The Palm Pixi is official, headed to Sprint this holiday season -- we've got hands-on and video!
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted September 9th 2009 12:02AM
posted September 9th 2009 12:02AM
Along with the new handset, Palm will offer five artist-designed back covers in the "Palm Pixi Artist Series" -- similar to Zune Originals and Dell's Design Studio laptops -- which can be purchased separately... of course. Touchstone owners take heart: those backs, as well as a separate black backing that you'll also pay extra for, are all compatible with the accessory. In addition to the hardware, Palm will be introducing a native Facebook app when the Pixi hits, as well as new Yahoo! and LinkedIn integration for Synergy. Right now no date for launch has been set, though Palm says the phone will be ready in time for the holidays. The company is also mum on price, but coupled with the news that Sprint will be slimming the Pre's entry point down to $149.99, we have to assume it's going to be in the $99-or-less ballpark. We had a chance to play around with the new phone, so read on after the break for our initial, early impressions.
Palm is still tweaking the device, so we aren't making any final judgments on the Pixi -- though what we saw is mostly heartening.
For starters, the phone is really quite handsome. In terms of industrial design, the clean lines and smart choices in materials belie the Pixi's likely price-point. In your hands it feels solid, though it's shocking just how tiny it is. The standard backing is a soft-touch material (not unlike the Touchstone back for the Pre), and perhaps due to the lack of moving parts here, the phone feels really well put together. Just as with the Pre, the Pixi includes a ringer on / off switch and 3.5mm headphone jack, as well as a removable 1150mAh battery.
The body of the phone is -- as we said -- very small, but the thickness is where it really struts its stuff... or lack of stuff. The Pixi is just 0.43-inches thick. To put that in perspective, the iPhone 3GS is 0.48-inches -- which means anyone who has complaints about sliding a handset into their pocket should be swooning.
Instead of a center button, Palm has made the middle of the gesture area (part of its capacitive coating) take on the duty. The target is represented by a small, white slit, and the same gestures that webOS is known for seem to work flawlessly around it. While the screen gets 80 pixels lopped off compared with the Pre (and the iPhone, G1, Hero, and Storm, to name a few), it looked clean and crisp to us. The responsiveness on the main part of the display was just as tight -- if not tighter -- than the Pre, and that's a plus. Of course, webOS makes clever use of the cramped space by squashing card and app sizes down to fit. It's a tremendous example of the UI's literal scalability.
The QWERTY keyboard on the Pixi was also a bit of a shocker -- even though the keys are tiny and tightly spaced, it's definitely usable. The reps we spoke with noted that due to the candybar form factor and lack of a sliding mechanism, they were able to get more height on the keys. Besides the more pronounced buttons, the Pixi's keyboard seemed to have a more tactile click than that of the Pre, and honestly, we might have liked the Pixi's variation better.
Inside, the phone is powered by a completely different CPU than its big brother. In this case, Palm chose to use the Qualcomm MSM7627, a smaller chip which enabled them to mint the micro form factor. The CPU itself isn't dramatically different than the 7200 series, though it is noticeably less charged than the TI OMAP3 chip in the Pre. Regardless of what's cranking the gears, the phone seemed pretty snappy when it was demoed for us (you can see it in action in the videos below). We did notice a few hangups during big image scaling and heavy webpages, but again, this is early software on an early device.
All in all, we walked away impressed by the Pixi, but a little bummed that Palm has chosen to bring another webOS device to Sprint. Here's hoping that this proliferation means the Pre will be finding its way to other carriers soon -- part of Palm's strength right now is that it's not locked into a long term Apple / AT&T situation, and it would be a shame not to take full advantage of that. Still, it's always nice to see a quality handset joining the smartphone ranks, and if this pans out to be as cheap as we think it should be, Palm could find themselves making a lot of new friends... Centro style.
That's hot.
IT'S GOT A CAPACITIVE SCREEN!!!!!!!!! OMgosh!!!eleven!!! TIS is TEh Bombz!111!!!11
Honestly, I wanted some equal opportunity hate... I am disappointed.
