Nice Skin!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Colorful shock-proofing grip enhancer.

Cons: Makes it a little difficult to slide the Pearl out of a pocket.

The Bottom Line: 
If you have a Pearl, you'll want a skin to protect your "best friend" from scratching, shock and smudges. It's $10 - $15 well spent.

Author's Review
I love my new Pearl and I love the blue skin I was able to buy for it. When the salesman offered it, I was completely skeptical, thinking "oh yeah, another doofus add-on that customers end up hating." Not at all! What a great invention!

For the unfamiliar, as I was, a skin is a flexible vinyl or silicone jacket that fits around your communication device. It's made of that soft, sort of sticky material such as coats handles on lots of kitchen gadgets or even makes up some kitchen tools these days. The skin makes for a more secure grip and definitely brightens up my "sidekick" while muffling the vibration a little when it's on a hard surface and set to "vibrate." It's nice to avoid that nasty buzz of an undressed B'Berry on a desktop. The skin also provides a little shock-proofing in the event I do fumble the Pearl, plus it keeps it from sliding out of the little garage in my dash.

I haven't tried to use the skin with a holder of any sort, such as the windshield suction-cup holder or a belt clip.

So far, about two weeks, the skin appears to be durable. It's been through my mindless fidgeting while delayed at an airport for two hours with no rips or distortions. It does seem to collect dust, but not too severely. A good brisk brush-off on some synthetic fabric removes any dust efficiently. The skin doesn't seem to become fingerprint fouled, which is nice, as the Pearl on its own is always smudged.

People seeing my "blue phone" are always curious. I've had more comments on the skin and how stand-out it is. For those who prefer to tone it down, there are somber black and white varieties. There are also red, pink, lime...such as that for those who really like it bright.

I paid $14.95 at a Denver-area phone store but have since seen them advertised online for $9.95. At either price the skin is a good add-on to protect and personalize your Pearl.