BlackBerry flips into the market with BlackBerry Pearl Flip

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 21 October 2008 12:43

Opinion and Analysis

BlackBerry have paid special attention to the speakerphone, ensuring it is loud, while Bluetooth 2.0 for use with hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals such as a GPS receiver is also standard, although there is no GPS receiver built-in as with the Bold.

When it comes to battery life, the removable/rechargeable 900 mAhr battery provides four hours of talk time and over 14 days of standby time.

The keyboard is the very useable “SureType” model with two letters per key, DataViz Documents to Go software is preloaded letting you edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset.

You also get BlackBerry’s media player, and while it’s not as smooth as the iPhone’s, it certainly does the job for audio and video.

A 3.5mm headphone socket is included – thank goodness – and the new “slim” USB connector is in place for charging and wired data transfer.

If you’re a BlackBerry fan, and have always wanted a flip phone version (even in preference to something like the Bold) then BlackBerry’s Flip Pearl will appeal.

That said, if you’ve already got the Bold or you’re hanging out for the iPhone-esque BlackBerry Storm, you’ll have no reason to give the Pearl Flip a whirl.

But flip phones certainly do appeal to a large segment of the market, and they’re very popular with consumers, so all of this should ensure the BlackBerry Pearl Flip... is no flop.