Nice phone BTW.
I like it better than the pre. Now come on over to ATT plz. Mr. iPhone needs a friend.
@Jeff R,
Seriously, I'm locked in an AT&T contract over a not-so-great phone and I would love for them to carry phone.
Since the Pixi has a hardware keyboard, a resistive screen probably isn't necessary. Extra code would need to be added for resistive too.
Hot? I think time for eyes check up? ;) Really, the cramp plastic keys look so cheap.
Perhaps, I have my taste is too good for Palm? ;)
Yeah, that phone does look nice, but the hand model needs more thumbs.
from earlier today:
"HTC claims Tattoo's screen is too small for capacitive to work well"
Talk about an HTC *FACEPALM*...
But no wifi?
When it first appeared in spy photos, this thing looked hot, but without wifi, it's just a lightweight contender. Why oh why does Palm do this sort of idiotic stuff? They got everything else right, EXCEPT for not having built-in wifi.
Sure, they'll win a lot of early sales, until the complaints start rolling in about how it lacks wifi while everyone else has it...then FAIL!
Looks like a piece of shit!Can't stand sprint! Kyivstar is the best especially Djuice!;)
@all things considered
To be fair, the touchscreen didn't work all that well in the demo.
Obviously Engadget also didn't get the memo that the Tattoo has a virtual keyboard which would make typing impossible as opposed to the Pixi which has a physical keyboard. Seems like you guys just don't get it do yo?
FEAST MY INBOX, FEAST
That engdaget story about the Eos coming to AT&T was dated May 2009, so WHY is this Pixi thing COMING OUT ON FRICKIN SPRINT?
It's already "2nd half of 2009," so why is AT&T dropping the ball here?
Wifi isn't really as big an issue with a non-crap 3g network.
@Charlie
Maybe for some people.
I'm a cheap-o and I want free internet access at my house (well, not really FREE but you know what I mean), because I don't want to pay for the data plan.
Not having WiFi is a dealbreaker for me.
@mark
i think I need an eye checkup, i can barely see your comment.
Gerrrrrg:
If you have a good, high-speed 3g network on your phone why would you need wifi? 3g can stream video large enough to max out that screen no problem. If you want a fatter, more expensive phone with a wifi chip get the palm pre. I am glad that they cut wifi instead of 3g, 3.5mm jack, or capacitive touch screen when trying to make a less expensive, streamlined product.
@Bob-B
Oh god, here we go with the touch screen arguements again.
I'd consider the phone if they had cut 3G and kept WiFi, but it is dead to me now.
That being said, this phone is more aimed at the "average joe/jane" who doesn't care about those things...
But I'm cheap. I want a cheap phone with WiFi and a Smartphone OS - and RIM seems like the only company willing to give me what I want.
Goodbye idea of having a WebOS phone - hello UNLOCKED Blackberry Curve 8520!
@Bob-B
Without WiFi, you have to roam on Rogers Wireless in Canada and at some isolated National Parks. Good luck with that, eh?
Me, not so much; I prefer to use my WiFi at a free hotspot to check emails, and now, VOIP.
You can keep your Pixi without WiFi, and I'll keep my smart phone with WiFi and 3G.
@gerrrg
I'm not as readily convinced that WiFi is a deal breaker for most people. I'm definitely what you'd call a power user, and my HTC Magic has built-in WiFi, but I virtually never enable it. It's just easier to use cellular service all the time, even when I'm at home or work.
I am definitely liking this phone, but am I the only one that remembers Sprint exclaiming that after the Tour, all smartphones would have WiFi??????? I know I'm not just making that up, right?
The Pre and my old TI-82 had secks.
Can it play black and off-yellow Snake?
Let's see. We are talking about a Sprint phone right? Both the Simple Everything and Any Mobile Anytime plans have unlimited Data. Not to mention both plans have nationwide coverage. So wifi is really pointless.
