When the Palm Phone was released last year, one of the biggest draws to it was that it was supposed to act as a companion device to your primary smartphone — essentially allowing you to stay connected with fewer distractions. Now, Palm's backtracking on that.
Beginning April 4, 2019, you can now purchase the Palm Phone and use it as a standalone Android device. It's still being sold as an exclusive to Verizon here in the United States, but for the entire month of April, it can be purchased for just $200 instead of the usual $350.
What's interesting here is the that if you previously bought a Palm Phone, it won't be updated for use as its own thing. In order to use it as a standalone phone, you'll need to buy the new one. That said, you can still purchase the companion version of the Palm Phone if you're interested.
While we're talking about Palm, a software update is rolling out which promises to improve both camera quality and battery life — two things we complained about in our full review. The new standalone model will come with this update preinstalled out of the box, whereas the companion models floating around will be updated at some point in April.
Cheaper and more functional than before.
The Palm Phone had a rocky start, but now it's better than ever before. It still has its quirks, but it can be used as a standalone device, features improved cameras and battery, and has a much better price.
