Review: BlackBerry Pearl 8220

Mobile Phones UK

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for reviews of new phones, and for news of great offers!
Name:
Email:

RSS feed

Quick searches:
Contract Mobile Phones
Pay As you Go
Sim Free Mobile Phones
Mobile Broadband
Ringtones
Bluetooth Headsets
Handsfree Car Kits
Recycle Mobile Phones

Mobile broadband
3 Mobile broadband
3 Mobile WiFi (MiFi)
O2 broadband
Orange broadband
T-Mobile broadband
Vodafone broadband

Apple phones
Apple iPhone 3G
Apple iPhone 3G S

BlackBerry phones
BlackBerry 8110
BlackBerry 8120
BlackBerry 8520
BlackBerry 8900
BlackBerry Bold
BlackBerry Bold 9700
BlackBerry Storm
BlackBerry Storm2

HTC phones
HTC HD2
HTC Hero / T-Mobile G2 Touch
HTC Magic
HTC Touch Diamond 2
HTC Touch HD
HTC Touch 2
HTC Touch 3G

LG phones
LG Chocolate BL40
LG Cookie
LG Crystal
LG GT505
LG GW520
LG KS360
LG Pop
LG Renoir
LG Viewty
LG Viewty Smart

Nokia phones
Nokia E51
Nokia E63
Nokia E71
Nokia E75
Nokia N79
Nokia N85
Nokia N86
Nokia N95
Nokia N96
Nokia N97
Nokia N97 Mini
Nokia N900
Nokia X6
Nokia 2630
Nokia 3600 Slide
Nokia 5130 XpressMusic
Nokia 5230
Nokia 5310 XpressMusic
Nokia 5530 XpressMusic
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
Nokia 6300
Nokia 6301
Nokia 6303 Classic
Nokia 6500 Classic
Nokia 6600 Fold
Nokia 6600 Slide
Nokia 6600i Slide
Nokia 6700 Classic
Nokia 8800 Arte
Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte

Palm phones
Palm Pre

Samsung phones
Samsung Armani
Samsung G600
Samsung G800
Samsung Genio Touch
Samsung i8510
Samsung i8910 HD
Samsung Jet
Samsung L770
Samsung Marcel S3500
Samsung Omnia
Samsung Omnia 2
Samsung Omnia Lite
Samsung Omnia Pro
Samsung Pixon
Samsung Pixon 12
Samsung S5600
Samsung S7220
Samsung S7330
Samsung Tocco
Samsung Tocco Lite
Samsung Tocco Ultra
Samsung U900 Soul

Sony Ericsson phones
Sony Ericsson Aino
Sony Ericsson C510
Sony Ericsson C902
Sony Ericsson C903
Sony Ericsson C905
Sony Ericsson G502
Sony Ericsson K330
Sony Ericsson Satio
Sony Ericsson W302
Sony Ericsson W350i
Sony Ericsson W395
Sony Ericsson W595
Sony Ericsson W705
Sony Ericsson W715
Sony Ericsson W902
Sony Ericsson W910i
Sony Ericsson W995
Sony Ericsson Yari

T-Mobile phones
T-Mobile G1

Mobile phone guides:
Mobile phone reviews
Unlock codes
SAR values
SIM only
History of Cell Phones

More stuff:
Camcorders
Digital Cameras
LCD TV's
MP3 Players
Plasma TV's
SatNav Systems

 
 

BlackBerry 8220 Review

Phone rating:

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
  • Built-in speakerphone
  • Voice dialling
  • Voice memo recorder
  • MP3 ringtones & LED call indicator
  • Personal organiser functions
  • Vibration alert
  • Internet: Web browser, GPRS, EDGE
  • 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

Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

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!

Your name:
Your country:

Write your review:

Phone rating:

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:

BlackBerry 8220 links

BlackBerry 8220 Flip
 

Best Deals

 

© 2001 - 2010, Landmark Internet Ltd - disclaimer