The Pearl 8220 Flip is Blackberry's first smartphone to to sport a thin clamshell form factor. Key features include a 2.0 megapixel camera, SureType keypad, stereo Bluetooth, Wifi with support for UMA calling, puch email support, adjustable text size, music player, microSD(up to 16GB) and a large 240 x 320 internal display.
What’s Good: surprisingly music-friendly; external play/pause button; stereo bluetooth, standard headphone jack; UMA capable; unique form factor; slick new BB interface; more compact than other BlackBerries; still has the BB office apps that keep executives aboard, but feels like a fun phone.
What’s Not Good: no GPS; weak web browsing; some lag here and there.
Bottom Line: If you're looking for a strong messaging device that works with a variety of communications platforms, the Flip will not disappoint. It makes calls over Wi-fi, and provides excellent call quality in adverse environments. Pretty much any kind of text communications platform currently available is accessible on the Flip. However, without 3G and a full-blown browser, don't expect to be surfing the night away.
Specs:
Make/Model: Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220
Network: GSM 850/1900 (There are European/Asian versions)
Data: EDGE, Wi-Fi
Carrier: T-Mobile
Size: 3.98” x 1.97” x 0.69”
Weight: 3.6 oz
Form Factor: Clamshell flip with external display
Display: Internal is 240 x 320 TFT, external is 128 x 160 TFT (262k colors)
Memory: 128 flash; The hot-swappable microUSB comes w/ 256 MB, and accepts 16GB
Notable Features: smooth external display with email/message previews; myFaves; voice notes; voice dialing; push email; stereo bluetooth; 2 MP cam with LED flash and 5X digital zoom, which can be controlled with the trackball. It also captures video.
Introduction
I am not a BlackBerry user. I mean, I've touched them and played around a bit, but I'm certainly not part of the crowd that experiences withdrawal symptoms after a day or two without BlackBerry interaction. Though I can assure you, such a crowd exists. Crackberry numbers are strong. There must be good reason for such loyalty and even addiction.
Perhaps my lack of BB experience is appropriate for this review, because the Flip might be the one that can do just that; upturn the notions of people who thought they knew what a BlackBerry was all about. The name obviously refers to the phone's form factor first, but the physical changes seen in this release may represent a shift in the BB's overall appeal in the cell market. The Flip goes after the young messaging demographic while retaining enough familiar features to keep the exec loyalists around.
Design & Features
Before we dive in, I want to point out that Noah has covered this phone extensively in video. I'll avoid overlapping his info in this review, outside of the quick reference to the specs above. So have a gander at: Noah's early first impressions and hands-on at CTIA; his un-boxing and first-look vid; and his full review, parts one and two.
One thing I love about this phone that I don't think Noah mentioned (he probably did and I missed it) is that the external mute button serves as the play/pause control when you are not in a call and have the music player running. It doesn't matter if it's in the background, or if you stopped playback 3 hours ago. Even when the phone is closed. One tap on, one tap off. Easy. Sensible.
This is the kind of music control I look for. I complained about the lack of this feature in Samsung's Rant and especially Highnote, and RIM hath filled the hole in mine heart. (Don't you love it when phone reviewers go all Middle English on you?) Not to mention that the loudspeakers rival those of the Highnote! The BB isn't quite as crisp, clear or loud, but it's close, and works very well as an open-air music player. BB beats a music phone at its own game? Perhaps. The hardware control is that important to me.
O.K., so I'll go over the design and features as usual, but briefly. For starters, it's a flip phone. It's sleek, refined, and the size doesn't bother me as much as it does Noah. Then again, I'm used to lugging around large phones. Red and Black flavors are available.
When closed, the face shows a clock, email/message count, battery life, alarm status, Wi-Fi/UMA connectivity, voice mail status, and a few other notifications. You can also preview email and text massages here. Above the external screen sits a camera lens, with an LED flash, and a red LED status light.
The right side of the phone has a volume rocker and shutter button, as well as the microSD slot. The left side features a mute/media control button, the voice command button, the microUSB jack and headphone jack. The lanyard clip point is at the top. There's nothing on the back but a battery cover.
Once opened, the top-half reveals the screen, and the bottom, all of the internal keys. You've got a click-able back-lit track ball, surrounded by send, end, back, and BlackBerry buttons. Below them is the twenty-key SureType layout familiar to BB users.
Usability & Performance
I recently purchased T-Mobile's @Home service. You can check out my first impressions here. The box used to facilitate VoIP also happens to be a wireless router. So, not only is my laptop connected wirelessly to the Internet, but I have a land-line phone and T-Mobile Hot-Spot access.
