That said, we were still able to hold a conversation, and our callers didn't even notice we had turned on the speakerphone during the call. We successfully paired the Pre with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset and the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones.
General performance and battery life
Armed with a dual-band Qualcomm MSM6801A processor and a Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 processor, the Pre's general performance is something of a mixed bag. Navigating through the menus and deck of cards is always swift, but, at times, there would be a brief lag when launching applications. We wouldn't say it's any worse than a Windows Mobile smart phone, but it's something you'll notice. That said, the webOS was stable throughout our testing period. We didn't experience any crashes or freezes, and, again, we can't say enough good things about the multitasking and notifications system.
Battery life is an issue and probably one of our biggest concerns. The Pre comes with a user-removable 1,150mAh lithium-ion battery with a rated talk time of 5 hours and up to 12 days of standby time. We managed to get in one talk-time test and the Pre met the claimed 5 hours. In general use, we noticed during our review period that, by the end of the day, we were often in the yellow or red battery zones (usually around 12 per cent or lower, starting from 100 per cent). Compared with the average user, we might have been putting more demand on the device, since we were trying to test out all the features.
As with any smart phone, there are ways to conserve battery life, such as turning off any wireless radios when not in use and adjusting the backlight brightness. Palm seems to be aware of the battery issue, since it sent out a battery-optimisation tip sheet later on in our review period. We followed these steps and it definitely helped to reduce the battery drain, but, for road warriors and on-the-go types who don't always necessarily have a Wi-Fi network, battery life is still a problem.
Palm also acknowledged a problem in which the AIM client is drawing power, especially for users with many buddies, and said it will issue a bug fix. We're glad a fix is coming, but this isn't exactly how you want to kick-start your product launch.
Accessories
The Pre's sales package contents are similar to those of the Treo Pro. The smart phone ships with an AC adaptor, a micro-USB cable, a wired-stereo headset, a soft-protective pouch, a recycling envelope and reference material.
There are, of course, additional accessories you can purchase for the Pre, including the Touchstone Charging Kit. The kit costs $70 (£45) and includes the Touchstone dock and Touchstone back cover (you can also purchase them separately for $50 (£30) and $20 (£12) respectively).
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