RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120

Hotspot at home is a great service, but it's been plagued with uninspired or buggy phones like the Nokia 6086, the Samsung T409 and the Samsung Katalyst. Ideally, should let you make unlimited calls for $10 per month from wherever you can get a Wi-Fi signal, using your T-Mobile phone number.

On our tests, though, non-Blacberry phones worked reliably only with a T-Mobile-supplied router, which is fine for making calls from home but not as much fun when you're out of the house. (Of course, all the phones use T-Mobile's cellular network when they can't get Wi-Fi.)

We're happy to say that the 8120 worked equally well with Apple, T-Mobile and Zyxel routers, adeptly handing off calls back and forth from T-Mobile's cell network without dropping them. Sound quality was very good on both Wi-Fi and cellular calls.

Like other recent BlackBerrys, the 8120 sounds loud and clear both coming and going, through the ear piece, the speaker phone, and headsets.

In noisy situations, the 8120's did transmit background noise, but we could hear the caller's voice over it well enough.

The 8120 has speaker independent voice dialing and works with both mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets. We got more than 8 hours of talk time in GSM mode, with Wi-Fi on. We've seen better, but this will be fine for most people.

The T-Mobile version of the 8120 may add Wi-Fi calling, but it's no larger than AT&T's Wi-Fi less pearl, and it's about the same size as the original pearl at 3.2 ounces and 4.2 by 2 by 0.6 inches (HWD). It features the same "hybrid" keyboard of somewhat slippery keys with just two letters on each.

All Pearls use predictive text software, and the Sure Type algorithm for guessing words while you type seems to have been improved with this model. On the sides of the phone are camera, volume, and push to talk buttons. Smack under the bright, sharp 2.2 inch, 240 by 260 pixel screen is the signature Pearl trackball.