The BlackBerry Flip is UMA-capable, which means it can make calls over Wi-Fi. If I'm walking home while talking to someone on the BB via GSM, and I open my front door, the BB will automatically connect to my T-Mo router and the call will be converted from cellular to W-Fi. My monthly minutes are not being used from this point on. This would work with T-Mobile Hot-Spots in public areas as well.
I only tested this once, but the transition was impossible to detect, outside of the changing of icons in the connectivity status area on the face of the phone. This is the first time I've used a UMA-capable device, and it's pretty neat. Lots of cool communications stuff in the air right now. All connectivity-related setup was a breeze. I use WPA2 Wi-Fi security, but this phone handles every type I know of.
As I said, I am not a BB user, and the whole Crackberry thing is totally alien and bizarre to me. But BB really is changing. The boring old interface that I found totally unappealing has been revamped, making the line much more user-friendly... and pretty.
I can see students swapping vulgar jokes with this model, whereas BB used to be, in my mind, for, suits and elite tech industry folk. Wow, somehow “folk” totally doesn't seem to fit with the three words before it. Rather than edit it, I'll just point out how strange it sounds. Actually, people in that crowd probably like much geekier phones, but that's how I used to see BlackBerry.
The camera is really fun to use. The trackball can be used for zooming, which is entertaining. Really, it sounds stupid, but I enjoyed zooming in and out, looking for the best framing. The LED flash doesn't take too much juice, apparently. I had no problems taking 17 pictures and making an average day's worth of calls (about an hour). Nightly charging would be fine for me. Liberal media playback will obviously limit battery life. I meant liberal playback of media. Conservative material takes just as much power to play.
This isn't quite a smart phone. Five minutes with the web browser, or a spin with one of the included games makes that much clear. It still does the mobile office stuff that biz users need, but it's not what I'd call a smart phone. It's more like a high-end messaging device. The phone is very strong on this front. Email, SMS, IM, MMS; the BB Pearl Flip rocks socks in these departments.
As for the typing, I prefer multi-tap. Many BB users have grown to love SureType, but it just feels strange; the need to accept or change a selection at the end of each word. It interrupts my train of thought. In Noah's review, he mentioned that a dedicated period button would be nice, “but maybe it's just me.” No, it's not just Noah. With all of the space available on the bottom half of the Flip, a whole row of useful dedicated buttons could be added. That said, the large buttons make for easy typing.
The browsing isn't that interesting to me. The only times I browse the web on a phone are: when I'm waiting someplace without a computer and happen to have a killer phone browser on hand (like the G1's); or, there's some serious web emergency - like I'm stranded in a canyon and urgently need to find the nearest book store - in which case, I'll take whatever I can get.
I've had the BB for about a week-and-a-half, and I only used the browser once – for a test. It's a mobile browser, and you'll get the mobile versions of your sites. They don't display until everything has loaded, and it's just not a fluid or inviting experience.
Conclusion
The BlackBerry Pearl Flip is the first BB I really had a desire to play with. It's much more friendly to mainstream markets than previous Berries, and I think the new form factor will garner some new adherents.
The 8220 is a messaging device with very strong music capabilities and organizational functions. It's got all of the BB features that people love, so I don't think a person upgrading from another BB to this one will be disappointed.
The lag experienced during web browsing and video control was a but irritating to me. When I find a function that makes any device hang or lag, I avoid that function. Then again, videos and web are about the last thing I expect to do on a messaging device, so it's not like I'm disappointed with the 8220. Think of the smart functions as a bonus.
Part 2 of Noah's 2-part review of the BlackBerry 8220. The first-ever BlackBerry flip phone hides the buttons away for a sleek look, but does it have the juice to keep Crackberry addicts happy?
Part 1 of Noah's 2-part review of the BlackBerry 8220. The first-ever BlackBerry flip phone hides the buttons away for a sleek look, but does it have the juice to keep Crackberry addicts happy?
If only my BlackBerry would flip shut! Hey, it does! Noah unboxes the new BB Pearl Flip 8220 for T-Mobile and gives us a (long) quick tour around the phone.
Last week, I posted about the launch of MySpace for BlackBerry, which joined BlackBerry's social networking crew of Facebook and Flickr. Now MySpace and Blackberry maker Research In Motion announce that their joint venture has broken opening-week records for app downloads at both companies, with more than 400,000 downloads and counting. Users of the MySpace app have already transmitted more than 15
million messages and performed over two...
