Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14761 in Cell Phone Accessories
• Color: Black
• Brand: BlackBerry
• Model: 8220 Flip
• Released on: 2008-10-13

Features

• Blackberry's first clamshell smartphone with dual LCD screens and SureType hybrid numeric/QWERTY keypad
• Wi-Fi capabilities for T-Mobile's Hotspot @Home service for unlimited nationwide calls; compatible with T-Mobile's MyFaves service
• Connect with up to 10 personal and work email accounts; 2.0-megapixel camera; Bluetooth stereo music; MicroSD memory expansion up to 16 GB
• Up to 4 hours of talk time, up to 360 hours (15 days) of standby time
• Includes: handset, battery, charger, wired stereo handsfree headset, USB cable, Blackberry Desktop software, 256 MB MicroSD memory card, quick start guide

Amazon.com Product Description
Enjoy all the communication and connectivity features you've come to expect from a Blackberry phone--including email served up by the BlackBerry Internet Service and a full menu of messaging options (SMS, MMS, and IM)--in a new clamshell form factor. The Blackberry Flip from T-Mobile also brings support for T-Mobile's Hotspot @Home service, which enables you to make calls from the GSM cellular network and then seamlessly transfer them to your Wi-Fi network.

Quickly and accurately type messages thanks to the SureType enhanced predictive text typing technology.

The Blackberry Flip features the SureType hybrid alpha-numeric/QWERTY keyboard found on Blackberry Pearl phones, which makes typing messages and dialing numbers fast and easy. It also includes a 2-megapixel camera with video capture, Bluetooth for handsfree devices and stereo music streaming, microSD memory expansion (up to 16 GB), EDGE data connectivity, voice-activated dialing, and up to 4 hours of talk time.

T-Mobile Service
With T-Mobile HotSpot @Home service, you'll effortlessly transition between Wi-Fi calling and T-Mobile's wireless network while you talk. You can get unlimited nationwide calls over Wi-Fi--at home via your wireless router or at any U.S. T-Mobile HotSpot. You can also use the HotSpot @Home service via most open, or unsecured, wireless routers, as well as any secured wireless router for which you have access to the password from the owner. This phone is compatible with the 802.11b/g Wi-Fi standard as well as with Wi-Fi security protocols including WEP ,WPA and WPA2. Whenever you're not using a Wi-Fi network, this phone works just like a regular mobile phone, using your Whenever Minutes under your T-Mobile voice plan.

Additionally, this mobile phone operates on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 networks and can handle high-speed data connectivity via T-Mobile's EDGE network (which stands for "Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution"). This high-speed, mobile data and Internet access technology is fast enough to support a wide range of advanced data services (with average data speeds between 75-135Kbps), including full picture and video messaging, high-speed color Internet access, and email on the go.

This phone also includes compatibility with T-Mobile's myFaves service, which allows you to call up to five of your most common contacts--on any network, even landlines--without using any of your minutes. Learn more about myFaves from T-Mobile.

Download cool new games, HiFi Ringers (real songs by today's hottest artists), MegaTones (instrumental versions of songs), and wallpapers quickly, as well as stay connected via the Web, instant messaging, and email.

Phone Features
The BlackBerry Flip presents a sophisticated look with a sleek design and a chrome-finished frame surrounding its smooth, luminescent face. Weighing 3.6 ounces, the Flip has two light-sensing LCD screens--an internal 2.3-inch 65K-color screen (240 x 320-pixel resolution) and an external 65K-color screen with a 128 x 160-pixel resolution. The external LCD makes it easy to preview incoming emails, text messages and phone calls without opening the handset. It can also display currently playing music track information, and the screen darkens after a pre-assigned time-out duration. The phone has an internal 128 MB memory, which can be expanded via microSD/microSDHC memory cards up to 16 GB in size.

More than just an email companion, the Blackberry Flip also offers a media player, 2.0-megapixel camera, and Wi-Fi connectivity--compatible with T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home. See larger version.

