The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 has been rated 4.0 out of 5 stars by users.
During the last couple of years I've tinkered around with my friends and colleagues Blackberry's/smartphones, but this is the first Blackberry that I purchased for myself. I recently began a new job that required push email access, but didn't want to shell out 400 bucks for a new phone. I picked this up on sale for 199 (no contract). It's not the fanciest smartphone, but serves its purpose well.
Pros:
1. OS is quick and responsive, better than the other phones i've used with 4.5
2. Suretype keypad works really well. Typing is almost as speedy as full qwerty.
3. It goes without saying, but push email is fantastic. Phone is feature rich, and opens up all the "business files" you need to see.
4. Call quality is excellent.
5. Compact size, looks like a cell phone and not some contraption.
Cons:
1. Wifi radio is very weak. It works well with "in home" routers, but it's not the best to try to catch wifi at work, on campus, or at various locations in town.
2. Battery life isn't the best. Internet and app usage drains it quick.
3. Screen is too small for heavy web browsing or full html web browsing.
In short, the phone performed as well as I expected. Push email and applications work like a charm, it's good for the moderate web browsing that I need, and has excellent call quality. It's not the 8900, the Bold, or the Tour, but with what it's equipped with, it works for me. It's a good phone.
I recently ugraded my Pearl 8100 to a NEW Pearl 8100. Silly I know, but I couldn't let go of that girly white. After my new Pearl was giving a huge problem, I took it back to the store, but because they're supposedly doing away with the 8100, the white was all sold out. So, I decided to finally let go and get the 8120. At first I was skeptical, especially because it's that ugly gray. But I got over it and now I'm in love!
PROS:
* improved SureType
* external media card slot
* video camera
* great camera
* improved media folder
* AMAZING sound!
* WiFi (still learning, but so far I like it)
* keys are very comfortable
* personalization is endless!
* comes with AIM sounds! (this makes me most happy!)
CONS:
* loose battery cover (not much of a big deal because I use a silicone case, but it is a bit annoying)
* reboots when dropped (I dropped it just once and this is what happened, so I'm not sure if it was a fluke)
* vibration is WEAK!
The cons are so little that they're almost not worth mentioning. Overall, I really love this phone! I would recommend it as a BlackBerry upgrade or a first time BlackBerry user. I definitely give it 5 stars!
I love this phone. Everything about it. I have no cons about this phone! I love the camera, the clear sound you get through the speaker, the net on it, the wifi and just everything about it!
I have had this phone for four days now and even though this is my first Blackberry and I have just scratched the surface on all that it does etc. I feel it is the finest phone I have ever had in the last 11 years.
Pro-
Great screen and graphics
Good Battery life
Superb volume in on calls in both handset and speaker phone.
Very good clarity on all calls
Great reception
Super e-mail and text message functions (easy to use)
Very nice tutorial Cd that comes with it.
Excellent Blackberry phone support at T-Mobile
Track ball seems to work flawlessly
Alarms are loud and clear
Voice recorder easy to use and play back is awesome
Superb camera (best I have every had on a cell phone)
Con- I have not found any yet but then I have
a lot of features I have not used ( I do not suspect I will find any cons there either)
I would heartily recommend this phone to everyone.
Basically a run down of the pros and cons if you are in the market for a smart phone.
Pros
-Keyboard
The keyboard on this phone is actually the best I have ever used. It feels natural and the sure type predictive text is great.
-Camera
2 mp w/ flash. Flash is a lot brighter than previous models. Nothing super special otherwise.
-External Micro SD slot
Makes putting music and pictures on phone very easy compared to last version.
-Wi-Fi
Although I do not make a lot of calls over Wi-Fi and do not have tmo's hotspot at home having it does make my surfing faster and give me 5 bars near a access point.
Interface and message service
Much of the same, which is very easy to navigate and use 3rd party applications. Email is great and threaded messages are a dream come true.
Cons
-Smaller screen
-No touch screen
-No 3G
i hate how it drops calls when you walk out of a wi-fi area. besides that, its a BEAST!!!!
Putting the perfect phone together seemed impossible, so it fell to deciding what features to give up when buying a phone. I always thought it would be Nokia, Moto, or Samsung that would come up with the total package.
I do alot of bike riding & love the stereo blue tooth. The Wi-Fi has been an unexpected surprise as well, & this was a feature I hadn't even been looking for. Setup was easy, the most difficult thing was finding the pop3 server info from my ISP mail server. The 5x zoom for the 2 MP camera & video is very good for a phone camera. I was also transferring some music files & some music videos went too, & played great!!! The size is slim, but doesn't feel cheap or flimsy. The titanium finish rounds it out with a classic, executive look to it.
If I had to give any con for this phone, it would be getting used to a qwerty layout on a modified 10-key pad for texting & e-mailing
First off, I'll give you an idea of the phones I've had so you can see where I'm coming from: Nokia 6300, Pearl, HTC S621, and countless clamshell phones I don't care to list. When I received the original Pearl, I loved it but it was missing a few key things to make it as close to perfect as you can get for a cell phone. Here are the pros and cons:
Pros:
Wi-Fi- about time!
Video capture- don't know why they didn't include it in the original....
MicroSD hot-swappable - much better.
Keypad - the buttons seem larger and not as flimsy as the first pearl.
2+ megapixel camera - I think its a significant improvement over the first. Flash is brighter as well.
Menu - for the most part its the same with the exception of a few tweaks here and there..
Cons:
Calls over Wi-Fi - I've only had the phone for a few days and I use it for calls about 90% of the time at work over Wi-Fi. I should give it more time before I consider this a con already, but it has dropped a few calls. Besides that, there is no other cons that I've found.
Overall: Fantastic phone! If your considering upgrading from the 8100 or even as your first blackberry, I highly recommend this model over all others. Any questions shoot me an e-mail.
Naturally, I had to immediately upgrade from my "old" Pearl 8100 to the 8120 when it came out (for at&t). Everything about it is just as great as the first Pearl, but with a few improvements. I like the hardware upgrades of the 3.5" jack and the easy access media card slot. Also, something that I haven't seen mentioned is the larger key size for the send, end, menu, and escape buttons which is a nice improvement. All of the keys on the 8120 seem sturdier and not nearly as squishy as those on the 8100 so I seem to be able to type even faster on these keys. The keys stay in place rather than that side to side movement. I set up the new WiFi available on the 8120 for my work and home which works seamlessly. RIM also improved the SureType operation. The 8100 gave word options for your keystrokes horizontally in a list, the 8120 provides a vertical list which is much more intuitive. The spell check is a great addition and the browser improvement is substantial, but it's no iPhone browser. As for cons, I do notice a slight hiss during calls (cnet noted this too), and the vibrate seems to be a little weaker. These cons are minor; almost not worth mentioning. I'm sold on BlackBerry!
this is by far the best phone i ever had. i made the mistake of switching to a wndws mbl 6 phone...well i got out of that mess fast. this phone is great all around and i apreciate the battery life now and the push emails like no other.
PROS
-small form factor, can text/email one hand
-rich in media functions
-2.0 camera (best compared to any other 2.0 and wit the flash can take perfect pics in any room or outdoors
-3.5 mm headphone jack
-outside micro sd slot wit door
-2 quick keys you can set to whatever you like
-streams video
-suretype system keyboard is amazingly accurate and learns the way you talk very well
CONS
-beats the hell out of me ;)
(once you get used to the board you love it)
