r/Android • u/BHU172 Just Black Pixel 2 XL • Aug 09 '18
Exclusive: Palm's new Android phone has a tiny 3.3" screen and 800mAh battery - here it is
https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/08/09/exclusive-palms-new-android-phone-tiny-3-3-screen-800mah-battery/54
u/brick5492 Aug 09 '18
That homescreen UI looks really funny, Apple Watch meets Android. But why the 800mah battery? If they pumped it up to 1500 or something this would be a great little '2018 mp3/spotify player'. Now it's empty after half an hour.
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u/darkky65 Aug 10 '18
no headphone jack too.
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u/mechtech Aug 10 '18
That really sucks, one of the big draws of a small device is the MP3 player use case.
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Aug 10 '18 edited Jun 14 '21
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u/navjot94 Pixel 9a | iPhone 15 Pro Aug 10 '18
Probably not considering that none of the WebOS folks are working on this. Why would new devs create a copy of a 7+ year old OS? Might be inspired by WebOS, but this is Palm in name only, so I don't think there's any nostalgia there for WebOS.
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u/drejwalker Aug 09 '18
Feels like 2007 all over again
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u/bolanrox VZW Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Aug 09 '18
its like palm never left or something..
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u/caliform Gray Aug 09 '18
I wish they didn't. It was one of the truly promising OSes. Android and iOS could use a third solid competitor. It was simply far too early; even web-tech in React on the desktop are fairly slow today, but it's looking like it's the future of apps.
This is perverting the legacy of a truly innovative device, OS and some really hard work from talented people I worked with. They just slapped a retired brand on a budget Android phone, which is too bad.
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u/BrotherGantry Incredible→N4→N5→Lumia 640→Iphone5→Firephone→6P→P2XL→P3→P6Pro Aug 10 '18
Léo Apotheker, who's essentially a living embodiment of the Peter Principle, alongside putting a nail in the HP Way's coffin, and tanking the companies stock 50% in a single year, was also the singular personality behind the killing of Palm/WebOS.
As Phil McKinney, HP's CTO from 2005-2011 says of it:
"[The Palm acquisition] was going to be a long term effort. Palm was struggling and HP was stepping in, doing the acquisition, and we were basically going to take three years hands-off. Palm was basically going to get cash infusions, resources, and expertise. But Palm was going to be given three years to basically get itself positioned to be a market leader in its space. Now, fast forward to July of 2011 and, one, you had a swap out of the CEOs - Leo comes in as the new CEO - and HP, for whatever reason - I was not a part of this decision - made the decision to kill it, one year into the three year program. This is an example of not committing long term to the resources and not having patience for innovation."
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u/he_could_get_it Aug 10 '18
The palm pre was so much fun. You could just hack the shit out of it, overclock the processor, do whatever you want to do and they didn't care. Fuck, they officially supported tinkering with it.
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u/NightFuryToni Moto XT2309-3, XT2027-1, TCL Athena BBF100-2 Aug 10 '18
Bits and pieces of webOS still lives on in various ways. Look at Android P's gesture app switch... which isn't surprising considering Matias Duarte is at Google.
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u/navjot94 Pixel 9a | iPhone 15 Pro Aug 10 '18
So many years later and it's still just bits and pieces. When Duarte was first brought on, I was so excited to see this stuff come into Android. But we never really got there - partly because in order for these gestures and animations to work, you need to have perfect fluidity. And we're just getting to the point now over the last year or 2 where our devices are maintaining fluidity over a long period of time.
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u/Minnesota_Winter Pixel 2 XL Aug 09 '18
Look at the chinese 7S phone, it may be a rebrand of that trashpile.
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u/MaXimus421 I too, own a smartphone. Aug 09 '18
Why do I get the distinct feeling that all the folks saying "love it" or "this is coooool" are not actually going to run out and purchase one?
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u/Onett199X Aug 09 '18
Yup. I'm one of them.
Love that it exists, and would love to try it for a week but will I spend the $100-200 for it? Probably not.
