BlackBerry 8230 Pearl Flip Review

You wouldn’t believe the looks I got while using the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Pearl Flip at CTIA Wireless. Most were of surprise, others bordered on disgust, others still were closer to curiosity. Even the RIM people gave me weird reactions – “Really? You use that?” Still, I reassured everyone that my regular BlackBerry was a Bold, which was met with many a sigh of relief. One of the some common complaints for the Pearl Flip have been a cheap-feeling construction, the oddly recessed trackball, how the flip jutts out the rear, and overall size, but after using the Pearl Flip from Telus (NYSE: TU) off and on almost since launch, I can say I’m not that disappointed with it. It wouldn’t replace my Bold in a million years, but the 8230 does have a few things going for it. Since the BlackBerry 8230 just came out on Alltel and we’re expecting it on Verizon (NYSE: VZ) soon, we thought it might be worth checking out.

BlackBerry Pearl Flip

By Research in Motion

8230 (CDMA with 3G)

• Telus, Bell – $49.99
• Virgin Mobile -Free
• Alltel – $99.99

8220 (GSM with Wi-Fi)

• Rogers $29.99
• T-Mobile – $49.99

Pros

• New, flush keyboard style works well
• Form factor appeals to a new crowd
• External LCD offers new functionality

Cons

• A tad on the bulky side
• Recessed trackball takes getting used to
• Video doesn’t take advantage of full screen

Specifications

Available Features

Camera (2.0 MP)

Media Player

Video Recording

BlackBerry® Maps

Wireless email

Organizer

Browser

Phone

Corporate Data Access

SMS/MMS

Size and Weight

Height: 3.98 inches (101 mm)

Width: 1.97 inches (50 mm)

Depth: 0.69 inches (17.5 mm)

Weight: 3.6 ounces (102 grams)

Display

Internal Display: High-resolution 240 x 320 color transmissive TFT LCD

External Display: High-resolution 128 x 160 color transmissive TFT LCD

Font size (user selectable)

Backlighting

Light sensing screen

Camera & Video Recording

Camera: 2.0 MP camera (JPEG encoding) with flash, digital zoom

Video Camera: Depending on the amount of built-in memory available for use, a third-party microSD card may need to be properly inserted into the BlackBerry smartphone to enable the video recording feature

Battery & Battery Life

BlackBerry® Pearl™ Flip 8220

• Standby time: 14 days (336 hours)
• Talk time: 4 hours
• 900 mAhr removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell

BlackBerry® Pearl™ Flip 8230

• Standby time: 9 days (216 hours)
• Talk time: 3.5 hours
• 900 mAhr removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell

BlackBerry Maps

Preloaded with BlackBerry Maps

Data Input & Navigation

Trackball

SureType® QWERTY keyboard

Keyboard backlighting

Voice Input & Output

3.5mm stereo headset capable

Integrated earpiece/ microphone

Built-in speakerphone

Bluetooth® v2.0; headset, hands-free and serial port profiles supported

M3, T4 Rating for hearing aids

Media Player

Video format support: MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.263, WMV

Audio format support: MP3, MIDI, AMR-NB, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, WMA

Ringtones & Notifications

Polyphonic/MIDI ringtones

MP3 ringtones

Vibrate mode

LED indicator

Bluetooth

Bluetooth v2.0; headset, hands-free and serial port profiles supported

Keyboard Security

Password protection and keyboard lock

Support for AES or Triple DES encryption when integrated with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server

FIPS 140-2 Compliant (FIPS Validation In Progress)

Optional support for S/MIME

Wireless Networks

BlackBerry Traffic: 800/1900 MHz CDMA 2000 1X Networks1

CDMA 2000 1 x EV-DO Support

Quad-Band: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz GSM/

GPRS and EDGE networks

North America: 850 MHz GSM/GPRS networks

North America: 1900MHz GSM®/GPRS networks

Europe/Asia Pacific: 1800MHz GSM/GPRS networks

Europe/Asia Pacific: 900MHz GSM/GPRS networks

EDGE networks

So those are the specs, but let’s get to the review proper…