| Design | 3/5 |
| Display & Interface | 4/5 |
| Calling | 4/5 |
| Talk time | 3/5 |
| Messaging | 3/5 |
| Music | 3/5 |
| Video | 0/5 |
| Camera | 1/5 |
| Memory | 2/5 |
| Web browsing | 3/5 |
| Connectivity | 2/5 |
| Productivity | 0/5 |
| Scheduling | 2/5 |
| Laptop sidekick | 0/5 |
| Navigation | 0/5 |
| Gaming | 3/5 |
| Mobile services | 2/5 |
| Accessories | 4/5 |
| Value | 2/5 |
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Pros:
Improves upon the fun design and great keyboard of past Sidekicks. Screen is dramatically improved. Messaging is still very capable, though not much improved. Online address book is the way to go. |
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Cons:
Doesn't update features significantly. Lacks GPS, 3G network and other key hardware features. Interface could make better use of trackball. |
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| Conclusion: |
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| At one point, the Sidekick dominated one of our messaging duel reviews, and it is still an admirable messaging phone. However, better devices surpassed the Sidekick 3 months ago, and the new Sidekick LX does little to improve on the older design. The new screen is top notch, what we've been asking for all this time, and the new keyboard is an improvement even over the Sidekick 3. However, it was not enough to simply fix what was broken. With this new device, we wanted to see a bit more, and see it grow the messaging category beyond the breadth of phones now coming to the market. Undoubtedly, the Sidekick brand will live on, and we hope to see a new device fully up to speed (3G speed?) when the time comes. |
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