Verdict
What really got to me by the end of my time with the BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100 is that it really does provide the fullest BlackBerry experience possible with little to no compromises made for the sake of size. The reduced screen size, though a necessary evil, is counterbalanced by the convenience and portability of a slimmer handset. The SureType keyboard takes training, and will not feel like it’s worth it for the first few weeks, but in time you can type just as fast on it as with a standard QWERTY keyboard. I didn’t quite get back to my prime speeds again, and still stumbled on irregular words and typos, but I only had less than a week to play with it.
So, who should pick up the BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100? People who have to juggle a lot of balls, but don’t want to immediately be recognized as an office monkey chained to their BlackBerry. The Pearl form factor always did an excellent job of camouflaging as a “normal” phone – the 9105 and its numeric keypad is a clear nod to that status. Personally, I don’t mind having a big fat phone, but for those that do, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G will treat you well. The screen is excellent, the software extremely practical, and the casing incredibly stylish, however, it’s not much more than a smaller version of the Bold 9700.
