Palm Centro AT&T

While it doesn't do everything the iPhone does, the Centro does do lot of the same stuff for a lot less. Admittedly, it could use a little tweaking here and there, mainly because of the outdated applications Palm bundles with the handset.

But the Centro is also pretty good at messaging in extended use, the Centro's small, gel like QWERTY keys aren't as off putting as they look but it wouldn't want to use either handset for long missives.

The Centro's touch screen requires the stylus, since most of the interface elements are too tiny for your finger. (The iPhone, by contrast, doesn't need a stylus and doesn't include one).

The 2.2 inch, 320 by 320 pixels LCD is sharp and bright, only a few tenths of an inch smaller than a regular Treo.

The glacier white handset it self measures 4.2 by 2.1 by 0.7 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.4 ounces. There's a hardware ringer switch on top (all phones should have them) along with a well placed, well balanced array of hard and soft keys.

Getting around the device is an exercise in simplicity. The cheap quality of the included plastic stylus is a downer but not a deal breaker. Voice calls sound clear and crisp for the most part, though during testing one was choppy enough for a redial.

The small body is easy to hold comfortably for however long your conversation lasts. The Centro sounded clear and powerful when paired with a Plantronics Explorer 370 Bluetooth headset. Its speaker phone was okay, but not quite loud enough for outdoor use. On the plus side, the Centro now has a voice dialing client.

The GSM-based device is quad band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and supports both GPRS and EDGE data protocols. Even though the Sprint version of the Centro supports 3G, the AT&T version doesn't.

And this is where Palm OS rears its ugly, outdated head, as it lacks support for UMTS and HSDPA data networks. (This is the reason the Palm Treo 680, which debuted almost 18 months ago in AT&T and unlocked versions, also lacked 3G support). Unlike the iPhone, the Centro doesn't support Wi-Fi, either. Ouch.