The Centro is also one very important “last” (we believe): the last platform that Palm will release featuring the original “Garnet” PalmOS. While it’s highly likely we’ll see further Centros on GSM as well as the Treo 755p getting released to other carriers, the Centro will likely be the last PalmOS platform until Palm releases their new Linux-based PalmOS in late 2008 or early 2009. The Centro is currently exclusive to Sprint.

In short, the Centro has its work cut out for it. But rather than take on the high-end iPhone (read sister-site Phone different’s iPhone review here), the Centro is instead taking on the RAZR and the Sidekick. Like the Treo 680 before it, the Centro is designed to broaden the market for smartphones by bringing in users who would previously have never considered themselves “smartphone users.”

So does the Centro have what it takes to appeal to the general consumer? Does it have what it takes to appeal to current Treo owners? Read on to find out!

Form Factor

Feel

The shape and feel of the Centro is clearly its defining factor, since it is “feature-identical” to the 755p. Let’s get right to the point: the Centro’s shape rocks. It feels incredibly good in the hand - certainly better than any Treo. The dimensions on the Centro are 4.2” tall x 2.1” wide x .7” deep. That’s essentially .2” less in every dimension than the 755p. Just as importantly, though, the Centro is much more rounded than most smartphones. Cradled in your hand and held up to your ear the Centro doesn’t feel like a smartphone at all - it feels like a candybar phone.

Around the Centro

Probably the closest smartphone to the Centro out there right now is the Blackberry Pearl. The Centro is practically identical in height and width, though it’s also thicker. That’s no doubt due to the touchscreen, but the curvature of the back of the Centro significantly alleviates that extra thickness. It’s clearly superior in its feel to other “consumer-level” smartphones out there like the Motorola Q, the T-Mobile Dash, the Blackjack, and the Sidekick.

Centro vs. Pearl

Comparisons aside, I’m very happy with the build quality of the Centro itself. The primary buttons have a good tactile feel to them, with just the right amount of “clickyness” to let you know you hit the button without a sticky feel. There’s absolutely no creak to the device - holding up to both squeezes and flexes without any give. The battery door uses an almost mysterious internal set of tabs to stay in place rather than a release button and is somewhat difficult to remove. It’s even more difficult to put back on. A little practice and you’ll have it down, though, as long as your fingers aren’t too greasy. However, the relatively tiny battery inside (more on that below) may mean that some users will be struggling with the battery door from time to time.

The Centro comes in two colors - Red and Black (or “Onyx and Ruby” in Palm’s terms). Both are “flecked” with silvery/sparkly bits but not so much that it hurts the professionality of the device. As for gripability - the candybar shape of the Centro will significantly help with drops. So will the spot to attach a lanyard to the Centro on the lower-right - it’s about time we had that. The other curious thing about the Centro is its finish - it’s not “soft touch” like the Treo 750 or a “matted” plastic like other Treos. Instead the Centro has an almost “glossy” finish which I initially thought would be a significant problem. However, in my testing so far I have yet to drop it. The best explanation I can come up with is photo finishing - you can run your finger across a matte-finished photo, but your finger will stick on a glossy-finished photo. This does mean that fingerprints show up just a tiny bit on the Centro, though they’re easily wiped off.

Around the Centro

Although the Centro is fairly professional-looking, this device is definitely not meant to convey a “business” feel as much as the Treo does. I personally like the design element of the silver rail on the sides blending in to the main buttons and the camera and speaker on the back. I do not like the recessed screen, but Palm stated that people seem to care more about scratch risks than they do about flush screens. That’s what screen protectors are for, people.

The Centro’s screen is still a 320x320 touchscreen and it’s slightly smaller than Treo screens. It’s not too small, however, and is readable in both sunlight and darkness. The smaller size actually makes everything look very crisp and sharp. Thumbs up.

Other nice design touches: the LED in the upper left corner is small and subtle (though I know some that might be dismayed by a tiny LED, I prefer it); although you need to remove the battery door to access the microSD card slot, you do not have to remove the battery like on most of the competition; of course, we have a ringer switch.

Design foibles are few and many are old-hat to Treo users: the Treo connector instead of miniUSB, the 2.5 mm headset jack instead of 3.5. The stylus is entirely plastic and that’s a disappointment, but thankfully the PalmOS doesn’t require you to pull it out much. There is no reset hole, which means you will want to master removing that battery door.

