In a nutshell: A BlackBerry in a clamshell form factor!
Not our favourite BlackBerry, as the Pearl series is looking rather
dated now, but still a good compact phone/PDA for mobile email,
with a camera and MP3 player thrown in!
Review:
March 2009. Updated June 2009.
We've been a bit slow to review the 8220 Pearl,
considering that it first appeared in the last quarter of 2008!
That's because we assumed that it was just intended for the US market,
and we didn't think that it was going to appear in the shops here
in the UK. Well, it has appeared but it seems that most people feel
the same way as us, because not many are buying it.
The 8220 is basically like the other Pearl devices
(the 8100, 8110
& 8120) except that it's a
clamshell. It's fatter as a result, and we find that the clamshell
form isn't ideal for using this kind of keypad. It's also heavier
than the other Pearl phones. But it does have the advantage of a
larger internal screen. It's equipped with
BlackBerry Maps too, but it doesn't have a GPS receiver.
Basically, if you like the BlackBerry
Pearl series, but prefer the clamshell form factor, then this
is the BlackBerry for you. Personally, we feel that the whole of
the Pearl series is looking rather dated now, and we'd steer you
in the direction of the 8900,
which is a cracking phone with a full QWERTY keyboard.
Features
of the BlackBerry 8220 include:
2 megapixel camera with flash and digital zoom
Internal display: 240 x 320 pixels, 65000 colours
Media player
Messaging: SMS, MMS, instant
messaging, push email with attachment viewer
Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, USB, modem,
3.5mm stereo headset port
Memory: 128 Mbytes plus microSD memory card
slot
Size: 101 x 50 x 17.5 mm
Weight: 102g
Quadband
Talktime: 4 hours
Battery standby: 360 hours
BlackBerry
8220 Consumer Reviews
Love
your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review
this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a
forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear
words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!
Average
rating from 40 reviews:
Reviewed by Eloy from UK on 6th
Feb 2010
Very good looking phone but once you start using it, oh dear....
The battery doesn't last more than a day despite the technical specs.
Very unstable software and way unrealiable. After 2 weeks of use
the phone felt into a loop and rebooting and never came back to
life until reloading the O/S. This solution only worked for two
days. Don't get conned by Blackberry, I still believe that they
are the greatest swindlers ever. The people who buy BB for personal
use is mainly to use the BB messenger. I am switching back to Nokia
and forgeting the BB issue for good. My real score should be -5
stars rather than the score of 1 star that the system allows me
to score.. Rating:
Reviewed by Krysta from Canada on
21st Jan 2010
I have to pull the stupid battery out and the sim card out and put
them both back in and turn the phone on and off. The fing sim card
doesn't sit snuggly and press onto the freaking conductors and it's
freaking loose. I hate it I'm constantly repeating the whole process
on the piece of junk model. There needs to be a better freaking
phone design where I'm not annoyed and ready to chuck the phone
out the window. It's only a year and it's causing havoc. The carrier
tech guy said oh my girlfriend had the same problem with her phone
and I stuck a piece of paper in between there and it worked and
it seems to solve the problem but it doesn't freaking fit nor can
I put the cover back on. Some freaking help he is. Give me something
different. Emergency calls only signal is not freaking useful. The
cell phone signal will do two arrows trying to see a freaking phone
connection. Rating:
Reviewed by Steve from USA on
7th Jan 2010
This phone is a POS! I didn't really get it to make use of all that
Blackberry's are capable of, but as a long time customer of T-Mobile,
I got them to sell it it to me dirt cheap. Problem is the phone
has been noting but trouble since right after I got it. First off,
battery life is incredible low. It runs down when not even being
used. I charge it daily even if I haven't used it, but worse than
that is its constant shutting down for absolutely no reason, usually
requiring me to pull the battery, then waiting at least 5 minutes
for it to boot up. This phone sucks beyond belief. Rating:
Reviewed by Dino from Canada on
17th Dec 2009
Personally this phone is garbage, my wife has gone through 3 under
warranty and I myself 2 and it looks like I am failing again. JVM
errors, Fatal Errors, SIM read...Invalid SIM..the list goes on.
