BlackBerry® Pearl™ 8100

Call Quality

Call quality: We’re happy to report that call quality is the best we’ve experienced to date on a Blackberry. Callers were extremely loud and clear and they said the same of us. So we only needed to lower the volume using the side keys. We were even able to hear clear in windy environments. We also appreciated the speakerphone since we were able to speak simultaneously and callers weren’t cut off mid-sentence. Additionally, there was no degradation in call quality when we used a Bluetooth headset.

Audio Quality: While the playback of music on this cell phone is acceptable it’s far from stellar. There were occasions when we found the audio quality to be a tad tinny. The cell phone comes with a single earbud headset, so if you want a stereo headset you’ll have to get a Bluetooth enabled model.

Ease of Use

Menu/phonebook: If you love the Blackberry interface, you’ll be happy to know not much has changed in the Pearl version of the popular device. Everything is like the old Blackberry only a little bit more attractive. You can use the included software to easily sync contacts, calendar and e-mail between the Pearl and your computer. However, unlike the Treo, you can’t color-code your calendar entries. The Pearl comes with a miniUSB-to-USB cable so you can connect it directly to your computer or you can always use Bluetooth if your computer has that functionality. Finally, the alarm is great on this cell phone; it will continue to sound even if the cell phone is turned off. This is a good and bad thing.

Messaging: The reason most people buy a blackberry is for the messaging; and, rightfully so, it really has messaging perfected. But before you get too excited, if you’re getting the Blackberry Pearl for work e-mail, it’s not that it can’t do it out-of-the-box it can if your company has the right server. If your company doesn’t you will definitely need to consult your resident IT guy, he’ll have to set it up for you.

Another bonus is that you can send/receive e-mail from multiple accounts. Since the whole point of Blackberry’s is to sync your e-mail on your computer with that on your cell phone, a copy of messages (even if it’s on your computer) is automatically stored in the device’s memory.

Camera: The Blackberry Pearl has a 1.3-megapixel camera and a flash. Overall, picture quality is pretty good when snapping pics using the Pearl. There’s also a tiny mirror underneath the lens, which you can use to snap self-portraits. The big downfall here is that you can’t discard a picture immediately. . Yet, our favorite feature is the integration of the trackball with the camera application. Once you’re setting up a picture you can scroll around to zoom or change the size of the picture. We admit it, it’s just plain cool! We should note that while you can view videos on the cell phone, you can’t shoot any.

Music: As noted, the Pearl has a music player as well. You can listen to songs stored in MP3 or AAC (Apple’s audio format). Sorry, no WMA files (Microsoft’s audio format). Music isn’t the Pearl’s strongest feature. As such, there really aren’t any options in the player to adjust audio quality. However, we should note that you can save tunes stored in your cell phone as a ringtone. But you’ll really need to get an extra MicroSD memory card if you want to put any music on the device because there’s simply not enough space on the Pearl to store more than a song or two at the most.

Bluetooth: You can do a lot with Bluetooth on this cell phone. Besides easily being able to connect to a Bluetooth headset (we found call quality was great when we used the Motorola H500), you can also use it to send pictures and sync up with your contacts if your computer supports Bluetooth.

Design

Look and Feel: Let’s get right to heart of this Blackberry, the Pearl (that’s the white trackball in the middle of the cell phone). It’s just super fun to use. We think the side scroll wheel typically found on the side of Blackberry’s is a bit more functional, but this option is just much more enjoyable. Besides it really adds to the overall style of the Pearl. There’s no denying this is one of the more stylish cell phones we’ve seen from Blackberry and is arguably one of the more attractive work-centric handsets currently available. Plus, the display is easy to view in most lighting conditions and really pops in dimly-lit rooms.

There are a few oddities, however. First, the button with the dots on it on the left-hand spine of the cell phone is a little too sensitive. If the Pearl isn’t locked and jostling around in a bag or purse, it will constantly ask, “Say a Command.” This can be extremely irritating, so we recommend locking the cell phone to keep this from happening to you. Finally, you can add more memory to the Pearl via a MicroSD card, but you’ll need to remove the battery to do it.

Keypad: If you’re a veteran Blackberry user and have become all too accustomed to the integrated keyboard and fear that it’s just not going to be the same strictly using numeric keys, don’t worry. True, it’s not quite the same as two-handed typing, but it is pretty easy due to the predictive text application installed. This application not only guesses the word but provides a few options so you can make sure the predictive spelling stays on the right track. Plus, the keys are spaced far enough apart. While the keys are a bit on the small side, they are extremely tactile. However, those with larger fingers might have trouble getting accustomed to the keys.

Battery Life

While many improvements have been made to this Blackberry, other areas have suffered a bit. In this case, it’s the battery life. Unfortunately, the Pearl’s battery life isn’t nearly as good as it’s older brother the 7105. If you use the cell phone frequently to make calls, to text and send/receive e-mail you’ll probably only be able to last a little over a day before needing to recharge. However, if you’re thinking of the Pearl primarily as a cell phone and less of a messaging device you’ll get about three to four days of battery life from it. While this doesn’t sound stupendous, we should note that Bluetooth doesn’t significantly drain the battery. Another plus, it charges quickly (within an hour).