Palm is back. Kind of. The original company might not be, but the brand is, and we've got a new phone coming to market to prove it. The Palm Phone is a phone, technically, but it's not meant to be your daily driver. We've apparently reached a point where we have "weekend phones" now, designed to link with your big phone and reduce your reliance on it.
Companion devices aren't new, as long as you are willing to accept that our smartwatches, especially now, are designed to be the same thing. But the Palm device is meant to offer the same functionality on a device that has a bigger display than a smartwatch, while also offering the Android platform, Google Assistant, and cameras.
A tiny phone to help you stop using your big phone so much.
The new Palm Phone launches in November, and it comes along with a price tag that's actually pretty high. At over $300 it puts the device in the same league as other mid-range handsets that are a lot more powerful and feature heavy. Of course, it's also priced similarly to most smartwatches, too, so maybe this is just what companion devices are marked at.
But I can't imagine this flying off the shelves, especially because of the price and the fact it is still a phone. Yes, you can put on Life Mode and you won't have to worry about notifications. Which is great, but my big phone does that, too.
And that's really most of it right there for me, and this actually extends to smartwatches, too. On a personal note I just don't want, or need, another device to either show me notifications or not. I've tried so many different smartwatches over the years and it always comes down to this same result. My phone is enough, for whichever situation I need.
I don't know that I'd need a companion device like the new Palm Phone either way, but I think I might be a bit more willing to consider it if it didn't cost so much. But that's just me, and I'm more curious to know what you think about Palm's new companion device. Is this a new gadget on your radar, and one you're excited to pick up when it launches? Let me know!