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.

The BlackBerry Pearl 3G is a clear indication of BlackBerry’s ever-growing mainstream appeal. For example, not so long ago the only people that used BlackBerry devices were called Charles and worked in The City.

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 this device isn’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 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 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.

Previous 1 2 Next