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You are here: Cell Phone Reviews > Blackberry Pearl T-Mobile Phone Review
Blackberry Pearl T-Mobile Phone Review
Blackberry aficionados, aka Crackberries, have been patiently looked at their Windows mobile colleagues showing up at the office with smart phones with built in digital cameras and even MP3 players. Their excuse was always, Blackberry is for work only, not fun. Well, that's then, the Blackberry Pearl is now.
Let's start with size differences. The person writing to you has used as its personal phone the Blackberry 7100 series for more than 1 year. I swore this would be the last phone I ever bought as it did everything I needed a phone to do. Check my emails and text messages, open attachments, view pictures. My 7100 had great reception as well and it was quite easy to use, with Blackberry legendary right scroll bar and point & click technology. The size of it even allowed me to write with just one hand; something a little cumbersome with a 7290 or 8700 Blackberry due to their widths. The only problem I had with the 7100 was the height. Measuring at 4.7 inches it was the tallest Blackberry. The Pearl is only 4.0 inches tall, vs the 4.5 inches of the 7290 and 4.7 of the 7105t. It's depth is only 0.6 vs 0.7 of the 7105 and 0.90 of the Blackberry 7290. When I used to carry my old Blackberry 7100 in my inside jacket pocket, sometimes I felt I was carrying a Blackberry. With the Pearl you don't even feel it. Therefore, for those looking for a more phone-like Blackberry the new Pearl phone with T-Mobile service is the one you won't change for quite some time. The only pitfall of the size reduction is that the keys are also smaller making a little harder for someone with big fingers. Be your own judge and compare which Blackberry phone fits you best by looking at the 3 most popular ones side by side. 
Another change Blackberry made is the introduction of the "wheel mouse" at the center of the device. It lights up with when in use and it's not just for looks. Think about it, all Blackberries were really made for right-ended people, as the scroll bar was on the right end side of the phone. Your thumb was ready to scroll and move on the click button everytime you needed to select something from the screen. By placing a central scrolling wheel mouse, this phone is truly for everyone to enjoy and the wheel bar is also the multi-functional click button.
Honestly, the first impact of using this new mouse is not easy. Especially if one is used to the vertical wheel on all previous Blackberries. It feels small and you start wondering how could anyone like this novelty. After 1 week of use, I wouldn't go back to the old mouse, as this one allows also later movement. I found this feature invaluable especially when writing an email and you freely reach any part of the text without having to press a button to enable the old vertical mouse to move around. Also, once you get used to it, it doesn't feel too small, but you thank Blackberry to have introduced a back button to the right of the wheel and a menu button to its left. In less than an inch you can control all functions of your new Blackberry. A "control freak" dream!
This is the first Blackberry phone with voice activated dialing. It's conveniently started with a button on the left end side of the phone. Sometimes I press it without knowing it and the phone is asking me to state a command. Is this a phone or a Robot? Maybe both and I am sure you'll enjoy it as much as I do.
Another improvement besides the camera and voice activated dialing covered later on, is the space allocated to the 5 most important icons you need immediate access to. You can also arrange which ones matter to you the most. I, for example, have email/messages, calendar, address book, browser and call-log as my most important features. They are arranged at the bottom of the brilliant 65,000 colors display, leaving the entire screen open to screensavers or my pictures, instead than the annoying clutter of all icons we had in previous Blackberries. But what about access to the camera? Now that finally Blackberry gave me one, how do I reach it when needed the most? There is a button on the right end side of the camera that activates it in less than a second. And pressing the "wheel mouse" captures an image in another second. I timed myself when I tried to capture the runners at the 2006 NY marathon the other day and it took me less than 2 seconds. I apologize for the artistic content of the image, but do admire the quality of the picture itself taken with the 1.3 megapixel built-in Blackberry Pearl camera phone, set on "normal" quality, not even fine nor superfine. 
The camera comes with flash and and a 5X digital zoom which is controlled by simply scrolling the wheel upwards. The Pearl is also Streaming Multimedia Enabled and capable of capturing short videos with sound: it supports Video Playback of MPEG4 and H.263 Files. You can store pictures and videos on the phone or the memory card. Sending a picture is as easy as 1,2,3. You capture the picture. You save the picture. you send the picture and the phone even asks you if you prefer by email or via Bluetooth connection to another Bluetooth phone! The memory card is not easily accessible as it is stored inside the phone near your SIM card. But the fact that it allows for expandable memory, the Blackberry Pearl gives you tremendous flexibility as you may want to save your phone memory for what you need the most, like music, which is the other next big addition of this phone.
The Blackberry Pearl is also an MP3 music player. You can download your favorite tunes with the included USB PC cable and even download MP3 ringtones directly to your phone. With the same data cable you can also seamlessly synchronize your address book, calendar and email with your computer; and the phone is also Data Capable which means that with the USB data cable you can use the Pearl as a modem.
Now that you know all the fun stuff, let's get back to why you buy a Blackberry in the first place, business. And in particular emails and messaging. The Pearl can host up to 10 email accounts (Business-secure, POP3, IMAP, SMTP). It's as usual push-technology: all your emails are received onto your device without having to log in. It can view Word, Excel and PowerPoint attachments. An easy set-up wizard function in the phone menu guides you through setting up all accounts as well as other personalization features.
Now the bad news, at least for some of you. Although the Pearl has a QWERTY keyboard, it features 2 letters per key. It allows the compact design and reduced size, but for those of you who need 1 letter per key or else, this is not your phone. For those of us who have mastered SureType Predictive Entry even have absolutely no problem. Actually typing is easier as by predicting a word before I even finish typing it, it saves me time.
I'm not going to lie to you. I absolutely love this phone. It's small, sleek (all black with chrome sides...), funtional and it has all the features I expect in a modern cellphone. Bluetooth, Built-In camera with picture quality I can be proud of and an MP3 player. And yet, it's a Blackberry which allows me to basically never leave the office, even when I leave the country as T-Mobile phones has coverage almost everywhere and the Pearl is quad-band (GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900).
A Blackberry with a camera, MP3 player, voice activated dialing and expandable memory slots? Yes, it's here; and its name is the Pearl.
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