Palm Pre vs Apple iPhone

Palm Pre vs Apple iPhone - A Closer Look

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 01:30 | Written by Pauly |

Palm Pre and iPhone UPDATE, 3/1/10 - Now with WebOS 1.4, the Palm Pre is capable of recording and editing video, is faster, smoother, and has better battery life! It also supports Flash 10.1. If you have not given this phone/OS a close look, you owe it to yourself!

Today I am going to present a side-by-side comparison of the Palm Pre and the Apple iPhone. Not the day before or after each phone came out, but after using both for several months! Yes, I own both, go figure... but very soon I will decide which one I will ultimately carry in my pocket! I ended up comparing about 20 features on each phone, but I'm only going to share my top 10 features with you. Feel free to ask about things I didn't include. Also check out the video review.

Is it worth your time to check it out? Would it be worth $936.00 to you? I think so. So let's take a closer look!

In case you've been asleep for the past few years, it's clear that Apple has changed the way we define smart phones / PDAs. Many new MIDs (mobile internet devices) have been compared to the iPhone. The term "iPhone Killer" has been over used by THOUSANDS of reviews... so much that it makes me cringe every time I read another one. I'm not trying to compare these two devices to find a winner, but merely showing that they both have some very useful, and different qualities. For the first two generations of the iPhone's life, it was the new kid that everybody seemed to like. It was sleek, it was different, and it stood out among all the rest. I believe that Palm is the first company to introduce anything truly innovative since the release of the iPhone.

Feature #1 - Keyboard (Physical vs virtual) - Toss Up based on Personal Preference

Both types of keyboards have their benefit. The iPhone has no physical keyboard, the Pre does. So it's impossible to compare the two devices. I will say that personally I've never been able to get "used" to the iPhone virtual keyboard. My fingers are "fat" I guess, and the iPhone constantly chooses to write words that I didn't intend to tap out. The result... I use the "virtual" delete key a lot! Even with the introduction of the landscape keyboard, it just doesn't feel right to me. There is no physical feedback of hitting a key, and even if I barely tap the screen, something is typed. The only feedback is the clicking noise. The one thing I do like about the onboard virtual appearing/disappearing keyboard is that it's always there when needed. The Pre has a rather small keyboard that slides out from under the screen. It's rubberized, rounded keys are small, but surprisingly not so difficult to tap accurately. There is a physical sound and feel when I depress each key, which is the feedback I need. The thing I don't like is that if I see a mistake I've made somewhere back in my sentence, navigating back by tapping the screen is hit or miss. It often takes me a tap or two to get the curser in the right spot to make the correction. No magnifying glass shows up like on the iPhone . Contrary to what I've read, the Pre does do a bit of auto-correction of commonly misspelled words that use an apostrophe, like " I'm" or "I'll". That's handy.

Feature #2 - Apps (Let's get this one out of the way) - iPhone wins, but with a great deal of "whoop-tee-doo!"

For those of you new comers to the iPhone... it too was a baby once, and it was born with a baby app store with few apps. Yes, we know it's now grown to an over-sized 85,000 apps, with no end in sight. But I challenge you to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Just how many of those 85,000 apps are even useful?

2. How many of the apps on your phone do you use regularly?

3. How many apps do you have installed that you don't really even use?

4. How many have you downloaded and then deleted?

Personally, I have downloaded and kept 43 apps for the iPhone over the past two generations... but I regularly use just 11 of them. On the Palm Pre, I have downloaded and kept 11 apps, and regularly use 11 of them. My point... You can't compare a phone or a company based on the number of apps it boasts. Palm had thousands of apps (still does) for the previous generations of devices, before Apple even created the iPhone. So guess again... Apple didn't invent the app... they borrowed it from Palm!

Feature #3 - Camera - Toss Up based on different features/needs

Palm Pre has a 3.2 megapixel camera... the iPhone's camera is 3.0 megapixels. The iPhone lets you choose the focal point and lighting by pressing on the screen... the Pre has a fixed focus (no macro). The Pre has an LED flash... iPhone has no flash. Many reviews have "poo pooed" the LED flash, but if you've ever tried to take a photo with the iPhone, in even moderately low light, you will get nothing but blurry photos. The flash on the Pre is nice, and gives you more opportunities to take photos in lower light... even in complete darkness!. The Pre allows you to tap the screen or press the space bar to take the photo (nice for self portraits.. which most cell phone pix are anyway), where the iphone uses the touch screen only. The iPhone 3GS has added video with limited editing of the clip. The pre has no video to date, though it's been hacked, so we know it is capable. As far as quality, I think the iPhone delivers a little sharper images, but both are much nicer than most cell phone cameras! So I think it's a toss up... because for me, when I need a quality photo, I use a real camera.. when I want to shoot a video, I use my video camera. You decide which features are more important.

Feature #4 - Battery Life - Ugh, yet another toss up!

Neither device has stellar battery life. I have to charge each phone every night with just moderate use. With regular use, especially navigation and web surfing it can cut it down to less-than a day in a hurry. The Pre tends to go through a charge quicker than the iPhone, which is annoying, but the iPhone has a factory sealed battery that will void the warranty if you attempt to change it yourself. So forget about a camping trip in the wilderness without carrying some sort of pricey back up iPhone charger. The pre has a removable battery that is fairly inexpensive to buy a spare ($40 bucks OEM from Palm, or as low as half that much from other suppliers).

