RIM Blackberry Curve 8320

Voice-over-Wi-Fi feature makes an excellent phone even better.

First came the trim, consumer-friendly BlackBerry Curve 8300. Then came the Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry 8820. Now there's the BlackBerry Curve 8320, an impressive PDA phone that combines the best of the previous two models and has an added bonus: While the 8820 supports Wi-Fi for data only, the 8320 lets you make voice calls over wireless 802.11b/g networks too.

Physically, the 8320 is the same as the original BlackBerry Curve, though it comes in two different colors, titanium gray or gold. (Unlike the original Curve, which is available from AT&T, the 8320 is available from T-Mobile for $300 with a two-year contract.) It features the same thin and light design, a small but very usable QWERTY keyboard, a 2-megapixel camera, and a gorgeous 320-by-240 display.

The biggest news is under the hood: In addition to support for GSM voice and EDGE data networks, the 8320 adds Wi-Fi with UMA--a technology that allows you to make voice calls over Wi-Fi. The phone works with T-Mobile's $20-per-month (on top of your voice and data plan) HotSpot@Home service, which permits unlimited calls over Wi-Fi networks. While the service is a bit pricey, it could potentially lower your costs by saving your cellular voice minutes.

I tested the phone and the service using one of T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home wireless routers, manufactured by Linksys. Using the 8320's on-screen wizard to connect to a wireless network is a breeze; within just a few minutes, I was surfing the Web and downloading files with ease. The 8320 will connect to any 802.11b/g wireless network, so you can use your existing router--or even a public hotspot--to make calls and surf the Web.

T-Mobile says its router (priced at $50, but free after a rebate) is designed to conserve your phone's battery life and to prioritize voice traffic, which should--in theory--result in better call quality. However, I noticed no significant improvement when using the T-Mobile router instead of my own Linksys wireless router. Call quality over both wireless networks was the same: decent. Voices were garbled sometimes, and I noticed an echo, just as I often did when using the phone over a regular cellular connection. Being able to make calls over Wi-Fi is a great option in areas (like my house) where cellular service is spotty, though. (We could not lab-test the phone's talk-time battery life in time for this article's initial posting, but we will update this review when we have the results--and the PCW Rating for this phone.)

For both voice calls and data usage, the 8320 will default to your Wi-Fi network when it is available. Should you leave the network's range, the phone is supposed to switch your call seamlessly to the GSM network (and vice versa)--but in my tests, the experience wasn't as smooth. When I went out of range of my Wi-Fi network, my calls occasionally dropped, even though cellular service was available.

Those glitches aside, the 8320 is an excellent phone. Like all BlackBerry units, it is a stellar e-mail device, with support for ten accounts. The included camera (which sports a flash and a 3X digital zoom) took adequate but--like many camera phones--occasionally blurry snapshots. Among other multimedia features is an audio and video player that supports most formats (including MP3, AAC, WMA, WMV, and MP4). The player's interface is basic, but audio quality is good and video looks great. The device also has a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card slot (which is inconveniently located under the phone's battery, unfortunately).

While voice quality over Wi-Fi was only passable, the capability itself is still impressive. And combined with the 8320's sleek design and awesome e-mail handling, it makes for a winning package.

--Liane Cassavoy

RIM Blackberry Pearl 8120

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is the first in RIM's line of petite handsets to support Wi-Fi for speedy Web surfing and e-mail management.

Research in Motion's latest BlackBerry Pearl handset, the 8120, sets a new cell-phone standard for delivering business-class e-mail and great multimedia in a small, sleek package.

It's the first Pearl with Wi-Fi support, which speeds up Web surfing and e-mail access. The Pearl 8120 improves on its predecessors with outstanding software for multimedia management and a better camera that captures video and stills.

The 8120 makes its debut today--but only to AT&T Wireless corporate customers (via its enterprise channels and its Premier business portal). Pricing for these customers is $200 with a two-year contract, or $350 unlocked.

I spent a couple of days testing this svelte candy-bar-style handset and came away highly impressed. Voice calls sounded loud and clear, and recipients were able to hear me even while I was walking along a busy city street. In our lab tests of the phone's talk-time battery life, the 8120 lasted 9 hours, 43 minutes--enough to earn a score of Superior.

Although the 8120 doesn't support AT&T's fastest data network (HSDPA), its 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi capability certainly compensated in many locations. And its quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support means you can use it for voice calls throughout most of the world, with data coming in at roughly dial-up speed in locations where Wi-Fi isn't an option.

An Elegant Phone

Like earlier Pearls, the 8120 is petite and elegant, yet solidly crafted. It weighs in at a featherweight 3.2 ounces, and measures 4.2 inches in length, a hair less than 2 inches wide, and slightly more than half an inch thick. The glossy black casing looks classy.

The Pearl uses RIM's unique SureType keyboard, which lays out letters in QWERTY position but places two letters each on most of its 20 keys. The keypad is laid out in five columns of four keys each. The keys in the three central columns, which also contain the numerals, as on a traditional phone keypad, are colored silver; they're flanked by a single column of black keys on each side.

But unlike most non-QWERTY keypads, the Pearl doesn't make you choose between the two letters on a key (by double-tapping for the second) when typing most words: You simply type as though the letter you want were on its own key, and the device's SureType software almost always figures out what word you had in mind by the time you press the space key.

