Palm Treo Pro Cell Phone Review - Tour & Design

The Treo Pro is a professional-looking device, though its glossy plastic surfaces attract fingerprints almost without being touched and make it a bit of a slippery little bugger. It's more portable than its Treo Windows OS predecessor and feels good in the hand with a satisfying heft. You'll need to remove the battery cover to get to the microSD card and reset button, so treat the battery cover kindly.

Front
A TFT LCD touch-sensitive screen occupies the top portion of the front of the Treo Pro, with the earpiece speaker above it, as well as a hidden LED charging indicator. Below the screen are 6 buttons plus the D-pad in the shape of a silver ring and a center select button. Below these buttons is the full QWERTY keyboard. In contrast to many previous Treo models, the screen is flush with the front of the device, not recessed.

The front of the Treo Pro

Left
On the left side of the phone is the volume up/down rocker and a side button that is mapped to the camera application by default.

The left side of the Treo Pro

Top
The power button and the ring/silent toggle switch are on the top of the phone.

The top of the Treo Pro

Bottom
There are 3 items on the bottom of the Treo Pro: a micro USB connector, 3.5mm headphone jack, the microphone.

The bottom of the Treo Pro

Right
On the right side of the Treo Pro is a button to control the Wi-Fi radio. Immediately below this button is the infrared port. At the bottom edge is the stylus slot - the stylus head has a notch that can be hooked with your fingernail to help pull it out of the slot.

The right side of the Treo Pro

Back
On the back of the phone are the camera lens and loudspeaker. The Palm logo is embossed in silver lettering in the middle.

The back of the Treo Pro

Battery Out
Removing the battery reveals the Treo Pro's SIM card slot. The lithium-ion polymer battery has a capacity of 1500mAh. The microSD card slot is on the left side of the phone and can only be accessed with the battery cover removed. The reset button is revealed here, though the stylus must be removed from its slot to access it.

The Treo Pro with the back cover and battery removed

In the Box (4.0)
The Treo Pro comes with an AC charger, USB sync cable, and a stereo headset with a microphone and call accept/end button.

Handling (7.0)
The Treo Pro feels good in the hand with a dense feel and just-right width, though its glossy plastic exterior is pretty slippery and a fingerprint magnet.

Portability (7.0)
At 4.49" tall, 2.36" wide, and 0.53" thick, and weighing 4.69 ounces, the Treo Pro is not a petite phone but is still pretty portable. It is roughly the same size as its predecessor, Treo 750, with the exception of being a little thinner and lighter, but not by much. You won't forget the Treo Pro is in your pocket, but it won't be particularly bothersome there either.

Aesthetics (6.50)
The Treo Pro is the first of the Treo line to have a screen flush with the front of the device, giving it a cleaner look than previous models. Its smooth good looks will be right at home in the hand of the typical business user in any situation, and the only downside is the glossy surface that picks up fingerprints like there's no tomorrow - if you're picky about your phone looking neat and clean all the time, you'll be compelled to wipe down the Treo Pro frequently to restore its luster.

Durability (7.0)
The Treo Pro feels very solid in the hand, but the battery cover creaks slightly when squeezed. The battery cover must be removed to access both the reset button and the microSD card slot and repeated or careless removal and re-application could break the tabs that hold it in place over time. The Treo Pro's glossy surface looks to be scratch-prone, but we did not test this with our review unit. Without any major moving parts, the Treo Pro does not present any other long-term durability concerns.

Previous    Next