Full Review and Specification for the Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220 Review

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip could not be described as a neat and tidy handset. When closed it is not particularly small or thin, and when open the handset stretches to 18mm in length.

What you get in return for size is a big keyboard (for a flip phone). The keys have the usual SureType design we are used to from the candybar format, with two QWERTY characters to a key.

There is also a miniature trackball button nestled in a recessed surround. The only other buttons are the call and end/power keys and the recognisable BlackBerry menu and back buttons. Again, these are large.

The inner screen is not quite as big as it could be but is as clear and sharp as we have come to expect from BlackBerry. There is a front screen too, of course. While only offering 128x160 pixels, it has some interesting and handy functions. When you are playing music the screen displays album art, and shows a little indicator that tells you how many unread emails you have.

Not as clever as some

You will be happy if you like the user interface design on the Storm and Bold, because the same one is used on the Pearl. To access all the applications and services on the device, the UI relies on bold, well-designed icons against a black background. A key service is mobile email and setting up POP accounts is very easy.

You can also use the Pearl Flip with all the various corporate systems RIM supports as a matter of course, namely BlackBerry Enterprise Server for Microsoft Exchange, BlackBerry Enterprise Server for IBM Lotus Domino and BlackBerry Enterprise Server for Novell GroupWise.

Wi-Fi is built-in, though it is a real shame that this phone is limited to quad-band GSM. 3G support would have helped it along in the web browsing stakes. That said, we did find the browser to be quite good at rendering pages.

Where is the GPS?

Nowhere. This BlackBerry lacks a GPS antenna, though various mapping applications can be downloaded. This means you cannot use it for sat nav purposes and you cannot geo-tag photos taken with the two-megapixel camera.

We think two megapixels is a bit mean, especially since five and even eight-megapixel camera phones are becoming more widespread. There is an LED flash and the camera also shoots video, though its maximum resolution is just 240x180 pixels.

Music fans will like the album art display and the 3.5mm headset jack, but will need a microSD card to boost the on-board memory if they want to carry music around.