Sidekick LX Cell Phone Review - Conclusion
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Alfredo Padilla Published on December 11, 2007 Comment on this |
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Who's It For
Business User
Business users may be attracted by the Sidekick LX because of its email support, good QWERTY keyboard and ease of use. The lack of integration with enterprise systems will be a sticking point, however, as will the lack of any office editing capabilities and the focus on more consumer oriented capabilities. We feel that business users are better off going with a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile device, it will do more for them and are more extensible than the Sidekick LX.
Budget Callers
Not a budget phone.
Chatty Teenager
This is probably the principal market for the Sidekick LX. Although there's a lot that teenagers will like on the LX, from the easy to use interface to decent music capabilities, great QWERTY for texting and integration with service like My Space, there's also a lot that give us pause. For example the camera is terrible, and the phone is just so big that those who like to have a small and attractive device won't be drawn to the Sidekick LX. Still, if you can convince Mom and/or Dad to dish out the $300 for it we're sure that that many teenagers will be thrilled with the Sidekick LX.
Media Maven
Media mavens will find the Sidekick LX just doesn't offer enough oomph for the price. Let's start with the camera, which is terrible and doesn't record video. The move onto the fact that you can't play videos and the music software is just average and you can find much better ways to spend $300 for a media device. If you're willing to spend a little more go with an iPhone and for a similar price the AT&T Tilt or any Windows Mobile or Symbian device will be a better bet for media mavens than the Sidekick LX.
Conclusion
The Sidekick LX is a hot and cold handset: some features are very good and others are so bad we can't understand why they were included. On the good side we like the native push email support, excellent QWERTY keyboard and intuitive interface. We also though the organizer features and music players were better than average. On the not-so-hot side the camera on the Sidekick LX is simply bad, which almost makes it a mercy that it doesn't support video capture as we fear that would be just as bad. We also find the anemic selection of third party applications annoying, especially on what is supposed to be a "smart" device. Rounding out the bad is the price, which is as much as some high-end smart phones, like the AT&T Tilt, which would give you a lot more for your money. This is the first Sidekick device we've reviewed and we come away feeling like there's a lot of potential in the platform but it just doesn't live up to it in so many ways. Given that the platform has already gone through several iterations, we were surprised to see so many glaring holes have yet to be filled. If you like the ease of use and are willing to live with what comes in the box, we still recommend you wait until the price comes down to a more reasonable level.
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