Customer Reviews

BlackBerry Pearl 8120 Phone, Indigo (T-Mobile)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Although I didn't end up keeping this Pearl, my complaints were with T-mobile and not the 8120. It was tough to gauge the reception of the phone because, in my area at least, T-mobile was mediocre. However, as a smartphone, it was very nice; my only complaints were regarding the WiFi and the keyboard. First, I didn't sign up for UMA and hoped to use WiFi just for data when around home or a hotspot; it didn't work very well and I ended up using the EDGE connection all of the time. The SureType keyboard was pretty decent for what it was; it was certainly better than T9. It simply isn't a full keyboard and though it tries to act like one through a T9-like dictionary, I ended up choosing a Curve the next time.
PROS:
Size - for someone who would like a smartphone that is small and is willing to trade a full keyboard for it, the size is really nice
Call Quality - Voices were loud and clear
Build Quality - the phone was quite solid, though the complaint of others that the battery door feels loose is accurate; it simply didn't bother me
Battery - I'm not a "power-user" but the battery lasted for several days for me with moderate IMing and web use
Screen - bright with ambient light sensor that dims the screen when a room is dark (I should mention that the extra width of the Curve screen is nice, though)
CONS:
T-mobile service - This is the singular reason I didn't keep the 8120
Keyboard - if you're going to write a lot of emails, you may want to opt for the Curve
WiFi - If you're thinking of the 8120 since the WiFi would make up for the phone not having 3G, it really doesn't

I have been a fan of the PERL concept for a long time. I love the utility that the track ball brings and aids in the prevention of accidental calls when placed in your pocket, which is what you should be able to do with a compact cellular handset. I would love the Perl more if BlackBerry did not require the corporate data package in order for me to have unlimited MMS and SMS text messaging, which significantly increases the cost of ownership for an otherwise, simple and elegant handset that has the ideal dimensional profile for a consumer communication device.

Thats my gripe. The purpose of my review is to inform color conscience consumers, fasion orientated or not, that "Indigo" is a shade of violet and is not "Blue". The term Indigo is actually one of the more Cyan (pure blue) of the shades of violet and what T-Mobile labled as indigo, is actually more acurately described as "Purple" or "Aubergine"(eggplant).

I thought I was buying a blue phone and got a purple phone. But with the Blackberry blue silicone case, you can buy one cheap through amazon, you can own yourself a nice "BlueBerry" And its the most visually pleasing phone I've ever owned.

Clinton Born II

The pearl is one of the, if not the worst, cell phones I have owned in 10 years.

Within the first few months:
-the trackball was working inconsistently
-the red call-end/power button functioned only half the time
-the headphone jack stopped working consistently. It takes 10 seconds for the phone to recognize that a headset is plugged it, which sucks when you're in the middle of a call. Sometimes it doesn't work at all.

What a P.O.S!

The only pro about this phone is that the calendar and contacts sync with my Mac OS.

To add insult to injury, T Mobile customer service sucks 8@!!5. They only get good reviews because they sound cheerful on the phone and act like they care. God forbid you experience a real problem--half of them don't know their a55 from their elbow. Tech support takes hours. Literlly! And tech support rarely helps (because of the a55/elbow thing).

I thought I hated Cingular/AT&T customer service until I switched to T Mobile. At least at Cingular they don't put on a compassionate facade then dispense crappy service, they just cut straight to the crappy service.

I have it for almost 10 months now. It was great in first seven to eight months. I liked it. Now it is not working as it was. It has internal memory issue. I have 1 GB SDHC card on the phone and 80% of it is free. Now it does not save dialed or received calls. It can not do voice call.
I will not buy this model again :(

I was really excited to switch from my Samsung Gravity to a new Blackberry Pearl 8120 last year... until... 9 months later when the trackball no longer functioned properly. The apps were also relatively slow, and the Google Maps didn't function the way it should on any PDA.

Big No-No's:
- Trackball broke (TWICE): I had to bring in the phone, and they made me pay $9.99 for slow shipping and handling for the "new" phone to have the trackball break only 2 months later!
- It's not 3G, which I should have considered more closely when I purchased the device
- Cheaply made: parts were not sturdy and the case did nothing to protect the phone from daily wear and tear (the phone should not get immediately scuffed while sitting in a padded pocket of a purse)

I was happy with the Pearl at a time, but I can now say that I am no longer a fan, nor am I a fan of T-Mobile. Even after the trackball broke the second time they wouldn't let me get a different phone (unless I paid out of pocket), and I have been a customer since 2000!! Unreliable... and unfortunate. I bought a downgraded phone for the time being until my contract runs out... so it looks like T-Mobile has lost out on a good customer, and they traded me for a bad phone!!!

I cant be more happy with this product. It takes a little getting use to with texting, but once you got it there is no stopping you.

I've had the Blackberry 8120 for months now. Used to have a Treo. This is the most user unfriendly phone I can imagine. Absolutely NOTHING is easy to do. Not intuitive at all. I hate it but I'm not buying another one. Word to the wise - don't get this phone.