Have I mentioned lately how much I love Blackberries? Well, I do.
The Pearl series will never have a place in my pocket, but 70 percent of the population in the US who own a mobile phone carry a clamshell. To bridge the gap between the consumer sector and business sector, RIM introduced the Pearl and Curve models. The Pearl Flip 8220 is the device RIM hopes will saturate the market even further.
This won’t be a traditional review in the sense that I asked a current Pearl owner whether or not he would switch and what he thought about the Flip version.
Breken, a friend with a Pearl, pointed out what he did and didn’t like about it compared to his Pearl 8120.
Pros
Bigger screen
Bigger keypad
Spellcheck
Call quality was on par with his current Pearl
Cons
Feels cheap
The sunken trackball is awkward to use
It seems a lot bigger compared to the older Pearl because of its form factor
The font on the keyboard itself seems off
Me: Would you trade your Pearl 8120 for the Flip?
Breken: No.
I’m really hard on phones and used to go through a phone every 8 months. Laugh all you want.. I still have a couple of Nokia 3390s that are my emergency phones for when I have worn yet another one out.
My most recent phone was a Pearl 8100 that lasted me almost 2 years. The trackball was working sporatically and the battery was starting to have a problem holding a charge so I hung tight waiting for the Pearl flip. I’ve been using the flip for about 2 weeks now.
I agree with the Pros and Cons but would also add:
Pros:
alarm settings
Hi Res = Sharper graphics and colors
Cons:
Keypad is stiffer
Smaller USB port
I’m getting used to the sunken track ball.
I know this is a girlie thing. I don’t wear a watch and love having an analog clock on the face. There are other options but the analog is the prettiest.
I’ve fallen in love with the 8220 even though it feels cheap.
is it to make your blackberry look like a nokia??
Was in the same boat as Ruth Dejam. I used a Pearl 8100 for almost two years, but the back panel became loose (my fault) and the trackball stopped working (not my fault) so I was forced to get a new phone. Despite the problems toward the end, the 8100 was the best phone I’ve ever used. Everything about it was perfect.
Yesterday I bought a new Flip. It’s awful. Other than a slightly larger/better screen, wifi, and louder alarms (I need help waking up) everything is inferior to my old 8100.
1) WORST of all, the new OS is SO SLOW and the phone LAGS all the time. A restart takes forever (bberry reboots take longer than other brands – but this is a whole new level of slow), and for complex functions like the camera, browser, games etc, the phone is EXCRUTIATINGLY slow. I’ve seen the Bold and it doesn’t have any of these problems, so I’m assuming that the Flip simply doesn’t have the horsepower to run the new OS properly. I’ve loved all my blackberries, so this is a real disappointment by RIM. There are so many bugs in the OS that it feels as if RIM simply released the beta version or a “windows vista” equivalent in order to rush this product to market.
2) Super awkward looking hinge and buttons feel rubbery and cheap.
3) The body itself is too long and too narrow so when typing it’s a little too big for just one hand but also too small for both hands simultaneously.
4) The MicroUSB charger is a stupid idea from RIM – Incompatible with prior blackberry models, and most other electronics now that use the regular USB for charging/synching.
5) This might just be for me, but my Flip is also having serious problems being recognized by the Tmobile network. Email will work for an hour, and then just stop working.
6) Everything about this phone is just so frustrating. Again, very uncharacteristic of RIM so a major letdown.
My advice is either wait a few months for RIM to hopefully fix the bugs and release OS updates, or just go with something else. As for me, I’m already looking for a 8100 or 8120 to replace my brand new flip.
heard the 8120 is great, not crappy, part. if you get the extra $10/month tmobile wifi hotspot addon service, which is the biggest innovation since the iphone in the industry, yet, the iphone and several other smart phones seem so superior to this phone. I give RIM props but this one was a “well, lets look online and research what actual experience has been” at the gut level, even, from the first drive thru at the costco wireless stand. this thing just looks great, but really doesn’t perform and walk the walk.
Trade ya!!!
No really! I have a brand new pearl with os 4.5. Email me if you want to trade. Hpububba@hotmail.com we could set it up with a deposit from PayPal or something!
this is THE worst phone i have ever gotten. it lags like crazy and is super slow. most of the time text messages don’t even send. if that happens you have to take out the battery and restart it! it takes 5 min just to turn on because of the software. when you call someone, it will take 1 minute just to get off the disconnected screen. my advice is if you are looking to buy a pearl flip don’t even bother. get a better phone that actually works well with your needs!
I have owned two BlackBerry Pearl 8220 Flip Phones and this is the most accurate review I have ever seen. You must actually own one of these phones to appreciate how agonizingly slow they truly are. Without a doubt, this is the most expensive and the worst phone I have ever owned.
This review has been linked from http://reducegadgetenvy.com/Item.aspx?i=12
I love this phone! The reasons here seem very “girly” to me, such as the complaint about the inset trackball…cut your nails if it’s a problem!
Pros:
-small
-fits well in pants pockets
-usual BB pluses such as email, etc.