Centro taken down

Keyboard

I’ve written before about the keyboard, twice now actually. Here’s a video of how the typing can go on the keyboard that we previously posted at TreoCentral:

The keyboard is good, much better than you’d likely expect. This keyboard is made differently from previous Treo keyboards, Palm says that it is actually a single “printed sheet” of material instead of a few dozen separate plastic buttons. The result is that they are placed very closely together but also stick up a fair amount. Tactile feedback on the keys is great, they depress pretty far and there is a subtle click feel to them.

Close up on the Centro’s keyboard, next to Treo 680 keyboard

The reason the keyboard works at all is that the keys are made out of a softer plastic than any keyboard I’ve seen. They’re almost gel-like (or Jelly Shoe like, for those of you who remember the 80s). What this means is that your thumbs are much less likely to slip off a key, you’re going to press the button that you aim at. I have been able to type nearly as quickly as I can on a Treo, certainly much more quickly than I can type on an iPhone and it’s heads and shoulders above using T9 for text input.

I had a few women in our office with long fingernails give the keyboard a shot and their verdict was that it wasn’t an issue. People with especially large thumbs may have some difficulties. The keyboard is probably the biggest “X-Factor” for a lot of potential buyers and my advice is to actually use it before you buy the phone.

Hardware Specs

Centro and the Treo 680, 700wx.

Let’s run down the specifications for the Centro:

• Display: 320x320 pixel Transflective color touchscreen, supports 16-bit color (up to 65K colors)
• Radio: Dual-band CDMA2000 EvDO backward compatible with 1XRTT and IS95
• Operating System: Palm OS 5.4.9
• Processor: Intel® XScale™ 312MHz processor
• Bluetooth: Version 1.2
• Memory: 64MB available user storage
• Camera: 1.3 megapixels with 2x digital zoom and video capture
• Battery: Removable 1150mAh, lithium-ion 3.5 hours talk time, up to 300 hours standby time
• Expansion: microSD card (up to 4GB supported)
• Connector: “Athena” Multi-connector
• Dimensions: 4.22” (L) x 2.11” (W) x 0.73” (D); 4.2 oz

…Now let’s compare it to the specs on the Treo 755p, also on Sprint, showing the differences in bold.

• Display: 320x320 pixel Transflective color touchscreen, supports 16-bit color (up to 65K colors)
• Radio: Dual-band CDMA2000 EvDO backward compatible with 1XRTT and IS95
• Operating System: Palm OS 5.4.9
• Processor: Intel® XScale™ 312MHz processor
• Bluetooth: Version 1.2
• Memory: 128MB (60MB persistent user storage)
• Camera: 1.3 megapixels with 2x digital zoom and video capture
• Battery: Removable 1600mAh, lithium-ion 4.2 hours talk time, up to 240 hours standby time
• Expansion: miniSD card (up to 4GB supported)
• Connector: “Athena” Multi-connector
• Dimensions: 2.3” W x 4.4” L x 0.84” D; 5.64

The first thing to note is that, as has been said time and again, the Centro is practically identical to the 755p in every way. The only significant differences between the two are size and battery life. The size we’ve mostly covered - except to say that the Centro feels very light. The difference is even more dramatic when comparing it to a 700-series Treo.

As for the rest of the specs they provide decent performance. The PalmOS is just as snappy as it has always been (more on that below), the RAM is adequate if perhaps a bit lower than I’d like — but this is a low-end device so I’m not complaining. I would have preferred Bluetooth 2.0 (or at least A2DP support) and a slightly better camera, but again neither concerns me too much on a $99 phone.

Centro, 680, 700wx; Centro Screen vs. 680 screen

We won’t discuss the lack of WiFi. Ok, we will. There is no WiFi, a decision that makes sense on the Centro but still stings a bit nonetheless given my suspicion that even if Palm wanted to include it, they would not have been able to given the PalmOS’s networking limitations.

The Centro supports microSD cards and seems to transfer data back and forth from them fine. It also worked just fine with my 4GB SanDisk microSDHC card, which was a nice surprise. Palm says that it supports cards up to 4GB, but I suspect that larger “High Capacity” cards should work.

