The first model of Pearl 8100 was released, way back in the year 2006, and unlike the company’s who release smartphones with slight tweaks every year, Research In Motion has waited before unleashing the Pearl 9105 3G. Though we just loved the design and build of the Pearl 8100 model, the lack of 3G and WiFi simply seemed to be unforgivable. RIM has not only rectified the connectivity issues, but it has also added some new features in order to make this pearl much more enticing, now offering the connectivity of a business phone in a compact and consumer friendly body.
If we were playing the game of word association, it would not be rocket science to determine that the word Blackberry will be closely followed by the words QWERTY and business. It has been like that since RIM had entered the market, rarely erring from the QWERTY keyboard, the functional design mode; except for the Storm range, that has not really changed the game. This is the stereotype that RIM has finally broken with the latest consumer friendly Pearl 3G 9105. To be crisp, it is a lean, mean email machine of Blackberry family.
The Blackberry Pearl 3G 9105 is really ‘models of this era’ like slim. For the sake of comparison, let us say that the Blackberry Bold 9000 will easily swallow it up whole and still have a lot of room for an old fashioned stodgy dessert. Or, if you want the specifics, that will be (H x W x D) 108 x 50 x 13.3 mm and weighs just 93 grams, so this is the rare Blackberry that will slip into any pocket or bag with ease. This model is not short of style or clever design touches either. The device sits comfortably in hands, thanks to its slightly curved profile.
Tiny miny display: The Pearl 3G 9105 has a rather small 2.2" display of resolution 360 x 400 pixels. As you can see, it is not the greatest in terms of space, especially in this era of mammoth touchscreens, but it is not necessarily a hindrance. It all depends on how you are using the phone; you will see more on this point as we go.
Track Pad: The trackpad has a flat surface and responds to your touch like a trackpad on a laptop. Its insane sensitivity makes up for its tiny size. It also makes the phone easier to pop into a pocket, since it does not stick out from the body and get gunged up with dirt and crud.
Ports and Connectivity: The 3G 9105 smartphone has a flush keyboard just below the on/off buttons, menu controls and optical trackpad. There are the shortcut buttons on the side as raised lumps for quick access to the voice controls and camera functions. Also housed on the side is the mini USB slot and headphone connector, while the top hosts direct controls for the media player, blending into the design so much that you just might miss them if you were not forewarned. On the downside, there is no quick access to the microSD card slot; that involves flipping the back off and squeezing it in above the battery. With the flimsy construction of the rear, it is just something that you will not want to be doing often, or in hurry. You will find the camera of this Blackberry at the side of the Pearl logo on the rear.
The BlackBerry user interface is starting to look rather dated. It also takes some getting used to if you have never used a BlackBerry before, because it is packed with thousands of options. But, once you have had some practice, it is easy to navigate around, especially with the very responsive optical trackpad that has replaced the traditional BlackBerry trackball. With the Blackberry OS 5.0 employed, the interface of the Pearl 3G is pretty much everything that you can expect from a Blackberry of you have used one before, with just a bit more of added speed. If you were not a Blackberry consumer, let us explain.
Menu System: The Pearl 3G 9105 Phone from RIM has an icon driven menu system that can be accessed using the optional trackpad. You will be able to quickly flick through the icons on the screen, and select the one that you are looking for. This is a method that has stood the test of time, and with the new trackpad, it is much improved from the temperamental ball. Around 20 icons will fit onto the Home screen without the need to scroll the page, but if scrolling is good with you, you can have as many as you require. Moving icons is quite simple, just click the Menu button for a range of options to move, delete or hide icons. For instance, if you download anything new online or from BlackBerry App World, icons for the app will appear in your ‘Downloads’ folder. Just move the new icon to the homepage via a selection from the Menu key and you can access it easily. Likewise, if you get tired of something or just do not need it, you have the options of moving it off the Homescreen, hiding it or deleting it.
Zen: When the Pearl 3G is switched on, by default, offers access to your most used functions, and this feature is known as the Zen. The defaults include mail, SMS, contacts, Blackberry Messenger and Facebook. Of course, you also get the option to replace them; all that you have to do is, just hit the Menu button again and swap it around in your options. There are different profiles already preset, but you can spend time tinkering with the different tones for an individual fit. It might take you some time too; the Pearl 3G is packed with sounds and ringtones, with the option of using your own music too. If we have anything to complain about Blackberry’s interface, it is just that it lacks quick access via the screen to the media functions. The top controls on the case are fine once you are in, but getting in is a real pain. And, this is just not the issue with this Blackberry Pearl, it is a wider Blackberry issue. Perhaps, because for RIM, media has always been down the priority list for business devices; but, for the non-business devices like the Pearl 3G, it should have been better.
