Report from bizarro world: Centro, i760 best designed phones

Although "innovative" isn't exactly the word we chose to use when summing up Palm's Centro, apparently the public at large sees things a little differently -- or, so says this report, anyway. According to a buyer behavior writeup from Strategy Analytics, the Centro "attracted the most attention from nearly half of the tested US consumers who are intending to purchase a new mobile device" in Q4, and it even ranked ahead of the second-place Samsung i760 in the "appealing" department. Both of the aforementioned handsets were hailed as the top choices (saywha?) for folks "seeking a multifunction, fully integrated device," while the Nokia Prism and LG Rumor also got a few props along the way. Of course, it's always best to take these "studies" with a healthy serving of salt, but if you wanted something to debate about, you've found it.

[Via MobileWhack]

[compboss17 Posted Dec 6th 2007 9:07PM]

This is a joke right?

[compboss17 Posted Dec 6th 2007 9:11PM]

Edit: After reading the original report it looks like the subjects were only shown a select few devices...dumb survey...

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 6th 2007 9:43PM]

Well I will say the keypad on the i760 is probably the best designed (one of the best qwerty keypads I ever used on a phone).

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 6th 2007 9:44PM]

Of course not two posts down from this as I read it...is an advertisement for the Centro on this site.

[compboss17 Posted Dec 6th 2007 10:18PM]

Engadget has ads? (FF w/ ABP)

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 6th 2007 9:37PM]

What's so weird about it? They only tested with a very small, odd selection of phones. I'm sure price and size were a huge plus.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 6th 2007 10:58PM]

This isn't hard to believe on the Samsung i760 front. The phone is a wonderful phone, and it's almost completely sold out for Verizon. We're having a tough time keeping up with demand on it.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2007 1:34AM]

Not hard to believe that Verizon has sold out of the i760; it's the only decent smartphone they've had in at least 6 months. In fact I'd be surprised if it didn't sell like hotcakes--what else are people going to buy? A blue fire mocha cinnamon chocolate, or whatever new color they have? A juke--a music phone that only has 2gb? Jesus. That's a lot of NE2s that have been waiting in the wings, too afraid to pay $175 to terminate and get a real smartphone on AT&T.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2007 2:14AM]

I likes my Blackberry Pearl from Verizon.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 6th 2007 11:32PM]

I find this hard to believe, especially someone with bigger hands. I do love Palm Treos, I have owned three (600, 650, 750) and I found the centro's keypad hard to use. Not to mention Palm OS is getting really old. In regards to the i760, I think it is a very capable phone, I'm quite partial to windows mobile, but I find the unbalanced design of the front of the device to be a not as pleasing to the eye as say the xv6800. Also, a sliding windows mobile device is by far the easiest phone to use with one hand. I currently have a HTC TyTn II and HTC Wizard and while I can do a lot with one hand, I find myself using two hands often.

[Poot Posted Dec 7th 2007 12:13AM]

funny because the i760 was my first choice when I was going to go with Verizon. I couldn't get a good enough deal on the HTC Touch after I decided to stay with sprint, but they offered me 1 free Centro (and one at 100 bucks), and two katanas for the lines I don't use for dirt cheap.

So now I use the Centro. it's a palm OS device... girls think its cute. But I would have liked a sweeter UI. I have to use a launcher to make it even a little bit visually appealing. And the commercials about multitasking are a complete lie. The phone doesn't multitask. (if you know palm, thats a given, i suppose).

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2007 12:39AM]

I've had the i760 for a month now and I am liking the little bugger more and more. Online pictures and videos do not do it justice, it is very functional and the form factor grows on you the more you use it. Very well built, fast processor, touch screen etc - Samsung did a good job here for the most part.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2007 12:54AM]

Engandget is just bummed that Sprint actually has some good handsets and doesn't know to put it into words

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2007 10:42AM]

Is it my imagination or did about 30 comments disappear from this article?...

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2007 10:44AM]

Ah, I see what happened - this is Engadget Mobile, not Engadget - my bad.

[psyvicpeng Posted Dec 7th 2007 12:00PM]

I've had both guys and girls ask me if my Treo 750 is the new centro. Apperantly there is recognition for the product. I've had 4 girls tell me that they think the centro in red is cute.....go figure...

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2007 12:52PM]

I'm a loyal verizon customer and my office doesn't have a blackberry server. From the smart phone options the only reasonable option is the Samsung, it might not be great, but it's a lot better than the previous slider and the Treo 700W.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 7th 2007 3:37PM]

You guys are clueless arent you? The Centro IS the coolest multi-funtional device out there. It does everything a full size Treo does and at half the price and half the size! To me that is revolutionary. The Centro deserves all the attention it is getting. I have had EVERY Treo ever made and EVERY Windows Mobile device ever made for Sprint. And so far the Centro is far more reliable than any of its predecessors. And the keyboard is super easy to use even with my large hands. Give it a try for a week. I doubt you will disagree.