Here is another look at the upcoming Palm-branded Android-powered smartphone. This is a device that has leaked fairly rigorously already, including the surfacing of an image which looks very similar to the one shown above. Although, this latest one does provide a slightly clearer view of the new smartphone, as well as a slight change to the marketing image for the interface which seems to now place a much greater focus on the Google app support compared to before. More pertinently, the image adds further weight to the suggestion this is almost definitely what the new Palm smartphone will look like. The image itself has been provided to AndroidHeadlines by a reliable source.
While this latest image does not properly highlight it, the main selling point with this new smartphone is understood to be its size. Or more accurately, the absence of a larger size, as it has been routinely rumored the phone boasting the model number “PVG100” will be tiny by modern smartphone standards. For example, the current consensus is the PVG100 will come equipped with a 3.3-inch display, limited to a 1280 x 720 resolution. To put this size into perspective, a couple of smartphones boasting a 4.5-inch display have come through from BlackBerry Mobile recently, and those models have come with a physical keyboard which looks to keep the overall size of the smartphone in line with other modern handsets. The Palm PVG100, however, has no similar ambitions, with its small display size reflective of its small size overall. Speaking of the BlackBerry Mobile brand, the use of an against-the-grain ‘smaller display’ design ethos is not the only thing the BlackBerry and Palm brands now have in common, as like recent BlackBerry Android phones, the Palm PVG100 is also understood to be manufactured by TCL Communication. As for availability, there are still no firm details on when the Palm PVG100 will be released, although as this phone has recently been spotted gaining both its Wi-Fi Alliance and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certifications, the expectation is it’s in the closing stages of its pre-release cycle and fairly close to making its market debut. In addition to these certifications pointing to a U.S. release in due course, rumors have suggested this Palm phone will arrive in the US via Verizon.
Whenever the smartphone does arrive, it’s not expected to arrive as a high-end option as the small nature of the phone is expected to translate to a light spec experience overall. For example, the Palm PVG100 is thought to come powered by a core combination of 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 SoC. Possibly more revealing is the battery capacity, as it would seem likely the Palm PVG100 will arrive boasting an 800 mAh capacity battery. Which if correct would be of a significantly less capacity than every other Android phone currently available to buy. Of course, due to the limited display size, resolution and computing power, the equally limited battery capacity is not directly comparable to other current smartphones and their respective mAh-defined values. In other words, making any firm conclusions on how long the battery will last on a daily basis is not possible or advisable as of right now.
What is clear from the information available so far, however, is the Palm PVG100 is unlike any and all other smartphones currently on the market. While the others have looked to offer greater computing power along with as much display real estate as possible, the Palm PVG100 will look to offer a smartphone that while limited in some respects will also be as compact as you are likely to ever get from a smartphone nowadays. Especially considering this one does seem to be providing a full Android experience through full support for Google’s varied app ecosystem. In terms of the rest of the design traits and cues, there is nothing too much new that can be taken from this new image, which simply looks to reconfirm the inclusion of the front and back portions joined through what is possibly a metal frame, a single front-facing camera, a single rear-facing camera, and very limited physical elements. For example, there is no indication physical navigation buttons will be in use, with the only noticeable physical aspects consisting of the main power button and the SIM tray – both of which are positioned on the right-hand side of the phone. Therefore, it seems highly unlikely any additional hardware elements will be offered, including some of the most basics ones – such as a 3.5 mm headphone jack. In spite of its limited design and hardware, consumers probably can expect a fairly reliable user experience considering the Palm PVG100 is expected to arrive running on Android 8.1 (Oreo).