Matt Tillotson
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Blackberry Pearl Flip: Cool new design built on reliable BB functionality

Hello everyone. My name is Matt, and I have a mobile gadget problem.

While admitting to a problem may be the first step on the road to recovery, I'm not going there. In fact, I've just enabled myself further - but without much cash outlay.

Yesterday I purchased a new Blackberry Pearl Flip as an upgrade to the Pearl I have been using since the fall of 2006. The Pearl had been through a lot; the trackball wasn't functioning well, and my one-year-old occasionally used the phone to perform her impersonation of Jamie Shields. I was ready for something new.

Although I'm still working through the Flip's features, so far I'm pleased. It's a bit thick for my tastes, coming in at .6 inches. But you give up some thinness for the protective clamshell. I suspect that the new design will be easier on the trackball than the Pearl's open design.

My favorite features of the Blackberry Pearl Flip:

  • The preview screen on the front of the phone provides a cool old-school clock display. Even better, it allows you to preview, and then read in full if you wish, emails and texts as they hit your inbox.

  • The 2 megapixel camera seems adequate for snapping and sending quick pictures or posting to Facebook.

  • Google sync (not preloaded, but easy to download) quickly syncs the Blackberry calendar and address book to those you keep with Google.

  • The clamshell design will keep me from dialing my wife from my pocket and will hopefully better preserve the functionality of the trackball.

  • The new user interface is visually pleasing and easy enough to navigate.

  • The email interface is clean, quick and easy to use. Classic Blackberry.

  • The call sound quality is excellent.

  • The phone is wi-fi enabled, allowing for faster browsing and the ability to place calls via VOIP through the T-Mobile network.

Things lacking in the Blackberry Pearl Flip:

  • Web-browsing isn't remotely close to the experience on the iPod Touch. It's slow, even on Wi-Fi. The trackball allows you to move around the screen and click to zoom, but Apple absolutely owns the mobile browsing experience. Anything else pales in comparison.

  • The thickness of the phone leaves a bit to be desired. It's not like you'll be carrying around War and Peace in your pocket, but it could be thinner. I suspect future models will be.

I remain addicted to my iPod Touch. The Flip is a nice complement, allowing me connectivity when I can't grab Wi-Fi for the Touch.

So why not just get an iPhone? Several reasons. I want more than 16 GB storage on my iPod. I'm not a fan of the iPhone's battery life. And while I am not an At&T customer, I've not read good things about their network. I started with AirTouch in 1998 and have been with T-Mobile ever since they acquired the company. I have found T-Mobile's network to be rock solid. And with my wife and I both on T-Mobile plans, I really don't to break that apart and lose the savings from the My Faves calling feature.

In summary, the Blackberry Pearl Flip is a fresh design concept that adds something new to the classic rock-solid Blackberry performance. It's functional, inexpensive ($.01 on Amazon right now with a new T-Mobile contract) and has some cool factor to it. I recommend it.

Blackberry Pearl Flip resources:

Update: I ditched the phone. Traded it in for a Blackberry Pearl 8120. Everything I liked about the Flip remains true. However, I learned that compact size is way more important to me than I thought. I missed the compact design of my Pearl 8100. The Flip felt bulky and cheaply constructed to me.