BlackBerry Pearl 8130 Cell Phone Review - Hardware
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Mark Brezinski Published on December 18, 2007 Comment on this |
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Keypad
Text Words Per Minute (8.48)
The Pearl was able to type out our sample paragraph in 22.64 seconds, which is about 42.4 words per minute. This is a bit slower than a full QWERTY, mainly because the learning curve is so steep. Also, there wasn’t much differentiation between buttons in the same row, which made us a bit hesitant while typing. Also, SureType keypads have a pretty big learning curve if you’re not used to them. We expect most users won’t like them much at first, but they’re not so bad when you get used to them.
Cell Phone
Words Per Minute
Score
BlackBerry Pearl 8130
42.4
8.48
Palm Centro
39.4
7.88
HTC Tilt
49.95
9.99
Sidekick LX
46.1
9.22
BlackBerry Curve 8320
49.8
9.96
Nokia N73
34.9
6.98
T9 and Auto-Complete (10.0)
The Pearl supports both T9 and auto-complete. The T9 is the only reason why SureType keyboards are a good alternative to QWERTY. Both the T9 and the auto-complete learn words as you type them. Just in case you aren’t sure how to do so, a tutorial is built into the Setup Wizard.
One Hand Usability (6.71)
With one hand, the Pearl chewed up our sample paragraph in 28.6 seconds, which is roughly 33.57 words per minute. This is quite a bit slower than typing with two hands. Interestingly, the difference the one- and two-handed scores isn’t nearly as vast as we see on QWERTY keyboards. Typically, QWERTY pads have a huge difference because one-handed typing is incredibly awkward, and the frantic thumb movement pitches the phone around in our hand, making the typing even harder. Traditional 12-key arrays have slower times, but one-handed typing is only slightly slower than with two hands. SureType keyboards seem to fall somewhere in between the two, lacking the speeds of a full QWERTY, but with the one-handed typing ease of a normal keypad.
Cell Phone
Words Per Minute
Score
BlackBerry Pearl 8130
33.57
6.71
Palm Centro
26.6
5.32
HTC Tilt
16.93
3.39
Sidekick LX
22.1
4.42
BlackBerry Curve 8320
26.5
5.30
Nokia N73
32.85
6.57
Keypad Backlighting (5.0)
The Pearl doesn’t have backlight settings independent from the display’s backlight. The only setting it picks up is the dim delay, because it has a fixed brightness. There is an automatic setting, which will let the built-in light sensor determine when the keypad comes on. The keypad backlight did allow us to make out all the keys’ symbols, but the lighting itself was incredibly patchy.
Controls
D-Pad/Joystick (9.0)
The Pearl has a trackball instead of the typical cell phone d-pad. We like the trackball design better than the typical key-based d-pad, because rolling is easier than repeated pressing. This makes it superior for scrolling through lists, as it’s essentially a 4-way jog dial. The only problem we found was the range of sensitivity options. Anything less than 70 is so slow we thought it was useless, but the jump from 90 to 100 was a bit drastic. Also, at higher sensitivities, clicking the trackball can sometimes cause you to inadvertently scroll as you do so. Overall, though, it’s the best input method besides a full touch screen, and even then it’s a matter of preference.
Jog Dial (1.0)
Although not a traditional jog dial, the Pearl’s trackball will allow users to scroll through lists very quickly. Its vertical and horizontal sensitivity can be set independently of each other, in case you want to ramp up vertical scrolling to power through long lists.
Soft Keys (0.0)
BlackBerry devices have historically avoided soft keys. Perhaps some future BlackBerry will bring these two disparate entities together.
Volume Control (3.0)
Flying in the face of typical cell phone behavior, the Pearl keeps its volume keys on near the top of the right side of the phone. The buttons look like a rocker since there’s no break in the middle, but you can hit both keys at once. Since volume is handled by the profiles, the volume keys do nothing. This is a bit annoying, as they literally perform no function unless music is playing. Most phones will let you at least shuffle through your profiles with the volume keys, but this isn’t the case with the Pearl.
Power and Standby (5.0)
Like most phones, the end key moonlights as a power switch. All you need is an extended press and the phone will power down after a warning dialogue. Standby is handled by the mute button on top of the phone. Again, you’ll need to hold the key down for a bit to get the warning pop-up, and eventual suspension of the phone. Neither key provides much tactile feedback, although they provide enough to let you know you’ve hit the key.
Other Buttons (4.0)
There are four additional buttons the Pearl is equipped with we haven’t yet discussed. Two are in the trackball array: the menu button and the back button. Though beginners might need some time to get used to it, the menu button is the crux of Pearl navigation. The same is true of the back button, and attempting to exit a program with the end key will often leave it running in the background. The left side of the phone has the voice command key, which only performs its namesake function. The last button is on the right side of the phone, and is a camera shortcut. We really wish this key jumped to the video camera as a secondary function, because there’s no way to switch to it from within the camera application; you have to open it from the main menu.
Display
The Pearl’s screen has a resolution of 240 x 260. This isn’t as detailed as the current standard, QVGA(320 x 240), which virtually all modern phones have. We understand the Pearl isn’t a multimedia handset, and its current resolution will suffice for most users, but it’s simply inferior to the majority of phones out there.
