Palm Pixi – Expert Opinion Round-up

Ever since Palm made the announcement to release Palm Pixi, the younger sibling of Palm Pre, mobile experts and enthusiasts had been eagerly waiting to get their hands on this latest offering from Palm. While the Palm Pixi made it's official debut on 15th November on the Sprint network, there has been no shortage of reviews and opinions by experts before/ after the Pixi launch. As to how well the Palm Pixi does in future remains to be seen, one thing is for sure - reviews, opinions and comparisons to Pre and other rival smartphones will never end. So, I bring you the round-up of Palm Pixi reviews done by some of the best rated mobile enthusiasts and websites right here at one place.

Gizmodo - The Palm Pixi's very existence is a cruel joke. The Pixi is slow - It lags, it hangs, it stutters, it freezes. It's not a crappy screen, but it's not exceptionally bright or vibrant, either. The Pixi's 2MP camera is unimpressive. And I'll just say it: No Wi-Fi sucks. If there's any reason to pick the Pixi over the Pre, it's if you type a shocking amount on your phone, because the Pre's is better by like an order of magnitude.  The Pixi is screwed. Don't buy it!

CNET - Remarkably thin design and an improved QWERTY keyboard. Yahoo Integration + enhanced messaging. Support for Bluetooth, GPS and 3G. Lacks WiFi, can be sluggish and battery can drain quickly. Pixi is clearly aimed at younger audiences. Smart purchase for first time smartphone buyers. Not as powerful as Pre. Overall rating of 7/10 vs Pre's rating of 7.7/10.

GadgetLab - The Pixi’s reduced size isn’t limited to its waistline. It’s more svelte than the Palm Pre, slimmer even than it's blood rival, the iPhone. Pixi is also a bit slower than its big brother. In multimedia apps, it’s less zippy. There’s no Wi-Fi. It's a phone designed for people interested in communication rather than those who engage in lots of graphics-intensive activities. Look out for the Google Voice app for Pixi.

Engadget - Cheap and cute smartphone. Pixi is an incredibly sexy piece of hardware. It has a decent camera for a $99 phone.  Battery life on the Pixi is good, but not great. A bit more volume on our hands-free calls would have been great. Why buy the Pixi? Well we're not really sure. Not enough differentiation from the Pre. In all, it's a fine little package, but the slower processor, no memory expansion options, and lack of WiFi certainly are an issue if you're going to go hardcore with this thing.

PreCentral - The Pixi is a phone for smartphone newbies, young people who want to step up from their feature phone and Centro owners looking for a replacement in a similar price bracket. Amazingly light. webOS gestures are great. It's not a hardcore power-user's smartphone. Call quality is quiet good. The Pixi has a 2 megapixel camera with a flash and it's a disappointment. 3G speeds are great so lack of WiFi is a non-starter issue. Overall - seriously small, well-priced, but slower than Pre, and with a screen smaller than Pre.

MobileCrunch - Feels superb in the hand and it’s surprisingly light. Battery cover is frustratingly difficult to remove. Keypad is much more usable than Pre. Weaker processor and less RAM - not as powerful as the Pre. 2 MP camera is average and doesn't have video recording. There's nothing special about the battery life. Small screen is pretty annoying. The Touchstone is a very cool idea. Pixi does messaging and does it very well. A killer messaging phone with some smarts.

PCMag - The Pixi has the smallest capacitive touch-screen I've ever seen on a phone. webOS is just as much fun here as it is on the Pre. The Pixi is a decent voice phone, but it won't win any awards. As a messaging phone, it leaves a lot to be desired. The built-in Facebook app is pathetic while Twitter and MySpace are left out. The Pixi's primary problem is its scaled-down processor. The Pixi is a mediocre media phone. The Pixi is cramped and underpowered compared to Sprint smartphones like the Pre and the HTC Hero. The real competition here is against phones like the free Sanyo SCP-2700 or the Samsung Reclaim, or against older, entry-level smartphones like the BlackBerry Pearl or Palm Centro.

PCWorld - Pixi has a attractive, superslim design but slow performance. The Pixi retains a lot of what we love about the Pre. Amazingly light. Keyboard is easier to use than the Pre's. It has only 8GB of nonexpandable memory. Great to synchronize your personal information from your various accounts into a single view. Manages multitasking with a deck-of-cards visualization. Full HTML Web browser renders pages beautifully. If you plan on using your phone mostly for messaging and social networking, the Pixi is definitely for you. If you're more into gaming and watching videos, however, you'll want to opt for something else.

BusinessWeek - The Pixi looks like a slicker and more modern version of the Palm Centro. Smaller screen than the Pre, touch sensitive gestures are much harder to use than on the Pre. Battery life is problematic.  Pixi is an attractive addition to the new Palm line. But in the end you give up too much to get a smaller package and a $50 savings. If you want to go Palm and webOS, the Pre offers much better value.

All in all, things don't seem that bad for the Palm Pixi. Especially, with a price tag below $30 it's good value for money!

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Palm Pixi Expert Reviews, Palm Pixi Gizmodo, Pixi CNET, Pixi Engadget, Pixi honest review, Pixi one stop review site, Pixi PreCentral Review, Pixi Round-up, Pixi software hardware review

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Posted by Matt on December 7, 2009 in Commentary. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.