Review: Palm – Unlock the Power of Minimalism

We’ve finally entered the new decade of 2020, which means that the world has lived its first full decade of mass smartphone ownership. Despite their introduction into our daily lives having taken place not too long ago in the grand scheme of things, it’s hard to imagine a present timeline in which we don’t always carry tiny computers in our pockets. And with the technological boom that began years ago and continues to rapidly expand, we now have our pick of the litter when it comes to choosing what sort of smartphone we’d like. We can prioritize features and perks that are important to us and find a phone to meet our needs, whatever they may be. In the case of the Palm phone, you can enjoy a mini-smartphone with all of the capabilities of its larger counterparts. This selling feature has its positives and negatives, but depending on what you’re looking for, it may be the perfect mobile device for you.

When you first see a Palm, you will notice its size before anything else – a diminutive 3.3 inches. After turning the phone on, you’ll find that it has a minimalist homepage that simply displays all apps to scroll through. It runs on an Android operating system and has 32GB of storage for apps, photos, music, and the like. The display is nice, although it can be hard to read at times if you have any level of visual impairment. The camera is also fairly good for the size, both front-facing and rear-facing cameras are able to take clear, detailed photos. And while the size is certainly a conversation starter for parties and the like, the tiny stature also makes it extremely portable, especially if you struggle with finding clothes with pockets large enough to securely hold most smartphones. In this way, Palm can be a saving grace for anyone that’s ever had to wear women’s jeans.

However, the phone does have its cons that can make it difficult to use for some people. The fact that it is so minuscule can be both a blessing and a curse, making it much easier to misplace or not notice as quickly if it’s missing from your person. The screen size can also be difficult to see at times and I found myself accidentally tapping on the wrong things because the buttons are all so close together, especially within some apps. For some, this option is simply a travel-size version of what they already have, but in the end, this phone simply isn’t made for them. However, there is still a substantial audience that would find Palm preferable. A large portion of Palm fans are athletes, which makes sense considering many love to listen to music or podcasts whilst exercising, but a regular bulky phone can be a pain to carry around if you’re jogging or doing other physical activities where your phone must be kept on your person. This lightweight mini-phone could lift a real weight off of them when working out (literally). Those who are looking for a less technology-dependent lifestyle may also appreciate this phone, as it still has the essentials needed to communicate in today’s world without being as tempting to spend all of your time on. The Life Mode feature that can be enabled also encourages less reliance on your smartphone by lessening notifications at your discretion. This is also known as a good first phone for children, giving them a way to stay connected to their parents and friends and play some games without having to purchase a full-fledged iPhone X for a kid in elementary school.

Ultimately, it’s a quality phone with specific limitations that can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. If you prefer less temptation to constantly be glancing at your screen, customers do say that it’s helped them be more immersed in the world around them. It can’t do all the work of crafting a minimalist life for you, but can be a good start. But not everyone is able to cut back on communication in this digital age, as technology can be tied to our work and general daily plans as well. Even with this fact, the Palm phone can be used as either a person’s standalone mobile device with its own phone number and data plan, or as a companion device to their main phone, which they can use at times that are convenient to them. With something as different as this mini-phone, it truly depends on the person making the purchase. Those looking at smartphone options can read the features and decide for themselves if a Palm is something that would interest them, or if they’d prefer their future phone to be a bit more cutting-edge than light-and-simple.

The Palm retails for $249 and is available for purchase at Amazon