Treo 680 Review

Great Entry Level Smartphone But No Easy Upgrade Decision For Treo 650 Owners

The Palm Treo 680 is the latest smartphone from Palm and the first to be priced at under $200 (after rebate with a 2-year contract and data plan committment). Announced in October, the new Treo 680 is available through Cingular Wireless or by ordering an unlocked version through Palm. The new Treo is not your typical new Palm Treo. With previous releases, the latest smartphone always offered significant features than the previous generation. This new 680 finds itself nestled in-between the previous GSM based Treo 650 and Treo 700p released in June of this year. Given the price point, its clear that Palm has high hopes for this new Treo as they hope its a "smart" upgrade for feature phone users. For GSM Treo 650 owners who have spent the previous year watching Palm release feature rich CDMA based models (Treo 700w, Treo 700p, Treo 700wx), the decision to upgrade isnt as clear as it might have been with previous generation models. When considering features for the Treo 680, Palm finds itself juggling features in order to keep the price point at below $200 while finding a happy medium making it attractive to new smartphone owners and those considering an upgrade. For those considering an upgrade from a Treo 650, Ive highlighted changes or features of the new Treo 680 that will weigh on your decision. At any time, you can select a particular section of this 6-part review by using the table of contents to your right.

What's In The Box

The Palm Treo 680 used for evaluation is through Cingular Wireless. The Cingular Treo 680 shipped with the following:

• Palm Treo 680 smart device (do not read too much into the change from smartphone to smart device. This request was made to Palm by Cingular. Apparently, the data pricing plans for smart phone and smart device are different and this was done to avoid confusion amongst their sales staff)
• Treo 680 Software Installation Guide
• Travel Charger *not shown in photo
• USB Sync Cable
• Wired Headset
• Getting Started Guide

Note: For a limited time, Palms unlocked Treo 680 comes with a free Mobile Music Pack that includes Yahoo Music Bundle is valued at $135.

The Cingular Treo 680, used in this review, comes with the following software preinstalled.

• Blazer web browser version 4.5
• Bluetooth Manager version 1.2(W)
• Calculator
• Calendar
• Camcorder
• Camera
• Contacts
• Documents To Go
• HotSync Manager
• Memos
• Messaging
• MyTreo
• Phone
• Pics and Video
• PocketTunes
• Quick Tour
• Security
• Tasks
• VersaMail version 3.5.1
• Voice Memo
• World Clock

Continue Treo 680 Review: Hardware and Form Factor