We are just days away from the much anticipated epic release of the Palm Pre and as expected the first reviews of the device are starting to trickle out. Although I’m sure early next week every gadget site and their mom will have a review out, I thought I would do a roundup of the early reviews that have been posted over the last day or so.

The Boy Genius Report Review
The Boy Genius Report has published part one of their Palm Pre Review. It seems like overall they were really impressed with webOS but not so much with the Pre itself. Below are some excerpts:

Feel of the Phone:
“It feels good in your hand, but the actual build quality really leaves a lot to be desired. One of our friends that checked it out over here said it felt like a Fisher Price toy. We wouldn’t go that far, but it really seems to be constructed with lower-grade materials compared to other flagship phones. One of the things that might be throwing us off is that it just feels so light. It’s an odd thing to happen when you’re expecting to be heavier than you’d imagine.”

Applications:
“Google Maps was something that will come with every unit so we checked that out first. It works really well. Loading was quick and the location feature and GPS integration was effortless (not just Google Maps but the GPS works really well on this handset). We ventured deeper and deeper into webOS and you know what we found? The PDF Viewer! It actually is pretty solid but all the Document-related apps on here are viewing capable only, not editors. But that’s coming later with DataViz.”

Conclusion:
“The OS is great. There’s no ifs ands or buts; it’s really refreshing to see something that’s brand new with a UI unlike anything else out there. The only problem with this is, Palm’s never been a hardware company that anyone’s really cared about. They have been the furthest thing from innovative since circa-2003 — their hardware has always been second rate at best and it doesn’t seem to be changing now. Couple that with the nation’s underdog carrier at a $299 price-point (before rebate), and we’re not sure how many people are going to be lined up overnight, yet we’re pretty confident once people are able to play a real unit themselves, there will be more than a lot of happy Palm Pre customers.”

PreCentral Forums Review
Another early review of the device was posted over at the PreCentral forums (You need to register to see the thread). This reviewer seemed to be a lot more impressed with the device and the talking points were a lot more positive.

“You cannot even imagine how nice this critter feels. Go ahead and throw the “Fisher Price” stuff out the window. [...] It fits great in the hand and has a nice ergonomic feel to it.”

“The battery is good enough for a day of moderate use, but heavy users will want to pay attention to WiFi, Bluetooth, and location services.”

“The browser, and we quote again: “WOWOWOWOWIE! FAST! Precentral loaded as fast as it did on my netbook! ”

The two reviews we have so far seem to directly contradict one another so it’s looking like we just need to get our own hands on the device before we can come to a verdict. In the mean time if you see any new reviews of the Pre go up be sure to send us a tip!