I am fighting with my carrier to replace it with a Curve but so
far no luck Rating:
Reviewed by Roxanne from USA on
14th Dec 2009
This phone sucks. It uses up the battery on stand by, so you have
to charge it every 8 hours even if you have not used it. It also
powers itself off for no reason and the only way to get it working
again is to pull the battery. I am on my 2nd one now and have the
same issues. Not sure how many more I have to "try" before I can
get a different model. Rating:
Reviewed by Doug Again from Australia
on 7th Dec 2009
Latest problem. I have an Australian car, a late model V8. It's
a Commodore SS V with built in bluetooth capability. I found it
was running rough, giving poor fuel consumption, rough cange down
in auto. I put it in several times to the dealer but they could
never find anything wrong. It is fully computer managed so you can't
even adjust the throttle. I suddenly found it running perectly then
realised I had left my Blackberry 8220 at home. You would never
believe it but when it does the voice in handover to my car bluetooth
it totally stuffs the engine management system! Turn the Blackberry
off, car runs perfectly. leave Blackberry on but turn bluetooth
of car still runs perfectly. I downloaded new service books to the
blackberry and voila! Problem solved. Bloody Blackberry! Cost me
hundreds in extra fuel and at least 5 days in the dealership trying
to fix the problem! Uggh. Nvere buying a Blackberry again. Rating:
Reviewed by Ed from England on
30th Nov 2009
I love the 8220, but in 8 months I have needed 4 replacements. All
for different faults, crashing, screen not working, reception bad.
I might get another Blackberry in the future but I wish I did not
have another 10 months with this one unfortunatly. Rating:
Reviewed by Carmen from Germany on
16th Nov 2009
Same problem here: First it froze when scrolling through the menu.
Then when I charged it the whole night, the battery would begin
running empty within less than 1 hour! I hope I get my money back.
Never again a BB! This never happened with my Sony Ericsson. Rating:
Reviewed by Jill from UK on 29th
Oct 2009
Absolutely rubbish !!! I would not recommend this phone to anyone,
it is forever turning it self off when you are in the middle of
a call or in the middle of a text it so annoying !!! Rating:
Reviewed by robert mccarthy from wales
on 8th Oct 2009
never again will i purchase a blackberry phone of any sort. nothing
but trouble from new and no phone shop will look at them so you
are left to sort it out with blackberry who do not want to know
i have a pearl 8220 which soon will meet my friend the hammer come
back motorola all is forgiven Rating:
Reviewed by Doug from Australia on
17th Sep 2009
Have had the 8220 for a few months and basically it is the best
of the small Blackberry range. Once over 40 y.o you won't be able
to see the numbers on the Pearl which makes the 8220 good because
the numbers and keys are quite large in fact the biggest of all
Blackberry's. Because it is a flip, the screen is bigger than the
Pearl. You also get the external screen which shows clock, incoming
messages etc. Same is shown inside in more detail. The camera is
rubbish and is something that really needs to be looked at. The
photo resolution is no better than a throw away camera, worse in
fact. My advice is don't mess too much with the settings because
the thing does hang and eventually you will be abusing your service
provider. If you want a Blackberry but don't want to carry a brick
like the Curve and 8900 around I suggest this is better than those
or the Pearl. Battery still lasts 4 days and a good 4 hours with
continuous use. But I hate the fact that you cannot turn off the
key tones whilst dialling unless you change the whole profile to
silent. There is a key tone off setting but it does not work for
the phone. I would have liked the colour trackball too but apparently
the led is not multi coloured so you cannot download the software
to make it change colours like you can with the Pearl. Have had
other problems like not being able to change the signature on emails
from the phone, but can do it when logging in over the internet.