When SureType can't guess correctly--perhaps you're typing in an unusual name--you can override the incorrect choices. Doing so does take some getting used to, and it also slows you down a bit. It's admittedly not a perfect solution, but it's a lot better than other typing options I've seen on handsets that don't have QWERTY hardware keyboards, and it makes messaging and e-mail eminently feasible. (You can also opt for more traditional keypad typing in the device's preferences menu.)

The 240-by-260 display is small, yet very crisp and clear. On-screen colors dimmed in bright sunlight, but the content was always readable. Navigation was straightforward using the swiveling Pearl trackball, the menu button, and the back buttons on either side of it. The device has volume controls and a camera button on the right side; on the left is a port for charging and USB connections, and a rubbery Push-to-Talk button.

Easy Setup

BlackBerrys are known for their excellent support of corporate e-mail platforms, and the Pearl 8120 is no exception. It took only a few minutes to sync my Lotus Notes address book, calendar, and to-do list via the included USB cable. Users with access to push mail via a BlackBerry Enterprise Server will be up and running in a few moments more; otherwise, the 8120 can set up accounts with popular Web, POP3, and IMAP servers very quickly.

The 8120 does an admirable job with all routines for enabling its features--I found its Wi-Fi setup, for instance, a snap, simple and straightforward. However, I had mixed feelings about RIM's super-minimalist Web browser. It strips out almost all formatting but headlines, text, and a few images. I loved that it appears to get rid of ads; and the pages came in superfast and were easy to read. But without layout and images, all of the sites started to look the same.

The 8120's two-megapixel still camera took pretty good photos, especially in low-light situations where its built-in flash really made a difference. And the device's software made it easy to crop a portrait for use as a thumbnail that appears on the screen when that person calls.

The camera's 5X digital zoom was not impressive, though, and while this is the first Pearl to capture video, the clip I shot was rather grainy when I played it back on my PC.

However, the 8120's other multimedia features were outstanding, especially for a handset this small. My favorite feature wasn't even on the handset: The bundled Media Manager application went well beyond the usual PC-to-handset copying capabilities of these types of programs. It figured out which tunes were DRM-free and therefore worth transferring (most other apps can't tell the difference, and I've wound up with many unplayable files).

Media Manager also offered to optimize the media I selected before transferring the files to the handset. I was impressed, for example, by its ability to reformat a video clip that I'd had trouble playing on a portable media player a week earlier.

The quality of the audio was first-rate, both through the device's own stereo speakers and the bundled earbud headset. And while I wouldn't want to watch a full-length film on such a small screen, the converted video clip looked surprisingly good.

Given its chic design and multimedia chops, it's a pity that AT&T has chosen to make the Pearl 8120 available only to corporate buyers. But I wouldn't be surprised to see a consumer model appear soon, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Pearl to someone seeking an e-mail-friendly handset that's no slouch in the multimedia department.

--Yardena Arar

Top 10 Smart Phones 2008

Top 10 Smart Phones
Need a break from your laptop? These productivity phones offer a lot more than the ability to make calls. Here are the 10 best smart phones available today, according to PC World Test Center reviews. By Liane Cassavoy

1. RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:AT&T, OS Supported: OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 9:43,
Bottom Line: E-mail-friendly handset boasts strong multimedia features, including a camera and media player.

2. RIM BlackBerry Curve 8320
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported: OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 10:00,
Bottom Line: Voice-over-Wi-Fi feature makes an excellent phone even better.

3. T-Mobile G1
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 5:51,
Bottom Line: The G1 has great call quality and does a good job of melding hardware with the Android operating system.

4. RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8100
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported: OS:J2ME, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 8:34,
Bottom Line: This sleek cell phone adds a serviceable camera and multimedia features to BlackBerry's already terrific e-mail capabilities.

5. Apple iPhone 3G
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:AT&T, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 5:38,
Bottom Line: With a lower price, 3G radio, and GPS, this smart phone is in a class by itself.

6. RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120 (T-Mobile)
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported: OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 10:00,
Bottom Line: Sleek Pearl lets consumers use Wi-Fi to boost call quality where cell signals falter.

7. RIM BlackBerry Bold
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:AT&T, OS Supported: OS:Proprietary, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 7:56,
Bottom Line: The BlackBerry Bold almost lives up to its name with a stunning design, but its mediocre call quality and camera hold it back

8. T-Mobile Shadow
Design: Slide, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported: OS:Windows Mobile, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 10:00,
Bottom Line: With the Shadow, T-Mobile delivers a smart phone smarter than most; its tinny call quality may be a concern.

9. T-Mobile Sidekick 2008
Design: Swivel, Carrier: Carrier:T-Mobile, OS Supported: OS:DangerOS, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 8:57,
Bottom Line: A slimmer, sexier take on the Sidekick, but it's so narrowly-focused that it's only meant for kids.

10. Palm Centro
Design: Candy bar, Carrier: Carrier:Sprint, OS Supported: OS:Palm, Battery Life Average (hh:mm): 4:19,
Bottom Line: A sporty counterpart to the aging Treo gives you EvDO and the Palm OS, too.