Tech

This Is The Tiniest Smartphone You May Actually Want To Buy

Steve Kovach

2011-05-05T17:32:00Z

HP's first 4G smartphone, the Veer, was just announced yesterday for a May 15 launch, but I've already had a chance to spend some time with the device this morning.

Click here to see a bunch of photos of the HP Veer >

First of all, this thing is tiny. And that's what it's supposed to be. Even with the slide-out keyboard open, it fits in the palm of your hand.

It's kinda cute.

The Veer runs Palm's (now HP's) beautiful WebOS 2.1, which makes multitasking look great and finger gestures a wonderful experience.

Even better, the phone provides a sneak peek at what to expect when the Pre 3 launches this summer.

I'll have a full review of the Veer next week. For now, here are my initial thoughts:

Booting up the phone took forever. The HP logo just kind of sat there and I thought the phone had locked up.

Touch gestures are amazing. There's a black space at the bottom (where there would normally be a home button) where you swipe left to return to the previous screen. Swiping up will show you all the apps you have open.

The web browser was a bit slow. And while it does handle Flash, a lot of the Flash websites I visited looked pretty wonky with floating ads all over the place.

The keyboard and keys are super small, but typing is pretty accurate once you get used to it. The keys are raised enough so you don't accidentally hit the wrong one.

Overall the device feels light, but sturdy with a beautiful rounded design. I never felt like I was going to break it by sliding it open.

I have a terrible cell signal in my office, so I couldn't accurately test the 4G connection. I'll have more on that in my full review.

My snap reaction is that the Veer is a great value. It'll only set you back $99.99 with a two-year contract from AT&T. Not bad for a 4G phone. I'd suggest testing it out at the store first though. It may be too tiny for some people.

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