Camera Phone Reviews

BlackBerry Pearl

BlackBerry Pearl Reviews

CNET reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "We were a little disappointed by the quality of the Pearl's camera. Though we could recognize the objects in the photos, colors were washed out, and there was an overall grainy effect to the picture. Still, these camera phones were never designed to replace your digital camera, so for the quick snapshot, the Pearl is OK."

FoxNews reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes about the smartphone's camera: "The Pearl's 1.3 megapixel camera, like those on so many mobile phones, takes blurred shots more often than not. Actually, in my limited photographic exploits, it seemed like my success ratio was worse than usual. One nice touch was that with the camera activated, the trackball can be used to zoom in and out."

BusinessWeek reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "RIM also gives managers back at the office the option of disabling features they dislike, such as the camera, and the ability to store files on removable memory cards. (Both of these may introduce security risks.) In addition, the Pearl can get mail delivered from all manner of standard e-mail accounts, browse the Web, and do everything we expect of a BlackBerry. Battery life is excellent, good enough to get you through at least a couple days of heavy e-mail and moderate phone use."

The NY Times reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "this extensive feature list hasn’t snowballed into an impenetrable, bloated software mess. The menu structure of the Pearl is brilliantly designed to be shallow and self-evident; everything feels as if it’s one click away. ... Yes, there are an awful lot of features, each with numerous clever shortcuts, and that means there’s a lot to learn. But because the shortcuts are so responsive and satisfying, there’s a certain joy to it. It’s not like learning a language; it’s more like learning magic at Hogwarts."

TechDigest reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "Blackberry are really pushing the inclusion of a camera on this one, but at 1.3 megapixels it doesn't stand up against the competition. It's the size now seen on budget phones, and those where the camera isn't anything more than a quick addition when needs must. Given Blackberry's excitement about it being there, you'd have thought they'd have got a better one. They've also put the MicroSD card under the SIM, which is a personal hate. It makes it really tricky to get to, and risks damaging the SIM card."

Pocket-lint reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "That consumer angle shines through even more with the inclusion of a 1.3 megapixel camera on the rear of the phone with its built-in flash and 5x digital zoom. ... "It's got a camera, oh that's much better, I wish mine had a camera", one of our CrackBerry testers said. ... Beneath its sleek exterior, which measures 4.2 x 1.97 x 0.57" and weighs 88 grams, the BlackBerry Pearl is a quad-band GSM/GPRS and EDGE-enabled, however not 3G."

PCMag reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "The camera, music, and video players are all of startlingly high quality, but they each lack one or two key features. (Corporate users shouldn't freak out about the new media features. BlackBerry Enterprise Server owners can lock out any of these options.) The 1.3-megapixel camera, with a little flash and a self-portrait mirror, takes strikingly sharp pictures with excellent color balance outdoors, though I did see some annoying JPEG artifacting. Indoors, color noise becomes quite noticeable. You can change the white balance and compression rate, but there are no burst, macro, or video modes."

Infosync reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "The Pearl's much-touted camera (a first for RIM) and media features aren't bad, but they won’t replace your dedicated devices any time soon. The camera takes 1.3-megapixel photos and has a built-in flash, while the music player supports MP3 and AAC files (no WMA support yet, although RIM says it's coming soon.) For video, most popular file types other than WMV are supported -- just don't expect to stream video over the phone's 2.5G EDGE connection."

LaptopMag reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "Riding on T-Mobile's EDGE network, the Pearl delivers a reliable if not speedy data connection; it also supports quad-band GSM/GPRS networks. Bluetooth 2.0 is onboard, but only to support handsfree and serial port profiles. The Pearl finally sees BlackBerry catching up with the competition in the multimedia department, with features like a 1.3-megapixel camera (which washes out colors but retains sharp detail), a music and video player, and the aforementioned microSD slot to bolster the 64MB flash memory."

ITWeek reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "In tests, we found the Pearl easy to operate, and anyone used to a previous model such as the BlackBerry 8700g will find the interface familiar. The Pearl gets its name from the miniature trackball located centrally beneath its display. This is used to scroll through menus and select items. We found this quite simple to get to grips with, but not as instantly intuitive as the thumb-operated scroll wheel found on the right side of earlier BlackBerry models."

The Globe and Mail reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "In terms of features, the Pearl adds a bunch of things the traditional BlackBerry never had before: a 1.3-megapixel camera with a flash, a multimedia player with a stereo headphone jack to play MP3 files as well as MPEG4 and H.263 videos, voice-activated dialing, a slot for a MicroSD memory expansion card (up to 1 gigabyte on top of 64 MB internal memory) and BlackBerry Maps, a new application that sends maps via e-mail and finds maps based on contact information in the address book. ... Still, the Pearl maintains a foot in the corporate world."

SiliconRepublic reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "The Pearl has plenty of style and elegance and is perhaps the lightest RIM device ever made. It is also the most feature-rich, coming with a digital camera with built-in flash, expandable memory, a media player and voice dialling capabilities. It also comes with Bluetooth connectivity. To squeeze the device from being a palm-wide machine to something resembling a candy-bar-sized mobile phone, RIM effectively doubled up the letters on the typepad. On first perusal this can be a little disconcerting but once you send your first message you know where you stand. The company developed its own Suretype keyboard technology that allows users to type quickly and accurately."

