Palm is back with the Buds Pro TWS earphones

Long ago in a world without smartphones, personal digital assistants such as the PalmPilot and Palm III served as their closest counterparts and forerunners for the entrepreneurs and prosumers of that age. However, devices from BlackBerry eventually rose to supersede them, only to be overtaken in turn by Apple and the first-gen iPhone in turn. Nevertheless, it is now 2021 and Palm is still around, albeit in not quite the same form.

The legacy brand was bought by TCL, and has most recently released the Palm Phone, a "credit-card-sized" device intended to act as an alternative or adjunct to 'full-sized' smartphones (or to smartphone addiction, as its marketing suggested). Now, a new and different product has just been launched under this once-ubiquitous name.

In a week that seems to be marked by once-central brands with new TWS earbuds, Palm's contribution goes by the name Buds Pro. The brand has equipped them with 10mm dynamic drivers rated to emphasize bass, as well as triple mics per earphone for call clarity and for active noise cancellation. In truth, this (as with their new HTC rivals) is hybrid ANC, as it incorporates environmental noise-isolation to exclude unwanted sounds.

These internals are joined by batteries rated for 6 hours of playback per charge, or (again, like the HTC True Wireless Earbuds Plus) 18 more hours from their USB type-C charging case, and are sealed in an AirPods-like form-factor with a matte finish. They are available to pre-order directly from Palm, for a normal price of US$129.

However, this cost has been reduced to $99 as a launch-window special. Alternatively, there is a bundle with a silicon case, a carabiner clip and extra color-contrasted ear-tips for US$114 (or a normal price of $154) right now. It will be interesting to see how Palm fares in its new, busy and competitive market.

Buy some Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro on Amazon