Review BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100

The BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100 was announced back at WES just a short month ago, and is about ready for primetime. It builds upon RIM’s older Pearl family with an upgraded HVGA display, optical trackpad to replace the now-defunct trackball, a new 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, and is the first BlackBerry to host Wi-Fi 802.11n. When combined with BlackBerry OS 5.0, the Pearl 3G is effectively a miniaturized Bold 9700.














 Review  BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100

3G: Great for the web browsing experience. I would have never dreamed of browsing YouTube on any of the previous Pearl models.

Dimensions: 108 x 50 x 13.3 mm feels more stylish than previous Pearl models, especially how some of the edges are cut at an angle, and others are rounded and smooth. It is roughly the same dimensions as the 81XX series BlackBerry Pearl except and eight of an inch thinner; no quantum leap here.

Speaker: The mono speaker is loud and clear for speakerphone use but it makes music sound flat. This is not such an important feature for me because I rarely use the speakerphone for music playback.

Internal Memory: 256mb is great, even roomy for BBOS 5. We’re not sure if this device is capable of running OS 6, but it’s unlikely. A 2010 device should be able to run a 2010-released OS, unless RIM is cooking up some planned obsolescence strategy. Imagine being able to upgrade your Internal BlackBerry memory like how they did with the Nintendo64. That would be ideal.

External Memory: With the purchase of a big Micro SD card, you can hold up to 32GB of media (we also sell a 16G card).

WiFi (B/G/N): Speedy N-flavored WiFi makes the Pearl 3G RIM’s fastest WiFi device.

Bluetooth 2.1: The new Bluetooth spec will mean faster data transfers, provided you’re using other Bluetooth 2.1 devices with it.

Charging: The Pearl 3G came with the old charger. I can’t wait until they begin shipping the new tiny power cube featured at WES2010.

Processor (624 mhz processor): The processor is similar to the 9700 Bold series. It doesn’t feel particularly nimble but I have not experienced any processing bottlenecks.

GPS: Full GPS and assisted GPS make for snappy location results. The GPS is more in line with the 9700, and 9650 GPS chips. Getting your location took around 20 to 30 seconds with the Bold 9000, If feels like less than 10 seconds before Google maps has me pinpointed on the Pearl 3G.

Battery: On paper, it has hundreds of hours of standby time. In the real world, It lasts through the day under heavy usage with everything turned on. It can do two days with casual use, and three days if you’re the ultimate battery miser.

The Pearl 3G is as significant a jump in battery performance just as the 9700 was to the Bold 9000. I used to constantly adjust the WiFi, Bluetooth and screen brightness on the old Bold. With the Pearl 3G, I keep WiFi and Bluetooth on and I know the battery will last the full day.

BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100 Mobile Phone Key Features:

    Standard battery, Li-Ion 1150 mAh
    Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
    MP3/MP4 Player
    3.15 Megapixels Camera
    TFT, 256K colors Display
    GPRS, EDGE, 3G, WLAN, Bluetooth, USB

BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100 Mobile Phone Specification:

    Standard battery, Li-Ion 1150 mAh
    Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
    MP3/MP4 Player
    3.15 Megapixels Camera
    TFT, 256K colors Display
    GPRS, EDGE, 3G, WLAN, Bluetooth, USB
    Internal Memory: 256MB RAM
    Memory Card: microSD, up to 32GB, 2GB included
    SMS, MMS, Email, IM
    BlackBerry maps
    3.5 mm audio jack
    BlackBerry OS
    624 MHz processor
    Coming soon. Exp. release 2010, 3Q