In the fast growing mobile phone market, many smartphones seem to spin through the revolving doors of mobile carriers and mobile users gadget bags, while Palm Treo smartphones quietly slip in through the service entrance. I have been a loyal Treo user since the Treo 600, then the Treo 650 and now the Treo 700p. The Palm Treo 680 is the latest GSM version that’s not exactly an upgrade for the Treo 650, it’s more of another tier in the GSM Treo offerings that targets at first time Treo users. It’s largely similar to its older cousin the Treo 650 with a couple of differences in specs, though the form factor of the Treo 680 has been updated.
Like the Treo 750v, the Treo 680 has shed almost an ounce in weight and 0.1 inch in thickness. While the length and width didn’t change on the Treo 680, it has chopped off the antenna knob found on all but the Treo 750v, making it sleeker with better curves. T he new Treo 680 comes in four colors: Graphite (nearly identical to the color of my Sprint Treo 700p), Arctic (white), Crimson (bright red), and Copper (orange).
Appearance and design
Dimension: 111.8 x 58.4 x 20.3 mm; weight: 157 g.
The Palm Treo 680 went under the knife to slim down a bit, but it's only marginally smaller (4.4x2.3x0.8 inches; 5.5 ounces) than the Treo 700p/700w (4.4x2.3x0.9 inches; 6.4 ounces). The 680 is noticeably lighter, however, and it felt more comfortable to hold with its curved and tapered edges. I think this is due to the sides of the case having an indent along the side of the Treo that runs almost the full length of the device. Since this indent allows your fingers to move closer together, it makes the Treo 680 feel another millimeter or two narrower than the measurements indicate. This groove is nice because it also makes the Treo 680 easier to hold. You'll also notice that stubby external antenna is gone in favor of a more streamlined and sleek device.
Keypad
Another thing that isn’t obvious from the measurements is that the keyboard on the Treo 680 slopes inward as you get closer to the bottom edge of the case. This also helps make the device feel thinner that you would expect by looking at the measurements.
The control layout is unchanged from the Treo 700p since they both use the same version of the Palm OS. The Windows Mobile versions of the Treo 700 series have slightly different menu buttons to work with Windows Mobile OS. The Call Send and End button live conveniently under the display along with Phone dialer button, Calendar launch, Messaging and Applications buttons below them. These buttons flank the 5-way navigation pad that’s dimpled in the center for better centering your finger.
The QWERTY keyboard has exactly the same as the Treo 700p with 3-row of letters and 1 row of function keys. The number keys are grouped together in the left-center where it’s easy to dial one-handed when you hold the phone with your right hand. Like in previous Treos, these number keys that share space with letters will default to numbers in the phone application.
The Treo 680’s keys are domed which makes typing easier but key travel feels short compared to the Treo 700p, which makes typing harder. You can enable key guard to prevent accidental key presses while storing the Treo in a pocket or bag; or disable it if you keep it in a case that provides keyboard protection. The milky white key backlight is noticeably brighter than the Treo 700p and you can adjust the brightness and duration of the backlight and of the display in Prefs. Keyboard backlighting is in sync with display backlighting.
Speaking of the Treo 680's stylus I would say that its top has a different shape because it is located on the back side of the Treo rather than on the side as with the Treo 650 and Treo 700. This means that the third party stylus/pen you bought for your Treo 650/700 won't work with your Treo 680.
Once I removed the stylus and started to write on the screen, I noticed that something felt strange. Taking a closer look at the Treo 680 stylus, I realized that the top two-thirds were made out of a flexible plastic that flexed a little when I pressed against the screen with it. Maybe it is just they way I hold my stylus, but I find that fact that it flexes a bit annoying and would rather have a solid metal stylus like the one that comes with the Treo 650/700.
Additional buttons
Like the Treo 700p and 700wx, the Treo 680 has volume controls on the left side and up and down keys are separate controls, as opposed to a rocker on older models. An application quick launch button lives directly below the volume controls and you can configure it to launch any application such as camera or voice recorder, neither has its own dedicated launch key.
Display
320x320 TFT, 65K colors, touchscreen
The Treo 680 retains the same, sharp 2.5-inch diagonal touch screen with a 64,000-color output and 320x320-pixel resolution. The first thing I noticed was the use of the "menu icons" beside those menu items that have shortcuts. The 650 had only the traditional "upswipe" shortcut symbol. While a little detail, it was the first of many small improvement that seem to answer the needs of a novice user, and not one who came from a previous Palm OS device.
Images and Web pages are vibrant, and text is sharp and easily readable. In addition, we still were able to read the display in direct sunlight. The ability to enter data and operate the device via the touch screen is certainly an advantage it has over some of the other popular, sleeker smart phones out there--the Motorola Q, for example. While the Treo 680 is easy to navigate one-handed with the external controls, the touch screen is incredibly convenient and useful.