Also the key lock started working automatically which I did not
want and could not turn off. Changing the software was the only
way to fix it. Only other problem is RIM seem to stitch the carriers
up into providing Blackberry Internet so you cannot put casual internet
on which basically means you have to pay much more on a plan than
you should. Mine was disconnected by Optus in Australia because
they said they had license issues with Blackberry, even though I
had casual internet access for the first three months. Rating:
Reviewed by Robert Frew from United
Kingdom on 21st Aug 2009
I am reading reviews on the Blackberry 8220 and i find it hard to
understand how people are saying the battery life can last up to
two days, i am on my second 8220 and the battery life is terrible,
after just two calls, lasting on average 10 to 15 minutes the battery
is down to 25% and then the handset dies on me, does anyone else
have this problem Living in hope! Rating:
Reviewed by esyosy from Scotland on
7th Aug 2009
i am on my second replacement phone, battery life is terrible. if
you put on Bluetooth to use while driving, the battery will only
last for two hours max, not much good to anyone. i would not recomment
this phone to anyone Rating:
Reviewed by Dennis from USA on
7th Aug 2009
Avoid this phone. It worked great for a few months, then went into
interminable resets. Did lots of research on the Net (google "blackberry
pearl 8220 resets itself") and read about all the users having the
identical problem. Nobody has an answer better than "bring it back
for an exchange." I ended up pulling the SIM card and putting it
back in my very old Motorola V60, my trusted companion since 2002. Rating:
Reviewed by Pat from England on
18th Jul 2009
I have had my blackberry 8220 for 5 months now and I am not impressed.
As many other reviews state, it has a nasty habit of switching itself
off even when half charged, I even bought a new battery which made
no difference. It also does the same occasionally when being charged,
I use this phone for business purposes so it it very inconvenient
having to remove the battery and recharging when you least expect
it. Also I still have not worked out if I can bar a specific number
- I can not find any options to do this - can anyone help on that
one plz?? Not impressed with camera - poor quality pics which are
not worth keeping. Would not buy again. Rating:
Reviewed by jose cuesta from usa on
8th Jul 2009
I love my phone Rating:
Reviewed by Steve from canada on
28th May 2009
I have had this phone for a week and just love it! I traded in my
iphone for this phone and i feel I have made an exellent choice!
Rating:
Reviewed by rob from england on
19th May 2009
have only had the phone two weeks but on the third phone first one
lasted two days started doing weard things and when dialing numbers
not appearing on screen second one lasted one day same problem numbers
not appearing when pressed phone rubbish would not have another
blackberry Rating:
Reviewed by Francisco Modesto from Brazil
on 16th May 2009
stylish phone but too complicated when you have to to find anything
in it. also cam is very poor. i´m still getting previous owner
emails which i cant find how to cancel. But in generaly not as bad
as people think. Rating:
Reviewed by tim from uk on 6th
May 2009
nothing but problems from day one the first one kept coming up with
a java script message replaced with another it lasted one day and
the screen went off given another which keeps switching itself off
i,m being sent another battery to try although the phone shows fully
charged i bought it for business use and have totally lost confidence
in it there isnt a star rating low enough for this phone Rating:
Reviewed by Pam from UK on 5th
May 2009
I am currently on my 3rd phone and returning it for a different
brand of phone. I've had nothing but problems since the day I got
one (Dec 08) - pathetic battery life of less than one day on 1st
phone, loose battery cover that lost connection on 2nd phone, crashing
2 or 3 times a day which means taking the battery out, waiting 20
mins and replacing on 3rd phone, missed calls that never registered
in the first place. Love the QWERTY keypad but that's about all.
I definitely do NOT recommend this phone and will in all likelihood
never use a Blackberry again. So disappointed! Rating:
Reviewed by aes from Canada on
26th Mar 2009
I hate this phone. I upgraded from the 8100 Pearl last November
and have had it for 5 months. The design is not very robust, one
of the external side buttons no longer works. I find that I type
faster than it can think and it hangs up on me and types gobbeldegook
instead of catching up. Some of the external notifications have
mysteriously quit working even though they are set to work. What
is with not being able to edit the custom dictionary? My fast typing
makes it learn wrong words which I could then manually delete on
my 8100. I also don't like the brickbreaker graphics anymore. ;)
I would like to try the iphone but I am too addicted to blackberry
messenger, and I would like to have a phone that fits in an evening
bag, so I called my provider and they are graciously switching me
to a Pearl 8120. Rating:
Reviewed by Greg from UK on 9th
Mar 2009
I've had this phone for about a month now. When it is working it
is a good phone, but I have had lots of problems with it. Essentially
it is supposed to be a phone, but I find that it doesnt always accept
incoming calls and I end up getting a text message saying that I've
missed a call - It shows that it has reception and is on so dont
knwo what is going on there. Also, if I leave it by my dab radio
overnight it crashses (like someone has already described below)
so you need to reset it by taking out the battery - Its happens
so often but organe say there is nothing wrong with my handset WTF
? If you're thinking about getting it then don't - I really regret
it. Rating:
Reviewed by Phil A from UK on
4th Mar 2009
I prefer flip phones, and needed a Smart Phone for work, so this
was the only choice on the market, so here are my thoughts. For
such a recent phone, and being a BlackBerry, it's surprising that
it doesn't have 3G or GPS - the EDGE connection is OK, but not brilliant.
