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All Phones offered on this site are either free or will have nominal price if you Sign up for a service plan.
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Palm Centro Red Smartphone (Sprint)
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Our Price: $149.61
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Average Customer Rating:   
Manufacturer: Sprint
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Binding: Wireless Phone
Brand: Palm
Color: Red
Feature: Ruby red smartphone with 320 x 320 color touchscreen and 1.3-megapixel camera
Label: Sprint
Manufacturer: Sprint
Model: Centro
Publisher: Sprint
Release Date: 2007-10-28
Studio: Sprint
Variation Description: Red
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Features
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Ruby red smartphone with 320 x 320 color touchscreen and 1.3-megapixel camera
Full QWERTY keyboard for messaging; offers text, e-mail, instant messaging, and web access
Comprehensive organizer functions, including contacts, to-do lists, calendar, and more
Expandable microSD slot (up to 4 GB)
Includes: Battery, AC Charger, USB Sync Cable, Palm Software Installation CD and User Documentation
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Sprint Service is the WORST
Comment: A word about Sprint: They used to be the best, and they are now the worst. The absolute worst.
If you call them today, July 15'th 2008, you will get through the prompts until you are given a wait-time and then the systems tells you to call back later and hangs up on you. I'm not surprised at all. They got rid of 80 % of their customer service workforce.
Things have appeared on my bill for a year that shouldn't be there. I have made 5 attempts to fix this and finally gave up. A lady from Sprint called me trying to sell something and extend my contract, I laughed so hard, that she actually tried to fix my problems. She said she did and of course, it's still on my bill.
I'm turning off my phone today...
Customer Rating:
Summary: A smartphone that actually fits in your pocket
Comment: The Palm Centro is one of the very few smartphones that can fit in your pocket and still deliver quality power features. However, it has a few minor drawbacks.
SCREEN
I've owned a Palm IIIxe, Palm Tungsten C, iPAQ rx4240 and have test driven an iPhone, Blackjack II and Moto Q, and a couple Blackberry models. The Palm Centro is probably the smallest screen of them all save the Blackberry Pearl. However, the Centro offers 320 x 320 resolution which is higher than most Windows Mobile smartphones and PDAs out there. The result is a small, but crisp display with adjustable font sizes for most applications. I found the touchscreen to be about as sensitive as other Palm devices in the past, which is to say it's fine (see stylus comments below). The screen is slightly recessed into the phone which I find to be necessary so I don't hit the screen with my fat face while talking on it.
KEYBOARD AND BUTTONS
Have you seen this thing? The keyboard is small. And you know what? I'm glad it is. The Moto Q, Blackjack and Curve, etc might fit in the front pocket of your tight jeans, but it's not comfortable. The Centro passes my "jeans test" by sliding into my front pocket while letting me sit and stand with no problem. As a result, you get a smaller screen and a smaller keyboard. The Blackberry Pearl is the about the same size as the Centro, but it doubles up two letters per key button. Personally, I hate that. The Centro scores huge points for giving me dedicated keys for each letter on a small phone that fits in my pocket. It took me a day to adjust to typing with my fingernails, and I have large hands. But I can easily type with two thumbs or one--something that I can't do on my Palm Tungsten C or the Moto Q. Therefore, Centro is an outstanding one- or two-handed phone. The 5-way directional key also works better than i thought it would. After moderate use I find myself actually liking it a lot. The remaining buttons work just fine and can be assigned to whatever you want, including the side button below the volume keys. The dedicated ringer-off slider on the top is a very welcome bonus.
SOFTWARE
The Centro comes with a great suite of software preloaded onto the phone. The two email programs work very well with POP3 and IMAP email accounts, although I prefer the VersaMail over Sprint Mobile Mail. I've also been somewhat partial to the Palm Organizer over MS Outlook. It also comes with Documents To Go, which lets you open and edit Word and Excel files and lets you view PowerPoint and pdf files. There's a free download available to upgrade Docs To Go so you can open Office 2007 files and it gives you some basic Power Point editing abilities. The GoogleMaps and IM software are nice and work very well. The entertainment package of pTunes, Sudoku and Solitaire are nice and work ok, however I found that Sprint TV had some problems syncing up audio and video. The video seemed a step behind. But I loaded SlingPlayer for Palm OS on it and the Centro works great for watching pocket-sized TV in conjunction with a Slingbox.