Speedy: As we had mentioned earlier, this is a time served interface and is against some of the more whizzy 3D efforts in the market, we accept that the Blackberry OS looks a bit tired and dated. But, what it lacks in style, it makes up for in functionality. Just within minutes of booting it up, you will be flying around the menu like pro. Setting up the Pearl is quite simple; as with most devices of today, pretty much everything is wizard driven, from getting the WiFi connected to creating new email accounts. It is all a matter of following simple steps.
Features: Does the small package mean fewer features? Forget it. This Blackberry Pearl 9105 3G Network supported Phone model almost creaks with features including GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus and video recording, a well featured media player and an optical trackpad too. The Pearl 3G has a lot in common with its bulkier sibling the Blackberry Bold 9700, that runs on Blackberry OS 5.0 and the same 642Mhz processor, which is again notably quicker. Of course, 3G is the most welcome addition along with a much faster browsing experience and finally, yes, finally it supports the most wanted WiFi. The model also supports multitasking, social networking for the likes of Facebook and Twitter as standard and, what is a Blackberry without its all-powerful Blackberry email and messaging. Overall, this Pearl 3G is RIM’s special kid just without the QWERTY, replaced by RIM’s SureType technology for inputting your text.
Blackberry App World: All that is just the tip of the iceberg; the Blackberry App world has been growing very steadily over the past year. And, though it is not up there with Apple’s App Store, it offers a good range of apps and utilities, which in turn makes your Pearl 3G that little bit more flexible. So, if you have got your handset and want to grab some extra apps, including the ones that we have discussed in the review, Blackberry App World is the place where you have to land. This hanset based store mixes free and premium apps all that are available to browse and download with reviews from users. As we just mentioned, this store is not the biggest or the best app store around, but it certainly does the given job well, enabling you to customise your phone for next to nothing if you do clever shopping. We recommend you to check it out as soon as you have got your handset charged up.
Contacts: Coming to adding contacts, the Pearl 3G has it all and more. It uses the same contacts system as your average business friendly Blackberry; you might be a little bit daunted while adding a friend. After all, does your best mate really have six phone numbers, two fax numbers, a pager, two emails, a company and a job title? Of course not! Just stick in a name, number and email, just those details will show on the completed page. But if your friends ever do take over the world, there's room to expand the entry. Google Sync has not been included as default, however, if you happen to be a Google user, you can always download the application. It will copy all of your friends and contacts into your BlackBerry contacts, keeping it updated as they change, and hence, save your fingers several weeks of typing duty.
Overall, when it comes to organising your contacts, this Blackberry 9105 is as good as any other blackberry. But, when it comes to call quality on this particular model, it could have been better.
Messaging: SMS and MMS messaging on the Pearl 3G 9105 mobile phone is just straightforward. Though it lacks the iconic QWERTY keyboard, text messaging is easy enough on the minimal keypad. All that you have to do is, select your contact, type the message, add the smilies that we all fancy, and then just send it away. There are features available for checking the spelling if you are feeling pedantic and you can also see any messages that are sent or received in the email like SMS folder. Sending MMS is just as easy; take a photo, select a contact, select the size or quality you wish to send and it goes. What more can you ask?
Email: Well, after all it is the Blackberry. If it does not do the email well, there is simply no hope for it. setting up an email account is just a breeze. Whether it is a webmail account or something PC-based, just head to the email wizard, enter your account details and the Pearl 3G will set it up and, when available, work with your inbox to push emails to your handset when they arrive, so you are free to view, delete, forward or reply as the mood takes you. Delete from your phone and it goes from your inbox elsewhere too. It is the reason why businessmen love a BlackBerry and if you lead a busy life, it should help you too. You can add as many email accounts as you like to the phone, which you can oversee from one message inbox or from each individual address folder. Indeed, if you do use multiple boxes, you can add different tones for each account, just like you can with people in your contacts directory.
SureType Technology: The only issue that the Blackberry 3G had was the SureType technology. Most BlackBerry devices have a QWERTY keyboard, so banging out a long email is not much different to using a laptop. It is just smaller. With the Pearl 3G, the keyboard is more like a traditional phone to fit the profile of the handset, but it also means a different way of text input. SureType is a form of predictive text, constantly second guessing your word choice, as well as spell checking as you go. Like predictive text, it is both helpful and frustrating at the same time. Once you get the hang of it, you should be able to fire out emails at a fair rate of speed, but if you have not used it before, be prepared for some very frustrating days and emails taking longer than writing and posting a letter, especially if they are beyond a couple of lines of text. It might make you regret buying the handset, but stick with it the fact that it learns from your more commonly typed words really does add speed in the medium term.
