Bell and TELUS both recently released the BlackBerry Pearl 8230 Flip. This is RIM’s first entrance into the flip phone market and made it look somewhat classy.
This comes in Pink and Black and certainly looks glossy. The Flip has 2 displays: Internal screen size is 2.4 inches (240 x 320 pixels), External screen is: 1.6 inches (128 x 160 pixels). On the external display it shows the date, time, message indicator, signall and battery strength. A nice feature on the external screen is when you receive messages, a portion of the message appears with what number. In addition, on the front of the device is the 2 megapixel camera with flash.
The cameral has video capabities and it’s nnice to see that RIM put in a 2 megapixel in there (same as the iPhone). The quality is ok and did not xcome up to pixelated. The camera also has a built in flash.
This is such an easy device to learn how to use and by far one of its greatest assets is the web experience. Viewing webpages on this is a joy as it renders pages as if it would on your computer. The actual speed is great (we tested this in both the Bell and TELUS version). On the Bell 8230 it comes loaded with NHL content so you can keep up to date on all your scores, highlights etc…
As with any BlackBerry Pearl these days it has SureType, this makes it easier for you to type your messages. We demostrated this in our review. Generally, the Flip is good entry device, especially if you want a BlackBerry. You can have al your e-mails, IM, Media features (Camera, Video, Music), this has a standard 3.5 mm earphone jack and a MicroSD slot for you to put in up to 16GB…. overal weight is 102 grams.
Check out the review here:
Pricing is as follow for the 8230:
TELUS:
3-year contract: $49.99-3 year with voice and data
2-year contract: $299.99
1- year contract: $399.99
No contract: $449.99
Bell:
Outright: $499.95
1-year: $449.95
2-year: $349.95
3-year: $29.95
