Palm Centro

While reviewers are in agreement that the Palm Centro isn't a game-changer in any way, they say that this inexpensive smartphone is a great choice for Verizon or Sprint subscribers who are eyeing the bottom line, as well as for those considering their first smartphone. The Centro is available unlocked, but for a premium price that negates the "budget" aspect of this smartphone. It offers loads of features for the price across the three carriers, including a 320-by-320-pixel touch screen, a camera with camcorder functions, expandable memory, Bluetooth and productivity applications. While multimedia support is OK, it falls far short of that of the Apple iPhone 3G (8 GB *est. $200 with service contract), and it can't make use of AT&T's high-speed 3G network. 3G (EVDO) support is offered in the Verizon and Sprint versions of this phone, however.

The Palm Centro weighs only 4.2 ounces, but it has push email, lots of messaging options and a suite of productivity apps. On the downside, the Centro lacks Wi-Fi, and the keyboard is cramped. In his review for The New York Times, David Pogue notes that "Palm and Sprint boast that the Centro has a full alphabet keyboard, but that's a generous use of the word 'full.' " The Centro uses the Palm OS, and you can sync it with Outlook, view documents and get turn-by-turn driving directions from Google Maps. Memory can be expanded up to 4 GB via the microSD slot.

Among the reviews we found, editors at CNET don't hesitate to recommend the Palm Centro as one of the best choices among current smartphones. Other detailed single-product reviews for the Palm Centro can be found at InfoSyncWorld.com and Brighthand.com, as well as from editors at PCMag.com. Consumer Reports weighs in with its usual unbiased testing, but discussion is short. User reviews at Amazon.com can be useful in determining whether long-term problems with the Palm Centro are likely.