Review Of T-Mobile Sidekick LX – Midnight Blue

REVIEW:
After its release T-Mobile Sidekick LX impressed us with its sharper and larger screen and lighter and slimmer design but the only thing that disappointed us the most is the lack of the new features in this handset. We wanted more from Sidekick LX. There are some slight enhancements to the music player and a new MySpace Mobile application, but it’s not enough according to us. But there are some bright points of this phone as well. The upgrade finally brings video capabilities, stereo Bluetooth support, and more. This is in addition to the strong IM and e-mail capabilities. The price of the handset is affordable for the users.

The T-Mobile Sidekick LX is sexier and sleeker than any of the previous Sidekicks. We like its updated look and shape. The weight of the Sidekick LX is not that much and it’s reasonably light in weight and the slim handheld is just easier to slip into a pants pocket or purse.

The low-resolution displays on the previous Sidekicks have always been a sticking point with us as well as users. And this time we were most excited to see its much improved screen. This time the Sidekick does not disappoint us. The Sidekick LX now has a larger 3-inch, 65,000-color TFT display and a sharper 400×240-pixel resolution. Images and text look crisp and colors are more vibrant. You can also choose to customize the home screen with different background themes and change the font size.

The navigation controls surrounding the screen remain pretty much unchanged from the Sidekick 3 and Sidekick iD. There is the Talk and End keys, trackball navigator, Cancel button and an OK button. And you have the directional keypad that doubles as the phone’s speakers, and Menu and Jump buttons to the left. You’ll find a power button and the volume rocker along the bottom edge of the handheld. There are two function buttons that perform different tasks depending on which application you are using along the top of the phone. We found this last set of controls a bit hard to press since they’re tiny and set flush with the phone’s surface.

There is a full QWERTY keyboard in the Sidekick LX. Sidekick’s keyboard is one of roomiest and easiest to use. There’s plenty of space between the keys, and the buttons now have a frosted, more tactile feel to them unlike the glossy, somewhat slippery ones on the Sidekick 3. Sidekick LX is comfortable to hold and use as a phone, and it has a textured back, similar to the D-Wade Limited Edition Sidekick 3, so it’s easy to grip while messaging. On the back of the phone are the camera lens, self-portrait mirror and flash, and there’s a microSD expansion slot, but it’s located behind the battery cover.

The T-Mobile Sidekick LX comes packaged with USB cable, a wired headset, reference material, an AC adapter and 128MB microSD card.

Now come to its features and we’ll start with the LX’s messaging capabilities. Like previous models, the LX comes with its own T-Mobile e-mail account, but you can also access up to three additional POP3/IMAP4 accounts. You can hold up to 10 simultaneous conversations, and you can switch between conversations quickly by pressing the Menu and D buttons. And if you happen to lose your network connection in the middle of a session, the Sidekick will save the chat until a connection is restored. The LX’s phone features include call forwarding, three-way calling, a speakerphone, a vibrate mode and quad-band world roaming.

The Sidekick’s address book holds up to 2,000 contacts, with room in each entry for five numbers, an IM account, a Web URL, notes, a street address and an e-mail address. For caller-ID purposes, you can pair an entry with a photo, a group ID, or one of 22 ringtones. The one new feature on the Sidekick LX is the MySpace Mobile application. You can now log on and interact with the social networking site almost in the same manner as you do on your computer.

The Sidekick LX has a built-in media player, and we’re glad to see increased support for various file formats. You can ALSO search for songs by composer, artist, genre, album, as well as organize tracks into playlists.

The T-Mobile Sidekick LX has a great camera and it has come out with new updates and now supports playback and video recording. You can take snapshots in three sizes. Editing options are limited. The new video capabilities are an overdue but welcome addition. You can also use the flash in video mode. The photo quality is decent. The Sidekick LX also has several organizer tools, such as a task list, one preloaded game, and a download catalog where you can get more ringtones, a notepad, games and application.

SPECIFICATIONS:

GOOD FEATURES:
1 Very easy to use.
2. Great call quality.
3. Battery life is good.
4. MySpace feature.

BAD FEATURES:
1. Bit slow sometimes.
2. No steaming video.
3. Camera is terrible.
4. Slow internet.

MAIN POINT
The T-Mobile Sidekick LX boasts a sleeker design with a larger and much-improved display. It has a spacious full QWERTY keyboard. It also offers MySpace Mobile integration. On the downside it lacks integrated Wi-Fi and the speaker is on the weaker side. So I give 3 stars out of 5 stars to it.