Messaging: One of the highlight selling features of the Blackberry is its messenger, but if it works for you totally depends on the number of friends you have with the same make of device. It is quite simple to use, just enter the email address of your other buddy with the Blackberry and, once they approve of you, there you are, instant messaging. Just type in a message to your contact or multiple group contacts like you would with any other messaging app, with BB Messenger informing you when the message lands. It is great if you have BlackBerry-based friends. If not, prepare to gaze at an empty screen. This is also where the BlackBerry App World comes in to play. Other messaging tools are also available to download, including Google Talk, so if you are the first to go down the BlackBerry route, you will not be all alone. And who knows? Your mates might be impressed enough with your handset to buy one too.
Browsing in Pearl 3G 9105: The standard blackberry browser has never been everybody’s cup of tea, all too often having issues with rendering pages and in many cases, taking too much time to download content. RIM might just have started to deal with the problem, prior to actually bringing out a WebKit based browser. As you can see, we have tested and a number of Blackberry devices and they always had some pages that the device just does not like. Surprisingly, this time there were no websites in this list and all of our temperamental pages and some other reliable content passed out with flying colours. However, there are a couple of disadvantages too: first of all, the small screen of the Pearl 3G makes the zoom function on the browser your best friend when it comes to web content. It will zoom in on the detail, but when you have got a busy or text-heavy page, constantly having to zoom is a real pain. Secondly, that speedy loading is possible only when you have got a 3G or Wi-Fi connection. When you lose that, the page load times increase significantly. What took seconds suddenly takes minutes. We will look more at the connectivity of the Pearl 3G later on.
Social Networking: The Blackberry range has always had some very decent apps for all of the main social networks. There are two included in the Pearl 9105 which are standard; there is no MySpace, but in 2010, are you really surprised? The Twitter app had recently gone official in the RIM Blackberry, and we also have to admit that it works like a dream, that integrates so well with the wider Blackberry messaging system. If you are Twitter freak, you must know well what you might expect: a box for your message, a screen to view your messages of those you follow, complete with avatars and a row of icons for everything from replies to people search. If someone sends you a direct message, it drops in your main inbox just like a mail; a nice touch. Overall, it is a well thought out app that is just a breeze to use on the Pearl 3G 9105.
The good old Facebook is also represented in the Pearl 3G and is a very decent app to be kept updated. Just log in and you will be greeted by your latest news feeds, along with options with comment or like an update, upload an image, send message or even write on a wall; it has pretty much everything you might expect. It is true that the app looks a little bit basic and a bit cramped on the small screen, but if you manage to deal with it or simply do not mind, this Facebook App in offer is more than adequate.
GPS: GPS on a smart phone is always a welcome addition and the Blackberry Maps that has been included in the Pearl 3G 9105 is reasonable for finding your way around the city. It picks up a satellite in just seconds, pinpointing our location and also panning around the area. Please do keep in mind that it is just a basic mapping included and do not expect your in-car unit to give the boot and replace it with this one. That said, if you happen to be lost in a city, it will offer you a helping hand. The good news here is that, Google maps is available as a free download for the Blackberry. However, we insist again that it is not going to replace your car sat nav, but it does offer much more detail, and it should possibly one of your first downloads. Apart from that, geo tagging and location finding in apps is a welcome bonus with the GPS on board.
Come on! We are in 2010 and a 3.2 megapixel camera is not much to shout about. However, this camera also offers up auto-focus, flash, 2.5x digital zoom and video recording, and this is more than adequate for the job and it is incredibly easy to use. The camera works well with some of the other tools on the handset, and also seems to be offering plenty of options for photo quality and effects, size and geo-tagging of the snaps. With the shortcut buttons available on the side of the handset, it makes it very easy to capture that exciting moment quickly and easily. Sharing the pictures has been made quite simple with apps for some of the major photo sites too the option to email or MMS your snaps, as well as transfer to social networks, all at various sizes and image qualities, dependent on your needs. Just a click of a button brings up a thumbnail gallery too. Shame the camera is not a little better in terms of pixels, but in terms of use, it is hard to fault.
Tools: As a business handset, the Pearl 3G 9105 has a raft of productivity tools, some of which you might occasionally use like MemoPad, Tasks, Calculator and Password Keeper and there are others that you will seldom, especially with the display so small, like Word To Go, Sheet To Go and Slide-show To Go. The latter set of features are more like just tasters; you can open a Microsoft friendly document with them, but you will not be able to create one without buying the complete package. Yes, it kind of spoils the good name it created with the non-demo games package. There are Voice notes included too, so you will be able to record your ideas on the go. Said that, the playback is very decent too and you can use your voice notes as quirky ring tones too. We liked the alarm app too, as it was more than decent with a clock that fills the screen and offering a loud alarm to get you out of the bed.
