Small and lightweight, the BlackBerry Pearl 3G feels a bit like a child's toy in my hand. It's slimmer than most BlackBerry handsets, and this has been done by sacrificing the full QWERTY keypad for a numeric keypad. Something that reminds me a little of the old (but classic) Nokia 3310. Remember how cool those were in 1999?

There seems to be a trend of late, to make mini versions of smartphones. Surprisingly enough, it's actually a slimmed-down version of the BlackBerry Bold 9700, and not just a Pearl 8100 that's been tweaked and enhanced a bit. So while I was expecting a slower experience, this little handset delivers the full punch of the 9700, just minus a few keys. Despite its deceptively small size, the Pearl 3G uses the same processor as the 9700, making it almost unbelievably fast for its small size.

The numeric pad is something that is a bit bothersome if you're like me, and you love your BlackBerry for the full QWERTY keypad, but it's easy to get used to and when you start up the phone for the first time, you're given a quick tutorial on how to fully utilise the keypad.It's also important to note that there's a trackpad (I loathe trackballs) and navigation is comfortable, with the phone sitting snugly in my hand.

While I haven't had that much hands-on time with this phone, I'm curious to see what such a small smartphone is capable of. And as for whether this numeric keypad will be a deal-breaker for me....only a few more days of incessant BBMing, tweeting and e-mailing will tell.