What’s Good: surprisingly music-friendly; external play/pause button; stereo bluetooth, standard headphone jack; UMA capable; unique form factor; slick new BB interface; more compact than other BlackBerries; still has the BB office apps that keep executives aboard, but feels like a fun phone.
What’s Not Good: no GPS; weak web browsing; some lag here and there.
Bottom Line: If you're looking for a strong messaging device that works with a...
There are a lot of new phones out there; on the shelves or ready to drop. And I've got three in hand. Sprint's latest offerings from Samsung--the Highnote and Rant--are at the top of my review list. It's clear from the name, controls, and large external speaker that the Highnote is all about music. Its design incorporates a unique take on the conventions of slider phones.
The Rant is a messaging monster with a keyboard that's easy to...
Noah gets his hands on two new flip phones with some power under the hood: The BlackBerry Flip 8220 for T-Mobile and the LG Lotus for Sprint. Will your next smartphone be a flip? Also, more on the Android "G2" rumor, and news on tons of new cell phones.
Carrier: T-MobileRetail Price: $379.99 or via ebayContract Price: $149.99 or via Let's TalkHot Feature: RIM's 1st Flip Backberry
The Pearl 8220 Flip is Blackberry's first smartphone to to sport a thin clamshell form factor. Key features include a 2.0 megapixel camera, SureType keypad, stereo Bluetooth, Wifi with support for UMA calling, puch email support, music player, microSD(up to 16GB) and a large 240 x 320 internal display....
The first ever flip BlackBerry is a winner, so long as you play to its strengths. While the 8220 is very large for a modern day flip phone, it's lightweight and slick looking enough to trick you into thinking it's a little smaller than it really is. I've had the 8220 for just under a week now, and I very quickly grew used to carrying it around in my pocket. No, it's not as thin as a RAZR or as small as a low-end sliderphone,...
By: Egan Fo on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 From: Seattle, WA (United States) Experience: 4 Days
Pros: Much easier to type vs. the previous Pearl models and light years faster than a touch screen. The web navigation is improved as well vs. the other Pearl models. Not likely you'll accidentally call anyone or answer unsolicited calls. I'm overall very happy in my first week of usage.Cons: I wish I could delete incoming emails without opening the phone. I had some issues getting the Enterprise Activation working properly, but I think that was more of an issue with my company's IT staff. Summary: I previously had an 8100 and I had fond feelings for the little phone. I was hesitant about the switch, but have to say I'm really liking it. The improved software makes instant messaging simple.
By: Monica LeBeau on Monday, January 28, 2008 From: New Orleans, LA (United States) Experience: 1 Months
Pros: sleek design, fast contact entry,clear ear piece and spaekerphone.Cons: long set-up,a troubling ringtone downloading process and the manual doesn't include much help at allSummary: The pearl is equipped w/many great applications that makes communication pleasant and fun. I am enjoying the phone daily while learning how to operate it!!!
By: Jennifier Weber on Thursday, January 24, 2008 From: Wyoming , MI (United States) Experience: 3 Weeks
Pros: Beautiful display, perfect size, good camera quality love the built in flash, Cons: Confusing and long set up, cant send pics or DL ringtones unless you buy the package, or DL the ringtones from your cell company site, Summary: Over all i love this phone. it works great. wonderful clarity. LOVE IT!!!
By: Renee H on Saturday, April 07, 2007 From: Las Vegas, NV (United States) Experience: 1 Weeks
Pros: Great screen, easy to use keys, clear sound, plenty of options to customize it, profile exception option, comfortable to talk on, great camera and so many other features available. It looks great too! Cons: You have to purchase the blackberry data package to use basic phone functions like downloading ringtones or sending picture text messages which can run about $40 per month. Also, there are so many options that it gets confusing.Summary: I love this phone! I love how it feels in my hand, I love how it feels when I talk on it. I love the screen clarity. I love the graphics! It's gorgeous. The mouse and key size make it really easy to type on and navigate through the menu.
There are so many options available that it may seem confusing at first, but Cingular offers online manuals that are very easy to understand. I knew the phone inside and out after only three days of reading about it and playing with it. I actually switched to Verizon for a week and went back to Cingular simply so I could have this phone back as Verizon does not offer it.
The best feature this phone offers is the Profile Exception feature which allows you to turn the ringer off, but make exceptions for important callers such as work, family, or whomever you need to receive a call from.