Opening up the clamshell reveals the Blackberry Flip's unique alpha-numeric keypad, which has been brough over from Blackberry's popular Pearl models. Each button on the keypad shares two letters and the unit automatically determines which letter is the intended one based on what it predicts you are trying to spell. This unique predictive text technology, known as SureType, makes the Blackberry Flip's diminutive size possible. SureType also learns the words you use most often, further enhancing your typing speed.

With BlackBerry push technology, you don't need to retrieve your e-mail. BlackBerry devices are designed to remain on and continuously connected to the wireless network, allowing you to be discreetly notified as new e-mail arrives. Support is also built-in for viewing e-mail attachments (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, WordPerfect, and PDF formats).

You'll be able to easily access up to 10 supported personal and work email accounts, send and receive text and instant messages, and connect on popular social networking sites with friends, family and co-workers. The DataViz Documents to Go software suite is also preloaded, allowing you to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset. The BlackBerry Flip is supported on BlackBerry Internet Service, BlackBerry Unite!, BlackBerry Professional Software and BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which provides tight integration with corporate email systems.

Surf the Internet with the BlackBerry Browser, which includes a "Page View" option that displays a full web page on the screen along with a magnifying glass that allows the user to quickly and accurately point and zoom in on a specific area of the web page. It also provides quicker access to Bookmarks and History.

This phone provides Bluetooth version 2.0 wireless connectivity, and includes profiles for communication headset, handsfree car kits, audio/video remote control, and sending of vCard calendar and contact info. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones. With Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), you just say the word and the 8120 can initiate a call with anyone in your contact list. Plus, you can use VAD along with the built-in speakerphone or with a Bluetooth headset for hands-free dialing.

With an advanced media player for displaying pictures, listening to music and watching videos, the Flip is the perfect on-the-go entertainment center. Videos play smoothly on the large internal display, playlists can be managed directly on the handset, and there's an equalizer with 11 preset filters. The BlackBerry Flip also works with the new BlackBerry Media Sync application that makes it easy to sync iTunes digital music collections with the smartphone. It's compatible with a wide range of music file formats, including MP3, WMA, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ and AMR-NB as well as MPEG4, WMV, and H.263 video clips.

The external screen displays incoming calls as well as currently playing music tracks and a clock when at rest. See larger version.

The 2-megapixel camera features a 5x digital zoom and flash as well as your choice of three picture sizes and qualities and white balance settings. You can also capture video clips in two formats--normal and small for sending via MMS.

Other features include:

• Instant messaging via popular services including AOL, Yahoo!, Windows Live, Google Talk, and Blackberry Messenger
• SMS text and MMS picture/video messaging
• Support for IMAP/POP3, SMTP email
• Integrates with an existing enterprise email account
• Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g)
• Support for AES or Triple DES encryption when integrated with BlackBerry Enterprise Server
• Ringtones: polyphonic, MIDI, and MP3
• USB 2.0 connectivity
• Downloadable BlackBerry Maps application provides directions and maps while on the road.
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Bluetooth version 2.0 with the following profiles: A2DP (stereo music streaming), AVRC (remote control), HFP (hands-free car kits), HSP (communication headsets), DUN (dial-up networking), PBA (transfer contacts)

Vital Statistics
The Blackberry Flip weighs 3.6 ounces and measures 2.0 x 3.9 x 0.7 inches. Its 900 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4 hours of talk time, and up to 360 hours (15 days) of standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies as well as Wi-Fi 802.11b/g networks using the T-Mobile HotSpot @Home service.

