BlackPearl
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Some company tries to tease us with a year-old phone
So some British outfit is releasing a phone it calls the "Liscio" next month and they're making a pretty big PR stink about it. That's all well and good; we like a good teaser as much as anyone else. There's only one problem, though: from the two extraordinarily artistic shots we've been provided so far, it's pretty plainly obvious that the Liscio is nothing more than the Haier Elegance from, like, 14 months ago. Don't get us wrong, the Elegance is a fine phone and we're happy to see it get rebranded and resold -- but the gig is totally up, guys. Don't bother spending another dime on teaser photography, k?
Hands-on with the Haier "Elegance"
Last time we saw Haier's glossy, submicronic capsule, we'd been tossing around the name "Black Pearl" and lamenting the lack of GSM 850. Well, times change, and so does this phone. Turns out it's officially called the "Elegance" -- which makes more sense, considering the threat of a RIM lawsuit constantly looming over Haier's head otherwise -- but better yet, there's a new variant of the handset that trades tri-band GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 for dual-band 850 / 1900. Granted, you give up a band in the process, but the tweaked model should offer better performance Stateside in return. We were pleasantly surprised both with the Elegance's performance and appearance; sound quality was great for both voice calls and FM radio / MP3 playback, and the OLED display looked fabulous when it appeared from beneath its mirrored confines. Follow the break for more eye candy!
Haier's tiny "Black Pearl"
Ridiculously small phones are picking up a good head of steam elsewhere, and Haier thinks that the US might finally be ready to experience that same level of frustration the next time your phone falls out of your pocket and into the couch. The upcoming Black Pearl (not to be confused with the larger, SureTyped, trackballed Pearl) lacks GSM 850, but that's not stopping the company from encouraging folks to pick 'er up unlocked here in the States and operate on GSM 1900 alone. For its 2.24-ounce, 3.5 x 1.25 x .75-inch frame, the lil' candybar packs a fair amount of punch with an MP3 player, FM radio, microSD slot, and OLED display on board. Now we only need to hope RIM doesn't decide the world needs an all-black Pearl, and we'll continue to enjoy the clarity in phone model naming conventions we're so accustomed to.