I understand some of you folks in Canada and outside the US who don;t have an unlimited option with your carrier. But frankly, why complain about a phone that is exclusively for the Sprint network. Well, at least this version of the Pixi is.
@gergg, one main reason. battery.
This device looks soo nice. i want it except for the keyboard which looks like it might be a little bit cramped.
The keyboard on the Pre looks REALLY cramped, but I find it incredibly easy to use.
I don't have dainty digits, either.
@Sisyphus
As someone who also has very large hands, I have to disagree. A few months back, someone I knew gave me a tip that if I go to a certain Sprint store, I could play with a turned on Pre. The result? I thought WebOS was a pretty good operating system, but...
The QWERTY keyboard was absolutely horrible. Coming from someone who is normally used to the keyboards made by HTC (which is typically very nice), I simply hated the one offered by Palm. The buttons were way too small and the decision to use the bubble-like covering was a horrible design decision. It felt as if my fingernails were physically sticking to the buttons I press and the tactile response was very poor.
I was significantly surprised by my findings as I rarely criticize any phone's keyboard that heavily, but after trying out the Pre, it is definitely one of my major complaints about the phone.
The Pre's keyboard does indeed take some getting used to, but can be mastered quickly. It's not the best but it's functional.
@Mario,
Clip your fingernails, bro.
Everyone functions differently but I have to say I've never had a problem with the Pre's keyboard. I came from the Centro so perhaps I was already used to it. I wear XL gloves etc so my hands aren't small and I rarely miss a key. Again though everyone is different. Supposedly the Pixie's keyboard is actually slightly better isn't it?
@Mario
I agree.. clip your fingernails..
Wouldn't you have big problems with capacitive touch screens (virtual keyboards mostly I suppose) given that its the touch contact that interrupts the magnetic field.. which your fingernails wouldn't really do..
Otherwise, you could always whittle your thumbs down into a point like that dude :)
@Mike
"Wouldn't you have big problems with capacitive touch screens (virtual keyboards mostly I suppose) given that its the touch contact that interrupts the magnetic field.. which your fingernails wouldn't really do.."
No, I don't have a problem with capacitive screens. I simply use my fingers to control a capacitive. I'm assuming you and that other guy are thinking that my nails are so long that it accidentally touches things when I use my fingers. It isn't; I am intentionally using my fingernails to type instead of my fingers because I find it more comfortable and accurate (again, large hands, remember?)..
But from the high ranking he gets, I'm assuming no one agrees with me. That's fine; I don't care what others thinks, but so far as I'm concerned, the Pre does have the worst keyboard I've used.
Looks quite nice.
why don't you guys cover cool things like commercial copiers instead of crap phones?
Yeah, they do cover the iPhone a lot, don't they?
was i the only one that sensed the sarcasm in this post?
@ David
The only garbage phones that Engadet still covers are WinMo phones. Thankfully 3rd party manufacturers are seeing the light and choosing to adopt Android instead. Specially HTC (maker 80% of all WinMo phones) is shrinking WinMo phone production down to 50% and increasing Android phones to 50%. Good riddance.
it looks like a cheap piece of crap
especially with that giant space between the screen and the buttons, i hope thats like a capacative touch area or something
FAIL
Woah, what's this giant space doing between the comments here?
@kyanges
It's called vindictive justice.
Us three, we're like a traffic island in the middle of the busy thoroughfare that will now be known as "Fanboy Rd."
lol, right? Oh shit, now I'm on the island...
Curse you fanboys! D=
Let's just not resort to cannibalism, okay?
yes... yes i did
Didn't you see the Palm employee touching that "space between the screen and keyboard" repeatedly? It's the gesture area, and it actually looks improved. They've done away with the awkward home button and made it a touch area as well. Looks really slick.
Yeah, they do cover the iPhone a lot, don't they?
Nothing wrong with comparing it to a phone that everyone knows.
sorry, i meant to reply to danielt.