Meet Palm, a 3.3-Inch 'Companion' Phone for Your iPhone or Android Device

Palm is a miniature handset that has been launched to act as a companion for your primary Android or iOS smartphone. With a small 3.3-inch display in the times of mainstream flagship models like the iPhone XS Max (6.5-inch) and the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (6.4-inch), the Palm is designed to offer users a minimalistic phone. The Palm phone is about the size of a credit card, has a high pixel density LCD panel, and comes with IP68 rating.

A custom “Life Mode” on the smartphone silences incoming calls and notifications every time the screen is turned off. The Palm, initially codenamed Peptio, was leaked back in August. Let’s check out its price and specifications.

Palm price and specifications

The miniature Palm handset has been priced at $350 (roughly Rs. 25,800) and will be sold starting November exclusively via Verizon Wireless in the US, positioned as a companion to your primary smartphone. In fact, both your “main” Android phone or iPhone and the Plan will share a number. Users will have to pay a monthly fee of $10 (about Rs. 700) over and above their current Verizon plan to connect the Palm to the carrier’s network, reports CNET.

The single-SIM (Nano) Palm runs a custom version of Android 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box, and sports a small 3.3-inch HD LCD display panel with a 445ppi pixel density and Corning Gorilla Glass protection on the front and the back. The phone is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 SoC, coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.

In terms of optics, the Palm sports a 12-megapixel rear camera with flash, and an 8-megapixel front camera for selfies and video calling. There is a 800mAh battery under the hood, with a claimed “all-day battery life” and 3+ days of standby time. Connectivity options include 4G LTE, Bluetooth v4.2 LE, single-band Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, GLONASS, and a USB Type-C port. There is no NFC on the handset, nor is there a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sensors onboard the phone include accelerometer, electronic compass, gyroscope, and proximity sensor.

Dimensions of the Palm are 96.6x50.6x7.4mm and the weight is about 62.5 grams. It comes with IP68 water and dust resistance rating, sports a crafted billet aluminium mid-frame, and has a dual-purpose speaker. The Palm can be unlocked using Face Unlock capabilities built into the front camera.

With this launch, Palm joins the long list of mobile brands — including Nokia and BlackBerry — that are using nostalgia to make a comeback into the market. While the idea of digital de-addiction might sound interesting with a smaller form factor and minimal UI on hand, the purpose of Palm is in fact to aid the primary handset and not ditch it.