Games in 9105 3G: One feature that all of us secretly look forward in a handset are games; they are always available in handsets and Pearl 3G is no exception. In this set we have a mix of arcade, strategy and cards, including Brickbreaker, Word mole, Trooper Typing, Texas Hold ‘Em King 2, Sodoku and Klondike. Everything is a bit basic, but they are a good mix of games, and above all, they are all full games and not demos; we love that.
Applications: As you would expect from a device that keeps business on the move, the calendar application included in the Blackberry Pearl 3G is quite an impressive tool. You can break down your tasks in days, weeks or months, view your wider schedule or agenda, organise appointments, set alarms for those appointments when due or in advance, schedule conference calls, invite people to meetings, change time zones. You have got all this in the device and more. Even better, you will be able to sync it up with external tools like Google Calendar, should you and your friends be reliant on that. The entire program is built for the busy businessman, so if you are buying the Pearl 3G as a 'social' phone, you can be sure it has all bases covered.
Media player: As we had mentioned earlier, the media player on the RIM Blackberry 3G 9105 is not bad at all; but accessing it is a bit slow and inconvenient. We are not trying to say that it is dead slow, but it is just not instantly accessible as it should be. After a few clicks, and once you start listening to the music, you will realise that it is not bad at all. You will be able to transfer the music via drag and drop or RIM’s own software through PC or Mac and, if tagged, you should be able to drop nicely into the searchable interface and any album art provided will show it too. And, do not forget, those top controls we had mentioned earlier is very useful when you are out and about.
Performance: Call Quality: Coming to the call quality, we found the voice calls to be on the quieter side and there was bit of background noise, a slight hiss. Still, we did not experience any complete drops in the network during calls. The Pearl 3G is a mid- to high-end handset and for the money you will be paying, it should be better in terms of making and taking calls. It is slightly frustrating, because everything else in that area is as good as, if not better, than expected. Ring-tones, for example, are loud and there is a number to choose from (with the option of adding your own too) and the ability to assign tones to various contacts is always a nice touch.
Connectivity: Connectivity wise, the Pearl 3G struggles with 3G reception and to make sure that the problem was not ours; we tested some other models in the same area and found that it was apparently the issue of the model. This is not promising; though what we did is not a scientific test, we worry us slightly. This is something to perhaps check out at your local phone dealer if you are considering a purchase. The WiFi reception was excellent though. It was extremely simple to set up and the Pearl 3G was happy to hop on to the wireless connectivity as and when required. The entire factors put together makes browsing and downloading a much more pleasurable experience. The 9105 also comes with Bluetooth connectivity, which enables you to pair up with a notebook or any other Bluetooth enabled device without any issues, accepting the files quickly and without any issues. Else, if you want to go wired, there is also the mini USB to USB cable to transfer data and media or to just update the operating system.
Camera Performance of Pearl 3G 9105: The outdoor shots are more than acceptable, capturing most details that you would not have expected out of the mobile camera. The indoors snap is not quite so sharp, even on a very bright day. However, the image is clear and there is no blurring and the colours are reasonably vibrant. As ever, effects will be able to hide a multitude of sins and, when Sephia filter is used, it does increase the quality of the indoor snap. Video is surprisingly good; impressing us in both fields of visual and audio expectations. Again, it can never be a substitute for a dedicated video camera, but for producing web clips, it is hard to complain.
Video Quality: Video playback tends to suffer from the small screen. If you like the idea of squinting at a 2.2-inch screen for entertainment, it might be for you. It is also good for checking those mini movies you have just shot, but we prefer our video on a larger screen. Videos have a decent amount of clarity, but this is one area where the small and compact nature of the phone really falls down. Let us be honest, you will be on a one-way trip to eye strain if you spend your day watching Hollywood blockbusters on the Pearl's screen. Good for a short funny a mate has sent you or, indeed, checking out your own clips. For anything more, it really struggles.
Audio Quality: For its size, the Pearl 3G has a very decent pair of speakers. At full volume, the sound is just beyond what you can expect along with a good deal of clarity; there is no breakup or distortion even at very high volume. Same is the case of the headphones that are more substantial than your average mobile earphones and, for us, offering up a fuller sound than much of the competition too.
