When size doesn't matter

The new Blackberry Pearl 3G proves you don't have to be big to deliver

Think Blackberry, and you automatically think corporate. This, despite Research In Motion's (RIM) efforts to break that image by associating it with a hipper, younger audience in recent advertisements.

With the Pearl 3G, though, comes RIM's actual breakthrough step in that direction. This phone looks and feels nothing like its QWERTY predecessors; guaranteed to make it seem more accessible and less business-like.

Look and feel
The 'smallest BlackBerry smartphone yet' certainly is -- it measures less than 50mm and weighs only 93g, making it instantly more pocket-friendly than the Curve, Bold or Storm.
There are two versions -- the Pearl 9100 with a 20-key condensed QWERTY keypad, and the Pearl 9105, with a traditional keypad. If you haven't jumped the QWERTY bandwagon yet, this is a nice touch that will help graduate without putting the fear of smartphones in you.

Internet
Connectivity is a breeze, with the BlackBerry OS 5 and 624 Mhz processor working together to load pages and applications in a jiffy.

What you will have a problem with, though, is using the trackpad to scroll through web pages on the smallish screen. Unless you make the 'column view' function on the options menu your best friend or overuse the zoom tool, you will end up with a headache from squinting to read the tiny lettering on the Pearl. In this case, constant zooming is the price you pay for wanting a snug, slim handset.

Call and sound quality
Many have been fazed by the sheer madness of Mumbai's movement--the honking on the streets, the constant announcements on a local train platform, the public celebrations -- but not the Pearl 3G. The sound quality on this slim device is an absolute delight -- it's clear and loud and will get you through the most noisy situations without too much trouble. The same goes for call drops -- with the exception of usual culprit-situations like travelling in elevators, it picked up network just fine.

What we did have an issue with, however, was the inconsistency of the sound quality when it came to the ringtones. For the same volume setting, a Blackberry Messenger (BBM) tone was much louder than some of the default ringtones, and vice versa. While that's certainly not a deal-breaker, it is annoying when your morning alarm isn't as loud as the text message 'ping!' that turns everyone's eyes on you at a work meeting.

Text input
Sure Type is back again, and it's just as frustrating-yet-helpful as before. Having the phone second-guess every alphabet you type and recommend unheard of conjugations can have you tearing your hair out, but finding that local lingo (the likes of 'chal') does not have to be typed out one meticulous alphabet at a time, also warms the cockles of your heart. We've never been entirely sure of Sure Type (pun unintended), but it does have its uses. For those who feel the same way, there's hope. You can increase the number of words Sure Type checks so that the annoying little pop up doesn't appear with 12 options every time you key in a single alphabet. Ah, bliss!

There's also the minor annoyance of having to use the Alt key to switch between text-only and number-only modes. While that's been a standard feature on most phones foru00a0 a while now, typing alphanumerically on the Pearl seems to take an inordinate amount of time. This is especially maddening the first few times you try and send an email on the phone.

Media
On paper, a 3.2 megapixel camera doesn't seems like much. In practice, though, it does capture sharp images and video of decent quality, aided by a bright 360x400 sharp-resolution display (238 ppi). This is also where the Blackberry integration makes uploading pictures to Facebook and Twitter super easy, as with emailing them or setting them as your wallpaper. You can also resize the picture to reduce lag and increase speed and play around with quality and effects. More than adequate for a mobile phone camera.

Accessing other media is made easy by the media controls at the top, and it's got the goods. The sound is clear and not any more can-like than you'd expect from mobile phone speakers, and the video quality is passable too. But a small screen doesn't make it the most pleasant phone in the world to watch videos on.
All said and done though, this Blackberry is big on features and small on size. We like it.