BlackBerry® Pearl™ Flip 8220

Call Quality

Call quality: We found call quality on the BlackBerry Flip loud and clear. It’s easy enough to adjust the cell phone’s volume with the corresponding buttons on the side of the Flip. We also appreciated the speakerphone, however, you’ll need to leave the flip phone open when using it. This can seem a bit awkward. However, you can keep the phone closed when placing calls using a headset. We should also note that when you are using this BlackBerry to make a call, the external screen doesn’t display any caller information. Additionally, there was minor degradation in call quality when we used a Bluetooth headset, and we could still hear callers clearly in a noisy environment.

Audio quality: The playback of music on the BlackBerry’s speaker is quite impressive. It’s loud and clear; so much so, that we often lowered the volume on the cell phone when we were listening to music using our own 3.5mm headphones. Music sounds better when the smartphone is simply on a flat surface such as a table. Additionally, the BlackBerry Flip supports stereo Bluetooth so if you prefer to go wireless, you can always listen to tunes via an optional Bluetooth-enabled stereo headset.

Ease of Use

Menu/phone book: If you love the BlackBerry interface, you’ll be happy to know not much has changed with the Flip except the menu appears a lot snazzier. Corresponding icons resemble a lighted nightclub sign and really pop against the dark background. You can use the BlackBerry Media Sync software to easily sync contacts, calendar, and e-mail between the Flip and your computer. Additionally, you can also view and edit Word docs, Excel docs, and PowerPoint presentations on the BlackBerry Flip. You can store as many contacts as your available memory will allow plus an additional 250 contacts can be saved on the SIM card. Each entry can hold multiple phone numbers, e-mail addresses, birthday and anniversary information, a picture and a slot for both work and home addresses. Syncing media – videos, music, and pictures – is also infinitely easier thanks to the Roxio Media Manager software for BlackBerry (see Music for more details). The BlackBerry Flip comes with a mini-USB-to-USB cable so that you can connect it directly to your computer. Also, you can always use Bluetooth for syncing if your computer has that feature.

Messaging: The reason most people buy a BlackBerry is for the messaging, and rightfully so; it really has perfected messaging, and it has a built-in spell checker , which makes sending messages even easier. We also particularly like that when a text message does arrive we can read the entire message on the external display without ever having to flip open the phone.

Our favorite feature has to be the separate folders for e-mail and text messaging. Of course, it’s extremely easy to set up multiple e-mail accounts (including work e-mail) on this BlackBerry. You can do it during initial setup of the device by following the prompts on the screen. If you already have a BlackBerry e-mail account and are simply changing devices, you can upgrade the information in the BlackBerry Setup menu. Also, if you tend to receive a lot of graphic-intensive e-mails, opt for an unlimited data plan, as downloading graphics can eat up megabytes of data pretty quickly.

Camera/video: The BlackBerry Flip has a 2-megapixel camera and a flash. But if you want to snap self-portraits, you’ll have to hold the smartphone away from you and snap a shot of yourself and hope for the best. Read: The Flip lacks a small mirror next to the lens for framing self portraits and the external display doesn’t do double-duty as a view finder when the BlackBerry Flip is in camera mode. Overall, picture quality is decent when snapping pics using the Flip. Colors are true and bright even when viewed on a computer; however, it doesn’t capture sharp details too well. Once you snap a picture, you can save it, rename it, save it as a Caller ID photo, delete it or send it. Camera features are a little skim, but you can adjust White Balance, Picture Size, Picture Quality, Color Effects (Normal, Black and White, or Sepia), and there’s GeoTagging. We’re glad to see BlackBerry left our favorite feature implemented on the Flip: the trackball integrated with the camera application. While you’re framing a picture, you can scroll around to zoom or change the size of the image.

Additionally, you can view and record videos on this smartphone. You’ll be able to watch videos in the Media folder, but you’ll have to go to Applications to use the camera to shoot them or switch to Video Recorder when the camera is launched. Shooting videos is pretty easy, but the quality isn’t fabulous. The Flip picks up sound well, so that’s a plus. While it’s a nice feature to have, you’re probably going to enjoy watching videos you download or stream from the Internet more. Playback of video is OK, but not stellar – you definitely know you’re watching video on a cell phone.

