I got to see the Pearl firsthand last night and I was pleased. This is probably the first BlackBerry that someone with some sense of fashion would consider using.

Rather than looking like a lump of blue putty with a keyboard, the pearl is an ultra-slim, ultra-light smartphone that happens to use RIMs email client. No QWERTY keyboard on this bad boy – just a SureType numeric keypad with a little squirrel ball a la the Sidekick 3.

We’re going to have a full hands-on next week, but until then rest assured that if you’ve never wanted a BlackBerry and feel you have to get one, the Pearl is definitely something to consider. It’s currently $199 at T-Mobile.

Here are some reviews from around the web:

BlackBerry Pearl [Laptop]
Blackberry Pearl 8100 Officially Shot Out Of A Cannon [Gizmodo]