Top 10 Palm Pre Accessories

One of the most highly anticipated handsets of the year is the Palm Pre. It launched in America several months ago and since then the UK has been patiently waiting for it to be released over here. Well, the wait is over as the Pre is available from the 16th October.  For those lucky people getting their hands on a Pre, here is our top 10 list of Palm Pre accessories:

1. Palm Pre Leather Side Case
This case is made specifically for the Pre by Palm. It’s a perfect fit to your phone and has a ribbon pull to make removing your Pre quick and easy.  There’s a belt clip on the back and the front flap is kept securely closed by a magnetic catch. Inside the case you’ll find a soft, microfibre lining that helps to clean your phone and eliminate fingerprints and smudges.

2. Palm Pre Touchstone Charging Kit
It doesn’t look much, but this clever little device lets you charge your Palm Pre without the hassle of plugging it in. Instead, simply place the Touchstone back cover on your phone and then sit your phone on the Touchstone. Magnets in the Touchstone will align your phone to where it needs to be and it will then charge your phone – in a similar way to how you charge an electric toothbrush. There’s a few other clever features such as automatic speaker phone activation when you place the Pre on the touchstone when you’re on a call. You’ll still need to use your existing mains charger with it though, so if you want this as a spare/second charger, you’ll need to buy another Palm Pre Mains Charger too.

3. Seidio Innocase Surface for Palm Pre
Seidio Cases are a relatively new arrival at Mobile Fun. Their range of cases for the iPhone are already incredibly popular and I’m sure their Pre cases will be a big hit too. The Innocase Surface case for the Pre is a tough, flexible case that will protect your phone against knocks, drops and scrapes. It leaves the keyboard and screen easily accessible and unlike a lot of cases for the Palm Pre, it still allows you to use the Touchstone without having to remove the case.

4. InvisibleSHIELD Palm Pre
If you like your phone on show, but still want to protect your phone against scratches and scrapes then a Palm Pre InvisibleSHIELD could be just what you’re looking for. It’s not really a case and its much more than a screen protector. It’s a thin film that covers almost all of your handset and is extremely tough. It has a non-slip matte coating that reduces the chance of your Palm Pre slipping out of your fingers and helps reduce glare and finger prints.

5. Palm Pre Car Charger
Similar to other smart phones, the Palm Pre doesn’t have the best battery in the world, so if you lead a busy life or are often out and about in the car then a car charger is the best way to keep your Pre charged up. You’ll also be able to use this charger on any other devices that use a Micro USB charger such as Bluetooth headsets or Bluetooth Car Kits.

6. Palm Pre Brodit Car Holder
This phone-specific cradle will hold your Pre securely and has a car charger wired into it. It leaves all of your ports accessible and allows you to charge your phone while it’s in the holder. It is made from a strong ABS plastic and are designed to be screwed onto your dashboard, although if you don’t fancy doing this you can use a Brodit ProClip. These are secure mounting pads that clip on to your dashboard and can be removed without causing any damage to your vehicle. ProClips provide an ideal base for fixing an active holder on to

7. Mugen Battery & Back cover for Palm Pre
If you need more power for your Palm Pre, you can either carry around a spare battery and swap them over when one dies, or you can get a more powerful battery – and that’s exactly what this is.  The standard Palm Pre battery is 1150mAh where as the Mugen Battery is 3800mAh – more than 3 times the capacity! Naturally, you can’t cram all that extra power in the same small battery that came with the Pre, so the Mugen battery comes with an extended back cover to accommodate the larger battery. In terms of charging, you’ll need to charge it with the mains adapter as the touchstone isn’t compatible.

8. Jabra SP700 Bluetooth Car Kit
It’s been around for a while, but as yet there isn’t really another portable car kit that can challenge the Jabra SP700. The BlackBerry Visor kit comes very close – but then it would do – it’s a rebadged SP700! This car kit has a built in FM transmitter and once paired with your Pre  using Bluetooth, you can stream audio from calls and your music player through to your car stereo. The battery life of the SP700 is fantastic with up to 14 hours talk time and 250 hours stand by.

9. Jawbone Prime Bluetooth Headset
Jawbone headsets are great. They were among the first to introduce noise cancelling technology, and since their launch a couple of years ago, many other manufacturers have been trying to match them. The latest headset from Jawbone is the Prime – at first glance it’s very similar to the previous 2 models, but is actually quite a bit smaller. The technology inside it has changed too. You no longer need to have a sensor pressed against your cheek to pick up vibrations, and it now has a 2nd microphone to help eliminate background noise. The Prime is also a multipoint headset (what is multipoint) so you can use it with two phones at the same time.

10. Jabra Halo Stereo Bluetooth Headset
The Jabra Halo Stereo Bluetooth Headset is the latest stereo headset to be released, and to be honest its probably the best one yet. It has incredibly simple controls – a touch sensitive slider on the right ear lets you adjust the volume by sliding your finger up or down, where as a double tap will skip the track. One multi use button lets you play/pause your music as well as answer/end calls and activate voice dialling. When they’re not in use, the headphones fold away so as not to take up too much space and to reduce the chance of them getting damaged. If you want to know more, take a look at my Jabra Halo hands on review.

This isn’t the full range of accessories for the Palm Pre, just some of the ones that I think do a great job with the Palm Pre. As we get closer to the UK release date and more accessories become available, I’ll update this post with anything new that comes along so remember to check back soon.  In the meantime, you can check out our full range of Palm Pre Accessories.