A few weeks back we covered the announcement that Palm was launching its new Palm Ultra-mobile ‘companion’ device on Vodafone.
Well its now available, and costs £31 per month (with no upfront cost) or £350 Pay as you Go (PAYG) when bought with a £10 Big Value Bundle.
The Android based ultra-mobile handset is designed as a companion device. The new Palm sports a 3.3-inch display, has 3GB of RAM, a Snapdragon 435 processor and 32GB storage. There is a 12-megapixel rear camera, an 8-megapixel selfie shooter and it has a single USB-C port for connectivity and charging.
Running Android v8.1 the Palm ultra-mobile is one of the first devices to take advantage of Googles optimisation of Android for entry-level devices with lower hardware specs. Of course, Palm has built its own custom UI interface to interact with. Initial comments from people who have had hands on time with the device is that it feels fast enough so the optimisation Palm has done seems to have worked.
Palm Ultra-mobile Specs
The full specs have now been confirmed as:
| Dimensions (mm) | 50.6 X 96.6 X 7.4mm |
| Weight (g) | 70 |
| Processor | Qualcomm® 435 processor. Octa-core CPU |
| Display | 3.3” HD Display – 445 ppi high pixel density LCD Impact resistant front and rear Corning Gorilla Glass |
| Internal storage | 3 GB RAM / 32 GB Storage |
| Camera | 12MP rear camera with flash + 8MP front camera |
| Operating system | Android™ 9.0, EMUI 9.0 |
| Battery | 800mAh non-removable battery. All-day battery life*, 3+ day standby time |
Running on Android OS, the Palm offers both face recognition unlocking and voice-activation with Google Assistant – so you can play music, create events, reply to texts or look up directions by simply using your voice.
The idea of a smaller phone to keep you away from your main phone seems a weird one, but then we are already getting used to ‘distraction free’ environments to help us focus on work tasks. Simplified full-screen text editors for writing, Do Not Disturb settings on phones and even built into Windows 10 and MacOS – we already crave being able to shut ourselves off and complete a task for a crucial deadline. A small, truly pocketable, phone is another tool in that armoury.
>> Take a look at the new Palm Ultra-mobile on Vodafone now.
This post was written by Rob Gordon, an IT geek, gadget lover and blogger. Rob has been using the internets since 1994 when the only streaming video was that coffee pot in Cambridge (rip)….
Follow Rob on Twitter – @robgordon – about.me/robgordonuk
