BlackBerry Pearl 8130 Cell Phone Review - Conclusion

Who's It For

Business User
Business users are, of course, BlackBerry’s prime audience. The Pearl’s SureType keyboard is  a bit of a dexterity test, but should be a thinner, more attractive alternative to other BlackBerry devices. Just about the only area the Pearl 8130 doesn’t meet business user expectations is its lack of wi-fi.

Budget Callers
Budget callers tend to buy free phones, or phones that are cheaper than free. The Pearl’s $200 price tag doesn’t fall within this range. There are cheaper, refurbished phones out there. The original Pearl is running $50 for a refurbished copy, though it’ll be hard for a budget caller to opt for a Pearl when refurbished copies of the Curve 8300 can be found for -$14.

Chatty Teenager
Though it’s a cute little business device, a typical teen wouldn’t use half of the functionality of the Pearl. They’d be better off with a cheaper handset or something with better music software.

Media Maven
Media mavens won’t even consider BlackBerry devices. Though the Pearl can capture both video and stills, it still isn’t a good media handset. There are simply too many media handsets out there to consider any currently BlackBerry a viable option.

Conclusion
We tend to like the BlackBerry phones we review. Their straightforward interfaces make them very easy to pick up and use, they have solid software, and legendary messaging capabilities. The trackball makes navigation incredibly simple, and they usually have great keyboards for typing. For these reasons, we tend to recommend them as a user’s first smart phone. There are other, more functional smart phones out there, but they’re much harder for new users to pick up.

One of the improvements the Pearl makes is the ability to capture video, which has long since been absent from the line. This is a small victory, however, as multimedia capabilities tend to be inferior to the other two major smart phone platforms, Windows Mobile and Series 60 Symbian.

Of course, messaging is still the strongest point of the BlackBerry franchise, which has all sorts of great features available, from a universal inbox to push email. The organizer also provides solid functionality, though it’s not as comprehensive as a Series 60 handset.

Overall, our one problem with this version of the Pearl is its redundancy. There really isn’t much to separate the Pearl 8130 from the original 8100. The browser is better, the camera is bumped up to 2-Megapixels, and it can capture video. If this increased functionality makes up the $100 difference between the two devices, then by all means invest in the 8130. Again, this doesn’t mean the 8130 isn’t worth its price; you just need to ask yourself if the minor upgrades are worth the price.

Previous    Next
Shop for a wireless plan Shop Carrier Type Minutes $/Min Cost Shop   Close Prepaid 0 0.1000 0.00