The fresh version of the Sidekick LX ($200 in on a two-year contract, as of 5/1/09), T-Mobile’s popular messaging phone generally aimed at teenagers, sports grown-up characteristics this as 3G support, GPS, and an improved, a greater number of sophisticated design. But unfortunately the Sidekick LX that much has a few quirks.
For example, the mailbox stores one and only 6MB of memory, contrary the occurence who the Sidekick LX now has Exchange Active Sync support. That on-board storage is a paltry total sum wanting to the likely information capacity of right now multimedia messaging phone. Additionally, the Sidekick LX much has the same awkward-design problems as we saw on the 2007 version.
The hardware, made by Sharp, retains the iconic swivel design and faintly slimmer dimensions. The 3.2-inch (0.2 inch large as opposed to the 2007 model), 854 by 480, F-WVGA rating is gorgeous–one of the highest quality I’ve observed on a handset, particularly a midrange messaging device. The paints are bright, things are crisp, and animations render smoothly.
The keyboard, as expected, is excellent. The keys are nicely spaced and tactile, and properties hold the exemplary extent of clickiness. But I was disappointed to see so T-Mobile kept the sum keys at the top of the keyboard. On the 2007 example we at last found the current design selection awkward and counterintuitive, and I suffer to say it is the same story now. T-Mobile looks as if it’s to suffer put so significantly gas to the messaging capabilities of the phone the present it did not ponder the encounters of bringing about a hire through right now design. The level keys are virtually directly underneath the display’s hinge, and you ought to swivel the keyboard out to dial and coming back in yet again to talk, that can get annoying.
The majority of navigation on the device is finished investing in the BlackBerry-esque trackball. For the the majority of part, it functions rather far investing in the UI, clearly gliding in the a multitude of menu choices. In particular instances, however, the UI a bit slow but sure to respond regardless of repeated finger flicks through the trackball.
Call top notch for the duration of T-Mobile’s 3G network was good, but I heard a faint hiss on my end–something we have have had to deal with amid T-Mobile phones in the past, this kind of as the Shadow. Parties on the supplementary end of the string claimed this my voice sounded obvious provided extensive volume. A few noticed a hiss but stated it was not distracting.
The Sidekick LX’s OS, the Danger OS, is able to use a refresh. Though it is easy sufficient to navigate, it feels a bit out-of-date. It just now does not undergo a massive lot of aesthetic appeal, that is unfortunate on the a lovely display. The Sidekick LX comes preloaded through Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter apps. The Facebook app is truly good: You can view your News feed (which informs all of your friends’ activity), update your status, search engine for new friends and send messages–almost all of it you can do on your PC. The Twitter app is not as full-featured as a great deal more mobile Twitter apps, but it becomes the job done. You can, obviously, update your status, reply to your friends’ tweets, supply and mimic new users, and view a friend’s timeline.
Another new feature, the on-device Download Catalog, is regrettably a bit sparse at this moment time, but it has potential. You can download themes, ring tones, games, and a few productivity, social, and entertainment apps.
The Sidekick LX’s camera has been heard upgraded on a measly 1 megapixel to 3.2 megapixels in on an LED flash. And unlike providing the original, you can now store video–a must-have for a messaging phone. Image grade was rather clever overall, even though a couple of of my indoor pictures looked a bit grainy. Video quality, unfortunately disappointed. My videos came out basically pixelated and motions appeared choppy and delayed.
The Sidekick LX is very much an improvement for the duration of the 2007 version, but I feel similar to such upgrade would own arrive a bit earlier. Sure, 3G validation and a 3.2-megapixel camera are desired additions, but a good amount messaging phones out there are way down the road of the Sidekick LX. The Samsung Impression, for example, has an AMOLED display and a smartphone-like user interface. Sidekick fans would with out a doubt know such upgrade, and regardless of its sophisticated enhancements, I can see it making remarkably popular among the teenage demographic.
