Conclusions

A good mix of data and phone features make the BlackBerry Pearl attractive.

Many of the Pearl's features aren't new to smartphones, but they're new to BlackBerry - and you don't often find all of them in the same phone. The SureType keyboard is a compromise, but for a device this size it's the best compromise you're going to find and once you get over the oddity of the QWERTY layout where you brain expects a numeric keypad you can get up to quite a speed. Die-hard BlackBerry fans will prefer the full QWERTY keyboard but they're not the real audience for the Pearl.

The low resolution on the camera is disappointing and the multimedia application lacks some useful features, but (assuming you can master the keyboard) these are the biggest criticisms you can make about the Pearl. The trackball is convenient, the sound quality is superb, the screen is excellent, and the phone features are good.

There are some thoughtful touches, like being able to turn your phone off and on automatically at set times and you can program it so it stays off on the weekend. And of course it has the standard BlackBerry email handling system which we believe no other smartphone can match and that includes Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5 with an Exchange server. If you're a BlackBerry fan you're getting the key parts of the BlackBerry experience in a very nice little package. If you're not, the Pearl is good enough as a smartphone to convince you to try it for email and discover what the fuss is all about.

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