This long-awaited update to the ubiquitous Sidekick II boasts a sleeker design, a build-in MP3 player and Bluetooth. Will it become the latest "it" phone?
Review summary of the T-Mobile Sidekick 3:
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 With its music, EDGE and Bluetooth capabilities, the sleek new Sidekick 3 may not be a giant leap forward (we're holding out for a 3G version once T-Mobile gets around to launching a high-speed network), but it's a worthy successor to one of the best messaging phones on the market. Release: July 2006. Price: $200.
Pros: Outstanding user interface; sleek design; superb e-mail and IM features; up to 2GB memory expansion; integrated music player; supports Bluetooth headsets
Cons: No music downloads, album art or music syncing from a PC; can't send photos via Bluetooth; mediocre camera; no boost in screen resolution
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Full review of the T-Mobile Sidekick 3:
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Competition
Find out how well the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 competes with similar messaging phones:
T-Mobile Sidekick 3 vs. LG VX9900 vs. Samsung SCH-U740
The Sidekick II (released in mid-2004) wasn't just a phone – it was a tabloid sensation, with photos of Sidekick-toting celebs all over the gossip pages and Paris Hilton's infamous stolen pictures and address book. With all the headlines, though, it was easy to forget that the Sidekick II – with its stellar interface, easy-to-use thumbboard and first-rate e-mail and IM tools – was a damn good messaging phone. Now comes the restyled, music-playing and Bluetooth-enabled Sidekick 3, which makes for an impressive (if not quite revolutionary) step forward.
Ready for a makeover
While we loved the Sidekick II's flip-up screen and two-handed design, its grey plastic shell and rubber "bumpers" made it look more like a toy than a powerful messaging phone. The sleek, silver-and-black Sidekick 3 (set to arrive in stores on July 10, and available exclusively to current T-Mobile customers on June 28) changes all that; with its glossy (if easily smeared) face, silver-rimmed navigational pad and trimmer profile, the latest Sidekick gets a much-needed dose of cool elegance. Measuring 5.1 by 2.3 by 0.86 inches, the Sidekick 3 is a tad slimmer and narrower than its predecessor, although at 6.7 ounces it's also a little heavier than the already hefty Sidekick II. The "3" won't fit in a jeans pocket by any means, but at least it comes with a sturdy, faux-leather carrying case.
We were big fans of the control layout on the original Sidekick, and the latest version does an impressive job of improving on an already good thing. The four main controls (Menu, Jump, Cancel and Done) still surround the main display, and the four-way navigational pad to the left of the screen is still there. However, the jog dial on the right has been replaced by a pea-sized trackball. We were initially worried we’d miss the ever-handy jog dial, but after a few minutes of using the trackball, we were convinced; it works precisely with the flick of a thumb, and for certain menu items you can even flick horizontally to reveal more choices. A couple of changes bothered us, however; now that the bumpers on the top and bottom of the Sidekick are gone, the multifunction keys along the top and the volume and power buttons at the bottom are a bit tougher to press. That said, the QWERTY keypad is (as before) roomy and easy to use, with clear plastic keys replacing the rubber buttons on the Sidekick II.
A UI that knows what you want
The Sidekick 3's display is a bit of a disappointment; we were hoping for a higher resolution or greater color depth, but instead we just get the same 240 x 160, 65,000-color TFT LCD we got with the Sidekick II. The phones trademark swiveling screen still impresses with its smooth action, and the display itself adjusts so quickly that it's barely noticeable. We should also take a moment to complement Danger's groundbreaking OS. While there are only a few noticeable improvements in this iteration (some main menu items, including instant messaging and PIM functions, are now grouped together, and the menus as a whole look sharper and more refined), the Sidekick has perhaps the most intuitive interface we've ever seen; options seems to pop up just as you need them, and some of the system settings (such as the ability to auto-change sound profiles according to the time of day or day of the week) are so smart, we can only wonder why other phone manufacturers haven't copied them wholesale.
So let's get right to it: how is the new music player? As we expected, the player itself is easy to use – the main menu lets you browse your tunes by artist, album, genre, or composer, and you can launch a slick "mini player" that gives you the standard playback controls, plus artist/track info and a progress bar. Sound quality on the included earbuds was impressive, and we could crank our tunes to well-nigh ear-splitting levels. The music player also runs in the background, so you can compose e-mails, check your calendar or fire off IMs while grooving to your tunes. The Sidekick's new miniSD slot supports cards up to 2GB in size, making room for plenty of songs. Finally, we were impressed with the Sidekick's battery life when playing music; we got more than 14 hours of playback with the earbuds attached.
Unfortunately, the Sidekick 3 lacks some key music-playing features. First off, there aren't any dedicated music controls on the Sidekick itself, such as play, pause of skip buttons. Also, the music player doesn’t have an equalizer and can't display album art. T-Mobile still doesn’t have an online music store (and likely won't have one until it rolls out 3G sometime in 2007), so you can't purchase tunes over-the-air. Finally, you can't sync the Sidekick with your PC music collection; instead, you transfer tunes by dragging and dropping files and playlists via USB.
E-mail, IMing galore
While the Sidekick 3 struggles a bit in the music department, its messaging abilities – while mostly unchanged from those of its predecessor – are still superb. Along with the standard SMS messaging, you get three built-in instant messengers: AIM, MSN, and Yahoo IM, all armed with full-featured IM clients that can run simultaneously in the background. The Sidekick’s e-mail client is also a winner, boasting support for up to three POP/IMAP accounts plus a T-Mobile account. You can manage your messages and PIM info from the My T-Mobile Web site, which continually syncs with the Sidekick; indeed, by forwarding our Gmail messages to our T-Mobile account, we essentially got push e-mail on the phone. Plenty of e-mail configuration options are available, including autosigs and custom "from" and "reply-to" addresses. You can't access corporate e-mail from the Sidekick, but that's asking a lot from a consumer-level messaging phone.
Besides the Sidekick 3's music player, a couple of other new features are relative disappointments. The 1.3-megapixel camera (replacing the 2's VGA camera) boasts a new photo album and an LED flash, but the snapshots we took suffered from noticeable grain and digital noise. Meanwhile, the phone's Bluetooth support is limited to a wireless headset and vCard transfers; you can’t send photos via Bluetooth, wirelessly transfer songs from your PC, or listen to music with a stereo Bluetooth headset.
Web browsing on the Sidekick's mobile browser was relatively speedy over the phone's EDGE connection, and the browser does a good job of rendering long, non-mobile Web pages. We also liked the Sidekick's PIM applications, which you can sync with a PC with a downloadable Intellisync utility. You also get conference calling, a speakerphone, and photo caller ID.
We tested the Sidekick 3 (GSM 850/1800/1900; EDGE) in New York City; our calls were relatively clear, although the spearkerphone sounded a bit tinny. We got more than four hours of talk time but only about 1.5 days of standby time, a bit shorter than on the Sidekick II.
Comparison
Compare the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 with similar products
Who is the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 for?
Teens
Price and availability
Available in the U.S. (T-Mobile) in July 2006, the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 is priced at $200 to $350.
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