Sidekick LX Cell Phone Review - Audio Quality
The Audio quality of a phone is, of course, the most important feature for anyone who wants to actually use it as a phone. To test the call quality of cell phones we use the same professional equipment and software used by many of the manufacturers. This includes Listen Inc's
SoundCheck software to analyze the sound and a Head and Torso Simulator to simulate the human head and ear. For more information on how we test see
this article.
Sound Receive Frequency Response (6.74)
The chart above shows the quality of sound received by the Sidekick LX, this is how those on the other end of the call will sound to you. The blue line indicates the Sidekick LX's performance while the two red lines are the limits against which we test. As you can see the Sidekick LX had some problems in this test. The curve is too low across lower and middle frequencies and then it spikes up above our limits at higher frequencies. This means that lower voices may sound subdued while higher pitched voices may sound louder than they should. You can see from the table below that the Sidekick LX did worse in this test than any of our comparison phones.
| Cell Phone |
Sidekick LX |
AT&T Tilt (on AT&T) |
LG Voyager (on Verizon) |
| Score |
6.74 |
8.04 |
7.84 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |
 |
 |
|
Sound Send Frequency Response (5.35)
This test measures the quality of sound sent by the Sidekick LX, so this is how you will sound to those on the other end of the all. As with our receive test the chart above indicates the Sidekick LX's performance with a blue line and the limits against which we test with red lines. You can see that the Sidekick LX fell above our limits across almost all frequencies. As you might guess from our limits we expect a line to rise slowly to one level and the rise slightly again at higher frequencies before dropping off. By contrast the Sidekick LX rose to a high level quickly and then stayed there across all frequencies. What this means in practice is that your voice may sound exaggerated to those on the other end of the call, especially if you speak in lower tones. Once again the Sidekick LX put up one a poor score in an audio test, you can see below that it did worse than any of our comparison phones.
| Cell Phone |
Sidekick LX |
AT&T Tilt (on AT&T) |
LG Voyager (on Verizon) |
| Score |
5.35 |
7.44 |
8.51 |
| Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view) |
 |
 |
|
Handset Side Tone (8.26)
Side tone is the small amount of your own voice that a handset pipes back into your ear so that you can hear how loudly you are speaking. The Sidekick LX posted a side tone score of -19.74 decibels, which is very close to the ideal -18 decibels. This means that you should be able to judge how loud your voice is pretty accurately. You can see below that the Sidekick LX put up a pretty good score in this test, in sharp contrast to its performance in our other audio tests.
