Cons of the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 Flip

Immediately after I picked up the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 for the first time at CTIA, I couldn't help but notice how light and delicate it felt. Lightweight is a good thing. Flimsy? Not so much. Unfortunately, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip falls into both of these categories. RIM's first clamshell phone is gorgeous, but may not be built to last.

Rear shot of RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8220 (open)

After just a few days with the Pearl 8220, its external display is noticeably scratched from hitching rides in pockets along with my keys, iPhone and various other Levi's debris. The scratches aren't so significant as to be noticed while the outer display is illuminated, but if you hold the device up to the light, they're clear as day and won't just wipe away. A case or holster would've at least reduced the damage, but the Pearl Flip shipped naked. This is uncommon, as most RIM devices, including previous versions of the Pearl, shipped with some form of leather carrying case from RIM. (For the full list of accessories that came with the device, see our BlackBerry Pearl 8220 unboxing image gallery.)

The rear battery door is also loose, the color slightly wearing off around the edge, after only a couple of days of use. Unlike previous Pearls and other RIM smartphones, the new Pearl has a small metal latch at the base of the battery door that can be pulled down to release the cover. The latch itself makes it easy to access the battery, but it doesn't stop the battery door from sliding side to side slightly.

Granted, I removed and replaced the battery upwards of 20 times during the review period, so users who rarely tinker with their batteries may not experience the same issue. Still, most BlackBerry users know that hard resets are often necessary, and that means pulling the battery.

Speaking of batteries, the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 had roughly seven hours of talk time in my tests. That's not bad, but considering the fact that the original Pearl 8100 that I reviewed back in the spring of 2007 had about eight and half hours of talk time, and both devices access 2.5G EDGE networks, the Pearl 8220's battery life does not particularly impress.

On the subject of wireless network speed, remember the BlackBerry Flip runs on T-Mobile's EDGE network, which means it isn't a 3G device. That's not such a big deal for me personally—I own a BlackBerry Curve 8320 (EDGE) and an iPhone 3G and don't ever see much of a difference because I'm frequently using Wi-Fi on both—but with all the hype around 3G in recent days, it could be a deal breaker for some folks.

Another downside: The device doesn't have GPS. Whether or not satellite positioning functionality is a necessity largely depends on the individual user, but I suspect the lack of GPS will turn some folks away from the Pearl 8220—perhaps towards the 8210, which will reportedly have GPS, but no Wi-Fi. I will say, however, that if I had to pick between GPS and Wi-Fi, I'd go Wi-Fi all the way. You can always pick up an external GPS puck, but there's no such thing as a Wi-Fi puck.

The Pearl 8220's two LCD displays also don't look as vibrant or sharp as some of the screens found on its BlackBerry counterparts, including the high-end Bold 9000, or even the Curve 83xx and Pearl 81xx series. The external display looks particularly pixilated.

Since I'm a T-Mobile customer and employ both its HotSpot@Home and Fave 5 plans, I'm very familiar with each offering. Shortly after transferring device information from my Curve to the Pearl Flip, I attempted to place a call to one of my Fave 5 contacts, but got an application error. I closed the dialogue box and tried to access the application again, but nothing happened; the app wouldn't launch. After I pulled the battery to reboot the device, the Fave 5 app worked fine, but the same thing happened a day later when I removed and inserted a microSD memory card. I've never come across such an error using the Fave 5 app on my Curve, and the fact that it happened twice in as many days on the Pearl 8220 tells me there could be a problem there.

Though the keyboard on the Pearl Flip is much improved over the earlier Pearl keyboards due to its significantly larger size—each button is literally twice as big as the earlier buttons—it's still not a full QWERTY keyboard. That means there are multiple characters on each key. Despite the use of RIM's SureType technology, which makes typing on such a keyboard simpler and more efficient, I've never been able to type as fast or without as many errors on a Pearl keyboard as I can with a full QWERTY. That hasn't changed with the Pearl 8220. The new guitar-fret-inspired plastic spacers between rows of keys do help to guide users' fingers, and the slightly indented numeral keys make it easy to dial phone numbers without paying much attention to the buttons, but power users will want to stick with a full QWERTY device. (Check out our Pearl 8130/8220 Flip image gallery for keyboard comparison shots.)

At $149.99 along with a two-year T-Mobile service contract, the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 is a bit pricey—especially since early rumors had suggested the carrier might offer the device for as little at $49.99. It makes sense to put a premium on a brand new device, with the holiday season on the horizon and all. And it's likely that T-Mobile will drop the price slightly in early 2009—but I still think $149.99 is too expensive. In my opinion, $99 with a two-year contract is just about right.

RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8220 Flip battery door hinge

Another compliant: The browser still needs work. Experienced BlackBerry users have long complained about the default BlackBerry browser, and though the browser that ships along with BlackBerry handheld OS 4.6 is much improved over previous versions—zooming in and out is easier and more intuitive, for example—the application's still not up to snuff when compared to other mobile browsers on the market; in particular, the iPhone's Safari browser.

The Pearl Flip also comes with only two themes, one of which is the boring default T-Mobile theme. BlackBerry themes reflect how icons and data are presented on the home screen. Every other BlackBerry device I've used in the past came with at least a couple more themes.

My final gripe relates to the new micro USB port that's used for charging and syncing data on the Pearl Flip. All of the additional 8000 series BlackBerrys have slightly-larger mini USB ports. When I asked a RIM representative at CTIA why the company switched from mini to micro USB for the Pearl 8220—and the as-of-yet unannounced Curve 8900—he replied, "For form factor." In other words, so they could make the device thinner. That's all fine and good, expect for the fact that the Pearl Flip isn't too thin for a mini USB port; I've held it up to a number of other devices with mini USB to check. I understand that the "guts" inside the device might make it simpler to use a smaller USB port, but I have a number of spare mini USB sync cables and chargers from my various devices, and I don't have a single mini USB accessory. That means I'd have to go out and buy an extra charger or sync cable for the Pearl 8220, even though I've got plenty of mini USB cables lying around. I suppose I could just pick up an adapter, but still...

And now, to sum up a long review in a short space:

  Conclusion: To Flip or Not to Flip? >>