Sidekick LX Cell Phone Review - Value & Comparisons
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Alfredo Padilla Published on December 11, 2007 Comment on this |
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Value (5.0)
The Sidekick LX is available exclusively from T-Mobile for $299.99 with a two-year contract or $399.99 without. This is as much or more than you would expect to pay for a high end smart phone like the AT&T Tilt or BlackBerry Curve 8320. Although the Sidekick LX is also a smart phone it's one with serious limitations like no video recording or playback and a very poor camera. If you're simply looking at a spec sheet the Sidekick LX just doesn't match the capabilities of other phones that you can get for a similar price. That being said the Sidekick LX does have a very intuitive interface and provides a very easy to use out of the box experience. So for those looking for a "smart" device that isn't as complicated as Windows Mobile or BlackBerry devices it might be worth the price. That being said we can't consider the Sidekick LX a good value at its current price. Most cell phones drop in price fairly quickly and if you like the Sidekick LX you might be best off waiting a couple of months for it to drop to a price more commensurate with its capabilities.
Comparisons
AT&T Tilt - The AT&T Tilt is a powerful Windows Mobile handset that provides significantly better functionality than the Sidekick LX at a similar price point. In particular the Tilt's camera is significantly better than the Sidekick LX's and it has a much larger library of third party applications to extend its capabilities even further. It also offers users features like GPS capability and support for AT&T's high speed 3G network. That being said Windows Mobile devices do have a steeper learning curve than the Sidekick LX so if you're looking for ease of use you might want to go with the LX. If you're looking for value for your dollar though the AT&T Tilt is a better bet.
LG Voyager - The LG voyager is another large phone with a nice QWERTY keyboard, but unlike the Sidekick LX it is not a true smart device. Instead it's just a regular phone with some nice extras like an external touch screen. It does beat out the Sidekick LX in several areas, for example the web browser is more capable and the camera is better. That being said we found ourselves enjoying the user experience on the Sidekick LX much better than the Voyager, and limited as the selection of third party applications might be we like having access to them. We also like having an email client on the phone. This one's a tough call, but we lean towards the Sidekick LX.
BlackBerry Curve 8320 - The Curve is one of the best smart phones out there, providing an interface that's a little more complicated than the Sidekick LX's but is almost as easy to learn and use. It also has a much better camera, although it also lacks video recording, and the BlackBerry email experience is significantly better than the Sidekick LX. For business users the Curve also provides much better integration with corporate environments. It's also available from T-Mobile for $50 less than the Sidekick LX, which pretty much clinches it for us. Unless you love the Sidekick LX's interface go with the Curve.
Helio Ocean - Like the LG Voyager the Ocean is not a true smart device, but it does provide a very easy to use interface, a good QWERTY keyboard and nice extras like GPS functionality. In many ways the Ocean and the Sidekick LX are targeted at exactly the same demographic, younger people who want a powerful device that's also "cool". The Ocean has been out for awhile so its price has dropped to a more reasonable $199, but price aside these are very comparable devices.
Apple iPhone - The iPhone is the only one of our comparison phones that is more expensive than the Sidekick LX at $399. What do you get for that extra $100? Well, you get 8GB of internal memory for storing multimedia. Speaking of which the iPhone's music experience is better than the Sidekick LX's, plus it has excellent video playback features which the LX lacks completely. The iPhone's camera also produces much better photos than the Sidekick LX's, although it also lacks video recording capabilities. Although the iPhone does not currently support third party applications they will be available early next year on a model very similar to the Sidekick LX's, so this will be a wash shortly. Bother device interfaces are slick and easy to use, but the iPhone wins in terms of size as its a much thinner and smaller phone than the Sidekick LX. So, should you pay more for all this? Well, if you want to use the Sidekick LX as your principal media device we say the iPhone is a better bet. If, on the other hand, you just want an easy to use "smart" device save yourself the $100 and go with the LX.
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