Music: As noted, the BlackBerry Flip has a music player as well. You can listen to songs stored in MP3, AAC (Apple’s audio format) and WMA files (Microsoft’s audio format). There aren’t many music-centric features included in the player, but it has the few we’ve come to expect: Repeat, Shuffle, and Playlists (you can’t create them on the fly). It also does a good job displaying album cover art when a corresponding song is playing. Plus you can save tunes stored in your cell phone as a ringtone. The Flip has 128MB of memory onboard, so if you want to store a ton of music get an extra MicroSD memory card - the BlackBerry Flip will support up to a 16GB MicroSD card.

We still commend RIM for teaming up with Roxio to help get music, photos, and videos from your computer onto the BlackBerry Flip. The software has an extremely intuitive user interface, so you don’t even need to read directions to get started. You can also use the software to turn CDs into MP3s. Another nice feature is that the software won’t allow you to move music that the Flip won’t playback (that is, protected music that you might have purchased at an online store) onto it, so you’ll never have to wonder why a song isn’t playing. Instead, you’ll get a pop-up that says, “There are no media files in this folder that supports filter settings.”

Connectivity/Bluetooth/WiFi:You can do a lot with Bluetooth on this cell phone. Besides easily being able to connect to a Bluetooth headset (we found call quality was decent when we used the ), you can also use it to sync up with your contacts, and transfer songs and pictures to the Flip if your computer supports Bluetooth.

This BlackBerry Flip has built-in WiFi. Besides being able to use this Flip to log onto available WiFi networks to surf the Web or send/receive e-mail, you can also use it to place calls over a WiFi network using products like T-Mobile HotSpot @ Home. This is a great way to extend the coverage area of your cell phone in your home if coverage is spotty. Additionally, the WiFi is easy to setup on the BlackBerry Flip and this smartphone really does all the work for you. The only thing you need to know is the WiFi network you want to use and the password if it’s a secure network.

Design

Look and feel: The first thing you will notice about the BlackBerry Flip Pearl 8220, is well, that it’s a flip phone. Not exactly what you’d expect from RIM. Since it is the company’s first flip phone, some might not find the form factor compact. Truth be told, it’s not exactly compact but it’s a tad thicker than a Pearl and about that same size. So if you like the size of a Pearl, the size of the Flip Pearl 8220 shouldn’t be an issue. One nice feature about flip phones is that when they are flipped shut, they lock. The same is the case with the Flip Pearl 8220 and as such there are things you might be accustomed to doing on other BlackBerry’s that you can’t do on this one. For example, when the cell phone is shut, you can’t adjust the audio profiles because the Flip is technically locked. The good news is that there will be no accidental dialing of contacts when the smartphone is tucked in a pocket or floating around a bag.

The next thing you’ll notice is the BlackBerry Flip’s display – it’s crisp, bright and easy on the eyes. The internal display is larger and brighter than those found on the Pearl. It’s easy to view both the internal and external screen in direct sunlight. Unfortunately, like many cell phones these days, it attracts face grease, so we occasionally found ourselves wiping off the screen. Of course, the Flip has that great scroll wheel from the Pearl, which is just super-fun to use. The amount of buttons on the Flip’s spine is on par with other BlackBerry smartphones.

Keypad:The BlackBerry Flip sports a spacious white backlit SureType keypad. In fact, it’s safe to say that if the typical Pearl keypad feels a bit cramped, the one found on the BlackBerry Flip will be a welcomed change. It’s easy to use and we’ve yet to experience any accidental mistypes. However, if this is a concern, the BlackBerry Flip like some of its siblings still sports a spell checker.

Battery Life

We found battery life on the BlackBerry Flip 8220 to be acceptable. If you use the cell phone frequently to make calls, listen to music, as well as send/receive text messages and e-mail, the Flip will probably last about a day and a half before needing to recharge. However, if you consider the Flip primarily a cell phone and less of a messaging device, you’ll get about two to three days of battery life from it. If you only use the Flip occasionally, you should be able to squeak out about four days of usage before needing to recharge. We should note that listening to music a lot on the Flip doesn’t have an adverse affect on battery life, but leaving WiFi turned on does deplete the battery quickly. The same can be said for leaving Bluetooth activated, but we found that WiFi drains the battery fastest.