Cell Phone
Resolution
Score
BlackBerry Pearl 8130
240x260
6.50
Palm Centro
320 x 320
8.50
HTC Tilt
320 x 240
8.00
Sidekick LX
400 x 240
8.50
BlackBerry Curve 8320
320 x 240
8.00
Nokia N73
320 x 240
8.00
Primary Screen Pixels per Inch (8.23)
The Pearl fits 164.57 pixels into every inch. This is about average for higher-resolution handsets. Pixels per inch, or PPI, refers to how tightly packed the pixels are on the screen. Higher pixel density translates to sharper images and truer colors. The Pearl’s PPI means the average user shouldn’t have any problems with display quality.
Cell Phone
Pixels Per Inch
Score
BlackBerry Pearl 8130
164.57
8.23
Palm Centro
205.7
10.29
HTC Tilt
142.86
7.14
Sidekick LX
152.4
7.62
BlackBerry Curve 8320
164.6
8.23
Nokia N73
168.4
8.42
Screen Physical Size (6.08)
The Pearl's screen has a diagonal of2.15 inches, which is a decent display for a phone, but slightly lower than average for phones in its class. Typically, the higher class the phone is, the bigger the display. The iPhone has a monstrous display, stretching to 3.5 inches. Most mid-range phone displays run from 2-2.5 inches. Par for a phone like the Pearl would be somewhere between 2.2 and 2.4 inches.
Cell Phone
Size Diagonal (inches)
Score
BlackBerry Pearl 8130
2.15
5.38
Palm Centro
2.2
5.50
HTC Tilt
2.8
7.00
Sidekick LX
3
7.50
BlackBerry Curve 8320
2.43
6.08
Nokia N73
2.4
6.00
Screen Brightness (8.5)
The Pearl’s screen emits about 80 lux of light. This is a bit above average for screens of its size, but as evidenced by the below chart, larger screens are usually capable of more light output. There are ten brightness presets, and you can also set it to automatic, in which case the light sensor will determine the appropriate brightness level. There are also a few timing options, but unfortunately the Pearl follows the latest cell phone trend of not allowing the user to keep the backlight on indefinitely. This omission is one of our pet peeves; it’s as if the software developers think we’ll mishandle the raw power of an indefinite backlight and foolishly allow our batteries to bleed out. Many of our tests require the backlight to stay on for somewhat long stretches of time, so we understand we aren’t representative of the average user.
We arrived at our lux measurement by first setting the brightness settings to maximum (and automatic adjustment to off), then browsing to a blank white web page. We hold our light meter two inches away from the center of the screen, and take several measurements to get a reliable result.
Cell Phone
Brightness (lux)
Score
BlackBerry Pearl 8130
80
8.50
Palm Centro
54
6.90
HTC Tilt
153
10.06
Sidekick LX
106
14.05
BlackBerry Curve 8320
105
9.50
Nokia N73
95
6.00
Screen Bright Light Performance (8.0)
Here, we shine 3000 lux of light onto the phone’s screen, which approximates a sunny day, in order to see the resulting glare’s effect on screen readability. We were able to make out the screen in spite of the glare, and both text and icons were fairly easy to distinguish. The typical user shouldn’t have any issues with the Pearl on a bright, cloudless day.
Color Depth (6.0)
The Pearl is capable of displaying 65,000 colors, which is the bare minimum for modern phones. Again, as it isn’t a multimedia-focused device, the color shouldn’t matter too much. For comparison, Windows Media devices can only handle 65,000 colors. For additional comparison, some phones display 16 million colors
Cell Phone
Colors (thousands)
Score
BlackBerry Pearl 8130
65
6.0
Palm Centro
65
6.0
HTC Tilt
65
6.0
Sidekick LX
65
6.0
BlackBerry Curve 8320
65
6.0
Nokia N73
260
8.0
Ports & Storage
Following the BlackBerry trend, the Pearl has a Mini USB port for both charging and data transfer. The phone can also charge via a USB connection with your PC, which is an uncommon feature amongst smart phones. We definitely like phones with standard ports, as chances are you’ll have a cable or two lying around the house in case of gross negligence or theft. While the standard seems to be moving toward Micro USB ports, the transfer has only begun and most devices don’t support it yet.
Headphone & Jack Compatibility (8.0)
The Pearl has a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is precisely as awesome as it is rare. We honestly don’t know why so few phones come with this standard jack. You can also opt for Bluetooth headphones if you are technologically savvy enough.
Internal Storage (1.0)
The Pearl has 64 MB of internal memory. While this is enough for contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, and notes, as soon as you start adding multimedia you’ll run out quickly. In fact, you can’t even capture video unless you have a memory card inserted.
Expansion Slot & Format (5.0)
The Pearl supports Micro SD cards for up to 4GB of additional memory. We’d recommend buying one if you plan on taking pictures or putting songs on the device. Keep in mind that it won’t support SDHC cards, so those hopes of 8GB external memory are mere flights of fancy.
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