RIM Blackberry Pearl 3G review

The BlackBerry Pearl 3G is an updated version of RIM's smallest handset and adds support for dual-band UMTS. There are plenty of new features under the hood as well; it now supports 802.11n wireless for faster WiFi connections, Bluetooth 2.1 with stereo audio, and it can be tethered via USB to your PC to let you use your phone as a modem.

As with other new models in the Blackberry line, the new Pearl has an optical trackpad instead of a trackball, and a 3.5mm headphone socket has been added. While the previous model of the Pearl included a GPS chip, the Pearl 3G also comes with Blackberry Maps pre-installed. While this gives clear directions, it isn't as easy to read as Google Maps, which is also installed.

The 2.3in display packs in a relatively high resolution of 360x400, so images and text look sharp and colours are bright. Web browsing is surprisingly good, despite the cramped screen: when a page first loads, the cursor changes to a zoom tool until you've zoomed in to a readable distance, and then it changes to a normal cursor for navigating around the page and clicking links.

BlackBerry's strength lies in email, however, and the Pearl 3G's numeric keypad puts it at a disadvantage compared to touchscreens with virtual QWERTY keyboards. You can turn on SureType word prediction, which works well and speeds up text input dramatically. The Pearl 3G's Messages application shows messages from Facebook and Twitter as well as Blackberry and other email accounts. In our light usage test, the Pearl 3G lasted over 36 hours, and if you use WiFi and 3G data services carefully you should be able to go a couple of days without charging.

Although the Pearl 3G already has a decent collection of messaging and office apps, BlackBerry's App World doesn't offer as good a selection as Android's Market or Apple's App Store. Still, if email's a big part of your life, especially if your company has a Blackberry server, the Pearl 3G might be the budget smartphone you're looking for. If your budget is larger however, the Bold 9700 is a better choice.