The Palm OS gets knocks for being outdated, however, it works very well and is simple to use. Plus it's alot snappier than Windows Mobile. It doesn't really multitask, although some programs like IM let you sign onto an AOL, MSN, or Yahoo account and still receive messages after you've backed out of the program. The Centro syncs easily with Vista and XP, but I haven't tried it on a Mac. The other benefit is that there is a plethora for Palm software apps out there, both free and for purchase.
The web browser is just ok. I find that it loads pages much quicker than Internet Explorer on Win Mobile devices. Unfortunately it's not quite as good as Opera Mobile, and definitely not as good as the iPhone's Safari (to date nothing is...not even close).
PHONE/VOICE
I've been on US Cellular and Cingular/AT&T networks for years and never used Sprint. Sprint service is fine in my area, and the voice quality of the phone is nice. The earpiece volume can be raised to high levels when in noisy areas and people on the other end said my mic has no problems and sounds like any cell phone. The Centro syncs well with my Plantronics 640 bluetooth headset and people on the other end say I sound great with it. After 3 weeks, I haven't been able to complain about the phone or data signal. The addition of a WiFi radio would have been nice, but so far I haven't really missed it because of the high speed EV-DO network touted by Sprint.
CAMERA
It's a 1.3 megapixel camera, which is pretty weak by 2007/2008 standards. There is also no flash. The camera actually takes decent pics, though. I never even consider the camera on the phone when I buy it, but if it's really important to you, you probably want at least a 2 megapixel one with a flash...so maybe pass the Centro on by.
PROBLEMS AND SHORTCOMINGS
There are a couple things that annoy me about this phone and keep it from a full 5 star rating. First, the stupid Palm connector at the bottom. I've always hated the Palm connectors. Why the company can't switch to mini-USB like the rest of the world is a mystery to me. The jack isn't the easiest to pull out, it's big, and I have to buy all new car chargers for it. Also, there's no cradle. My previous Palm devices have a cradle and I miss it, although this is cheaply remedied with some poking around the internet. The stylus is also very thin, lightweight, and cheap. As a result it's doesn't provide enough tactile feel and weight to effectively use the touchscreen. I had to purchase a replacement metal stylus to bring the touchscreen use up to par. Again, a cheap fix, just a little annoying. Even with these shortcomings I would still be inclined to give the Centro 5-stars except for:
The battery cover. Ugh, the manifestation of evil itself! You have to take the battery cover off to remove the SD micro card. You also have to take the batter cover off to reset the unit. Now, I've only had one system crash in the first 3 weeks, but that was because I was trying to load some really old AOL software that wasn't designed for this Palm OS version--and I paid the price. The cover isn't the worst thing to get off, but putting it back on sure is. I've kind of gotten the hang of it, but man, total loss of a star because of it. There is no inset reset button on the back of this phone like other Palm devices of yesteryear. Having one of these small reset buttons in the back could have made me somewhat overlook the battery cover. Bummer. Palm, what were you thinking?
OVERALL
If you want a QWERTY smartphone but don't want to lug around a bulky unit your choices right now are either this or the Pearl. And the Pearl does the whole two-letters-on-one-keybutton set-up. If these features are important to you, then the Centro is your choice. Don't worry, it's internal abilities don't disappoint. The Centro is great for text messaging, writing quick emails, doing some casual web browsing, and reading through Office files. However, if you want a better camera, or do HEAVY smartphone typing then I would look to a fatter smartphone that has a bigger screen and more spaced out thumbkeys. But in a world where size matters...the compact Centro delivers amazingly well. I've been very happy with my purchase, especially at the price. Now can somebody help me get this battery cover back on?
