Review Palm's been making its smartphones less like a clunky PDA and more like a regular, slim handset with each new model. The big step forward was the Treo 600. Now comes the latest version, this time with a new name as well as a new look.

Superficially, the Centro looks like Palm's other 'new design' smartphone, the Treo 500 - reviewed here (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/23/review_palm_voda_treo_500v/). There's the same oblong shape with curved corners and the same silvery band across the middle with screen above and Qwerty microkeyboard below.

But while the Centro is a couple of millimetres thicker than the 500, it's slightly shorter and much narrower, making it Palm's most candybar-like device to date. Oh, and very comfortable in the hand.

At the centre of the band is a curved-corner oblong - see a theme here? - five-way nav control. The call make and break keys sit at either end. In between, the band forms four buttons - on the Centro, moving clockwise, for the Palm OS apps menu, email, calendar and the main phone UI.

The band wraps around the side of the handset where it forms a second loop running up over the top, down the other side, round the base - home to a 2.5mm headset socket and the latest version of Palm's 'standard' connector - past a lanyard anchor and up again. There's an infrared port on the right side, volume keys on the left and, on top, Palm's customary - and still very welcome - mute-the-ringer switch.

From the top the phone, the silver band forms a short strip that folds over the back of the device to house the 1.3-megapixel camera, self-portait mirror and speaker grille. To the right of it there's a black plastic stylus, and beneath the rest of the back panel slides away to reveal the battery. Below that sits the SIM card tray.

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You have take the back off to access the Centro's Micro SD slot, which is poorly designed, especially when you consider Palm went to the trouble of putting in the side of the handset. Why do you need to take the back off then? Because Palm's engineers must have decided a small gap, just enough to get your fingernail in and flip open the slot's cover, would mar the handset's look.

As it stands, it's almost impossible to open the hatch without also popping the battery cover. At least you don't have to remove the battery too...

The Centro runs Palm OS 5.4.9, which is what you'll find on the phone's big brother, the 'old-look' Treo 680 - reviewed here (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/12/11/review_palm_treo_680/). It's got the same 312MHz XScale processor as its sibling too, ditto the quad-band GSM/GPRS/Edge cellular connectivity, 64MB of user-accessible Flash storage, Bluetooth 1.2 and 65,536-colour, 320 x 320 display.

So the Centro is the 680, but in an even more compact, better looking shell. It's £70 cheaper than the 680 yet has a comparable complement of software. It's hard to see the 680 hanging around for much longer. Since the Centro does the same job, just as well but in a better package and for less dosh, who'd buy a 680? Not us, that's for sure.

If Palm does can the Treo 680 pronto, it'll nicely segment its line between the business-oriented, Windows Mobile-based Treo and the consumer-friendly, Palm OS-based Centro. Well, until the next-gen Palm OS comes along, able to do Wi-Fi properly, 3G at all and more...

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A quick word about the Centro's screen. Yes, its pixel count is the same as the 680's but it's smaller and therefore squeezes in more dots per inch. That makes for a crisper, neater, smoother look that's way ahead of the jaggy-ridden text and graphics you'll see on the Treo 500.

The Centro's display is also touch-sensitive, unlike the 500's, so you can tap on the Phone app's dial pad if you like, but we found it easier to pull up contacts' numbers or type new ones in on the keyboard. The Qwerty layouts keys are smaller and more closely packed than they have been on any Treo keypad to date, but it's still usable - just. Typing with two thumbs remains relatively easy, but single-thumb tapping, as you well might if you're used to texting on a regular handset, requires a feat of manual dexterity beyond our stubby digits.

Palm could have helped here, by giving all the Centro's keys a different hue, not just the number keys. As is stands, all you've got to distinguish one key from another the letter printed on it.

The Centro's been equipped with a comprehensive array of apps, and while there are no games out of the box - odd, given the more youthful customer Palm's aiming at - you can download a couple for free. But they're Sudoku and Solitaire, not the kind of thing you'd expect to appeal to 'the kids'.

More useful is Google Maps, a tool that really will prove essential for anyone who has access to it, sooner or later. Palm's VersaMail email app and Blazer web browser are solid tools, but they're showing their age. VersaMail supports a host of email account provides, from ISPs to the big names, and is far superior to the iPhone's Mail - something for which Apple has no excuse.

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Blazer still beats Pocket Internet Explorer, but then you can render better webpages with a biro and a post-it note than IE can. But Palm's browser has fallen behind Opera and Nokia's alternative, and looks positively ante-diluvian when placed alongside the iPhone's Mobile Safari. Scrolling in Blazer is clunky, and there's no handy thumbnail view to help you steer your way around big, desktop-centric pages.

Pocket Tunes, the bundled music player, does the job, but lacks the sophistication of the likes of the iPhone iPod app, Sony Ericsson's Walkman player, or even Nokia's Music. The Centro's Bluetooth support doesn't stretch to A2DP stereo streaming, and Palm can't even stretch itself to bundle a cheap stereo headset - the one included in the box is mono. Since Palm's pushing the device's musical abilities, this is not only cheapskate but also ill-considered. You'll need an adaptor to use standard 'phones, but there isn't one of those in the box either.

Palm's own Pictures & Video handles video playback, but a Micro SD card will be essential for any content copied over from your computer - Palm doesn't provide one. You can record video too, and the results are decent enough for a 1.3-megapixel snapper.

A new addition to the on-board software roster is VoiceDial which took as a while to get to grips with simply because - without saying - it expects you to give it a surname not a first name. But perhaps that's obvious. That app's not just for dialling - you can use it to open applications and set up emails prepatory to entering text on the keypad. Most of these activities you'll find it quicker to do by hand. And if you're in a situation where you can't fire up VersaMail and type in an email, you probably shouldn't be emailing anyway.

But Palm's personal information management apps remain strong, and its text-messaging tool, the first to present texts in an IM-style 'conversation' format, is as fun to use as ever. Only the cramped keyboard lets it down, a little, but the Centro won us back with its Ignore with Text on-screen button. It appears when a call comes in. Push it and the call's dropped while you get the SMS entry screen to send a 'busy now; call you back in five' message.

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While individual apps may lack lustre, together they make up a decent phone application suite. As usual, DataViz' Documents To Go comes pre-installed ready to read and edit MS Office and text files, and to view PDFs.

The Palm OS has a UI that's consistent between apps and because it feels no need to ape a desktop UI - hello, Windows Mobile - it's easy to use and new users should be able to pick it up quickly. If they run into trouble, Palm's put a stack of useful info into the Centro User Guide, now included on the phone itself, and about time too.

All the Centro's key features can be accessed through the main app, Phone, and unless you start probing the Palm OS' more esoteric options, your stylus is likely to remain firmly docked.

Finally, call quality was as good as we've ever heard on a Treo, so no complaints there. Nor about battery life, which yielded the usual two-day usage period between charges. Serious natterers should note that Palm claims a four-hour talk time, which puts it a little behind the curve these days.

Verdict

We like the Centro. We've always preferred the Palm OS to Windows Mobile, but it's the form-factor and the styling that make the Centro a winner. Feature-wise, it's not bad either. The apps Palm has bundled are good, though they're largely the ones it's always included with its Palm OS devices. The company really needs to be more imaginative to catch the eye of the target audience. And include earphones. And a memory card.

The trouble is, we reckon those folk will be more interested in the much sexier iPhone, which is only £70 more up front yet has a much better web browser, a far superior music and video player, generally better apps and features, and Wi-Fi. It seems pricey but if you figure you're buying a new iPod into the bargain, it's not so bad.

All of which may make the Centro, good though it is, a tough sell.

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