BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 review

When Canadian mobile phone manufacturer Research in Motion launched its first clamshell phone BlackBerry Flip 8220, the industry seemed to be little bit surprised as other manufacturers are moving away of a flip phone idea.

RIM launched the Flip 8220 in India in the first week of January this year on Bharti Airtel's network but could not gather much moss as the country was eagerly awaiting the launch of BlackBerry Storm at the same time. The launch of the Storm was delayed due to some security reasons.

The Pearl Flip 8220 is  not really as sexy as the Storm, and it’s not as fully-featured as the Bold, but by keeping to core Blackberry values, albeit with a new look, it’s focused, functional and, yes, even fun.

Arguably, it could be the best-looking Blackberry yet. Keeping the busy-looking SureType keyboard keypad tucked out of sight gives it a sleek appearance that most Blackberry’s just can’t manage. It’s quite thick at 17.5mm but lighter than it looks at 102g – it’ll slip into the pocket just as easily as the other Blackberry Pearls.

The BlackBerry Flip's glossy black front includes a 160x128 pixel external display which defaults to an analogue clock along with battery level, waiting messages and signal level. Above it is the lens for a two-megapixel camera flanked by an LED flashlight and an LED alert light. The sides include mini USB charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack, volume buttons, microSD card slot, a mute key and two programmable option keys which are set to voice dial and camera.

There’s a slight curve at the top of the handset and this becomes more pronounced when you open it, as the flip comes to rest behind the phone’s body. This feels a little strange when you hold it to your ear, as the keyboard then tends to be right up against your cheek. Some might like that, others won’t, but we found we got used to it after two or three calls, and got into the habit of holding the phone at a slightly different angle, away from the face.

The keys are large (nearly twice as large as those on, say, the Pearl), though they have those same curvy line separators. There’s the usual learning curve if you’re new to the Blackberry SureType keypad, which features two letters to each key in a QWERTY configuration, but hundreds of thousands have made the leap without any ill effects – we certainly prefer it to standard T9.

Above the keypad, the usual, highly efficient trackball is flanked by call start and stop plus back and menu buttons, so everything’s clear and easy to use and RIM have managed to pack in a lot of functionality without appearing to cram.

The 240x320 pixel screen is bright, clear and sharp, and while it’s perhaps not quite as sharp as the Storm’s, that’s nothing to worry about.

The Flip’s browser isn’t quite as intuitive as some, but you can zoom in with a tap of the trackball (you’ll need to access the menu to zoom out again) and use the ‘column view’ feature to fit text neatly into the screen, though unfortunately there’s no option to view in landscape mode. With only EDGE speeds available rather than 3G however you probably won’t be doing much surfing on the street, though Wi-Fi offers broadband speeds for home or work.

Although there isn't GPS, cell triangulation (using the handset's network coverage) with Blackberry Maps worked perfectly well, though it’s not as well featured as Google Maps, which is also available as a download, or the various paid-for navigation apps.

The 2 megapixel camera includes a 2x digital zoom and that LED flash next to the lens. It doesn’t disgrace itself with snaps in good light, which are actually quite good for this level of resolution. It’s quick to get into too, about two seconds from a press on one of the side-mounted convenience keys – always good for quick snaps, which is often the best you can hope for with 2 megapixel cameras. There’s not much in the way of post-snap editing facilities though, and only basic set-up options.

The music player sounds good and offers all the usual playback options with a 12-setting graphic equaliser (though this only appears when you have the headphones connected). It goes pretty loud too, which might be quite shocking for iPhone users. The speakerphone offers a surprisingly well-rounded sound, and only starts to struggle at the highest volume. The 3.5in headphone jack means you can replace the (not bad) headphones provided, should you feel the need.

For some Blackberry users, this is exactly what they’ve been waiting for – all their standard Blackberry apps and features in a clamshell format. While others might be catching up with the Blackberry email experience, for ease of use, convenience and efficiency it’s still the one to beat and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Blackberry’s key attraction.

For some who haven’t yet got the Crackberry habit, this, rather than the clunky Storm, could be the one to tempt them into the fold.