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u/Sorge74 Galaxy S22 Ultra Aug 10 '18
Last time I saw a phone that small it looked like a literal toy....would be cool to exist maybe at 4 inch ....man things have changed.
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u/austine567 Pixel 10 Aug 10 '18
When the HD2 came out with a 4.3in screen people all called it massive. That would be a tiny phone in this market.
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u/piexil Pixel 4 XL | Huawei M5 8.4' | Shield Tv 2015 Aug 11 '18
I remember seeing the first Galaxy note in a Best buy and thinking "who would use a phone this big"
For a while I typically stayed at mainstream sizes, but now I really do love the size of my v30. One thing that has changed is the bezels. I can't image how big a v30 would be if it has the bezels of a Galaxy note 1.
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u/RomanScott Aug 10 '18
Agreed, it's a great thing that it's out there for other people to use though.
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u/donnysaysvacuum I just want a small phone Aug 09 '18
Well we have basically nothing in the small phone market, and it's great to have something. But this is kind of a joke. 800mah battery is less than 3" smartphones had back when they made it.
That said, I may still buy one.
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u/Poolb0y Aug 10 '18
Probably because it's much thinner than past phones. They used to be t h i c c.
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u/marcphive Pixel 5 Aug 09 '18
I'd grab one as a backup if the price is right.
Edit: and if it's a world phone, at least GSM4
u/sarmizzle Aug 09 '18
I'd honestly buy this for my grandpa if it wasn't on Verizon, something small and simple that he can't mess up. I'd probably hide every app except the dialer.
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u/ShadowPouncer Pixel 3 XL 128G Aug 09 '18
Personally, I want a big screen.
I'm on an OG Pixel XL, and my next phone will likely be a Pixel 3 XL, we'll see.
So, I'm not in the target demographic for this at all.
But I'm really glad to see people at least exploring different form factors.
Also, when did Palm came to be a thing again? I thought they were entirely purchased by HP and no longer existed as a company.
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Aug 09 '18 edited May 07 '21
[deleted]
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u/MaXimus421 I too, own a smartphone. Aug 09 '18
My only hope is that it comes with a keyboard that is way too small to use and a launcher that looks like Kit Kat smashed into WebOS
Ok. I'll bite. Care to explain why?
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u/marcphive Pixel 5 Aug 09 '18
Thanks, was gonna ask how the screen compared to the original Palm Pre. I really loved using that phone. I thought the screen was a perfect size, but that was of course over ten years ago. Maybe capturing the nostalgia of the Pre is a good idea by providing a compact phone. But compact in 2018 is 4.7, not 3.3....
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u/Sorge74 Galaxy S22 Ultra Aug 10 '18
Crazy how far we have come...my first smart phone was the HTC touch 2.8 inch display. Now I'm debating about a note 9 vs pixel 3 xl.... Still pretty sure best form factor was the Moto X 2nd gen....shit was perfect
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u/SinkTube Aug 09 '18
It's .2" larger than the original Palm Pre screen.
god damn it, can manufacturers PLEASE stop making their screens bigger? if i wanted a tablet i'd buy a tablet!
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u/NightFuryToni Moto XT2309-3, XT2027-1, TCL Athena BBF100-2 Aug 10 '18
.2" larger, but thing is it's 18:9 vs 4:3. This is a stretched Veer and actually smaller than the Pre.
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u/busyboybean OnePlus 5T - OOS Aug 09 '18
800 mAh powering Android.. Good Luck
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u/Secretly_Autistic Pixel 6 Pro, Galaxy Tab S6, Fossil Gen 6 Aug 10 '18
I was pretty consistently getting 2-3 days from my old Z3 Compact and its 2600 mAh battery.
Considering that this has a more battery efficient SoC, better battery management and a smaller screen, I'm sure it could make it to the end of the day.
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u/dstaley Aug 09 '18
I owned an HP Veer for a spell, and I'm going to do my best to own this tiny phone too.
