Flip them open and start typing. The LG VX9900 enV and Sidekick 3 pack plenty of messaging options and QWERTY keypads into truly unique shells, but only one will reign supreme.
Review summary of the T-Mobile Sidekick 3:
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Full T-Mobile Sidekick 3 Review:
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Design
Both the LG VX9900 and the Sidekick 3 are noteworthy for their unique designs. On paper, the idea of a candy bar that opens like a clamshell sounds better than the flip-top Sidekick 3, but the Sidekick is so well-made that it was a joy to open. The screens on the enV, both the internal and external, are disastrously small, especially compared to the candy bar- and QWERTY-style displays they're supposedly emulating. While we found the low-res Sidekick screen to be a little dim, its trackball (which came before the ubiquitous Pearl) and well-placed navigational buttons won us over.
Winner: Sidekick 3
Menus
One of these phones has intuitive menus with top-level access to all your favorite functions. The other is the LG enV. Instead of redesigning the aging Verizon menus for the phone's messaging-addicted audience, the enV buries such critical functions such as e-mail and Web browsing, or forces you to memorize soft key functions. The Sidekick, on the other hand, includes Danger's best-in-class menu design, which looks great and keeps texting-centric features just a click -- or a flick, in the case of the easy-to-use trackball -- away. The Sidekick 3 also provides a wealth of well-placed navigational buttons, while the LG VX9900 places its nav buttons a bit further from our thumbs.
Winner: Sidekick 3
Messaging
Though the e-mail client on the Sidekick 3 is one of our favorites, it was not as easy to set up as the VX9900, and it couldn't handle some of our preferred e-mail clients. The LG enV had built-in support for MSN's Hotmail, Yahoo, and AOL accounts, while the Sidekick can access POP3 and IMAP4 accounts, though neither phone could successfully access our Gmail accounts directly. Setup was obviously easier on the LG enV, but only because your choice of accounts was limited. Both phones support instant messaging from Yahoo, AOL, and MSN, and both phones were capable of displaying an entire 160-character SMS message. The keyboards were also equally comfortable on both phones.
Winner: Tie
Multimedia
The Sidekick 3 has a capable Web browser and an adequate music player, but T-Mobile's EDGE network can't compete with Verizon's 3G V Cast networks in terms of multimedia capabilities. With streaming video and the V Cast music store, the LG VX9900 was a more robust multimedia phone by far. Though we were bummed that the enV could not support stereo Bluetooth on streaming video clips, the Sidekick 3 lacks stereo Bluetooth support entirely. Neither phone sports dedicated music keys. Finally, we have to give the LG credit for its GPS features, including navigation with Verizon's VZ Navigator service.
Winner: LG VX9900 enV
Calling
Call quality was about even on the two phones. Physically, with the screens closed, they were both comfortable to hold and produced about the same sound quality. Reception on both was about even -- a bar shy of full signal strength in our New York offices. Both phones had a talk time of just over four hours. The LG enV supported speaker-independent voice dialing, a feature we like to see on phones, but what truly differentiated the phones was their contact-list handling. Not only did the Sidekick 3 come with a better address book on the phone, T-Mobile has done an excellent job with its online Desktop Interface tool. This tool on T-Mobile's site allows users to log on and access their address book and calendar, adding new entries or browsing entries that have been automatically backed up from the phone. This feature is almost as convenient as running Outlook, but much friendlier because the Sidekick isn't saddled with Windows Mobile.
Winner: Sidekick 3
Accessories
This category is no contest. In addition to the carrying case and wrist strap, the Sidekick 3 comes with stereo headphones, a 64MB miniSD card, and a USB cable. Though we'd like to see a larger card, or perhaps a headphone adapter for using our 3.5mm standard headphones, we can hardly complain compared to the accessory list for the LG enV, which is blank. The VX9900 comes with nothing: no USB cable, no headphones, no memory card. You must buy the cable and headphones with the "Media Essentials Kit," and then buy a microSD card separately.
Winner: Sidekick 3
And the winner is . . .
Clearly the Sidekick 3 is our favorite, but it could take a few cues from the LG VX9900. Though the enV's screens were much smaller, they were brighter and crisper than the Sidekick 3's display. Also, T-Mobile's lack of a media-rich high-speed network is a serious drawback now that more and more consumer-focused phones boast 3G data access. We think there is still life in the enV design, so long as Verizon and LG work to fix a few glaring faults. Still, the Sidekick 3 -- with its slick, fun design, it incomparable OS and its better contact handling -- emerges as the clear winner.
Champion: Sidekick 3
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T-Mobile Sidekick 3
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Score: 56% When: July 2006 Worth: $200 - $350 Carrier: T-Mobile
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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?
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