It is recommended that you only use this phone if you plan on using internet and email features, however, if you're like me, you can still use it as a straight forward phone. You can put your own music on it and use that as ringtones since you can only download ringtones with the data package on your plan.
By: Peter Carey on Thursday, September 21, 2006 From: Jacksonville, FL (United States) Experience: 10 Days
Pros: Audio quality is crisp and clear sounding when using the earpiece of speakerphone. Receiving e-mails, (push style with T-Mobile) is a breeze. the screen clarity is excellent and the camera works better than any other phone I have ever used. EDGE, the slim frame, memory card slot, etc.... Cons: Seems like the face is going to get scratched up easily. With so much available on the phone the set up process was strenuous. Summary: I haven't been using the new Pearl for very long, but once I got it set up to my liking, it is turning out to be by far my favorite!
AndreyI'm on the lookout for a similar device as you - a good smartphone that can work on TMobileA few options you could consider:TMobile G1First-Gen iPhone Unlocked Nokia E71 UnlockedBlackberry CurveBlackberry FlipHTC Touch Diamond or Touch Pro or Touch HD UnlockedAnd a few coming soon you might want to wait for:BlackBerry Javelin (aka Curve II)Nokia E63 UnlockedSony Xperia X1 UnlockedNote that the unlocked phones should work just fine via GSM,...
LG Rhythm UX585 BlackCarrier: U.S. Cellular Retail Price:$279.95 Contract Price:$79.95 Hot Feature: Slider+ 1" touch screen
Motorola Hint QA30Carrier: Alltel Retail Price:$299.99 Contract Price:$99.99 Hot Feature: Slider with full QWERTY
HTC Touch Pro CDMACarrier: Verizon Retail Price:$539.99 or via ebay Contract Price:$349.99 or via Let's Talk Hot Feature: Touchscreen+ Full QWERTY
Samsung Omnia i910Carrier: Verizon Retail Price:$ TBD Contract Price:$249.99 or via Let's Talk Hot Feature: Full Touchscreen + 5MP Cam
BlackBerry StormCarrier: Verizon Retail Price:$519.99 or via ebay Contract Price:$199.99 or via Let's Talk Hot Feature: "SurePress" Touchscreen
Samsung Renown SCH u810Carrier: Verizon Retail Price:$349.99 or via ebay Contract Price:$179.99 or via Let's Talk Hot Feature: 2.0 MP camera
LG InciteCarrier: AT&T Retail Price: $499.99 or via ebay Contract Price:$299.99 or via Let's Talk Hot Feature: LG's 1st US Smartphone
Samsung Gravity T459 LimeCarrier: Tmobile Retail Price: TBD or via ebay Contract Price: 49.99 or via Let's Talk Hot Feature: Full QWERTY
Samsung Eternity a867Carrier: AT&T Retail Price:$369.99 or via ebay Contract Price:$149.99 or via Let's Talk Hot Feature: Full Touch Screen + Mobile TV
Samsung Saga SCH i770Carrier: Verizon Retail Price:$389.99 or via ebay Contract Price:$199.99 or via Let's Talk Hot Feature: Touch Screen + QWERTY
This isn't so outlandish of an idea, but I'll believe it when I see it.The hot Rumor du Jour has a 4GB Apple iPhone headed to uber-discount store Wal-Mart at the low, low cost of $99 with a two-year contract. 99 bones is less than you'll wind up forking over to AT&T for that first month's bill once you figure in the iPhone data plan and activation fee, never mind all of those mysterious taxes that show up cell phone bills.Boy Genius...
Thanks to the folks at Nokia, I've got a re-loan of the E71 smartphone, one of my favorite releases of 2008. A Symbian S60 device, the E71 has an Email client as part of its pre-loaded Messaging application, and while it can't handle HTML mail and isn't the prettiest thing to look at, it basically works just fine.However, Nokia just announced the live Beta of their new Nokia Email service for select devices - including the E71. So I...
Last Sunday's NYTimes featured an article about a group of MIT students who've traded their privacy for free smartphones. Researchers are tracking the every move of 100 or so students as part of a study on "collective intelligence," or what the article describes as:a vast sea of digital information being recorded by an ever thicker web of sensors, from phones to GPS units to the tags in office ID badges, that capture our movements and...
I've searched far and wide over the last two years, but found no bluetooth device that can stand up to ThinkGeek's revolutionary design from '06. In the shadow of its sinewy curves and the glare of its glistening semi-reflective surface, all competitors appear painfully unimaginative and inadequate. Can this subtle beauty ever be matched... or dare I say, toppled? Undeniably, a classic. I'm also a fan of their BluAlert Bluetooth Bracelet. I...