Battery Life and Reception

In my testing, the Centro appears to fall just short of the claimed 3.5 hours of talk time and well short of the 300 hours of standby time. The primary reason for this, however, is likely the low signal strength Sprint has in my area. Especially at the very borders of Sprint’s coverage area, where signal is somewhere between 0 and 2 bars, the Centro struggled to maintain battery life. In my office, for example, I get virtually no coverage whatsoever and the Centro went from 80% to 10% overnight while just grabbing email once an hour.

The battery is only 1150 mAh - which I take to be the primary reason for the relatively poor battery life and the Centro’s very light weight. It’s also notable that the battery has its connectors in a different place than on previous Palm batteries - an entirely new set of extended batteries will be necessary for manufacturers to make for the Centro.

In other areas with stronger coverage, however, the Centro did perform much better. I would say that that reception is about on par with other CDMA-based Treos.

Lag?

Readers familiar with the Treo 700p (and less so the 755p) likely have one single question about the Centro: does it lag? In a word: no. In more words - not that I’ve been able to significantly reproduce in just under a week of testing. With pTunes running and a very light set of applications installed, I’ve managed to get a delay of up to one second while switching between the phone app and Blazer. It’s usually much less and only noticeable when I’m staring at the screen and counting off.

Time, and PalmOS users who are harder-core than I, will probably be able to tell if the Centro suffers from 700p-style lag issues. My early indications are that the Centro is as fast and as stable as a 755p.

Data speed, Bluetooth

Sprint’s EVDO network is a joy. Data is snappy. I have poor coverage in my city and I was still able to average around 200 - 250 kb/s (outside) with two to three bars. Sprint was probably the perfect network to launch the Centro on for a few reasons. They seem to be genuinely excited about the Centro and serious about promoting it. The Sprint exec I spoke with at the Digital Life Conference said that they plan to make a serious push to promote the Centro. Even better, Sprint still has the most competitive data plans out there, $15 per month for unlimited access.

Dial Up Networking is relatively easy to set up - especially on a Mac with Bluetooth. PalmOS is still the most Mac-friendly smartphone OS out there. Sprint does require that you sign up for their tethering plan at $39.99 for 40mb or $99.99 for unlimited. Using software like PDANet (be sure to get v4.11) will allow your phone to appear to not be tethered, however. Do that at your own risk - Sprint, like Verizon, has been known to keep a close eye on Smartphone users and their data consumption and it just may violate your contract with them.

I wish this was the review where I got to say that a Palm smartphone’s Bluetooth performance finally exceeded my expectations, which are fairly low at this point. Bluetooth range and quality is average for recent Treos - which is to say it’s “good enough” but nothing to write home about. Of course I wasn’t able to get to the “33 feet” that Bluetooth is supposed to allow, but with a JX-10 I could avoid static within 10 feet. Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) is not supported without 3rd party software.

There’s also an infrared port on the side, for people that still actually use the thing.

Phone Quality, Speaker

Phone quality is slightly better than with Treos, but still nothing to write home about. The most pressing issue for most Treo owners is the volume of the earpiece and I’m here to say that while it’s certainly better than the Treo 650’s, it’s not significantly louder than 700-series Treos. Reception and sound quality are fine.

The great news, however, is that the speaker on the back of the Centro is simply stupendous. It’s loud, clear, and “bright.” For ringtones, music, and speakerphone it’s the loudest and clearest of any Treo I’ve ever used. If there’s a knock on the speaker at all it’s that when sitting flat on a desk the Centro lies flat and flush on top of the speaker, muffling sound. Still, the speaker is grand and kudos to Palm for making it so.

Camera

The Centro’s 1.3 megapixel camera was also a welcome surprise. It is, of course, far better than the Treo 680’s camera, but I also found that it seems to perform ever-so-slightly better than 700-series Treo cameras in terms of exposure and white balance. Best way to show that - some sample images:

Left to Right: Centro, 680, 700wx.
Taken under typical, oppressive office florescent lighting

PalmOS

PalmOS 5.4.9 is a capable and robust smartphone operating system — an operating system that hasn’t seen an important update in several years. This lack of updates shows - the OS as it currently stands was essentially designed in the mid to late 90s and it shows. While it’s able to perform nearly every task I need it to with a snappiness I had forgotten about (coming, as I do, as a convert to Windows Mobile), it certainly looks tired doing it.

