BlackBerry Flip 8220

The lustrous and super stylish Pearl series is back with another installment after the Blackberry Pearl 8120. The Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220 is another one of RIM’s deviations from the typical, an indication of the changing times at the company, if you will. It wasn’t too long ago with the introduction of the Bold, that RIM started marketing their BlackBerrys as media centric handsets for the business person. To sum it up, RIM is leaving no stone unturned to reach out to, not just the CXO community but to the general masses at large.

Form Factor
As the name indicates, the 8220 Flip is a clamshell handset. It employs the black glossy finish of a traditional BlackBerry with silver lining. On the outside is a small 1.2-inch TFT color LCD that sports a 128 x 160 pixel resolution. Mails and messages can be read off this display by accessing the keys located on the side of the device that are also used for volume and Zoom control of the 2 megapixel camera (LED flash) that’s located just above the external display. A dedicated camera key is located just below these. The microUSB and 3.5mm earphone socket are located on the others side. The Flip is also thankfully fitted with a Hot Swap microSD card slot.

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On the inside is a large and very clear 2.6-inch TFT LCD display with a 240 x 320 pixel 65k color resolution. It’s very easily visible in all lighting conditions, which is great. The Flip is also equipped with a half QWERTY Sure-Type keypad and the Pearl trackball for smooth navigation. The SureType is Blackberry’s new avatar of having QWERTY letters share the same key. But we found that it can get a bit annoying at times when you’re typing emails, and when you want to add specific words, but you can get used to it, especially if you’re switching from an older version to this.

The Flip 8220 exudes a refined, well designed form factor with a hint of femininity. Not that that’s been stated officially by the company, but we do feel that this BlackBerry would be something the ladies would really like more than the gents. But that’s just our opinion.

Features and PerformanceInterface

There’s nothing new about the interface, if you’re already familiar with that of the Bold or the Storm. It’s just a little smaller considering the screen size and shape. Personally we’re big fans of the new OS (v4.6) and UI. It’s smooth and fluid with trackball navigation. The external display is convenient enough to get a gist of incoming mails so you won’t necessarily need to open up the handset to read every unimportant message that could come in.

One of the biggest issues with the BlackBerry OS is that it has no file system option wherein one can simply transfer files from the device memory onto the memory card.

Connectivity Options
RIM has really done a good job adding the Wi-Fi feature to this phone, as the Pearl series usually isn’t complete without that. During testing we found Wi-Fi to be extremely superior to the other BlackBerrys that we have used in the past. The Flip is not 3G compatible but GPRS and EDGE are available for your regular connectivity and the presence of a secondary browser for a WAP profiles is always handy. Using BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) from your service provider is definitely a faster way though.

Other connectivity also includes Bluetooth with an A2DP profile for a truly great audio experience, provided you get yourself a good Stereo Bluetooth headset. USB 2.0 for PC connectivity works like a charm and is quick when it comes to data transfer.
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Internet
We’re just probably too used to seeing the Blackberry with a wide screen format these days, but the Pearl Flip really does make you wish there was enough space to view all that there is on the web page. Of course, you have an option of zooming in and out to view each section of the page, but it still seems like something is missing. We felt it with the original Pearl 8120 and the Flip was no different. Once again we noticed that zooming in to thumbnail images reproduces them in a very blurry and pixilated format.

All said and done about the screen size, technology wise we think the browser was faster on the BIS and fastest on Wi-Fi of course. Another major improvement, which we noticed was the browser’s capacity to render web pages at blazing speeds. We figure that’s where the zoom in and zoom out features come in real handy as the full website gets loaded in a compressed form. It’s much like Opera mini, but in many ways the browser is really built for speed and it’s better than that on Pearl 8120 for sure.

E-mail
The BlackBerry Pearl Flip continues the legacy of BlackBerry’s exceptional email functionality supporting both Internet and Enterprise email. The emailing technicalities don’t change as everything remains the same and if you have used the Pearl, get ready to get some refreshing new features like better word prediction on SureType while typing.

The phone does what it’s supposed to primarily do and that is, to sync with your company’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). It also supports Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise and delivers corporate e-mail real-time. Even on the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), you can set up to 10 personal/business POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail accounts. We had no problem setting up our review piece to access and retrieve personal Gmail and corporate email as it simply required logging in with the ID and password.

