Pixi doesn't have, and that's integrated Wi-Fi. The extra connectivity is most certainly a welcome addition and Verizon and Palm sweeten the deal even more by allowing you to use the smartphone as a Wi-Fi router with a new mobile hot spot app.
The smartphone can be sluggish at times, so don't expect this to be your business sidekick. However, it's a good fit for first-time smartphone users, offering ease of use and all the basic organizing features and then some. Unlike the entry-level RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530, you also get the benefit of a multitouch screen and a better browser. The Palm Pixi Plus will cost $99.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate a bit more justifiable. Of course, be aware that on top of this price you will need to sign up for voice and data plans (Verizon recently revamped its voice plans, which starts at $39.99 per month for 450 anytime minutes nationwide (you can find the new prices here), while Verizon's unlimited data plan remains $29.99 per month) and if you want to use the mobile hot spot feature, that will also cost you an additional $40 per month.
Design
The Palm Pixi Plus is nearly identical in design to the Sprint Palm Pixi, sharing the same dimensions, 2.63-inch multitouch screen, and full QWERTY keyboard. Verizon also packages the Pixi Plus with the same accessories, which include a travel charger, a USB cable, and reference material. However, in addition to the limited-edition artist series backplates, you can also choose from one of five new colored back covers, available in blue, green, orange, pink, or black. Each costs $29.99 (the artists series cost $49.99 each) and all are compatible with the Touchstone charging dock.
For more details about the smartphone's user interface and look and feel, please read our full review of the Palm Pixi for Sprint. For more add-ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.
Features
Obviously, the big news here is the addition of Wi-Fi. Though more of an entry-level device and with 3G support, some might argue that Wi-Fi isn't a necessity, but we'd have to disagree. With all the data-intensive apps on smartphones these days, it's good to have another means of connectivity. Wi-Fi can provide faster speeds for Web browsing, streaming media, or downloads, especially when a carrier's 3G network is overloaded by users; it provides another method for getting online when you're out of a 3G coverage area. In the case of the Pixi Plus, you also get the benefit of using the smartphone as a mobile Wi-Fi router.
How? Glad you asked. At launch, you will be able to download a program called Palm Mobile Hotspot from the App catalog that lets you turn your Pixi Plus into a mobile hot spot or Wi-Fi router and tether up to five devices to share a mobile broadband connection using Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A network. This feature is exclusive to the Verizon Pixi Plus and Pre Plus but we should note, it also comes with a price. You will need to sign up for a Verizon 3G hot spot plan, which costs $40 per month and comes with a 5GB data cap. If you go over the monthly allowance, you will be charged an additional five cents per MB. For comparison, the mobile broadband plans for the Sprint and Verizon MiFi's cost $60 per month with the same 5GB data cap and overage fees.
Aside from Wi-Fi and 3G, the Pixi Plus also offers Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support and built-in GPS. As with other WebOS devices, the smartphone comes preloaded with Google Maps, which offers maps with satellite view, real-time positioning, business searches, traffic data, and simple text-based instructions. However, if you're after voice-guided turn-by-turn directions, you'll have to subscribe to Verizon's location-based service, VZ Navigator.
The rest of the smartphone's features are pretty much in line with the original Pixi and runs the same version of WebOS (1.3.5.1). As a phone, the Pixi Plus offers a speakerphone, speed dial, conference calling, airplane mode, a silent ringer switch, and text and multimedia messaging. Voice dialing still eludes the WebOS devices, however. For contact management, the WebOS's Synergy function allows you to seamlessly sync and merge contact and calendar information from your Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft Exchange, and LinkedIn (contacts only) accounts as well as view your e-mail and calendar appointments in a unified view or separated by account.
The Pixi Plus also ships with a number of personal information management and productivity apps, including Documents to Go for viewing Microsoft Office files, a PDF reader, a memo pad, a task list, a clock/alarm clock, and a calculator. If there's something else you need or desire, head on over to the Palm App Catalog on your device, where you can explore for the apps by category, popularity, or specific title. While it still trails the iTunes App Store and Android Market in terms of number of apps, the Palm App Catalog is starting to fill out quite nicely, and we expect it to grow even faster now that the Palm developer program is open to everyone.
There are no big upgrades in the multimedia department. The built-in media player supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, WAV, and AMR music files and MPEG-4, H263, and H264 video formats. To get music and video onto the Pixi Plus, simply connect the smartphone to your computer via a USB cable, select the USB Drive option, and then drag and drop your files. The Palm Pixi Plus does not offer an expansion memory card slot but has 8GB of storage space with about 7GB available to the user.
