BlackBerry Pearl-8120 Titanium Review - Conclusion

Conclusion

RIM did a lot to bring the smartphone to a mass market with the introduction of the BlackBerry Pearl a few years ago.  Combining their legendary Email support with trackball navigation, a media player and camera, and a compact form factor made the Pearl an instant success and spawned its big brother, the Curve, for those who needed a bigger keyboard along with all those consumer-friendly goodies.

This latest wave of Pearls improves upon the originals in small but meaningful ways, and T-Mobile’s 8120 might be the most appealing of the bunch to mainstream consumers.  Beyond the improved keyboard, camera, and headphone jack, T-Mob added WiFi support for data services and HotSpot@Home calling, and made the Pearl perhaps the best H@H handset in their current lineup.  T-Mob’s Pearl gives you all of the features you want in your BlackBerry along with the carrier’s unique money-saving features: HotSpot and myFaves.  The only thing this Pearl lacks is 3G support - but it does have WiFi.

So if you’re looking for your first smartphone, or already own a Pearl but thinking of upgrading, T-Mobile’s 8120 is worth taking for a spin.  Personally I’d opt for the Curve instead because my hands are just too big to comfortably use the 8120 for any length of time.  But if you like the size, feel good on the keyboard, and can get past RIM’s somewhat outdated menus, fonts, and Web browser, the Pearl 8120 packs a lot of functionality and value into an incredibly small, pocketable device.  It’s well worth a look.

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