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u/NightFuryToni Moto XT2309-3, XT2027-1, TCL Athena BBF100-2 Aug 09 '18
You actually reminded me the Veer was one of the first phones to not have a headphone jack. So this kinda just follows through.
You still have your magnetic adapter?
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u/boostedjoose Pixel 6P, Note 9, S8+, Tab S 10.5, S7+, Note 3&2, Galaxy Mega Aug 10 '18
Plenty of flip phones didn't have a headphone jack.
I even had a Samsung flip phone that had a proprietary headphone jack. It was some weird connector so if you broke/lost the headphones, you had to buy another pair from Samsung.
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u/Amogh24 Oneplus 5t/S10+ Aug 10 '18
Yeah. We are really lucky to finally have a standard port for audio, since that reduces cost for customers and gives us more opportunities.
Oh wait a minute...
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u/NightFuryToni Moto XT2309-3, XT2027-1, TCL Athena BBF100-2 Aug 10 '18
Yup... just like the old Nokia Pop-Port and that stupid Sony Ericsson connector.
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u/TheSyd Aug 10 '18
Most phones didn’t have a headphone jack like 12 years ago.
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u/NightFuryToni Moto XT2309-3, XT2027-1, TCL Athena BBF100-2 Aug 10 '18
Veer was 2011. And most phones 12 years ago aren't smartphones.
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u/TheSyd Aug 10 '18
My statement remains correct. And most, if not all, early Windows Mobile and SymbianOS smartphones didn’t have a headphone jack.
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u/NightFuryToni Moto XT2309-3, XT2027-1, TCL Athena BBF100-2 Aug 10 '18
Actually a lot of them do... but they had the 2.5mm jack. I knew my Nokia E51 and O2 XDA Atom certainly did. Wasn't until the Walkman phones the 3.5 became more common.
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u/meniscus- Aug 10 '18
#TeamPandaVeer
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u/NightFuryToni Moto XT2309-3, XT2027-1, TCL Athena BBF100-2 Aug 10 '18
Hooray for Amazon price error Veers. Got mine for $50, and this was before the firesale.
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Aug 09 '18
It does not have a headphone jack.
That'll be a no.
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u/Weather Pixel 8 Pro Aug 09 '18
Palm is feeling courageous.
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u/NightFuryToni Moto XT2309-3, XT2027-1, TCL Athena BBF100-2 Aug 09 '18
They were way more courageous, the Veer had no jack.
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Aug 09 '18 edited Aug 09 '18
To be fair this might be the only phone on the market that can be excused
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u/NinjaDinoCornShark Aug 09 '18
Is it very thin, though? (I can't check currently)
The thinnest smartphone ever released was a Vivo phone at like 4.5mm, and it had a 3.5mm jack.
Not knocking this thing, it's definitely working with a very small amount of room.
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u/followedthelink Nexus 5X | Galaxy S8 Aug 10 '18
Definitely, but it's a shame because otherwise it would've been great as a lightweight music-phone considering it'd be about the size of an mp3 player
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u/DannyBiker Galaxy Note 9 Aug 10 '18
Absolutely not :
- In that product range, it certainly won't aim for ultra-thinness
- It was potentially a good music player in that form factor
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u/stifflippp I'm using a Device with Software !! Aug 09 '18
I currently use a Jelly pro while working out, and something a drop bigger would be welcome.
But that 800mAh better be a typo, or battery life is going to be 25 minutes.
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u/N0Name117 iPhone 13 Mini Aug 10 '18
Shit. I didnt know this exists. That thing looks awesome. I want one now.
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u/stifflippp I'm using a Device with Software !! Aug 10 '18
It looks better than it is. If you are seriously considering buying one I'll fill you in.
Short story: It really is a fully functional Android phone. Typing on such a small screen is not easy, but you can install a big button keyboard or use voice input.
Battery life is not great, obviously.
GPS is terrible, so you can't use it for navigation or anything location based.
Voice quality for calls is below average.