Business and Not So Business Applications
The Flip also comes loaded with a host of very useful applications. To start off, it has DataViz Documents to Go, which flaunts a full compatibility to the Microsoft Office Suite. The DataViz suite included in the phone consists of Word to Go, Sheet to Go, and Slideshow to Go. No on-board PDF reader again though. Unfortunately you can’t create new documents. If you do need to create a new document itself, then you will need to purchase the Premium Version, which I guess costs around $60-$70 that’s around Rs. 3000 – Rs.3300. However, now that is really not a bad price to pay considering that you will keep receiving updates and features like PDF reader and Go Viewer, for viewing images.
On the plus side you can edit existing documents that are either downloaded nor on the card or device as well as those that come through mail. PDF files can also be viewed only if they come via email.

The Flip also rolls with a couple of IM clients - a very handy Facebook application. Of course, you can also download Google maps, as Blackberry does not have any of their BlackBerry Maps for India. But even with Google maps, the only good the handset will do, is show you your position, and nothing else. The Handset has no internal GPS radio so you’ll need to connect an external device for navigation. It’s really quite odd, we don’t really understand why RIM can do just one thing at a time. The Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220 has Wi-Fi but no GPS radio and the Storm has GPS and no Wi-Fi. Then again it could be that each handset is directed at a specific segment.

Media_Audio_

The Flip’s audio capabilities are really very good. With great sound quality from the very comfortable stereo handsfree provided, you won’t necessarily require the use of another headset. The decibel level is high and the quality is way better than just average. EQ presets are available for adjusting the sound to your personal preference. We would have preferred a customizable setting as well, but it’s no problem.

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Video
This was probably THE most annoying aspect of the device. A preloaded video that we could not seem to access via PC played well enough and optimized the playback for the whole screen in landscape mode. The problem was that all the videos that were converted for testing in all the acceptable formats and resolutions refused to play in landscape so we had to settle for a tiny space in the middle of the large display. Another issue was with the larger files. Since it supports DivX and XviD formats you can copy paste files directly to the card and play. However, every time we tried it would play the file for about 10 seconds and restart the handset for some inane reason. We’re baffled as to how the preloaded video played on the whole screen and none of our regular test videos.

Camera
The 2 megapixel camera is quite standard. It has limited settings that include white balance and a few color effects. Once again, like with the video player, the camera also doesn’t utilize the handset’s full screen. You’re left with trying to fit subjects into a tiny frame.

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Daylight**

Images look pretty good on the device itself. It’s a whole other story though when viewing them on the PC in native resolution. Thankfully though, the image quality was not too bad with enough lighting present.

Low Light with Flash

The camera also manages to capture moving objects fairly well when you’re at a distance but not when you’re closer to the subject.

Battery and Final Verdict
These days all the playing around with one’s handset takes up a lot of battery. RIM’s website states 4 hours of talk time for their Flip 8220 and our tests pretty much clocked in that same figure. The Flip gave us almost two and a half days of usage. This included a few calls, messages and emails, audio, chatting and little camera thrown in. Talk time by itself clocked in at about 4 hours and 5 minutes (give or take a few minutes) and this was something that we were obviously very impressed with. With Wi-Fi running and a little surfing, the battery was running for over 2 and a half hours easy and there was still enough juice for plenty of conversation, though by the end of it the handset had become a little hot. Nevertheless, it’s a very very rare occasion that we come across any device, especially a mobile, that can actually deliver the battery life the company claims and even fewer that manage to surpass that.

The Bottom Line
As a BlackBerry device, the Flip is a consistent performer and also manages to fare a little better than previous models. The battery life is superb and so is the audio player. It loses points with the absence of internal GPS and the very annoying video player. The 2MP camera is neither here nor there. A price tag of Rs. 19,990***** does still make it a really good BlackBerry mobile but leaves something to be desired as a multimedia device. If you can do with the video capabilities and GPS then this is definitely worth a consideration.

*With Vodafone or Airtel, via their services, the flip is priced at Rs. 21, 990

Specs

| **BlackBerry Flip 8220
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