Still, that the PalmOS does the job and does it very well is a testament to just how great it was when it was first created. Palm certainly has some catching up to do with their in-development Linux-based PalmOS, but they might just yet be able to pull another year or so out of this version. They’re going to have to.

What is disappointing to me is that the Treo 680’s excellent phone-dialer application still has not made the jump to CDMA devices. I find it rather difficult to swallow that Palm thinks it’s not worth the (relatively minor) investment in adding at least a good-looking new skin to the OS. Applications like ZLauncher and GX5’s UltimatePhone show that the PalmOS has enough horsepower to handle running a better-looking interface. Even a minor refresh to a few apps - like they did with the Media-centric apps some time ago - would be a very welcome change and really help them hit their target audience more squarely. Palm is sticking with this version of the PalmOS for another year - it would have been nice to see one last push to make it look like it belongs on a phone released in 2007, i.e. post-iPhone.

UltimatePhone, an example of a great “skin” on PalmOS

Email

Versamail

Versamail still does the job of handling many different email accounts well. The version on the Centro is 4.0.1, meaning that it supports full Push Email with Microsoft Exchange servers right out of the box - including contact, calendar, and task syncing.

Even better is the built-in “Sprint Mobile Email” for Palm, which is based on Seven’s client for push email. It essentially allows you to use Sprint as a “push proxy” - setting up your email via the Sprint Mobile Email app makes any email provider - from Gmail to Yahoo to MSN - essentially a push email provider. I used to not like using carrier email solutions like Sprint Mobile Email or Cingular/ATT Xpress Mail, but I’ve changed my tune completely. These two solutions, at least, are based on technology by Seven Networks and are very reliable.

Blazer

Blazer is still Blazer. It renders pages decently if somewhat slowly. It still has the very nice one-handed scrolling feature (up and down for page up and page down, left and right to scroll through links). It still sports the same PalmOS interface that’s really annoying until you remember you can hit the space bar to jump up to the URL bar and the top buttons.

Blazer and Windows Mobile’s Pocket Internet Explorer are in a tight race for “biggest smartphone headache I have.” They both do the job, but they do not do it remarkably well.

3rd Party Apps

The Centro comes absolutely loaded with great 3rd party apps, right out of the box. This is great news for consumers, as it means some cost savings and less time doing setup. Here are my personal favorites included in the ROM: Google Maps: Google maps is grand. It’s great getting directions and traffic information and the interface is snappy and easy to use. It’s not up to the iPhone’s Google Maps app, but it’s still very very good. Documents to Go (Version 10.0): Documents To Go handles the office documents (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, and straight text) for the Centro and it does a great job of it. You can view, edit, and create office documents and sync them relatively easily back to your desktop. You can also use it for email attachments. Most surprising - the Centro is the first smartphone to support Office 2007 documents - something even Microsoft’s own smartphones cannot do yet. DataViz deserves a ton of credit for their wonderful series of “To Go” applications. They can’t handle everything that an office document can throw at them, but they can handle tables, some charts, bullets, and more without scrambling up the desktop formatting. Astraware Sudoku: I prefer crosswords myself, but I know I’m in the minority lately. Sudoku is built in (instead of Bejeweled :( ) and many people will be happy about that. Pocket Tunes Deluxe (that’s the full version): Palm has finally realized that they need to get really, really serious about media on the Centro and so they’ve begun including the full version of Pocket Tunes deluxe. This means internet radio streaming, which is incredibly cool and I’m happy to see it. SprintTV: SprintTV is also included and a nice app, if a bit choppy with slow connections. Nuance Voice Control: Nuance is an incredible app. You record a short command and the Centro does it - “Call Jim Mobile” calls Jim on his Mobile phone, “SMS Jim Sorry I can’t talk right now, I am driving” automatically opens up a new text message and fills it in with that text. It’s super cool, although it does require that you upload your command to Nuance’s servers in order to work so there’s a slight delay. It’s also prohibitively expensive at $7 a month. IM: The built-in instant messaging client works with AIM, Yahoo, and MSN. I have to say, though, that there is a significant lag time in sending and receiving messages. I haven’t been able to determine yet whether or not this is due to my relatively poor coverage, but anecdotal reports from a few others imply that the delay is a real problem everywhere. On the bright side, the application is clean and fast and works in the background. On Demand: Sprint’s On Demand application (powered by Pocket Express) is also built-in and pretty nice - giving up to date information on news, weather, stocks, and more. I generally find it to be a little resource-heavy and don’t particularly like the UI myself, so it’s not something I’d pay to get the full version of. Some folks like it though, so more power to ‘em.