-micro-USB port is great (makes the phone smaller)
-analog clock (solely for looks, but it does look cool)
-easy to use and modify side buttons
-LIGHTWEIGHT (not “cheap” feeling)
-MicroSD card is accessible from outside of the phone (rather than opening the battery covers as with some other BBs)
Cons:
-Yes, it is slower than usual BB’s, but the size tradeoff is worth it
-flashing LED lights (have to go through and turn these buggers off)
I highly recommend this phone (except maybe for girls with extremely long nails).
the blackberry phone is a decent phone. i like it except for the camera . its a pretty good phone. i have not had any problems with it yet. the trackball is very easy to use. i say keep it and give it a chance it may feel cheap but its not .
I’ve had a flip for about 10 days, free on a contract with Orange, my first BB. It’s a ‘bit’ on the thick side but otherwise a nice phone, not huge but it is slow… It does feel slightly cheap, (or it maybe because it is all so lightweight (?) the ‘lid’ wobbles when shut even the battery covers a poor fit, but it is easy to use, screen good and sharp, camera’s suprisingly good for a 2 mp and has lots of cool features both for business and pleasure.Then after about a week it began to freeze on me, the outer screen would lag behind what was going on inside, it has turned it’self off and the only way to re-boot it to remove the battery and reinsert, the thing locks up about twice a day!!! It’s going back to Orange and I’m getting replacement phone (same) but if any of this happens again it’ll go back and I’ll go for a Curve or a 8120. I think BB die-hards hate it because it’s so far removed from the ‘traditional’ BB look but if it’ll just work okay without screwing up it’d be fine!!! I’ll keep ya posted on flip No 2!
The Curve also freezes up and turns itself off..I have the pearl flip..this morning was the first time it froze up but I think all blackberries have this problem.
I bought a blackberry flip at home because of the great experience i have had with the 8880 issued to me from work. The 8880 freezes up every 4 months after using the phone for 8 – 10 hours a day, which is acceptable.
The blackberry flip is slow and it freezes all the time. I would say, I get the hour glass every 20 mins for 15 secs to 10 mins! It will totally turn off and restart if I continuously use it for 1 hour. The battery lasts just 1 day. How can one company make 2 products so far apart in quality?
I had a blackberry curve for all of last year and i loved it. This year i replaced it with this blackberry flip phone. BIG mistake! this phone is ridiculously slow, there is a delay even when browsing through my contacts. Thats crazy! I also find myself getting drop calls a little too often, something that rarely happened on my curve. This phone is not at all worth the price tag on it, it performs like a free phone (actually i’ve had free phones that are faster that this). I love blackberries but i hate this POS flip phone!
my blackberry 8220 always answers calls when its shut, is there a way to make it stop doing that? if you can help, do email.
rico_jonah@mpulse.blackberry.com
The Blackberry Flip STINKS!!! don’t waste you time and money. If you like using a phone that freezes up and turns itself off…this phone is for you.
i was so mad the first day i got my blackberry flip. It should have been a happy day, but once the lady gave me my phone, i placed it in my pocket and a while later i had remembered that i had a gift card from whataburger in the same pocket. How should i have known card can scratch the cover of a phone. Now my phone is all scratched up in the front. These are some cons with this phone, its so slow and scratches ridiculousy easy.
im having the same kin of problem as paul T is havin ne one kno a solution i looked all over fo that
I’ve had the same problem. Within 2 weeks of getting this phone it kept freezing up and the only way to get it back on was to take out the battery and put it back in.
I’ve had a replacement for a few months now, and it happened occassionally but I thought I could live with it happening a few times.
However in the last week it has happened every day. The most annoying thing is that my alarm won’t go off if it’s frozen.
I thought it was only happening if I let the battery get too low, but it will happen when the battery is almost full.
I have also noticed that the battery only lasts for two days, which is not making calls. That’s just daily e-mails and messages.
A rubbish phone, which I’m going to replace…
Hope this is useful to someone.
I got this phone for free with a 2 year t mobile plan. Battery life is really bad. Other than that it is a good phone overall. I guess I’ll have to get a bigger battery for it. For the tiny cost difference Blackberry should have included a bigger battery. What were they thinking?
I am going to kill this phone and smash it, I love it except it constantly turns itself off and it tends to always happen when you actually need it. Then it takes nearly 10 minutes to reboot itself!! Its been my first BB and to be quite honest, not a great impression. If it’d stop turning itself off, I’d be perfectly happy with it.
Wow! I’ve had this phone for 10 months and haven’t had any of the issues the rest of you have. I talk/listen an average of 6 1/2 hours a day, about an hour at a time, and my battery (original) still lasts about 30 hours.
I do have to reboot it about once a month but I’ve had to do that with all my blackberrys so I figure it’s an undocumented feature.
You should turn off the all the crap that runs constantly on it if you want it to run faster. The graphics are a killer. If you want a graphics phone, get a MyTouch or one of the Samsungs.
I would have sent it back to RIM by now if mine sucked as much as yours do.