Customer Rating:
Summary: My Little Red Companion
Comment: Coming from a T-Mobile Sidekick III to a red palm centro, I had fairly reasonable expectations from a higher-end phone and a higher-end service (sprint). Providing a little background into my service change, my friend who works at sprint hooked me up with the Sprint SERO plan, which you can google and will find multiple ways to take advantage of the plan. I pay thirty dollars a month, and I get 500 minutes, unlimited data and unlimited texting... you simply can't beat it.
Anyway, back to the phone. I ended up getting the red version; my best friend has the pink one, so I figured I should switch it up a little, and black was so normal. I was stunned when I opened the packaging and saw how small it was. This phone is truly the tiniest smartphone I have ever seen that has a QWERTY keyboard, hands down. Being a young man with rather large hands, I was afraid that the keyboard would be too small for me to tap out even the simplest text message without making multiple errors; however, after a few days of getting used to the phone, I now make no mistakes when writing even a large email.
This phone is also one of the sturdiest phones I have ever owned. Compared to my previous sidekicks,razrs, and the like of flimsy phones, I have had this phone for over two weeks, used it constantly, dropped it multiple times, and it has not one scratch on it. The casing, a shiny metallic-like plastic, is surprisingly sturdy, and none of the paint has come of at all.
Diving into the software interface of this phone, Palm's age-old operating system is on it, but I had no problems with it. Sprint included pTunes, which is a great mp3 player with an internet radio receiver, Sprint TV, which is a system of some free and some one-time cost shows and videos that you can download to your phone at lightening speed, google maps, documents to go, and text messaging that is displayed in conversations much like the iPhone.
Syncing this phone to the computer is an absolute breeze, and finding third-party apps for it is an easy task. Opera mini, an iPhone-like web browser, can be installed onto it if you find the Java Microenvironment. Another plus in having this Microenvironment is the fact that...drumroll please... it allows you to STREAM YOUTUBE VIDEOS! After downloading the Java Microenvironment, just go to m.youtube.com and off you go! This browser AND the Java Microenvironment made the phone 100% better, and it's only one of the many third party apps that I use every day.
One of the huge features of this sprint smartphone is that it has picturemail. Windows mobile phones do NOT have picture mail, making this and the Palm Treo the only smartphones that sprint offers which have this capability; a MAJOR selling point for many, including myself.
In terms of service, I get service absolutely EVERYWHERE, including in my school which has cell blockers. I often get service where people who have verizon don't get service, and when I've roamed it's been on the verizon network, so I have never had a time where service hasn't been available.
There are two things about this phone that I dislike, but not enough to dislike it any bit. One of these is the battery life. With the screen's brightness turned to the lowest it can go without shutting the baklight completely off, the most it could last without a charge is 2 days, and this is without use of the mp3 player and data. I find myself charging it every night, which isn't a big deal, but for some people I'm sure this would be a hassle. The other negative feature about this phone is the fact that the batter cover has to be removed in order for you to be able to remove your microSD card. For those who swap memory cards, this could get old very quickly, but I've gotten used to it.
All in all, this is basically a smaller version of the popular, and much more expensive, palm treo. I would recommend this phone and the sprint SERO plan to everyone, hands down.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I am Loving The Centro
Comment: Called Sprint, Told them, either give me a new phone, not just the 75.00 credit or I'm going to AT&T, Ive been a customer over 3 yrs and think I was due a new phone... She told me she would send me a Centro overnight shipping, so I figured, well, better than this dinosaur I have plus to be honest I love being Sprints customer, incoming minutes plans are the best... The Centro is amazing, easy to use, sooo many features and crystal clear sound and screen.... two thumbs up!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A powerful, cheap, easy-to-use powerhouse!