The rest of the applications are standard PalmOS and I am still happy with them, specially (surprisingly), Calendar and Tasks. Being able to make a new appointment or task just by starting typing is incredibly convenient and the way it should be.

Why “Centro?”

The Centro is a surprising little device. Although it offers no really new features at all, it does offer a new form factor that makes the standard features somehow more compelling. The new, smaller size and the new, smaller price point are both great features. I honestly can’t give any reason for any user to purchase a Treo 755p now - you can get the exact same feature set (slightly better, actually) in a smaller and cheaper package.

The Centro is not designed to compete against the iPhone and I have to admit that although it does do a better job in a few areas (specifically email, PIM, and productivity), it still doesn’t hold a candle to the iPhone’s fit, finish, and media capabilities. No matter; against phones like the RAZR and against other “smartphone-lite” phones like the Sidekick and the Pearl, the Centro stacks up very, very well. So well, in fact, that I think that Palm is going to achieve their goal of broadening the smartphone market. PalmOS might look old and tired to me, but to somebody who’s never used a Treo it’s probably not too bad.

The above probably explains why Palm decided to name this device “Centro” instead of “Treo” (though they did it fairly late in the development of the device). Although it’s a Treo 755p inside, it’s not meant to appeal just to Treo users. In fact, it’s meant to appeal to users that may have previously shied away from Treo’s for being “too much phone” for them. I hope that the second part of this new name is that the “Centro” will be more than just a single smartphone released on Sprint but instead a platform of inexpensive smartphones offered across all carriers. The Centro has a real shot at owning the low-end smartphone market and seems like a good move for Palm.

For Treo owners, my hope is that using the Centro for the low end means that Palm is about to re-commit themselves to making the Treo a high-end smartphone once again, competitive against giants like the AT&T Tilt and, yes, the iPhone.

Should you Upgrade?

Treo users first: In a word: maybe. If you’re still one of the many using a Treo 650 or 600 on Sprint, an upgrade to the Centro is practically a no-brainer. The increased internet speed and the improved form factor are so compelling I’ve actually called everybody I know in the 650 on Sprint camp and told them they should upgrade ASAP. For Treo 700p and 755p users the bag is mixed - the functionality isn’t really any better, it’s just about the great form factor. Many will suggest waiting yet another year for the Linux-based PalmOS and I’m sympathetic to that view.

On the other hand, if your phone is a little beat up or a little big for your tastes, it’s pretty difficult to argue against spending just $99 on an improved phone experience for a year. It’s a lot easier to argue against $399 for the same, which is the Centro’s price without any rebates. For 650 and earlier I could recommend it, for users with the 700p or 755p, the no-rebate price isn’t worth the new form factor.

For Treo users on carriers other than Sprint, you should stop and think very carefully about switching carriers. As I have written at our sister site WMExperts and said time and time again in the TreoCast Podcast, there is almost never a time you should pick a device before you pick a carrier. Coverage is just too important and poor coverage will ruin your experience with a smartphone no matter how cool it is. All that said, the Centro is what the Treo 680 should have been. It’s small, it’s inexpensive, and it’s very accessible to the general consumer.

For first-time smartphone users and for people who’ve never considered a smartphone, the Centro is a great option. Anybody considering getting some random featurephone just because it sports a full keyboard should stop what they’re doing right now and head over to a Sprint store to check out the Centro. As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, it is also superior to the Sidekick and the Blackberry Pearl for the average consumer.

Conclusion

I wasn’t expecting to give the Centro this rosy a review since it doesn’t offer any flashy new features. Yet here I am reading the preceding paragraph that lacks only the words “BUY BUY BUY!” The Centro is the perfect “last hurrah” for Garnet/PalmOS: an inexpensive, cute, and accessible smartphone that does everything a new smartphone owner could want and nearly everything a power user could want as well.

What’s old is new again — one last time.

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