Palm phone review: A compelling idea made into a flawed product

Cool form factor that gets noticed • ‘Life’ mode mutes notifications by default • Still a full-featured smartphone

Frustratingly slow at times • No volume buttons • Lousy battery life • Camera is only passable

The Palm phone is a compelling approach to the problem of being overconnected, but in practice the number of situations where it’s the device you’d prefer is much smaller than you think.