Review: Blackberry 8220 Pearl Flip / A Blackberry for the Ladies

MANY women use BlackBerrys, but most of them just can’t come to terms with what is a very male looking phone. I am not suggesting that Research in Motion (RIM) should start making pink phones, but why not try making them a bit curvy. Even the BlackBerry Pearl, Bold and Storm lack what women want. Finally, RiM seems to have got the idea, and last month came out with the Pearl Flip 8220.

I don’t like flip phones and at first was not really happy with this one either. But the Pearl Flip is attractive and more of a phone — if you, like me, have been carrying a phone along with your BlackBerry, this gives the option of opting for a single device. But I still felt it is more suited for women.

The Flip, like the Motorola Razr, has an outer screen which shows the emails and text messages and also has a nice looking analog clock. It does not let you reply to emails without opening the phone, but you can still preview calendar reminders, emails and text messages.

The phone is a bit beefy compared to RIM’s latest designs and I think BlackBerry should have spent more time working on its curves. I did not like the design of the Pearl, but there are a few welcome changes on the Pearl Flip. The recessed trackball, which allows the flip to close, is very thoughtful. The keys, too, are nicely laid out with small curves. By the end of two weeks I was able to master the Suretype and work almost as fast as I can on a QWERTY keyboard.
The Flip also has a newer version of the BlackBerry Operating System, and the interface is similar to that of the Bold. This is a big step ahead of the previous OS, but I wish the text display in emails were sharper.
The phone, however, lacks horsepower and is slow. But compared to other BlackBerrys its start-up time is much faster. The browser is much better than older models and the company claims it a full HTML browser. But the slow phone makes browsing a pain, even if you have high-speed Internet access available through Wi-Fi.

Overall, I liked the phone. But I believe it is better for people who are looking at buying their first BlackBerry, or their first smart phone. Compared to other smart phones in the market, this gives you BlackBerry emails (the best part), multimedia capabilities, an okay camera, and a good browser in a tight form factor. But buy it only if you want to switch over to BlackBerry services, not because you want a phone that looks good.

Price Rs 21,990

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The article appeared in The Indian Express, on Sunday 29th March 2009