The BlackBerry Pearl is for the ladies. It’s slim, sexy, and cool. That’s not to say that boys might like it, but the Pearl, like the Sidekick 3, is designed to break down barriers and include folks who might not think they need a smartphone into the CrackBerry fold. Like the SK3, it’s a fully-featured smartphone masquerading as a cool and stylish toy.
For lack of better terminology, you can categorize the Pearl as a gateway phone. It doesn’t have a QWERTY keyboard and the enterprise features of RIM’s operating system are well-hidden, ensuring that casual users can open the box and start emailing right away. The trackball is definitely an added bonus and allows for some very clever menu and icon navigation. It is also extremely light, about 3 ounces, and has a beautiful bright screen and 1.3-megapixel camera.
We love that the Pearl has a standard USB recharger and connectivity port. This allows you to drag and drop media to and from the device and recharge it via a standard port. It also supports music playback and BlackBerry maps. It can even grab your current coordinates when paired with a Bluetooth GPS device.
The interface is very smooth with most of the major applications appearing on the first screen when in default mode. Adding ringtones and backgrounds is as easy as selecting something from your MicroSD card and, as usual, personal and enterprise email connectivity is seamless.
The device comes with a charger, connection cable, and two headphones - one with a single earpiece and one for stereo audio.
If you’ve used BlackBerries in the past, the interface will be as familiar as an old pair of jeans. The predictive typing takes about five minutes to learn - it’s actually a trust issue because you have to convince yourself that typing a few random numbers will eventually give you the word you’re looking for - and it got excellent reception even in my dreaded basement where the Sidekick and most Nokia phones is reduced to a paperweight due to interference issues.
I gave the phone to the wife and she carried it to work where everyone - boys and girls included - went nuts. One of her co-workers carried it into a meeting of road warriors - the folks who are on travel 360 days out of the year - and they didn’t really get much work done. They all just played with the Pearl.
There are a few iconic phones that take us all by surprise: the StarTAC, the RAZR, and the Sidekicks, to name a few. Add the Pearl to this list because, although it doesn’t have a full keyboard or look like a blue robot liver, it brings mobile email and IM to the masses. Add in a heaping teaspoon-full of style and T-Mobile’s own advertising efforts and I feel you have a winner.
Product Page [Blackberry]
Good review, could you take any more pictures of the interface? I actually ordered mine last Tuesday, I’m still waiting on it to come. :( It seems like it’s a 70/30 review most of the reviews I hear people love the phone while others don’t (because of the keyboard, etc). The only thing that I may regret is the lack of Mac support with this phone. I am an avid Mac user and I really hope their is an upcoming update for iSync, Pocket Mac, or Blackberry’s own software.
How is the battery life? I’ve heard mixed reviews on that also.
battery life is pretty strong. i haven’t run out the battery. The interface is hard to capture because it’s themed, but the out of the box theme is very cool and very aqua-esque.
You can click and drag files from a Mac, but I haven’t gotten sync to work yet.
download the missing sync software is pretty for mac
Feedback on website: Crunchers, this is what I, as a reader would like to see from your phone coverage (perhaps other readers can comment or add to my ideas). I would like to see your coverage seperated from other tech and then futher seperated by carrier or manufacturor or technology. So for instance, I am a Cingular user. As such I am not as interested in news about phones that are not compatible with my network. However if I were going to switch I may be interested in knowing what network my favorite phone worked on. It seems to me that ALL the other cell phone coverage blogs assume we always know what network a particular phone is made for and never mention it. Then I get all excited about a phone and get dissappointed when I can’t have it. Does that make sense?
side note: obviously I know this post is about the T-mobile BlackBerry, my comment is more oriented towards phones just over the horizon and this seemed like a good place to comment.
Trackball is nice but without a qwerty it’s not worth getting in my opinion but I only say this bc I have a sk3 and 7520 blackberry. Camera is very cool and like the ‘zoom’ feature. Can you get the Zen theme on it John?
I had the 7100t and moved to the 8700 for the full keyboard after getting frustrated retyping yo and to. I hear the Pearl has updated text prediction based on the previous word - I am interested to hear how this goes. The unlimited data (on tmo) and ability to tether to your computer on the go rules too!
sexy sheets
Ok here’s my input i got the Blackberry pearl i got this phone from
http://www.UShopWireless.com like and week and a half ago i have yet to find any thing i dislike about this phone. The picture quality is super great and i really like the rolly ball (pearl) lol it makes it so much easier to move around the phone. Trust me i not to techcnical with cell phones but you learn to use it right away. But dont really belive the bad reviews some things just are not made for some people.
