The most significant difference with the Pearl compared to other BlackBerry devices though is its size. It measures in at 107 by 50 by 14.5mm and weighs a mere 89 grams, making it one of the lightest PDAs on today’s market.

From a physical perspective, everything about the Pearl oozes quality from the ultra sturdy release buttons for the back tray to the smooth rounded keypad that fits with the contour of the phone — we really wish more phones were designed to look this way. Even the Pearl’s added accessories speak style — a lamb skin tote, a smooth Bluetooth headset or a docking station that puts your phone rightfully on display.

You will want to make sure your nails are perfectly manicured before using this phone though, as all eyes will be on you once the “pearl” comes out. RIM has done away with its standard track wheel at the side and replaced it instead with an addictive luminescent ball that resembles a pearl. It navigates in all directions and is much more responsive than previous BlackBerry tracking devices.

One of the most significant of these is a trackball. Instead of using a D-pad like virtually every over handheld and smartphone, you move around and select things on the Pearl’s screen with a small roller-ball. RIM’s implementation of this is well done, and I found it very easy to use. I’m not sure it’s superior to a D-pad, but it’s at least as good, and it’s definitely better than just a scroll-wheel..

Aside from its keyboard, the Pearl is well supplied with additional buttons. On both the left and right side are what’s called “Convenience Keys.” By default the one on the left side lets you do voice dialing, while the one on the right opens the camera application, but these can be changed to whatever applications you prefer.

BlackBerry PearlAlso on the right side are a pair of buttons to increase or decrease call volume.

On the left side of the Pearl is the headphone socket and the device’s mini-USB port. I’m not happy about the location of either one of these. If you’re carrying this smartphone in your pocket with the headphones plugged in, you really want the socket to be on the top of the device. And the fact that the Pearl’s mini-USB port is on its side means that no company is going to be able to create a cradle for it.

Overall, the Pearl lives up to most of it expectations — we recorded a talk time way above the 210 minutes suggested by the vendor, and found navigation and other key areas of functionality up to scratch in comparison to similar devices on the market. It may not be quite “stealth” yet in terms of operation (Stealth was BlackBerry’s previous name for this phone overseas) but it is RIM’s first foray into the consumer space, and based on the popularity of its business-type models with consumers already, we think BlackBerry could have market, with this little Pearl, wrapped up in a clamshell.