With mobile web access, email, and document editing, RIM's BlackBerry line started as very business-minded smartphones. The Pearl series seeks to integrate entertainment and multimedia into the list of existing business functions as well. Multimedia highlights for the original Pearl model, the 8100, included a music player and organizer, a video player, and a camera.

At 50mm wide, the Pearl 8130 has a more slender form factor than most of the other BlackBerry models, but all can fit relatively easily in a pocket. The 2.25-inch, 64,000 color, 240 x 260 pixel screen is identical to that of its predecessors. The now-standard tiny trackball also returns to assist navigation of the BlackBerry Handheld Software operating system, which has changed little in this device. A unique, space-saving feature to the Pearl line (and the 8130 is no exception) is the SureType QWERTY keyboard, which packs two letters and a number onto most keys, and comes with predictive software to assist text entry. The 8130 is the first CDMA device in the Pearl line — the network technology used by Sprint and Verizon (which enjoy extensive coverage in the U.S.) — as opposed to GSM, the technology used by carriers T-Mobile and AT&T that employ swappable SIM card technology. This model is also the first in the Pearl line to enable video recording with its 2 megapixel camera. Unlike the 8120, the 8130 has GPS technology as well.