As for the design, Palm did an inspired job of balancing the weight, size and shape of the Pre to fit gracefully into your hand (see hands-on photos here). When closed, it’s like holding a small, highly polished stone - a stone that can stream the music service Pandora while alerting you that your flight’s delayed. The screen is crisp, with 320 x 480 pixels - the exact same as the iPhone, though smaller in size, resulting in a better picture overall.
Multitouch works like a dream, with a light flick of the finger called upon when needing to perform an action. We hate to keep comparing it to the iPhone, but it feels more accurate and responsive, particularly when flicking the finger upwards to exit a program.
Sliding the finger along the bottom of the screen brings up the five launch bar choices, which is an addictive action to perform - we found ourselves doing this for no reason other than to stare in adoration at the rippled effect. It's easy to swap the five programs in the launch bar, however it comes with the standard calling, texting, emailing, internet and full menu launching functions. The latter will bring up a list of all the apps and programs available, like the camera.
...The whole experience replicates using a Mac or PC. Being able to flick around from an email, to a chat conversation, to music, to a browser, and then back to email is revolutionary. All phones should offer this, perhaps manufacturers need to spend more time on their computers, studying how they're actually used.
Speaking of using several programs at once, it's worth noting that heavy app and program users will find the battery life challenging. We couldn't get through a whole day without charging the Pre, but then, the same can be said for our iPhone, G1, Nokia N95 and any other smartphones on the market. Palm has been generous with the addition of a removable battery, however a battery than lasted longer than eight hours would've really got us raving.
http://www.t3.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/palm-pre-review