The camera is not great, although the review information at 1.3megapixel
is wrong, it's 2. The flash is acceptable, but not great. Once you
get used to SureType it's pretty nice, although I do have to switch
between MultiTap and it on occasions. I can't fault the phone, it
does everything I need and does it quite well. [Editor's reply:
Thanks for the review, Phil. You are right about the camera, and
we've corrected the spec above.] Rating:
Reviewed by Terry Barr from USA on
24th Feb 2009
I HAVE IT AND SO FAR I DON'T LIKE IT AT ALL. Rating:
Reviewed by Grace from Pompano Bch,
FL on 22nd Feb 2009
I've had my BlackBry for about 2wks now and the 1st thing I learned
is it isn't scratch resistant, so be careful:( Otherwise, it's an
awesome phone. I mainly use it for the appiontment book which doesn't
seem like much @ 1st glance but once I get in there & play around
with it I find that I can set the calendar time to 11pm. Really
Great Feature!!!, especially if your day typically end @ 5pm :) Rating:
Reviewed by Mike from Canada on
7th Feb 2009
I liked it! 5 stars ell yeah. Like I would always say cos im a batty
from canada... the guy below me is weiiiiirddddddddd Rating:
Reviewed by Francisco from UK on
26th Jan 2009
Maybe I was a little pre-mature in my praise. I woke up this morning
and the phone was off (despite the fact that I had not switched
it off). It did not respond to the on/off button being pressed.
I had to take the battery out and replace it to get it to come on.
By the way, I still had 50% charge. Rating:
Reviewed by mike from Canada on
24th Jan 2009
I got this phone 4 days ago and so far i really like it. I had the
sony ericsson w810i which was a phenomenal phone and i was nervous
to change because of that but i really like this 1. features are
great, i like the size of the screen. applications im still not
sure as i havent try all of it but so far its fine i like getting
my emails and using msn on it i didnt have that before. this is
my first blackberry and so far i like it. I placed 4 stars because
im not sure of the quality of some pieces liek the side buttons
the battery door or even the keyboard but time will tell! awesome
look, light, easy to use, i really like it!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Francisco from UK on
24th Jan 2009
I've had my 8220 for a couple of days now. I chose it from the lack
of reports of problems with it (quite unusual in the current mobile
market) on this and other sites. I know it's only been in the market
since September but it's still good going. It takes a little getting
used to (especially switching from a traditional mobile to one where
the letters are in QWERTY format and there are 2 per key) but it's
worth the effort. Another thing that is different to other phones
I've used is that you cannot, from what I've seen, adjust the frequency
of e-mail checking -- it just does it, in the background, at the
default interval. Other phones I've had allow you to choose the
automatic check interval and/or check e-mails manually. As such
I would recommend anyone who gets this phone get an unlimited usage
bundle for internet if they intend to use that feature. The screens
are crisp, clear and bright. The interface is fast (except when
trying to pick tones for various things because it insists on finding
the file and playing a bit before allowing you to move on if you
stop scrolling). Programming it to pick up my e-mail was surprisingly
easy to set up. The scroll wheel responds well. The phone is generally
well built and the metal feels solid. The exception is the battery
cover, which is plastic. You can set it so that you have to put
a password in every time you lock the phone (a very useful security
feature). The battery life seems to be good but I'll have to wait
a few days to really test that. It takes standard 3.5mm earphones
so you are not tied to the default ones (I've yet to try those).
