This may come as some surprise, but Palm hasn’t actually been very active in the past decade or so. Now, however, the company is back with a new product: a pair of wireless earbuds called the Palm Buds Pro.
A very short history of Palm: The company was renowned for its smart handheld devices until Apple’s iPhone pretty much destroyed that entire category. Palm then struggled and changed owners until late 2014, when it was acquired by China’s TCL. But even after that, the only device the company launched was a tiny phone that would serve as companion to your main phone, and it failed to make a splash on the market.
Now, it seems the company has pivoted once again, this time into the mobile accessories arena. The Palm Buds Pro are wireless, noise cancelling earbuds that look a bit like Apple’s AirPods, though they only come in black.
Credit: palm
Specifications include a 10mm dynamic driver, 6-microphone active noise cancellation, fast Bluetooth pairing and syncing, sweat and water resistance (up to IPX4 specs) and a 24-hour battery (counting the recharges you get from the charging case). The price is competitive: $99, although that’s just a limited pre-order offer, after which the price will rise to $129.
The Palm Buds Pro are currently the only product Palm is selling on its website, though you can also get a silicone case for the earbuds. Oddly, the rest of the company’s website is mainly about the tiny Palm Phone, which you can no longer buy.
None of the above means the Palm Buds Pro aren’t a good product; we’ll have to take a listen before we can judge them. But it’s all just a little…unexpected from a company that’s basically been dormant for the last three years.
Pre-orders for the Palm Buds Pro are open now, and the earbuds ship internationally.
