July 21st, 2007

Rating:

 

RIM is the last company you’d expect to produce a sexy mobile device when their large, utilitarian BlackBerry devices have filled their device portfolio for years and have earned them cult status and the “CrackBerry” name to go with it. As life would have it, RIM surprised us with the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 smartphone that’s not only smart but fashionable and flashy enough to compete in today’s mobile market where mobile phones also function as personal style accessories. Measuring 4.2 x. 1.97 x 0.57 inches with a shinny black plastic housing and gun-metal silver side accents, the BlackBerry Pearl can compete with the Nokia 8801 (OK, almost) or the Motorola SLVR L7 when it comes to fashion, yet it’s a phone with brains. And it’s a new trend for 2006 as we’ve seen with the slim and elegant Cingular 3125 and T-Mobile Dash. Looks + brains are a killer combination for a successful mobile device, but the question is can this smartphone attract new users who have never been in the BlackBerry camp while maintaining its appeal to the traditional “CrackBerry” users?

The BlackBerry Pearl (model number 8100 in RIM’s product portfolio) comes with BlackBerry Enterprise Server support for push email, a 1.3 megapixel camera, MicroSD expansion slot, integrated Bluetooth 2.0 and a newly updated SureType keyboard along with a large screen and BlackBerry Maps application.

The BlackBerry Pearl is a quad-band GSM world phone with EDGE support and it’s offered currently only by T-Mobile in the US. It will be coming to Cingular in the future.
Design is one of the highlights of the BlackBerry Pearl, and it should sell well just because it looks so darn cool and is so small and light. Besides the shinny black housing and the silver accents, the BlackBerry Pearl has all the right curves and feels very good in hand. Though shinny, the phone doesn’t feel very slippery and won’t slip out of your hand by accident. The 2.2” display takes up a good portion of the front face, and below it are the menus keys and keyboard which have white backlighting.

Gone is the beloved jog wheel found on the side of other of BlackBerries; the Pearl has a flat track ball sitting in the center of the front face just below the display and it’s touch sensitive control that allows you to scroll up/down and left/right by brushing your thumb or finger over it. The scrolling controls are quite responsive and easy to get used to. When pressed down, the track ball also acts like an Action button. On the left of the track ball is the Menu key that gives you a list of applications when no app is open or the menu list in an application when it is open. The Escape key has moved to the front and lives to the right of the track ball rather than on the right side of the phone as on other BlackBerries. The Call Send and End keys flank the menu and escape keys. The BlackBerry Pearl has a dedicated Mute button on top of the phone and a LED above the display to the right of the earpiece. The LED indicates network connection status, Bluetooth radio power and it will flash red when you get a new message.

The Pearl is the first BlackBerry to have a built-in digital camera. The Pearl, with its new multimedia focus, comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom that takes good pictures by camera phone standards. Of course, there are still some security requirements and RIM has addressed them by providing security policies in the server for IT managers to disable the camera. The Pearl’s camera can take still photos in three resolutions (1280 x 1024, 640 x 480, 320 x 240) at one of  three quality levels. You can set flash options, white balance and picture storage locations in the menu. You can also use the track ball to zoom in and out. The pictures are reasonably sharp; colors are fairly accurate with a slight purple tint in some shots. It takes better picture indoors with good lighting than it does outdoor shots with strong sunlight which results in white out. The photo quality can’t compete with very high end cameras phones like the Nokia N73 or the Samsung a990 of course, but it’s on par with 1.3 MP cameras on current mobile phones. The flash helps a little for close up shots. You can save the photos to internal memory or to a MicroSD card. The Pearl cannot shoot video.

The BlackBerry Pearl is RIM’s ideal device to bring fresh recruits to the “CrackBerry” camp with its sleek style and new-user friendly features. In this fashion conscious mobile market, looks alone will sell quite a few Pearls. While traditional BlackBerry users will need some time to get used to the new keyboard and form factor, the updated software bundle including the media player, voice dialing software and Maps will surely move some of them forward. Now BlackBerry is finally starting to compete with feature-rich PDA phones and smartphones, though they still have a way go to.

Pro: Great looking device that’s not just flashy by BlackBerry standards but good looking compared to any other phone on the market. The bright display is impressive. The email setup wizard enhances the tried and true BlackBerry push email experience, especially for new users and those whose devices aren’t configured by an IT department. The security updates in the server to work with the Pearl will put IT managers at ease. We’re glad that RIM included an IM client for popular IM accounts. VoiceDialing software works on the phone and via Bluetooth headset. BlackBerry Maps application does a good job of mapping routes and giving turn-by-turn directions.

Con: MicroSD slot is under the battery. Camera can’t shoot video. Bluetooth profiles are limited. The video player supports a small set of formats.

Get your BlackBerry 8100c Pearl now on Amazon:

List Price:	$499.99
Price:	$0.01 (when purchased with new service plan)
You Save:	$499.98 (100%)

FREE SHIPPING Availability: Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Requirement: This phone can only be used with a compatible service plan.