A refreshing piece of Palm Pre 2 kit is its clever backing plate which houses not only the usual SIM and battery but also a clever wireless device which, when used along with the Palm Touchstone charger, allows the phone to be placed flat on the charger where it immediately takes on a charge, no plugs or wires necessary and the phone is kept in place by a magnet housed inside the charger.  Once the phone is placed on the charger the integral WebOS software enables the phone to operate in Touchstone mode and this allows for useful information displays e.g. email, time, date, calendar etc.

The Palm Pre 2 takes multitasking very seriously, so if there are a few webpages open at once the phone groups then like a hand of cards and similarly with email.  The Palm Pre 2 has remained simple to operate and user friendly, resisting the complications arising in Android devices.

As far as compact mobiles go the Palm Pre is a slim, curvaceous number, it has a high-resolution screen with crystal clearness. The buttons have a vibrating feature when you use them, giving the impression that the phone is talking back.  Where the Pre is a winner is with the power behind the screen, and you can multi-task quite easily, something its competitors are still trying to over come. Searching your contacts while downloading is no problem for this mobile.

Palm phones have always had a good search facility and the Pre is no different in this respect. It also has the capacity to suggest and open other programs you may need. Closing applications is just a simple case of waving the icon off the screen.

Organising the chaos of modern life is made easy with the Palm Pre, and it is the phone for someone with an active social network that they need to be in contact with, synchronising your calendar, contacts, Google apps, work diary, Facebook and Twitter. Palm Pre comes with a QWERTY keyboard but it is a little clumsy and difficult to use, while the handset does have a very plastic feel to it.

Not prefect and a little costly but a fun phone to use. Since this is the first generation to incorporate the webOS system it is may be worth waiting to see how the system develops, as there are always glitches in the early stages of any new program.