I’m no girl, and I lurve my blackberry pearl.
I have had this phone for almost a month now, and have completely grown accustomed to the keyboard - and this is also the first blackberry for me. Being a Mac user getting sync working was a chore, and I have found my fair share of bugs in PocketMac SyncManager (like you can only sync one thing at a time).
I have to say that I’ve finally found the phone I’ve been asking for the last decade or so. My only complaint (and it is not that critical to me) is that I cannot figure out what top-secret video formats this phone supports, because nothing I have plays on it.
Then again, I just can’t see myself watching the Two Towers on my phone either.
One annoyance that is worth mentioning is the need to create playlists in order to play more than one song at a time. If you just copy over a slew of songfiles, like I did, you find yourself constantly hitting “next” after each and every song ends. Some might enjoy taking every opportunity to whip out their pearl on a crowded subway to show off, but it gets old after a while.
Oh, while doing double duty as an MP3 player, the phone lasts around two days without a recharge. IMHO that’s not bad for a phone that is almost a laptop, from a functional perspective. The USB charger is awesome, making charging a non-issue as you charge while shuttling MP3s or syncing anyway.
Great phone, I can recommend it without hesitation.
don’t have one yet??? hurry up and get one! got my pearl from a local tmo reseller in south san jose. most resellers are giving it away for FREE so don’t pay the $199 that tmo is asking for it. save the money and put it towards the unlimited blackberry data plan. it’s money well-spent. can’t find one for free? search on craigslist and a few should show up. anyway, i’ve had the pearl for 3 days and have already forgotten about my treo (which i had for years). the pearl is soooo easy to use; and, it’s good looking. the keyboard does take some getting used to, but not long. was able to get it to sync with my mac without experiencing difficulties, just had to be patient. hope you all enjoy the phone as much as i do! now if only someone would create some decent themes…
how did you get it to sync with your mac?
Help! The screen on my new pearl is always locked and I have to go through 2 steps just to start any feature. I haven’t found a website that could help and the folks at the local t-mobile store can’t help. My goal is that I don’t ever have the screen in the lock mode.
to use Pearl as modem on Mac, and fix USB charge issue, and Mass Storage Device access:
http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/script-for-using-the-blackberry-pearl-as-a-bluetooth-modem-on-a-mac/
Hello,
My name is Mary Mullen, I am a research coordinator for AlphaBuzz, a
nationwide market research company.
We are conducting a usability test on a new cell phone application
and would like to include your opinions.
We are looking for people age 18-54. The discussions will last 30 to 45
minutes and take place in Mountain View, California on Tuesday, March 6th
throughout the day.
All qualified participants will be given $50.00 as a thank you for their
time and input.
As always, this is strictly for market research purposes and no sales
attempt will result now or in the future as a result of your participation.
If you are interested please reply with answers to the following:
1. Your name and a good daytime number where you may be reached.
2. Your age.
3. How long have you had your current cell phone?
4. What is the make and model of your current cell phone?
Thank you for your time and interest, I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Mary Mullen
Research Coordinator AlphaBuzz
Just got one of these (black) the other day and I am impressed by most of its features. I am also a Mac user (MacBook 1.8gig) and am thoroughly underwhelmed by the functionality between my ‘book and the 8100. I ended up just using AddressBook’s built-in bluetooth feature since PocketMac left a bad taste in my mouth. That and not being able to use the device as mass storage over bluetooth (has to be tethered to USB for that) made me almost rethink my purchase. The last gripe is with the microSD card being buring with SIM card all the way under the battery. Most phones of this ilk have the hot-swappable, easily-accessible micro or mini-SD port right on top or on the side.
That having been said, the camera quality is OK (I compared this with the Nokia line of 6265i, 6682 and 5300 which all score much higher in the camera dept). But, I didn’t buy the phone to be a Rebel XT replacement so that’s forgivable.
What this phone *does* excel at is ease-of-use. Out of the box, I could type in complete sentences without missing a beat, and this is my first blackberry. I like the trackball and have found shortcuts for just about everything you can do with the thing: setting up bluetooth, browsing media, etc. So the trackball doesn’t have to be abused as a mouse button as well (hopefully prolonging the life of the unit).
Videos can be easily enough converted to AAC or MP4 and dragged-and-dropped to the phone over USB (a full movie takes about 4 minutes to transfer and takes about 250MB on the card). I have 1GB of storage right now and am awaiting shipment of my 2GB card.
Oh yeah, the headphone port on the phone is a mini-stereo, not a sub-mini! I can use regular headphones with the phone (in fact, it comes with a nice headset which I replaced with a bluetooth). Listening to tunes and watching movies is just as good as an iPod; but with the ability to have a bluetooth headset right out of the box!
