Review: BlackBerry Pearl 8110

TICKS THE BOX: BlackBerry's Pearl 8110 is a handsome smartphone.

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BlackBerry's Pearl 8110 ($899) is named for the pearl-coloured roller ball in the centre of the handset.

It's the main navigation button for this handsome smart phone, which I loved even though I can't afford it.

It features a bright 5.5cm screen, speakerphone, 1.3 megapixel camera with flash, voice-activated dialling and a movie and music player.

The main new thing GPS functions are reviewed in a separate story on this page.

The Pearl comes with just 64MB of memory, which is why the expandable memory-card slot will probably be useful.

The keyboard is Qwerty, which challenges one-thumb texters like myself. BlackBerry recommends laying the phone flat and typing with two fingers. Some will find the Pearl's keyboard too small.

As with all BlackBerrys, this device is beautifully designed and organised.

BlackBerry more or less invented the smart phone and until the iPhone came along, dominated the high-end phone niche for a reason its devices are top notch.

The company has marketed mostly to business people who have IT support and servers on which internet surfing resides.

This BlackBerry is a good product for tech-savvy consumers and middle managers. In other words, BlackBerry is taking on the iPhone.

I've played with an iPhone 3G for about 30 minutes, so can't compare them. But the pricing plans compare well.

Vodafone's starter plan offers 200MB of data for $29.95 for 24 months, plus voice service for about $40 a month for 60 minutes, and 20c a text.

Heavy users can get 3GB a month for $69.95 and a further 3GB for $10, plus the usual voice and text charges. These users will need their own server.

In sum, the Pearl is a fine device that's let down by small memory and an average GPS functions. Never mind, I want one.

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