Customer Reviews

8220 Review
I start by saying the last cell phone i owned was a motorola startac.
I was hoping someone would add a review of this phone before i bought it.
But no luck. So far i have been very impressed. the suretype takes some getting use to, and sometimes i think it would be faster to just use multi tap mode. the features are nice and the the phone is very customizeable. (changing wallpaper, icons, mving icons etc.) The web browser works very well. I have many wi-fi connections around me but they are locked systems so i changed the settings to detect mobile first. it goes much faster. it lacks a gps system. maps are available but it doesn't show you where you are. i got the browser/e-mail option and mapquest is available through that. storage is expandable to 16gb but i have only found 8gb cards. the simple word,excel,ppt are nice features. the screen does well for it's size while using those. the browser zoom in feature comes in very handy. The camera is a nice extra. Extra being the key word. I'm used to digital slr and 8mp so 2mp is just an extra to me. works well for it's size though. the roller ball seems "cheap" but i'm a guy and like things "tough". the phone comes with a 256mb card. recommend getting bigger. that's just not enough to hold music and documents. The speakers are loud. very impressive. voice dialing tries to make a good go of it. it takes some getting used to though if your not used to speaking clearly and slowly. I've had the phone for only two weeks now but sure am enjoying figuring out what all it can do. I have only been disappointed in the fact that the screen could have been made bigger given the size of the flip and space available. but i guess they needed room to show the blackberry logo and the t-mobile logo. the contact book is very impressive. you can add more information about someone than you care to know i think. over all it seems like a good smart phone with key features that you'll actually use rather than wonder why they are there. i'm still looking for a compatible e-reader for .pdb files though. hope this review helps. ps, haven't had problems with the battery either.

worth the upgrade from the pearl 8100
I upgraded to the flip from the blackberry pearl 8100, which I used for 2 years. After reading a lot of lukewarm and in my opinion, nit-picking reviews on the flip, I bought this phone anyway, and I'm pretty happy with it. I think this is an excellent phone which no one is buying. I upgraded because I had problems with the 8100 trackball, which would pick up a lot of dirt and become unresponsive. Also, I wanted to take advantage of the new blackberry features, such as wi-fi calling, great looking new OS, expandable microSD memory, and 3.5 mm headphone jack, which let me use this relatively small blackberry as my smartphone and mp3 player. Great email control, document editing, functional "leisure" features and small form factor made this the optimum choice for me above phones that were larger (Bold) or were lacking in email capabilities (iPhone). Are there things I wish were better? Sure (web browsing is slow, though better on wi-fi and for playing around it doesn't compare to the iPhone, par for the course with RIM), but overall, this phone has been underappreciated and its "lagginess" has been overstated. Finally, it looks pretty slick--I like the clock that appears on the external screen as well as the ability to preview messages without opening the phone.

I Love The Pearl Flip
This is my first Blackberry phone, so I don't have anything to compare it to except the standard cell phone that I had previously, which was a Sony Ericson (great phone also by the way).

There are some real drawbacks with this phone, such as the limited Edge Network, which definitely doesn't compete with the T-Mobile's standard network as far as coverage. I deducted one star for this, because this is an area of weakness that should be improved. That is really the one thing I wish I was different, but the benefits of this phone far outweigh that drawback. To be fair, I've talked to people with other Blackberries and this is a problem with the Blackberry network, not this particular phone.

Why I love this phone:
1) The phone is beautiful, thin and light.
2) The screen on the outside and inside show a vibrant high resolution image.
3) The phone come with a sync cable so you can easily sync you contacts, schedule as well as load music from your I-Tunes!
4) The speaker phone is phenomenal!!! The sound is CLEAR and LOUD. I don't really like to be holding a phone up to my ear all the time or have a bluetooth hanging on my ear. I don't even use my bluetooth usually in the car, but instead put the phone on speaker and slip half the phone in the visor. I work at home so I can easily speak with clients on speaker.
5) This is the only qwerty phone I know of that comes in a compact flip size.
6) Picture quality is great and I comes with a flash.
7) The phone plays stereo sound from the music library you can upload to the phone through the included headphones.
8) It's a Blackberry, so the features on the phone are impressive.
9) You can save battery life by programming the phone to go to sleep at night. I programmed mine to powers off at 11PM and back on at 6:30AM.
10) ***Now for the #1 reason I love this phone...drum roll please...WiFi network calling. For an extra $10 per month, you can have unlimited calling as long as you are in a WiFi area. I'm able to work from home and call clients all around the county though my WiFi system all day with no deduction from my minutes. The calls are crystal clear and I can take calls from my clients without ever worrying about my minutes. This represents a huge savings and convenience...absolute gold! Even the iPhone with all it's bells and whistles doesn't offer this.

I've had the phone for about two months now and it's been wonderful. I think the best thing I can say is the decision to buy this phone should be based on your lifestyle. For me, this is the best phone I could have bought.