When you connect the Pixi to your computer, you'll also see the Media Sync option. It used to be that this would allow you to connect to iTunes so you could sync any non-DRM tracks (no videos) from iTunes to your WebOS smartphone. However, ever since the launch of the Pre, Palm and Apple have played a cat-and-mouse game where this feature has been disabled and then re-enabled several times, but for now it appears Apple has won, shutting down the synchronization capabilities with iTunes 9.0.2. It remains to be seen if Palm issues another update to fix the issue, but in the meantime, there are third-party applications, such as DoubleTwist, that will allow you to achieve the same result.
In addition to your own multimedia library, you can discover and download new songs over the air from the Amazon MP3 Store, and you can stream video from the dedicated YouTube app. Unlike Sprint, Verizon does not include its V Cast music and video services on the Pixi Plus, though they may be added in the future.
As before, the Pixi Plus is equipped with a 2-megapixel camera. Though there is a flash, you don't get any editing options such as white balance, and picture quality isn't all that great. Images came out grainy and a bit dark, while the flash sometimes just blew out the picture completely. On the bright side, video recording will be added soon to all Palm WebOS devices. Palm is scheduled to release a WebOS 1.4 over-the-air update sometime in February, which will bring not only video recording and editing, but also a Flash plug-in for the browser.
Performance
We tested the dual-band (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO Rev. A) Palm Pixi Plus in New York using Verizon service, and call quality was good. On our side, there was very little background noise or voice distortion, allowing us to enjoy conversation without any type of disruption and we had no problem using an airline's voice-automated response system. Friends also reported clear audio on their end of the call. Speakerphone quality was acceptable, providing decent sound with enough volume to hear even in louder environments. We had no problems pairing the smartphone with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset or the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones.
Verizon's 3G network provided reliable coverage and impressive speeds as we roamed around Manhattan. In an average of three tests, CNET's full site came up in 26 seconds, while CNN and ESPN's mobile sites loaded in 7 seconds and 10 seconds, respectively. Unfortunately, the Palm Mobile Hotspot app wasn't preloaded on our review unit, so we couldn't try out the feature on our Pixi Plus (see our review of the Palm Pre Plus for more on this). YouTube clips took a couple of seconds to buffer, but we were really impressed by the smooth playback.
The Palm Pixi didn't knock our socks off with its general performance, and the Pixi Plus doesn't either. There are still pauses when launching apps or switching tasks, but the smartphone does feel a bit snappier than the original, as the delays didn't feel quite as crippling as it did on the Pixi. The Palm Pixi Plus is equipped with an 1,150mAh lithium ion, user-replaceable battery with a rated talk time of 5.2 hours and up to 14 days of standby time. In our battery drain tests, we got 5.5 hours of continuous talk time on a single charge. According to FCC radiation tests, the Pixi Plus has a digital SAR rating of 1.47 watts per kilogram.**
User reviews
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Palm OS faithful will be PLEASANTLY surprised.
by CapsWinTheCup on January 27, 2010
Pros: -Lightweight
-Sleek design
-WebOS=customizable
-Responsive touch screen
-Wifi
-Easy to sync Centro info
-Practical lit bar under screen to help navigate
-Great push email
-Battery life seems to rival that of my Centro
-Crystal clear callsCons: -NO option for removable memory
-No FlashPlayer support yet
-Much softer vibration than Centro
-No LED notification light (waiting for an app to double the lit bar as this)
-Not many "big name" apps (i.e. ESPN , eBay ,etc)Summary: I bought a new Pixi Plus the first day they were available (1/25/10) as I have been anticipating a Web OS Palm to come out for Verizon. I ...
Summary: I bought a new Pixi Plus the first day they were available (1/25/10) as I have been anticipating a Web OS Palm to come out for Verizon. I previously had a Centro that was very hard for me to part with as I had become so accustomed to features like the calendar, task list, alarm, texting, etc. Finally, I stepped up and made the change. So far, I'm glad I did.
As I pointed out in the "cons," the fact that the phone has NO removable memory was closer than I can describe to being a deal-breaker. Not that using a USB cord is a pain to transfer media, but once you don't have that luxury- you notice! (8GB memory is included internally & is plenty for my needs, but may not be for others). I have not experienced any lagging as described by some Sprint Pixi users, but I am already impatient in waiting for the Flash Player compatibility issue to be resolved (which will reportedly be soon) even though I have only been a Pixi Plus owner for three days. Some people have complained about the keyboard size but it is absolutely perfect for my petite hands (and similar to the Centro's).
Otherwise, the phone really is a GEM for the Palm OS faithful. Sure, it is a big change but it is well worth exploring.
My boyfriend has Sprint, but aslo had a Centro while I did (2+ years!) and we could not picture having other phones. Because of the success I've had with my Pixi Plus, he is venturing to replace his Centro tomorrow with a Pixi as well. THAT says something.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Palm Pixi is a great smartphone
by DoesthePhoneWork on March 4, 2010
Pros: Call quality is very good (can't say that about iPhone). Touch screen is easy and fun. Love that you just start typing out a word or name and Pixi instantly sends you to Google, Google Maps, Wikipedia, Twitter or the app you need.