Comment: Many have made disparaging comments in the past about where Palm has been heading in the past few years, and how little Palm has innovated. This is all true, but it doesn't detract from the great value the Centro represents right now. For a paltry $99 (as a direct-buy from Sprint), you get great yet simple-to-use contact manager, calendar, to-do apps, an easy to use phone interface (integrated with the contact manager) which can be customized to select oft-chosen numbers with single keypresses, dirt-simple camera and camcorder functionality, multiple email client support (including HotMail and Yahoo), dirt-simple MP3 music playing (with Windows Media Player synchronization), true web-browsing (at least compared to the limited WAP browsing you get from disposable phones), etc, etc. Plus you gain access to thousands of free and commercial applications which are surprisingly powerful considering the age of the underlying operating system. I use a program called HandyShopper for maintaining multiple shopping lists, and I couldn't live without it. iSecure is a free and easy-to-use program for storing passwords in an iron-strong (i.e., heavily encrypted) database. By nature of the Palm OS, the vast majority of applications for the Palm are easy to use; this is an advantage which too many critics overlook.
The Palm OS has some limitations (e.g., the limited multitasking in some scenarios can be problematic for some users), but Palm has set up the Centro so you can listen to MP3s or talk on the phone while performing other tasks, so this alleviates my biggest gripes in this regard.
I've only had my Centro for a few days, but I'm impressed by the screen clarity, the speed at application switching, the battery life, and, of course, the breadth of the included applications (including a limited edition of Documents To Go). (Disclaimer: I can't activate my Internet or email package for a few weeks since it would incur overlapping service charges, but the browser supports Google Maps and YouTube so I suspect the browsing experience will be rather good. Sprint's EvDO network is blazing fast, too! Although the Centro doesn't support WiFi, this should be considered a PLUS since WiFi is NOT secure, despite what you may have heard; any moron with a laptop, a WiFi card and any of the freely available sniffer applications can capture your SSL handshake authentication information when you connect to your bank while sitting comfortably in an airport lounge...)
As to stability, I have not had to reset my Centro yet (but time will tell). UPDATE: I found an instance where opening a file with an older version of an application caused a reset, but updating the application corrected this, and I lost no information.
Another thing that really impressed me is that I bought this phone as an upgrade to a 6 year old Samsung Palm-compatible PDA. I expected application compatibility to be strong (it was), but I didn't expect the migration of my old HotSync back-up to the new phone to be painless. It was. Despite having an older version of the Palm Desktop and applications that only run under Palm OS 3.5 or earlier, all of my installed applications came over without any effort on my part and (except for a trial version of PacMan) ran without a glitch!
My only major complaint of the Centro is the cramped keyboard. If you have short fingernails, the keyboard isn't for you. Fortunately, the on-screen keyboard is still available and lets me enter information fairly quickly.
If you are a Palm fanatic and are looking at upgrading, the Centro is a must-have, especially if you have a large collection of Palm apps and don't wish to re-enter all that information!
As nice as it is, the Palm OS will never compete with the iPhone's interface, but the Centro isn't $400 either. Plus, you can buy a spare battery for the Centro and replace it on a plane - try that, iPhone!!!
Addendum: I discovered a neat feature my old Samsung didn't have: If a number of events occur and you can't respond to them (e.g., you're away from your phone), when you turn on the display you're presented with a summary screen. For example, I recently turned on the display and was informed (on a single screen) that I missed two appointments (details shown), two phone calls (names shown), and that I had a voicemail message waiting for me! It's like having a personal secretary!
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Editorial Reviews:
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Life starts after five o'clock. Not coincidentally, that's also when the Palm Centro smartphone comes alive. Not only does the Palm Centro handle all your favorite voice functions, but it also offers text, IM, e-mail, and web access, all in a body that's a lot smaller than you'd think. Add in such features as a 1.3-megapixel camera, 64 MB of internal memory, Bluetooth 1.2 support, a microSD expansion slot, and a full QWERTY keyboard and you have a terrific smartphone for all your messaging and personal needs. In short, there's no better way to stay in touch. 