The crowning achievement, IMHO, of this device is the EDGE network capability and being able to share (rather easily, I might add) connectivity with my MB over bluetooth. So, a full-day train ride from Buffalo, NY to NYC can be that much more productive with better-than-dialup speeds from my phone and wirelessly connected to my laptop. I can even have my girlfriend’s laptop connected concurrently like a mini wireless LAN! Road trip, anybody?
I give it 4 out of 5 stars and we’ll reserve that last star just in case the feature set gets ironed out a bit in the near future!
First time blackberry owner and i love my new phone! it took awhile to get the whole texting part but now ive got my phone pretty figured out.I love it when people grab it and dont know how to make a call! i spent $275 on mine and it was well worth it. Best phone ive ever owned. I spent 400 on my nextel one and it doesnt compare to this one.
I’ve had my BB Pearl for a week and the ringer and all sounds stopped. I can make calls and hear ppl, but i cant hear any videos, the phone actually ringing or music. this sucks! ys, i already tried “resetting” the phone (taking the battery out for a couple minutes), i got nothing still, anyone else?
I’m taking it back to the t-mobile store tomorrow to see whats up. Hopefully, i just got a dud because i loved it for the first 5 days i’ve had it.
I’m also a mac user without any PC availability to update the software. Any help on how to update the software on a mac?
i know alot of stuff
thanks guys and girls
i love my BB pearl but i don’t have internet on it yet and i would like to add a ringtone onto my phone. is there a way to add ringtones to your phone from your computer without the internet?
I own a 8100 and its okay i guess, but as scott said isnt true, the Blackberry pearl doesnt support Bluetooth wireless headphones like he said apparently hes using. 8100’s dont use A2DP because RIM is a bunch of fking goofs..
Does anyone know why RIM wouldn’t program the 8100 for bluetooth wireless headphones for music? The phone works with the BT, but the music doesn’t - what’s the point? Can this software be uploaded when they figure out how dumb this is?
I really want to do is go wireless with my music and 8100 phone.
I’m trying to figure out how to incoporate a wireless headset for mb phone calls & the mp3 player on my phone as well as use it for skype on my computer. The Plantronics 590A sounds like the perfect fit BUT this phone doesn’t support the A2D2 support for STEREO LISTENING. Plantronics support told me today that I would still hear the music/calls but just on one side, bummer.
I saw some posts that there may be software solutions, hmmm Im on a mac. I hope so cause then I would be really happy to buys these headphones and use them daily.
Bberry.com says in the ad for these headphones that:
“Smartphones without A2DP support (Treo 650, 700) requires the use of the bundled audio adapter.” I called them and they said teh 8300 will work, GREAT!?!?
Any ideas? Look forward to learning more here.
thanks,
paul ~ ragajazz
im lookin for the pearl ball the lights up in the center its a progame that sent the sent ball to 4 different color?>………….do u know what im talkin about?
the program you are looking for is called colorpearl.
OTA download:
http://www.geekandproud.net/blackberry-software/
can i get mp3s on my bbpearl without having internet on it or the memory card? i have no idea how to
nevermind
I just got a blackberry pearl and i love the phone i just cant figure out how to work it. i got my e-mail set up wtih my aol adress and everything but i want to figure out how to get on the internet and instant message people. the only problem is i dont have yahoo messenger i have aim. i also want to know how to delete pictures and how to reset my background. i took a pic and set it as my background but i wanted to know if i could put any other pics in there like from the internet or something. also, how do i put music on it and how do i change my ringtone and my ring for when i get a text message? one more thing, how do i change to where i dont have predictive text? i just want to type it out straight. also, what are themes? i’d really appreciate it if i could get some help please!!!! i dont want to miss out on stuff that this phone can do!!
one more question, what is bluetooth? there aer so many internet sources on the pearl and i cant figure out what htey do and how to work them!!
hi, i was hoping some one would be able to tell me how to make a ringtone specifically for text msgs. I want to only have the one tone for all incoming msgs but i can’t figure out how to do it?! please help!
Did anyone ever answer this question? Did you find a solution somewhere? I’m trying to do the same thing.
i just got a blackberry pearl,but the pictures they don’t display,i can’t hear the music,can someone tell me what’s wrong
Yes, the pearls are shipped with a crappy Operating system. They Work until you SYNC it with your computer, then t craps out. you need to go to blackberry’s website and download the newest OS and Desktop software and then SYNC it. I switched out my blackberry already once and talked to the tech support before finding this solution out on my own. Now it has been working for months without issue.
how do you put ringtones from the computer to the blackberry pearl?