BlackBerry Pearl 3G review

BlackBerry, unlike a lot of phone manufacturers, doesn’t spew out hundreds of new devices every year. Instead, it prefers to take its time and make functional efficient handsets that are packed full of features and connectivity.

This fact alone is one of the main reasons why we love BlackBerry handsets so much.

RIM has now introduced Blackberry Pearl 3G series smartphones in India. The new Blackberry Pearl 3G models share almost similar tech specs. However, the marked difference is that the Pearl 9100 comes with a 20-key condensed QWERTY keyboard, whereas BlackBerry Pearl 9105 offers a 14-key traditional phone keyboard.

The smallest Blackberry smartphone yet, RIM's new Blackberry Pearl 3G smartphones come with compact and elegant design. Pearl 3G series phones are equipped with optical trackpad, dedicated media keys and 3G network support.

With SureType technology, both these Pearl 3G devices enable users with quick and easy text input for maximum enjoyment of real-time communications applications.The key features of Pearl 3G include 360 x 400 sharp-resolution display, a 3.2 megapixel camera with zoom, autofocus, flash and video recording and built-in GPS for location-based applications.

The Blackberry Pearl 3G come with 624 Mhz processor with 256 MB flash memory and offer up to 32GB of extended memory via micro SD card support. The device features Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro) and 3.5mm handsfree socket.

The BlackBerry Pearl 3G is a clear indication of BlackBerry's ever-growing mainstream appeal. Thankfully, times are-a-changing, and BlackBerry has become a mainstream phenomenon and the BlackBerry Pearl 3G is a clear indication that RIM is focused on covering every type of mobile phone user there is.

For starters, it's a candybar-style device, which means it is very slim and slender. But this comes at a cost as it doesn’t have a full QWERTY keyboard, which is something BlackBerry purists will be up in arms about. However, they needn't worry too much because these devices aren't – we presume – geared towards high-end users.

Instead, it's more of a platform between the two worlds of smart and dumb phones – a place, where those new to "smartphones" will be surrounded by familiar surroundings, such as the alphanumeric keyboard, but also have some serious power at their fingertips, if you will.

Looks wise, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G isn't in the same class as the Bold 9700, which has a metallic finish, full QWERTY keyboard and a larger screen.

That said, it isn't a bad looking device though – it’s just a bit cheap looking and you could be mistaken for thinking it was a Nokia device.

The BlackBerry Pearl 3G, like the BlackBerry Bold 9700, has a remarkably sharp screen and while it may only be 2.25-inches in size it is more than adequate for browsing the web, reading emails and using apps.

Granted, we'd have liked a bigger screen – we use a BlackBerry Bold 9700 – but that's not what this handset is about.

One of our main gripes with the BlackBerry Pearl 3G is its alphanumeric keyboard. It's been a while since we used one and it really did take some time to re-adjust to it again.

Nevertheless, once you've become reacquainted with it you'll be hammering out the texts, thanks to SureType, in no time at all and the built in dictionary is pretty extensive too, apart for swear words of course.

Obviously, some users will adore this rather antiquated aspect of the device and, this we think, anyway, is the point of the device. It's a smartphone for users that don't want a smartphone.

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