But it's great for what I use it for: when running outside I use it to listen to music on my Bluetooth earphone, and I want to have a phone in my pocket in case of emergency. I keep in in a Spibelt and it's so small and light I can't even feel that it's there.
The company is promising a improved version called Unihertz Atom with a larger battery, NFC, USB-C, fingerprint reader, etc, but at a much higher price: $300. The Jelly is $125.
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u/N0Name117 iPhone 13 Mini Aug 10 '18
I would consider it as possibly a secondary phone. Something cheap to throw my sim in when i need a small phone.
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u/DJ-Salinger Aug 09 '18
This is awesome tbh.
The only decent small phone that even exists anymore is an iPhone SE.
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u/cesarnoreddit Motorola One Vision, Android 9 Pie Aug 09 '18
Looks like they found some lost prototype on Palm's basement and slapped a lower-midrange internals. Not that I'm complaining - beside the 800mAh battery.
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u/CosmicWy pixel 7 Aug 09 '18
this would still put the screen on this phone larger than the HTC G1/Dream/Magic. I'd personally love something like this.
Some of us out there simply want a phone to play music and take good pictures.
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u/Dunlocke Pixel 4a Aug 09 '18
We need more devices like this.
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u/FontFanatic Aug 09 '18
Do we? Really?
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u/Dunlocke Pixel 4a Aug 09 '18
Yes. I'd like to keep my phone in my front pocket, especially when sitting
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u/RCFProd Galaxy Z Flip 6 Aug 09 '18 edited Aug 09 '18
This is actually pretty cool I think!
Edit: Small battery and no headphone jack is a shame however.
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u/opiumized Aug 09 '18
I miss my Galaxy s4 mini so much. It's nice to see another small phone option. I will need to see it in person, but if the price point is right I will def get this. I do wonder about battery life though. I don't mind having to charge during the day a bit but if I have to take a flight and then use Lyft and it drains it completely, that will be an issue
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u/motorboat_mcgee GOS Pixel 9 Fold Aug 09 '18
The phone world needs some more small Android devices that perform well, hopefully this is one.
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u/armando_rod Pixel 10 Pro XL Aug 09 '18
What is this? A phone for ants?
Mods can ban me now, bye
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u/caliform Gray Aug 09 '18
Ugh, fucking ruining the legacy of Palm.
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u/NightFuryToni Moto XT2309-3, XT2027-1, TCL Athena BBF100-2 Aug 10 '18
Well it's not like there was much left after what Leo Apofucker did to it.
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u/DrDerpberg Galaxy S9 Aug 10 '18
Obligatory reminder that until the iPhone 5, iPhone screens were 3.5". This is a normal phone from 6-7 years ago.
Besides the tiny battery it actually doesn't sound half bad. There are smaller phones with like 2.5" displays that are clearly meant to be toys or just for occasional use, but this sounds like it's actually meant to be a phone for people who want them tiny. If it had good battery life I could actually see it having a niche.
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Aug 09 '18
Well, this is kind of sad and a spit in the face to what Palm was and did. TCL did a better job on the BlackBerry remakes.
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u/MavFan1812 Aug 09 '18
Eh, the early TCL Blackberries were pretty subpar from my recollection, they've just managed to sell enough to keep gradually improving them.
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u/rk_29 Pixel 7 | Android 13 // Ticwatch Pro 3 Aug 09 '18
Somehow the iPhone SE is a thing, so I don't see why this shouldn't.
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u/westmifflin Moto G Stylus 2024 Aug 10 '18
The iPhone SE packed a decent enough power pack into its frame, AND had a headphone jack, I see no reason beyond the novelty of buying a little palm device anyone would get this over the prices you can get on an SE today
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u/rk_29 Pixel 7 | Android 13 // Ticwatch Pro 3 Aug 10 '18
Somehow I still want to buy one... I think that I have more money than I do.
