The natural tradeoff for pocket-friendly dimensions is that everything else gets smaller, but Palm has done a bang-up job at making the compromise as painless as possible. The square 2.25-inch touchscreen display is definitely small by today's standards, but it has a sharp 320 x 320-pixel resolution. Those with larger hands will struggle with the Centro's miniscule keyboard, but the keys themselves are well-defined and have excellent tactile feedback.

If you've ever used a Palm handheld before, you'll feel right at home with the Centro as it runs Palm OS 5.4.9. This operating system was a force to be reckoned with back in its hey-day, but now it looks quite dated, with none of the flashy animations or 3D effects we've come to expect on a modern phone. Its saving grace is that it's easy to use: all of the programs are presented in an icon grid on the main launcher screen, and options are hidden away until you tap on the top left-hand corner or press the dedicated menu button.