BlackBerry Pearl 8100 Review

When the Blackberry Pearl 8100 was launched more than two years ago, this smartphone was a revelation. The Pearl 8100 was the first BlackBerry phone to feature a camera, an audio player, and a video player, This made the the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 the first BlackBerry designed for everyday users, not just hardcore business types.

Today, the BlackBerry Pearl 8100has lost some of its novelty, thanks to the availability of devices like the Blackberry Bold and the Blackberry Curve--both of which pack in plenty of multimedia features. But the Pearl 8100 remains one of BlackBerry's most popular phones.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 is available from T-Mobile for $50, after a $50 mail-in rebate, and when signing a new two year contract. That's quite a bargain.

(Note: Similar phones in the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 series are available from other carriers: The 8110, the 8120, and the 8130 are available from from Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and AT&T respectively. These models all offer slightly different features than the 8100.)

Design

PROS: Available in red and black, the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 is a slim, attractive phone. It was the first BlackBerry phone to omit the thumbwheel on the side of the phone in favor of a glowing navigation ball--the Pearl--that sits below the screen. Navigating the phone with the Pearl is quite easy.

CONS: Like the Pearl Flip, the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 uses a slightly modified QWERTY keyboard, which fits two letters on most keys to save space. The Pearl uses RIM's SureType predictive-text software to guess what you're typing. As I've noted in other reviews, some people love this system, but I'm not one of them. No matter how many times I use it, I still find that it dramatically slows down my typing.

Making Calls

PROS: The Pearl is slim and light, making it comfortable to hold during calls.

CONS: Voice quality was mixed; some calls sounded very good, while other times, I noticed muffled voices.

Browsing the Web

CONS: Web browsing is not one of the BlackBerry Pearl 8100's greatest strengths. The 2.25-inch screen looks nice, but feels small when compared to the roomier screens you often find on today's smartphones. The phone also lacks support for 3G data networks or Wi-Fi wireless networks (a feature that was added in the newer Pearl 8120), so browsing the Web can be slow. The Pearl 8100 also runs an older version of the BlackBerry browser, which can make some Web pages harder to view.

Messaging

PROS: Despite its lack of high-speed data access, the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 remains an excellent messaging phone. It will let you access up to 10 e-mail accounts--both business and personal. It also includes access to popular instant messaging clients, like AOL's AIM, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger.

Software

CONS: Unlike the newer BlackBerry phones (like the Bold or Pearl Flip), the Pearl 8100 does not include any productivity software. That means you'll have to supply your own software if you'd like to use your phone to view or edit Office documents.

Multimedia

PROS: The Pearl 8100 was the first BlackBerry phone to add a camera, a music player, and a video player, and it remains a decent multimedia device. You can transfer your AAC, MP3, and WAV files to the phone using an included USB cord.

CONS: The BlackBerry Pearl 8100's camera is a measly 1.3 megapixels, and both the video and audio players are somewhat limited. You don't have access to a music store for downloading songs directly to the phone, and you'll have to supply your own microSD card if you want to boost the phone's storage.

The Pearl 8100 lacks the wow factor of some of today's newer BlackBerry phones. But there's a reason this phone remains available--and popular--more than two years after its debut. It's a good-looking multimedia phone with excellent e-mail features. And at $50, it's quite a bargain.