Cons: Some nickpicks, but nothing that dissuaded me from buying. Keys are small, but I've adatpted (makes this maybe good choice for women) For Verizon customers, doesn't sync with backup assistant - you have to download to Outlook then sync.
Summary: The Palms apparently aren't selling well, but it's a mystery to me. With 2-year contract this phone only cost me $30 and it's everything I needed - ...
Summary: The Palms apparently aren't selling well, but it's a mystery to me. With 2-year contract this phone only cost me $30 and it's everything I needed - great alternative to IPhone (better in my opinion). I'm having a lot of fun with the Pixi!
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Still Not Use to my phone after 5 mounths of using it
by visicomm on August 11, 2011
Pros: Small
good keybord
webosCons: Not compatible With Palm Os apps
web brower sucks
uses a LOT of data!Summary: After having palm products since 2005 and then having my first palm phone the palm centro I thought I need an updated phone so I got the palm pixi plus ...
Summary: After having palm products since 2005 and then having my first palm phone the palm centro I thought I need an updated phone so I got the palm pixi plus on verizon with the 150mb that I used for my centro Now that I have the phone I can tell you I cant go on the web that much Like I used to do with my palm centro it uses data for every thing even the bulit in help app I cant use my favorite mobile brower blazer because its palm os not webos If you have been a palm Os user for many years stick with your old palm os phone because this phone is nothing like palm os at all!
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Worst phone i've ever owned
by millebell on August 9, 2011
Pros: I like the set up, the general features
Cons: it shuts it self off up to 10 times per day
it takes 5 to 7 minutes to reboot
drops several calls
can't access very many internet sitesSummary: I have had a lot of phones but this is by far the worst phone i have ever had, i wish i would have never gotten it and the store ...
Summary: I have had a lot of phones but this is by far the worst phone i have ever had, i wish i would have never gotten it and the store says i have to wait until next march to upgrade it or pay over $200 for a new one.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good phone overall for a free one
by jasb2797 on January 11, 2011
Pros: The product is easy to use, wifi capable and has good apps. I like the Pandora app which allows me to listen to all types of music relatively commercial free. It's easy to upload pictures to Facebook.
Cons: Battery life was an issue...see below. AT&T service. There is sometimes a need to reboot in order to get a signal.
Summary: Some have complained about the low battery life. I was having a problem until I realized that it was always hunting for a signal (AT&T drawback) which would ...
Summary: Some have complained about the low battery life. I was having a problem until I realized that it was always hunting for a signal (AT&T drawback) which would run the battery down. In non-signal areas I switch to airplane mode which stops the searching.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent and stylish.
by JoeZiehmer on December 18, 2010
Pros: Wifi, gaming, word processing, and networking administration.
Cons: Small keyboard
Summary: The Palm Pixi+ is one of the greatest smart phones ever released on the market. While others want the Apple for name only the home brewing technologies are the closer ...
Summary: The Palm Pixi+ is one of the greatest smart phones ever released on the market. While others want the Apple for name only the home brewing technologies are the closer for me. With overclocking, modifications, and great touch screen support this is the best phone I have ever had. The camera and video will make Christmas more memorable for the function of retaining it and having my girlfriend make it into a slide show. WebOS and the abilities of several Linux packages make this one of the best by far of all industrial smart phones.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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cute&quirky.good in a girlfriend,not so good in a phone
by pinball100 on October 1, 2010
Pros: Form factor is great. fits easily in a shirt pocket. Fits well in hand. keyboard is small but works well. the swiping function to move and minimize windows is clever. Screen is bright and easy to read.
Cons: Okay, this may be the one phone, but it does very strange things in phone mode. It has dialed other calls in the middle of a call. drops calls. have to get rid of dial pad during a call or it will start dialing...this is bordering on unusable.
Summary: Works great for everything I do except longer conference calls. That is where the trouble starts. They are sending me another Pixi Plus. I will report if that fixes the ...
Summary: Works great for everything I do except longer conference calls. That is where the trouble starts. They are sending me another Pixi Plus. I will report if that fixes the issue. Does anyone else have these issues with this phone?
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Everything a Smartphone should be
by Pilgrimtozion on September 2, 2010
Pros: Appearance, ease of use, superior operating system, price (free!!).
Cons: Not as much memory as it's big brother, the Pre - but more than enough for the regular user.
Summary: For me, this is my first smartphone and I love it! WebOS is easy to use and makes adding homebrewed apps very convenient. The keypad may look small but is ...