Feature #5 - Synching - Palm Pre

I've never been a big fan of iTunes or the control Apple exercises over me regarding the music I buy and put on my MID. Palm uses Amazon as their music store. There I can download MP3 files that I can do with as I please... without feeling like a thief... plus I can use ANY MP3 file as a ring tone without downloading yet another app. Woo Woo! Another great feature the Pre has is built-in, automatic syncing with my Google Calendar. No wires, no computer, no iTunes required. When I make a change on my Google calendar from work, or from any computer, it's automatically updated to my Pre calendar as well, and visa versa! My contacts are also stored and synched wirelessly. I can't tell you how many times I missed appointments that I had added at work via my computer, only to forget to synch my iphone when I got home. Bummer! I can also use the Pre as a portable drive and move music, videos, pictures, etc from my computer to my phone, or to another computer. Isn't that they way it's supposed to work?

Feature #6 - Multi-Tasking - Palm Pre

Once you've tried the Pre, you'll discover just how impossible it is to live without multi-tasking. If you haven't tried it, you're cheating yourself! My best guess is that Apple will eventually have to adopt this same technology. It's just too good to pass up! (By the way, the iPhone does indeed do multi-tasking in a very limited way. You can listen to your ipod or talk on the phone while doing one other task. But as far as I can tell, that's about it. The pre can do one, two, three or more tasks at the same time, and you can quickly flip back and forth between them. My favorite multi-tasking comes when I am driving. I can be listening to Pandora through my car's sound system, while having the Sprint Navigation calling out turn-by-turn direction (also through my car sound system), and when the phone rings, everything goes quiet and I can talk via the speaker phone, and hear my caller... you guessed it, through my car sound system). I've yet to be able to duplicate that with the iphone. I did consider the Tom Tom Navigation app for the iphone, but knowing it doesn't call out street names, pretty much made it useless for me. I would rather watch the road for deer crossing than stare at a little screen on my dash. Other ways I use multi-tasking is reading emails and searching through my calendar and/or the web. The Pre beats out the iPhone, hands down on this one... push notifications or not!

Feature #7 - Speed - iPhone

The iPhone seems to respond faster to opening apps and sometimes accessing the web. But if you pay close attention, you will find that often the iPhone simply opens up the first level of the app faster than the Pre. Many apps I have compared are equal, but it appears that the Pre takes longer, because it pauses before opening the app, but often it fills the screen with useful information as fast as the iPhone. The Calendar and email apps are quicker to open and respond on the iPhone.

Feature #8 - Universal Search - Palm Pre

Apple introduced a universal search feature with the 3.0 software that allows you to search apps, contacts and emails. Pre came standard with it. The major difference is that the Pre will first search for apps and contacts, but not emails (sigh of relief). It also will also search the web for what ever you are typing. Why did I sigh? On my iphone, I am constantly annoyed that it searches emails. I have hundreds of emails, and the clutter of having the search include them is confusing. I love that on the Pre, all you have to do is start typing, from any window, and you have your entire phone, and the internet at your fingertips... no apps to open! (you can do this as a multi-task item as well by simply minimizing the screen with a flick of your finger).

Feature #9 - Size/Usability - Palm Pre (but personal preference really)

One's a candybar style phone, and the other is a slider. Personally, I like how the Pre feels in my hand better than the iPhone. I have yet to come close to dropping the Pre, but I've dropped my iPhone a few times. The darned thing is just not easy to hold. To battle against that, I now cover my iPhone with the most intense silicone rubber case available. (See my video review on the Speck Toughskin). The iphone's OS is very easy to use, and almost requires no instructions at all... The Palm Pre is the same. I have yet to read a single thing about how to do the most routine tasks. Sure, both phones have hidden, hard to find settings, but I'm talking about out of the box... "grandma could figure this out". The Pre's gesture area is awesome, allowing me to easily go back to a previous screen, close a screen, flick between open apps, etc. The iPhone is simply a matter of open and close or using buttons on the open window to navigate. I prefer the calendar on the Pre, because it uses the "flick" technology to go between days or months, where the iPhone forces my fat fingers to hit a tiny arrow that is positioned right next to the button that creates a new calendar event. Grrr

Feature #10 - $$$$ - Palm Pre (Sprint)

Ok, so far I've shared my opinions on the nine most important features of each MID (to me). But I've left out one very important item. The cost of owning each device! Let me ask you this question... If someone walked up to you and offered you $936 to use the Palm Pre on the Sprint network instead of using the iPhone on the AT&T network... would you do it? The way I see it, both devices are pretty dang awesome. Each has their +'s and -'s. But the bottom line is, why am I paying $39.00 more/month ($936 - 2-year contract) for the AT&T plan compared to Sprint???

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As of today, Sprint offers 450 anytime minutes, unlimited data, unlimited SMS & MMS, unlimited Sprint Navigation, unlimited mobile-to-mobile (any carrier) 24/7, unlimited nights/weekends starting at 7 pm. - for $69.99/month for the Palm Pre.

As of today, AT&T offers 450 anytime minutes (with roll-over), unlimited data, unlimited SMS & MMS, unlimited ATT Navigation, unlimited mobile-to-mobile (ATT network), 5000 nights/weekends starting at 7 pm - for $108.98/month for the iPhone.

So, I've done the math for you... Now you should probably sit down, take a deep breath, and ask yourself... How much $$ is it worth to be carrying the same phone as everybody else? How much is that "iFart" app worth to you, or the "iBeer and iLighter" apps? Stop and think about what you would do with an extra $468/year?

I think by now you should know which MID I'll be carrying in my pocket. The one that fits the best and leaves more Franklins in my wallet! Anybody wanna buy a very lightly used iPhone 3GS?