GadgetDog Daily - 12/4/08 Today Noah started off talking about a possible $99 4GB iPhone at WalMart then moved onto cars...?? You will just have to watch! Enjoy.
Are Apple and Walmart working on a $99 4GB iPhone?
ASUS Eee Box Nettop computer gains discrete graphics card with HDMI-out for HD video
Tango burns Tesla in electric car drag race
Poll question: Would you give up your privacy for a free phone?
It's that time of year ... No, not Christmas, Hanukkah, or Winter Solstice time ... It's year-end awards time! The PhoneDog Editors will be selecting our personal Phone of the Year favorites over the coming weeks, but we're more interested in what you have to say.
We turn our attention to the former Ma Bell, AT&T. Which AT&T phone reigned supreme in 2008? The "affordable" iPhone, iPhone 3G? The first...
If you're like me, a wine enthusiast without a lot of expertise, selecting a bottle can be downright stressful. More than once, I've wandered around and around in a shop, under the gaze of a not-too-helpful sales person who keeps pushing expensive items. I usually wind up choosing based on a cool label or staring at a dinner table wine menu like a deer caught in headlights (that is, until I close my eyes and pick something at random). For mere...
It's that time of year ... No, not Christmas, Hanukkah, or Winter Solstice time ... It's year-end awards time! The PhoneDog Editors will be selecting our personal Phone of the Year favorites over the coming weeks, but we're more interested in what you have to say. So let's kick off the voting with the Verizon Wireless Phone of the Year for 2008.
BlackBerry Storm got a lot of recent hype, but there are other worthy contenders for...
Hands-on LG's first smartphone for the US market in a long time ... ever, even. The AT&T Incite runs WinMo 6.1, has a 3" touchscreen, and rocks Video Share and a 3.5mm audio jack. But what's up with the stylus with no stylus slot to call home?
GadgetDog Daily - 12/3/08 Noah talked about the upcoming launch of Windows 7 Beta 1 happening 1/13/09. Read more about it over at Gizmodo from here. Also discussed during this episode was Apple's Top 10 iPhone app downloads of 2008, Noah's getting Tivo, and the guitar comes out during Noah's Bark! Be sure to tune in for tonight's episode of PhoneDog TV where Noah will announce which new device he is using...
No where to put your stylus! Noah reviewed two Windows Mobile touchscreen devices, the LG Incite with AT&T and Samsung Omnia with Verizon during our 4th episode of PhoneDog TV. Noah also covered the best and worst of 2008 as reported on the cellular industry in Consumer Reports, news from Nokia World 2008, why he is using the Nokia E71...for now, and everyone's favorite part; live chat!
Carrier: U.S. CellularRetail Price:$279.95 or via ebayContract Price:$79.95 or via Let's TalkHot Feature: Slider+ 1" touch screen
The LG Rhythm is a solid music phone that sports a familiar slider form factor combined with a cool touchscreen. Key features include a 1.3 megapixel camera with flash, MP3 player, FM transmitter, stereo Bluetooth, expandable memory card (microSD up to 8GB) and a 1" circular...
Technology: GSMLikely Carrier: UnknownExpected: Spring 2009
The Nokia N97 is their first N-series device with a full slideout QWERTY keyboard coming to the U.S. N97 is expected to come fully loaded including a 5MP camera, WiFi, GPS, support for Flash Lite 3.0 & Flash Video, plus running on S60 5th edition OS. Stay tuned to the site as we will update full specifications as they become available.
Hey Everyone,
Each day Noah and the Phonedog Team try and deliver informative and interesting content to our fans, but even after all this time, we still don't really know who you are? We've put together a short survey that will help us to create an even better PhoneDog. Please take less than two (2) minutes to complete our survey.
Take the survey here
Thank you
Tom, Noah, and The Phonedog Team
Latest phone images
One-Pawed Bandit Coming soon...
The Phonedog Days of Summer giveaway is coming to a close, but stay tuned for our new "Phonedog One-Paw Bandit Instant Winner Game", coming soon! We'll be giving away an iPhone in the very first week!
4.0 
4.5 out of 5
The Phonedog Days of Summer giveaway is coming to a close, but stay tuned for our new "Phonedog One-Paw Bandit Instant Winner Game", coming soon! We'll be giving away an iPhone in the very first week!
