Sidekick LX Cell Phone Review
By Mark Brezinski
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
December 21, 2007
The Sidekick LX is a cell phone aimed at the younger user who likes to email and text on the go. Previous sidekick devices have a reputation for being messaging-oriented devices, but also for providing some interesting, advanced software. The phone itself is big; at 5.2 inches wide, 2.4 inches tall and 0.7 inches thick, it is a bit chunky to fit comfortably in a shirt or jeans pocket. Since it’s so big, it won’t be as portable as other cell phones. It also doesn’t feel like a well constructed phone, as twisting it around elicited creaks from the plastic case. The phone is currently available from T-Mobile for $299.99 with a two-year contract; without one it costs $399.99.
The Sidekick is a bit of an awkward phone to dial on, because you have to swing open the screen and use the QWERTY keys, which are smaller than a dedicated keypad. The Sidekick manages calls well, and we had no problem performing advanced functions like establishing a conference call. Contacts are handled well, and the LX keeps a good log of calls, both incoming and outgoing. Its other organizational software, (for calendar, tasks, and notes), were all handled very well. They provide more functionality than we would’ve expected from a phone like this. The iPhone, for example, doesn’t even have a tasks application.
Audio quality on the Sidekick LX was a problem. Thus may be down to the odd design, which makes it difficult to put the speaker against the ear. For an incoming caller’s voice, the Sidekick LX overly emphasizes higher frequency sounds, which could make voices sound thin and reedy. Outgoing sound (such as you speaking into the phone) had the opposite problem; the bass was overly emphasized, which could make your voice sound a little bassy and boomy.
Multimedia performance on the Sidekick was really poor considering the demographic it’s aimed at. The music software is adequate, but in the post-iPhone world, adequate just doesn’t cut it. While it works, it doesn’t show album art, and it doesn’t allow you to search or sort music. And the Sidekick LX can’t play video files; a big problem for the film fan on the go. The camera was flat-out bad: the resolution was terrible, and yellows and greens came out looking like pale imitations of the real colors. And the camera can’t capture video; another problem for the wannabee YouTube star who wants to capture video on the road.
The Sidekick’s operating system is slightly more extensible than typical non-smart phones. This is good, because the LX doesn’t come with the software accoutrements a normal phone does; you won’t find a calculator or an alarm. Also, the browser is rather poor; it does a decent job of rendering pages to look like they would do on a desktop browser, but it doesn’t support features such as Javascript or Flash that are commonly used to enhance pages. What you will find, however, is a built-in MySpace client, so you can keep tabs on your friends on the go. The operating system itself is fairly responsive, and the messaging software rivals business phones like the BlackBerry Curve. The Sidekick LX supports push email, meaning your email is automatically forwarded to the device as soon as it hits your online mailbox; perfect for those who hate to be out of touch. Also, we thought the QWERTY keyboard was excellent: we were able to type 46.1 words per minute on it, which is faster than most.
One thing you can be sure to get out of your Sidekick LX is good battery life. On our call time battery test it lasted an hour or so more than average with 5 hours, 36 minutes. Typically phones last between four and five hours. Music playback stretched to a little over 10 hours, which again was about an hour above and beyond most other phones. The most impressive score, however, was its browsing life. Typically phones last 3-5 hours in our browsing test, but the Sidekick LX managed almost nine solid hours.
The Sidekick is a real mixed bag. The audio performance is weak, but the email features are great. If you’re looking for a multimedia handset, look elsewhere; the iPhone is still the king of the hill at playing back audio and video. But the Sidekick LX is a good phone for those who do more messaging than calling, and can compete with much higher-class handsets in this regard. We recommend waiting for the price to come down before picking one up, though; Sidekick devices like this tend to fall in price quite quickly.
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