Summary: For me, this is my first smartphone and I love it! WebOS is easy to use and makes adding homebrewed apps very convenient. The keypad may look small but is easy to get used to and ends up proving itself a fantastic asset to this phone. The phone is intuitive in nature and will make any user that doesn't want to pay for an IPhone happy - 'cause this phone does everything an IPhone does and more.
The price/quality ratio is unbeatable! Get it!1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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awesome phone, easy to use
by lysalynn2008 on July 3, 2010
Pros: easy to use, works just like a computer, has a wireless hotspot.. i couldnt live with out it
Cons: the ringer button sometimes gets stuck to vibrate or switches on and off, we have 3 pixi plus phones and it only happends on oone of them
Summary: i love it, its very durable, easy to use, wireless hotspot, can basically do anything you want it to do... it is an awsome phone, small enough to fit into ...
Summary: i love it, its very durable, easy to use, wireless hotspot, can basically do anything you want it to do... it is an awsome phone, small enough to fit into your pocket, and with having 2 young daughters, the family locator button is great
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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This phone is very good for beginning smartphone users.
by EthanSch865 on May 30, 2010
Pros: Free hotspot (only for a limited time). Very good touch screen compared to some other phones. Gesture thing works very well. Can run multiple apps at the same time, and keeps them very organized.
Cons: Sometimes the touch screen can be a little unresponsive, it is at some points slow, but never stays like that.
Summary: I think this phone is very good for how much it cost me. I really like it, and would never go back to my enV touch. Great phone for beginning ...
Summary: I think this phone is very good for how much it cost me. I really like it, and would never go back to my enV touch. Great phone for beginning smartphone users; it isn't confusing like some others i tried out.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Palm
- Part number: palmpixiplus
- Description: The Palm Pixi Plus phone features a thin design and fixed keyboard, making it easy to say what you want in an instant. And because it's Palm Pixi Plus, you now get Wi-Fi on top of all the great features of Pixi. You can flip from one open app to another using the touchscreen and intuitive gestures. See friends' contact information linked together from online sources and social networks in the same view. And choose back cover designs that let you express yourself. Palm Pixi Plus gives you a fixed keyboard and a touchscreen. And yet it's the thinnest phone ever. Text, IM, and email in an instant. Watch videos and view photos. Browse the full versions of your favorite websites. Then slip Palm Pixi Plus right into your pocket.
General
- Product Type Smartphone
- Form Factor Full keyboard
- Phone Design PDA
- Integrated Components Voice recorder,
GPS receiver,
Digital camera,
Digital player - Antenna Internal
- Width 2.2 in
- Depth 0.4 in
- Height 4.4 in
- Weight 3.3 oz
Cellular
- Technology CDMA2000 1X
- Band CDMA2000 1X 1900/800
- Service Provider Verizon Wireless
- Operating System Palm webOS
- Input Device(s) Touch sensitive screen (multi-touch),
QWERTY keyboard Messaging & Internet
- Cellular Messaging Services SMS,
MMS - Instant Messaging Services Yahoo! Messenger,
AOL Instant Messenger Service (AIM) - Supported Email Protocols POP3,
IMAP4 - Messaging & Data Features Text messages,
Multimedia messages (MMS),
Picture messages,
Instant messages,
E-Mail,
HTML Browser - Downloadable Content Music
Communications
- Data Transmission EV-DO
- Wireless Interface IEEE 802.11b/g,
Bluetooth 2.1 EDR - Bluetooth Profiles Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)
- Communication Features Internet browser,
Mobile Email client Phone Features
- Phone Functions Call timer,
Conference call,
Speakerphone,
Vibrating alert - Polyphonic Ringer Yes
- Sensors Accelerometer,
Ambient light sensor - Additional Features Touch screen,
Speakerphone,
GPS Organizer
- Personal Information Management Calendar,
Calculator,
Reminder,
Alarm clock Media Player
- Supported Digital Audio Standards MP3,
AAC,
eAAC+,
AAC +,
AMR,
WAV - Supported Digital Video Standards MPEG-4,
H.263,
H.264
Memory
- Bult-in Memory 8 GB
Digital Camera
- Sensor Resolution 2 megapixels
- Camera Light Source LED light
Navigation System
- GPS Navigation A-GPS receiver
Display
- Type LCD display - Color
- Technology TFT
- Diagonal Size 2.63 in
- Display Resolution 400 x 320 pixels
- Color Depth 18-bit (262000 Colors)
- Display Illumination Color White
Connections
- Connector Type Headset jack - Mini-phone 3.5 mm,
Micro-USB Battery
- Run Time Details Talk - up to 312 min,
Standby - up to 350 hour(s) Miscellaneous
- Compliant Standards HAC(Hearing Aid Compatible)
- Included Accessories Power adapter , Power adapter
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Palm products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:Palm
- Address:
950 W. Maude Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94085 - Phone: 1-800-881-7256
- Fax: 1-408-617-0100
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