The Palm Centro's full QWERTY keyboard makes it easy to type text messages, IMs, and e-mails. | Design
The Palm Centro boasts a sleek red housing that measures a mere 2.11 by 4.22 by 0.73 inches (W x H x D) and weighs 4.2 ounces. It's notably smaller than many competing smartphones, yet doesn't sacrifice functionality at any point along the way. Users will also love the 320 x 320 touchscreen (up to 65,000 colors), which offers a crisp resolution for photos and videos. And thanks to the full QWERTY keyboard, you can say L8R to those tricky keys on your old cell phone. Phone and Messaging Functions
The Palm Centro smartphones offers a ton of ways to stay in touch with friends, whether you're calling Brian, firing off a quick text to Jen, instant messaging Chris, or shooting an e-mail to Kat. From a phone perspective, the Palm Centro lets you dial people right from your address book, set up three-way calls from the touch of a button, or use the speakerphone to talk hands-free. The keyboard, meanwhile, makes it a breeze to type complete messages whether you're sending text, pictures, or even audio or video clips. Plus, the Centro keeps all your messages in a chat-style view, so it's easy to keep track of the conversation. 
The 320 x 320 color touchscreen is crisp and vivid, making it ideal for viewing photos or watching videos. | Want to keep up with all the latest gossip when you're away from the computer? Turn to the Centro's instant messaging functions, which support all your buddy lists on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and others. Similarly, the Centro lets you access your personal e-mail accounts, such as Gmail, AOL, and Yahoo. As a result, you can reply to invites and answer e-mails when you're out and about. Web Functions
Whether you're keeping up with friends on MySpace or looking up directions to the new bistro across town, the Centro's touchscreen and keyboard make it fun to navigate around the web. The Centro includes a fast built-in web browser that lets you check out photos on Flickr or watch videos on YouTube, with broadband-like speeds on the EV-DO network that are guaranteed to impress. No more waiting around for your favorite sites to load. The Centro is also compatible with Google Maps, making it simple to get directions or see which freeways are clear and which ones are parking lots. Google Maps shows you red, yellow, or green traffic routes in real time. Organizer Functions
The Palm Centro includes a complete organizer for keeping track of all your daily, weekly, and monthly responsibilities. The contacts list gathers all your friends' phone numbers, addresses, and more, while the calendar keeps you from missing upcoming meetings, events, and parties. You can even enter a friend's birthday in the contacts list and will automatically show up in your calendar. As with the best organizers, the Centro also offers a to-do list that lets you check off items when they're complete. As a result, it's easy to keep track of what you did and still need to do. And should you come across a tidbit that doesn't have a logical home, simply turn to the memo function, which lets you store random information such as hot spots in Vegas or the names of movies you'd like to rent. Say goodbye to carrying around crumpled scraps of paper in your pocket or purse. Finally, it's possible to save a copy of all those names, numbers, appointments, photos, and videos on your computer thanks to the sync function. Multimedia
Whether you want to take pictures, play videos, or listen to music, the Palm Centro has got you covered. The 1.3-megapixel digital camera (with a 2x digital zoom) lets you shoot pictures and send them to friends, store digital albums, or shoot videos. The built-in MP3 player, meanwhile, lets you take your tunes everywhere you go. With 64 MB of storage, there's plenty of room for your playlists, plus you can add up to 4 GB more with a microSD card. And thanks to Pocket Tunes Deluxe, you can play the songs you downloaded from places like Rhapsody or Yahoo. As a bonus, the Centro supports a ton of fun stuff from Sprint, including the ability to watch such TV channels as CNN Mobile, Fox Sports, the Weather Channel, the Disney Channel, and E! Entertainment. There's never a dull moment with the Palm Centro around. Other phone details include a removable lithium-ion battery that offers 3.5 hours of talk time and up to 300 hours of standby time; a Palm OS 5.4.9 platform; and support for Windows XP and Vista and Mac OS X 10.2 and higher.
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