Battery life is one of the major features of any mobile; they can either be a selling point or a turn off. Fortunately, with the Pearl 3G, it has turned out to be a positive, with RIM promising about up to five hours of talk time and 18 days of standby. When compared to the Blackberry Bold 9000 that is literally light years ahead of the game. The claims are very promising and in our tests, after a full charge, we made calls with the Pearl 3G, browsed a few sites, played music and did some instant messaging. We did everything that a person with the Pearl 3G will do and we are happy to conclude that the battery performs really strong.
Warranty: RIM offers Blackberry Pearl 3G 9105 one year warranty for parts and labour.Verdict:
RIM has packed just about every high end Blackberry feature except QWERTY into this small and stylish device called as the Pearl 3G 9105. It offers just about every mobile essential and more, with almost everything functions as it should. And if SureType works for you, this is a very small and convenient way of keeping up with your email correspondence. Call quality is below what we would expect, network coverage was very disappointing for long periods and to be honest, the familiar look of the BlackBerry interface is perhaps an indication that the interface is just a little too long in the tooth. The BlackBerry Pearl 3G is a good quality smartphone that should serve you well, but with just a couple too many issues to make it a highly-recommended one.
An apt alternate to the Pearl 3G will be the Bold 9700, which is pretty much the same, but with a much bigger profile and a full QWERTY keyboard. If you want to check out some of the other smartphones that is not a Blackberry, the Palm Pre Plus has just hit the markets or, if you are looking for one of those revolutionary Androids and touchscreen appeal, we recommend the highly rated HTC Desire or HTC Legend. Of course, there is thing called iPhone, but if you fancy one of those, we recommend the 3GS and not 4.
RIM Blackberry Pearl 3G 9105 - Technical Specification Table | Manufacturer | RIM |
| Model Name | BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9105 |
| 3G Network | HSDPA 2100 CDMA2000 1x EV-DO |
| Announced | 2010 |
| Form factor | Candy bar |
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 4.25 x 1.97 x 0.52 inches |
| Weight | 93 grams |
| Display Type | High resolution 360x400 pixel colour display |
| Display Size | 2.2" |
| Display features | Backlighting Light sensing screen |
| Input and Navigation | Trackpad located on front face of device, ESC key to the right, Menu to the left 14-key traditional phone keyboard with SureType technology Keyboard backlighting |
| Voice input and output | 3.5mm stereo headset capable Integrated speaker and microphone Hands-free headset capable Bluetooth® headset capable Integrated Hands-free speakerphone |
| Speakerphone | Yes - 3.5 mm audio jack |
| Phonebook Memory | Yes |
| Call records | Yes |
| Memory | 256MB flash memory / 256MB SDRAM |
| Card Slot | Hot Swappable MicroSD |
| Tri-band UMTS networks | (800/850)/1900/2100MHz and 900/1700/2100 MHz |
| Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks | 850/900/1800/1900MHz |
| 3G | HSDPA |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11 b/g WPA / WPA2 Personal and Enterprise Cisco CCX certified Wi-Fi® access to BlackBerry Enterprise Server Wi-Fi access to BlackBerry Internet Service Support for UMA (carrier-dependent |
| Infrared | No |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth® v2.1; Mono/Stereo Headset, Hands free, Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP) and Serial Port Profile Supported. Bluetooth Stereo Audio (A2DP/AVCRP) |
| USB | Yes, v2.0 |
| Camera | 3.2 MP camera Autofocus Flash 2.5X digital zoom Video recording |
| Features | Geo-tagging, image stabilization |
| Video Format | MPEG4 Simple and Advance Simple Profile, H.263, H.264, WMV3 |
| Audio Format | MP3, AMR-NB, AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, WMV, Flac, Ogg Vorbis |
| Ringtones and Notifications | AMR, AAC, WAV, MP3, MID, WMA, MP4, M4A, QCP ringtones Vibrate mode LED indicaton |
| OS | BlackBerry OS 5.0 |
| CPU | 624MHz processor |
| Messaging | SMS, MMS, Email and Instant Messaging |
| Browser | HTML |
| Radio | No |
| Games | Yes + downloadable |
| Colours available | Black, silver and blue |
| GPS | Built-in GPS functionality Includes BlackBerry® Maps |
| Java | Yes - BlackBerry maps - Media player MP3, WMA, WMA ProPlus, AAC, AAC+ and eAAC+ - Video player MPEG4/3gp/H.264/WMV - Organizer - Voice memo |
| Device Security | Password protection Screen lock |
| Battery Type | 1150 mAHr removable/rechargeable lithium-ion cell |
| Battery Standby | 18 days (GSM), 13 days (UMTS) |
| Talk time | 5 hours (GSM), 5.5 hours (UMTS) |
| Warranty | One year |