MobileBurn reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "The Pearl's camera is also short on options, but workable overall. Settings are limited to white balance, resolution, and JPEG quality. The digital zoom works at 1x, 3x, and 5x only, which seems quite odd. At least the overall image quality is decent enough to be usable. The automatic white balance function is an average performer, but the manual settings work OK. There is no auto-focus support, or even a manual macro mode, so the photos are never razor sharp at any distance, though they are passable at most ranges. With that said, much of the soft look of its photos can be attributed to its slow shutter speed. A very steady hand is required in most indoor settings. There is a small flash, but no video recording capability. Again, it's not bad for a first effort, but hardly class leading either."

Brighthand reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "The Pearl's [camera] is fairly average, which means it's good enough to take casual pictures, but don't expect these to be really high quality. ... The Pearl is one of the few cameraphones with a built-in flash, but this isn't very bright. The picture on the right was taken in near complete darkness with it and you can see that it didn't do a very good job of lighting up my subject. On the other hand, this camera does a nice job of adapting to relatively low-light situations without the flash. There's only one light on in this room when I took this picture, but I think it looks fairly good, if a bit grainy. Even more useless than the flash, though, is the digital zoom. I can't tell that it's enlarging anything, just cropping the picture smaller."

MobileTechReview reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and has this to say about the smartphone's camera: "The Pearl is the first BlackBerry to have a built-in digital camera. The Pearl, with its new multimedia focus, comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom that takes good pictures by camera phone standards. Of course, there are still some security requirements and RIM has addressed them by providing security policies in the server for IT managers to disable the camera. The Pearl’s camera can take still photos in three resolutions (1280 x 1024, 640 x 480, 320 x 240) at one of three quality levels. You can set flash options, white balance and picture storage locations in the menu. You can also use the track ball to zoom in and out. The pictures are reasonably sharp; colors are fairly accurate with a slight purple tint in some shots. It takes better picture indoors with good lighting than it does outdoor shots with strong sunlight which results in white out. The photo quality can’t compete with very high end cameras phones like the Nokia N73 or the Samsung a990 of course, but it’s on par with 1.3 MP cameras on current mobile phones. The flash helps a little for close up shots. You can save the photos to internal memory or to a MicroSD card. The Pearl cannot shoot video."

DigitalTrends reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "Pearl's 1.3 MP photos are predictably mediocre anywhere but outdoors in bright sunlight; the flash throws only a foot or so. You do get a self-portrait mirror, though. ... Rated battery life is a surprisingly short 3.5 hours for talking; the BlackBerry 8700c, with its bigger screen, goes for a rated 4 hours."

Absolute Gadget reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "We tested its call quality quite extensively. Taking it on a trip down to St. Ives in Cornwall, calls were perfect quality and we didn't notice any calls being dropped while traveling on the motorway, or indeed in the middle of the Cornish countryside."

PCAuthority reviews the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 and writes, "While the camera is headline news, it’s only a lowly 1.3-megapixel resolution and is hampered by a clunky software interface. The media player also smacks of being a first effort thanks to limited software controls and support for just MP3, MIDI files and AAC. Placing the MicroSD card slot behind the battery isn’t a great move either."

Gadgetnutz reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "Video looked great on the Pearl. The screen was really beautiful and frame rates were acceptable. Likewise, picture quality - at least viewing pictures - was very good. Images were sharp and clear. The camera has a built in flash that is adjustable and a 5X zoom which is controlled by simply moving the trackball. Picture quality was just fair for a 1.3 mega pixel camera - but certainly acceptable for a camera phone. It should be noted that this is RIM's first foray into the world of camera phones and it was a pretty good first effort."

LaptopMag reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "Call quality was clear, and we had no problems with dropped calls or weak signals as we walked between the subway and our office in Midtown Manhattan. The Pearl's voice-dialing feature also worked well and quickly identified the contact we wanted to call. Web pages loaded quickly, and we were able to access reviews on our site in a matter of seconds. Surfing was pleasant overall, but don't expect a rich Web experience, as pages are stretched to fit the Pearl's vertical display."

OCRegister has a review of the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "There's a nice 1.3-megapixel camera with a 5x digital zoom and flash. But it doesn't record video. A micro SD slot lets you add more memory, but it's hard to reach because it's inside the phone, tucked underneath the battery. It has Bluetooth, but if you want to transfer multimedia files, you must use the USB cable, which means another accessory to pack on trips."

Trusted Reviews reviews the BlackBerry Pearl and writes, "Phone functionality is perfectly adequate - call quality is fine, although not best in class - we found that the speaker and mic were a little less clear than found in some phones which really nail call quality, such as the Samsung D600. However, they're definitely on the better side of usable, which means you'll have no problems making and taking calls. As with other recent devices, the Pearl includes a Bluetooth module so that you can use it with a range of handsfree kits. There are dedicated call and hangup buttons, and we suspect you'll want to stay away from the decidedly mediocre wired handsfree kit that comes bundled."
Update: The BlackBerry Pearl is now also available in white.