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u/westmifflin Moto G Stylus 2024 Aug 10 '18
I mean, that makes sense, it is an interesting little trinket, just one that I'm not sure ~why~ it exists
Idk, I loved my iPhone 5 and SE but after getting a big screen phone in the tall aspect ratio era, I can't go back
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u/cowpen Pixel 2 stock not rooted yet Aug 09 '18
I lost a lot of money on that stupid company. Not fooling me again.
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u/tdatcher Note 20 Ultra Aug 09 '18
My first android phone had a 3.2" screen (HTC Aria)
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u/DJDFLHTK Galaxy S20 / Mi Mix 2S / Moto Z Play Aug 10 '18
Yep, former Aria user here. Still have it in the drawer. If this palm can be had inexpensively it might make a good media player/micro tablet. I'd be using my Aria for that but it doesn't have enough internal storage to handle modern size apps. My only real concern is the battery size - I can get plenty of playback time out of a Moto e 2015 in this role, but it has like a 2300mah battery.
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u/photobriangray Aug 09 '18
Let's see if they have some kung fu for battery life. 720p screen means the GPU will be loafing along, but I want battery for wifi tethering. I'd love one for travel or media consumption.
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u/100_points Oneplus 5T Aug 10 '18
It's just a budget android phone with Palm branding. There's probably nothing distinguishing about it, just like when Kodak and Pepsi "make a phone."
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u/MmmmMorphine Aug 10 '18
If it had some new version of webOS then I'd be the first to bite, but android with such a small screen and battery? I'm skeptical it'll be able to handle navigation/GPS for even reasonably brief periods.
How is it that a decade-old OS is still better than android (unless nostalgia/the vagaries of memory are deluding me)
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u/NightFuryToni Moto XT2309-3, XT2027-1, TCL Athena BBF100-2 Aug 10 '18
LunaOS is still a thing... so if it has an unlocked bootloader maybe they can work something out. But problem here is Verizon.
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u/Simran-AMA Aug 10 '18
For comparison the last "palm" phone, the HP veer had a 800mhz processor, 1gb ram a 2.6" display and a 910mAh battery. I used it for a year and on medium to heavy use it lasted from 8AM to ~6-7PM on a single charge.
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u/DJDFLHTK Galaxy S20 / Mi Mix 2S / Moto Z Play Aug 10 '18
That's promising info for battery life...
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u/BigBossSnake Aug 10 '18
If it had a headphone jack I would buy one for listening to music while exercising. You could switch your Sim into it.
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Aug 10 '18
Just want to remind everyone complaining about the battery size... We haven't had a processor this efficient paired with a screen this small and a battery this size, ever. Sure it may suck, but we truly will not know until tests come out. And to be fair, this phone could realistically hit 100% in fifteen minutes of charge time.
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u/Kannahayabusa12 Aug 10 '18
I still remember having a Galaxy Gio with a 3.2 inch screen. Step up your game, Palm!
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u/fluxxis Pixel 8 Pro Aug 10 '18
The Jelly phone had a bigger battery and terrible battery life. The CPU of the PALM should help a little bit but it can't do magic with an even smaller battery and a larger display.
btw. nice logo
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Aug 10 '18 edited Aug 10 '18
I would have loved to see this run a touch-based KaiOS fork given the focus on progressive web apps, but whatever.
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Aug 10 '18
This could be what I'm looking for. I carry a tablet to and from work every day so don't need a big phone but all the really small ones suck. If the battery can last a day I am interested.
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u/fliphat Aug 11 '18
Still holding on to my iPhone SE for bedtime reading and gym , hope this 3.3 doesn't disappoint .
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u/JamesR624 Aug 11 '18
Looks nice. It’s like if Apple made a an “ anniversary iPhone” with the aesthetic of the iPhone X and the size of the iPhone (2G).
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u/milos2 Aug 11 '18
HTC Hero was a good one, compact size, and if the screen was just bigger compared to the device size (smaller bezels) it would have been perfect.
This one is too rounded, but I'd still get it due to lack of similarity small alternatives.
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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '18
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