I've mentioned a couple of things on the downside above. One of
the irritating things is that the default configuration doesn't
have text messages on the first screen. You can move things around
but I just simply reprogrammed one of the convenience keys to access
the SMS part of the phone (after all I only use the phone camera
on holidays). Overall a good phone with a couple of minor irritants. Rating:
Reviewed by favourson from nigeria on
23rd Jan 2009
i think amongst all other blackberry famly, this very product BlackBerry
8220, is the quetest thing thats happened to the househld of te
berrys. its a package i personally and oficially recomend for any
business especially in nigeria my country if you're ready to beat
the recent traffic. its such an adorable baby of an expectant successful
entity. ohh... my quetest adorable BlackBerry 8220 i love to see
you always and i so much wish i could have you to myself. Rating:
Reviewed by th bigg boss from london
on 16th Jan 2009
this phone is soo good battery life is wicked and so is the features
it is the beez neezs Rating:
Reviewed by Lucy Pendfield from new
york on 12th Jan 2009
this fone id so totally fetch i adore it its so easy to use. BUY
IT!! loool bubbbiiii xxx Rating:
Reviewed by joyce taylor from england
on 11th Dec 2008
nice fone Rating:
Reviewed by Guess Who from Québec, Canada
on 5th Dec 2008
hi i just purchased this phone and i love it, all my freinds say
it ugly, however love it, easy to use, love the browser really fast,
but i guess it depends on the wireless provider, love the games,
video & music player, ringtone are sucky but overall a great phone,
camera works amazing like when the flash knows when to come on &
not, and there is so many options to explore, the back piece is
a lil cheap but the phone it self is great, clear reception also. Rating:
Reviewed by Petar G. from Chicago IL
on 11th Nov 2008
I retain my four star rating from previously HOWEVER, be advised
that the screen is NOT scratch resistable and will get scratched
easily. Took me about 2 weeks to find that out. Rating:
Reviewed by John from uk on 8th
Nov 2008
This is a good phone, the keyboard is great, which I am using to
type this, without any problems. Also the screen is bright and the
Os is really easy to use, there are many good options. On the badSide
I would say that the internet browser is abit slow, but if you disable
java script then it runs abit quicker. The other great thing is
the media player, and the roxio software that comes with it, it
allows you to convert videos to view landscape on your phone to
a really nice quality, and works with open source music as well
as itunes Feels abit plastic and light, but very comfortable to
use, some people say they thought it was to big, but really its
a good size, and the low weight makes it sit in your pocket you
won't know its there. The sure type system is great. I like it,
I think its a keeper. Rating:
Reviewed by Ben H. from UK on
5th Nov 2008
Just got it (as a replacement for my lost Curve) and I'm sending
it back! it I like the interface, which is just like the Bold, but
it feels SO cheap, when it's opened, it looks silly and the menus
are too wordy/texty just like normal BB's even though this is trying
to look like a phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Petar G. from USA on
1st Nov 2008
After being a blackberry pearl user for so long I decided to switch
and I stopped myself on this because the curve was too much money.
This phone is beautiful to look it and very much the same as any
other blackberry. The large screen is awesome for browsing the the
familiar keyboard is really easy to type with because it is so large.
One nice thing about this phone is that when u get an sms,,the front
dispay shows u the sender and first line of the text, immediately
followed by the whole thing. If you get a text and u flip it open
immediately, the message will open and u don't need to scroll to
it. Another nice feature is that, you can be in the middle of texting
or browsing and if u close the flip, the phone does not stop it's
action. All the other features on the phone are typical blackberry
ones. On the down side, the battery life isn't so good, I'm not
sure what it is advertised to be but I find that heavy use (texting
and browsing) can drain the battery in one full day. If you use
your blackberry for nonstop messaging this might not be for you.
Also, the browser is somewhat slow. Overall, I love my pearl flip
and wouldn't trade it, at least not for the time being. Rating:
Reviewed by Alex Newman from United
Kingdom on 4th Oct 2008
At first glance... It looks terribly like those old Panasonic Megapixel
phones... And the only further similarity it has is it's plastic
feeling. But do not judge it yet! It is brilliant! The huge display
and the gigantic keypad make it extremely easy to navigate! The
"pearl" is snuggled into a very comfortable fitting instead of springing
out the middle of the phone, which I always hated with the liked
of the 81xx, 83xx and 88xx blackberrys. My only concern is the lack
of 3g. You would think that after releasing the Bold, RIM wouldn't
go back to it's "GPS or wifi" nonsense, and include what is now
the minimum standards... So yes, without 3g this phone is still
quite slow on the web browsing... The new OS and being able to navigate
a "mouse" while surfing make up for this though! 8/10 Rating:
