T-Mobile announces new Blackberry Pearl 8120, I yawn.

T-Mobile and RIM announced today that starting April 14, T-Mobile will carry the Wi-Fi enabled Blackberry Pearl 8120. The new Blackberry offering in the T-Mobile lineup will work with the T-Mobile HotSpot @Home service.

T-Mobile is seriously missing the boat.

I am a T-Mobile customer, and actually a very happy one. I get excellent customer service, which is something I never received from my former carrier, Sprint. The customer service line has helped me through a few small problems I’ve had with my account over the past 5 years, and the in-store customer service has always been friendly and courteous. I get fairly consistent coverage throughout the DFW area, which is very important considering that I travel locally on a regular basis. But I draw the line at using a T-Mobile branded phone.

The T-Mobile phone lineup is inconsistent and poorly balanced. There are many lower-end multimedia phone offerings from Motorola, Samsung, and Nokia, and then very expensive high-end Blackberries, Sidekicks and sub-par Windows Mobile phones that T-Mobile never gives a good price break.

AT&T has been running a special on the Blackberry Curve, the Samsung BlackJack II, and the Pantech Duo. All 3 phones are feature-packed, solid performers, and are being offered for $99 with a new contract. T-Mobile could be offering similar packages to compete, but they don’t. If I didn’t have my T-Mobile voice and data plans tweaked to perfection, I might switch simply out of spite for their boring selection of last year’s phones.

T-Mobile, get a clue. Offer some mid-range, feature-rich phones with deals that are going to reel customers in. Just because AT&T has the iPhone doesn’t mean you need to give up completely!