Centro Listed as One of 10 Ugliest Smartphones Ever

I was just reading an article over at InformationWeek in which writer Eric Zeman lists the Palm Centro among the “Ten Ugliest Smartphones Ever”. Zeman says that the ten smartphones listed should never have made it off the paper they were sketched on. Ouch!

Zeman adds a disclaimer and says that they’re not trying to be mean. I find it interesting how people view devices differently. In a way, it’s the same as we humans see one another. I might think a particular guy is nice looking whereas another girl might think that the same guy isn’t anything special to look at. And what a boring world it would be if we all thought alike and saw everything in the same light. I’ve read in forums where people have talked about a device being ugly and some people would respond and say that the device looked great to them.

Writer Peter Svensson of the Associated Press wrote an article recently in which he listed the Centro as a “spiffy phone” and one of the “top contenders of this holiday season”.

Svensson says:

“The Centro does everything Palm’s larger, more expensive Treo does, but in a cuter package. It has a small but sharp touch screen and a teeny hardware alphabetic keyboard. You need fingernails to type on it. It’s not great as a music or video player, but it’s good for e-mail, contacts and calendar management. Palm’s software is the closest thing to the iPhone’s in terms of ease of use and versatility, and there are tons of third-party applications. Comes with a neat Sudoku game.”

» Read the rest of "Centro Listed as One of 10 Ugliest Smartphones Ever"

Posted by Jennifer Chappell on November 20, 2007 2:54 PM

Filed under Editorial; BlackBerry, Palm Centro, Palm Treo 600

| |

Well, the ten devices listed at InformationWeek are the following:

• BlackBerry 7290
• E-ten Glofiish M800
• HP iPAQ hw6900
• HTC Dash
• Nokia 9500 Communicator
• Nokia E61/E62
• Palm Centro
• Palm Treo 600
• Samsung i760
• Sierra Wireless Voq

The three that I left out of my little collage are the Palm Treo 600, HP iPAQ hw6900, and the Samsung i760. I got a kick out of reading Zeman’s descriptions for each phone. That was great and reminded me of reading some of those descriptions of what actresses wear on the red carpet at Hollywood events.

Check out what he said about the Centro:

“Palm has never made attractive smartphones, but its newest kid on the block took every bad idea in Palm’s arsenal and combined them into one shudder-inducing piece of hardware. I’ve seen bars of soap that have more personality than the Centro. And just because it is tiny, that doesn’t mean it is hip. While small and thin has been the design mandate of late, the Centro is what happens when you let a 10-year-old design a smartphone.”

Now I might agree with Zeman on a couple of the phones but I like the looks of the Centro. I also always thought that the Nokia 9500 Communicator was sort of cool, mainly when opened up though. I have to say though that the Sierra Wireless Voq isn’t exactly my cup of tea. Although I always thought the BlackBerry 7290 was a pretty color, I thought it was clunky and goofy looking. I was lucky enough recently to try out the BlackBerry Curve and it’s a gorgeous device.

Here’s what Zeman had to say about the BlackBerry 7290:

“There are probably many of you still using this BlackBerry from yesteryear. Talk about the prototypical old-school calculator-sized smartphone. This is it. The 7290 is a monstrously large block of chunky hardware that will be just as useful as a weapon as an email device. If you happen to be accosted by a stranger in a dark alley at night, just heave the 7290 at them. As long as your aim is true, this will surely knock ‘em out. And if your aim stinks, just hold it up and show it to the miscreant. He’ll likely run off screaming into the night.”

Hey, I’ve got one of those here in my office. Maybe I should start carrying it in my purse instead of my little can of pepper spray. Just kidding of course! ;-)

Okay, I’ve picked out my own winner in the ugliest smartphone arena. It’s none other than the Virgin Mobile Lobster 700TV. This Windows Mobile 5 smartphone was manufactured by HTC, who usually makes some real eye candy. This Lobster however is painful to my eyes. Ugh! I’m sure many people see the device as pretty. Like I said, everyone sees things differently. I just don’t see anything appealing about this phone. The shape alone makes me cringe. ((sorry))