We snap open the lid on the new Sidekick LX, a slim update to the Sidekick 3 that improves on some key areas. So why did we leave wanting more?
Review summary of the T-Mobile Sidekick LX:
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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. Release: October 2007. Price: $300.
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.
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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Full review of the T-Mobile Sidekick LX:
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Design - Good
The Sidekick design is still fun to use, but getting a little old to us. The Sidekick LX offers few improvements. We prefer the new keyboard, which has a soft-touch, grippy feel to it, and nice, bubbly keys that are easy to use. In fact, the Sidekick LX has one of the nicest keyboards we've seen on a QWERTY phone, and we've seen quite a few recently. The trackball feels a bit loose to us, though. Also, though we like a wealth of programmable buttons, the Sidekick almost seems to have too many, and the shoulder buttons are a bit out of the way. We often forgot they were there, and we certainly forgot the endless combinations of button presses that may be convenient, but have a steep learning curve.
The interface is mostly unchanged from previous Sidekicks, which isn't a bad thing, but we're not sure how much time the menu system has left. Competing against the stodgy larger carriers, T-Mobile's Sidekick OS, originally designed by Danger, a company with Mac OS design roots, was a refreshingly usable change from the ordinary. Now, though, with slick offerings from Apple and Helio, and even the most reserved carriers, like Verizon Wireless, souping up their screens for improved usability and a better look, Sidekick is going to have to do a bit more. We like the semi-circular home screen menu, but it barely makes use of the trackball, which actually goes unnoticed by much of the Sidekick's apps.
Thankfully, our biggest complaint with previous models has been fixed. The screen on the new Sidekick LX, which we've heard is a descendant of Sharp's excellent Aquos televisions, is much improved from previous models. Still, though it may be leaps and bounds better than the Sidekick iD, it isn't as nice as the screen on our iPhone. The Sidekick's screen displays up to 65,000-colors at a 400 by 240 pixel widescreen resolution. Compare that to the iPhone's screen, which has a 480 by 360 resolution, or any of the ultra-sharp screens on Nokia's N-Series devices, like the N95, which can display millions of colors. The Sidekick LX's screen may be a huge improvement, but it only brings the family of devices to where they should have been years ago.
Calling - Very good
We weren't crazy about calls on the Sidekick, which sounded hollow, and suffered from some static buzzing. Also, the design of the phone requires you to flip open the lid for dialing, then close it again for calls. This might have been fun the first couple of times, on the Sidekick 2, but by now, there should be another way.
We did appreciate the Sidekick's interesting and unique method for handling contacts. You can upload .csv files from your favorite programs, but all contacts are handled on a T-Mobile-run Web site, and not on the phone, or through an intermediary program. Once you add or change a contact online, it is changed over the air by the network. This seems like the right answer for contact handling, and though it takes an extra step for Outlook users and their ilk, ultimately there is nothing more convenient than having online access and editing power over your address book.
The phone packs most of our favorite calling features, including Bluetooth for handsfree and a good speakerphone. Conference calling is available, but requires some menu digging, and we're just not loving the menu digging experience on the Sidekick anymore. Voice dialing is completely absent, which is tough for drivers, but perhaps the target audience for the Sidekick only has a learner's permit.
Messaging – Very good
There was a time when the messaging abilities of the Sidekick floored us. Between the multiple e-mail accounts, solid IM client and MMS messaging, the Sidekick seemed an unbeatable powerhouse. The Sidekick is still a very good messaging phone, but the core features haven't seen much of an upgrade. E-mail, IM and MMS are all still available, but where is the innovation? Apple's iPhone improved upon voice messaging, and even Windows Mobile supports more robust, html-encoded e-mails. The Sidekick was innovative when it was released, but in terms of messaging, it has only maintained its position, and not developed a new killer app for messaging phones.
Thankfully, the Sidekick still dominates in terms of hardware design. The new Sidekick LX has the most comfortable keyboard of any Sidekick, and perhaps any messaging phone. We're simultaneously looking at a new AT&T Tilt, which represents the pinnacle of HTC's slide-out keyboard design, and we honestly prefer the Sidekick, with its wider keyboard and grippy, textured keys. We like the @ symbol that doesn't require a shift-key. We even find the side ridges less drastic, more comfortable when the display swings open.
Multimedia - Good
It's almost sad to compare the Sidekick, in terms of multimedia, to phones that we have enjoyed much less. Though we wouldn't prefer phones like the Samsung U740 and the LG enV to the Sidekick, on Verizon's V Cast network, at least these two messaging phones have real 3G features, like an over the air music store and some video content. They may not be ideal vessels for such features, but the enV even packs GPS, which is great in a pinch. For the Sidekick, you get a good faith attempt at a real music player, with a pop-up window and some good controls, thanks to the Sidekick's excellent input options. But you don't get the real 3G stuff, at least not until T-Mobile finally launches its high-speed network.
Web browsing – Very good
Admittedly, the Sidekick LX's browser is slow, as it relies on EDGE networks for data. But it isn't torturously slow, though we have been using an iPhone, though not exclusively, for a few months now. The browser can only display pages in one column, and scrolling a long page, like our graphically-rich siite, can be annoying. The trackball doesn't accelerate, so you'll be flicking it endlessly, just as you would a trackwheel or 5-way pad. Again, we wish that the Sidekick would bring some innovation, or at least put the trackball to real use, but instead, we were disappointed. Though the browsers prowess was undeniable, it hardly refused or stumbled on a page, this is de rigueur for a top-notch phone these days, and the best devices are bringing Flash enhancement, or some form of YouTube playback. The Sidekick LX does feature a MySpace client designed special for the device, so do a few other phones (and we've moved on to Facebook, anyway).
Accessories
The Sidekick LX does come with a healthy palette of accessories. You'll get stereo headphones and a microSD card for storing music and photos, though 128mb is really palty these days, especially in this memory format. The device also comes with a USB cord, over which it can charge. A carrying case is included, which is more of a rarity these days.
Value
The Sidekick LX, at $300, is comparable in price to the Helio Ocean, though the latter device can be had for $50 with sales and promotions. The Sidekick costs the same as the AT&T Tilt, and though that phone is a more serious, business-style smartphone, as such it offers plenty of features the Sidekick lacks, such as Wi-Fi, a touch screen and GPS, among others. Instead, it should compete more directly with the AT&T Duo, which costs $100 less, though perhaps any Windows Mobile phone is a poor comparison. In which case, the Sidekick is only $100 less than an iPhone. We think it should either be cheaper, or, better yet, packed with a few more features to increase the value at this price.
Price and availability
The T-Mobile Sidekick LX is available on T-Mobile for $300 with a contract agreement and an instant discount of $100. A mail-in rebate of $50 is available, when signing up for a qualifying plan.
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