Camera
CMOS, 0.3 Mp, 640 x 480, 2x ZOOM, video 352 x 288
The uncovered camera lens is mounted on the back panel, which easily gets soiled, a self-portrait mirror is also on place, unlike a flash module. In a world of one- and two-megapixel cameraphones, the handset's VGA camera can't possibly impress. Low-light photos are more sensitive and less contrasty than on the 650, but also less sharp. Photos taken in regular light are a bit better balanced exposure-wise, but also a touch less sharp than on the 650.
Sizes, Ports and Slots
The flap-covered slot for SD/MMC cards has moved onto the right side – as a matter of the, this side would have been completely bald without it. This is one of the very last mass models of communicators, supporting full-size SD/MMC standard – officially, the device handles cards up to 2 Gb in size, however some 4 Gb ones might be good as well (you will need to check it before buying).
The battery lives under a slider door on the back of the Treo 680 and you will need to take the battery out to access the SIM card tray. The camera lens and the self-portrait mirror along with the speaker have moved down from the top on the back. So your form fitting cases with cutouts for the Treo 650 and Treo 700 series won’t fit well with the 680 which more closely resembles the Treo 750v.
Menu
The main page is the first screen you see after pressing the phone button on the Treo 680. From the menu there is menu item to beam your business card and another to configure the wallpaper background for this screen.
You can also change the default page that will appear when you pres the phone button and enable or disable the display of calendar events. By default, pressing any of the number keys from this screen will switch you to the Dial Page but this can changed so that pressing a key will switch to the Contacts Page and start filtering the list of contacts based on the letters you type.
When you enter the number you want to dial you can either press the center button the Treo's 5-way control or you can press the green Send button located above the Phone button. If you press the center button you will be asked if you want to "dial" or "message" the number: useful shortcut if you just want to send someone an SMS because picking "message" will launch the message composition screen with recipient number already filled in.
If you just want to call the number you entered, it is faster to press the green Send button because it will start dialing the number without any need to confirm the action.
As mentioned previously, the standalone Contacts application is gone and the Contacts functionality has been fully integrated into the Phone application. While this may be a mental shift for long-time Treo and Palm users, I think this is a good change for new Treo users since it makes the Treo 680's contacts feature work much more like what they are expecting from a phone.Other than the new way of accessing the Contacts application, I didn't notice any other changes to the Contacts functionality.
One new feature in the Treo 680 is the Quick Launch menu showing the most recently opened applications. You can access the Quick Launch menu by pressing and holding the Home button and it is available while running all of the main built-in applications.
Imaging
Caller Identification with Image
Wallpapers
Screensavers
Messaging
SMS (Text Messaging)
MMS (Multimedia Messaging)
Email (POP3, IMAP4 & SMTP)
VersaMail 3.5
Xpress Mail
GoodLink
Attachment Editor & Viewer Support
Instant Messaging (Yahoo, AOL & OMA)
Sound
PocketTunes
Music Player (MP3 & WMA)
Push to Talk
Handsfree Speaker
Vibrating Alert
Organiser
Calendar
Notepad
Alarm Clock
To Do List
Calculator
Timer
Converter
World Clock
Palm OS 5.4.9
Bejeweled 1.0
Handmark Solitaire
Pocket Express
Audible
Avvenu
eReader
Acrobat Reader
VoiceSignal’s Voice Dialing
Automatic Key Guard
Keypad Display Lighting Control
Full Keyboard
Connectivity
EDGE
PC Sync
Pop-Port™
USB
Infra Red
Bluetooth™
Bluetooth GPS receiver
A2DP
Network
Quad Band (GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800 & GSM 1900)
Internet
Blazer web browser
HTML
EGPRS
GPRS
GSM
Memory & Talk Time
65 Mbytes Memory plus MMC / SD Card
4 Hours Talk Time
300 Hours Standby
Weight & Size
157 g
112 x 58 x 20 mm
Pluses
Lighter than previous Treos
Easy-to-use phone and favorites applications
Can read and edit attachments
Very good call quality
Free setup support for first 90 days
Minuses
Shorter battery life than Treo 650
Flimsy stylus
Color options cost more
No WIFI or UMTS/HSDPA
Conclusion
A strong entry-level Treo that will likely attract news users, especially at such a reasonable price point. Fairly similar to the existing Treo 650 and Treo 700p but with better looks, the Treo 680 possesses the same ease of use, stable OS and full set of PIM application with powerful Office tools. Though Treo 650 owners might not run to upgrade (unless their 650 is on its last legs), it’s not a bad start for business and power users. The abundant instructions, tips, help files and walkthroughs on the phone’s features will help novice users. But for Treo 650 users who are looking for a Palm OS GSM upgrade and 3G, sorry—there’s nothing in sight yet.
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