Sidekick Slide (Zante): Hands On!
Yeah, I know we got you excited yesterday, and were complete asses for not posting information on it, but what can we say, it was a busy day! The Sidekick Slide is an upcoming Danger/T-Mobile Sidekick that’s rumored to launch this year in Q3. We’re not sure what sort of launch plans T-Mobile has in store for the Sidekick Slide and the Sidekick 4. They seem like two entirely different devices. With the features this has, it doesn’t seem to scream "low end" at us. The Slide’s features though, aren’t that revolutionary by any means. It packs a quad-band GSM/EDGE radio (finally!), and an amazingly crisp higher resolution screen than previous incarnations. The screen is visibly smaller than the Sidekick 3, looks about the same size as the Sidekick iD, but the smaller size really isn’t that noticeable. We love the screen. Danger’s 4.0 OS isn’t revolutionary as well compared to the other ‘kicks, more like a minor upgrade. But keep in mind that this is a pre-production model with specs, hardware, and software that can possibly change before release. Check out the rest of our Hands On! mini-review of the Sidekick Slide after the jump!
Operating System: Off the bat you’ll notice new system sounds, which are great, and a couple more options in the "Settings". Applications have got a little "upgraded" if you will, but not really feature-wise, just more pleasurable to look at.
Instant Messaging: The popular Instant Messaging services all look better, and are a little more reliable, if that is even possible. It really ends there. There are no new features in AIM. No file sending, nothing.
Size: In terms of size, the Sidekick Slide is a pleasure to use and hold. It’s a little longer than a BlackBerry 8800, a tad less wide, and a bit thicker. Pretty good size all around. The back of the device has a rubberized finish which is the "oh so cool to have" paint job a lot of manufacturers are using. In general though, the Slide feels really cheap. Like cheap plastic. Maybe because it’s made of cheap plastic? Never I tells ya!
Keyboard: One major thing the Sidekick series is known for, are their fantastic keyboards. What do we think about the Sidekick Slide’s keyboard? Pretty good, but we’ll reserve final judgment for a production version. The keys on the keyboard are perfect circles and are pretty small in size. We don’t have a problem with the size really, but we wished there was a little more tactile feedback when a key was pressed. Hence us leaving the keyboard debate up in the air — this is a very early prototype and the general feeling is that this will be addressed before the Sidekick Slide is mass-produced.
Reception: Any real Sidekick user can tell you about reception woes. One minute you’re at 4 bars, and the next you’re staring at either a "2 dot dance", or a nice "X" on the home screen. Not really a concern on here as much, but we’ve noticed a couple reception problems throughout the day.
Call Quality: The phone quality is on par or better than the SK3. The way Motorola (or Danger, however you look at it) integrated the ear speaker into the actual "slide" was great. It is a perfect location, and makes using the device as a phone less awkward.
Speaker Volume/Quality: External speakers, what are we gone’ do with you… Well, this is where the Slide really shines. It’s so damn loud and clear! I along with a number of other users was a little disappointed with the speaker on the Sidekick 3, and this definitely makes up for it. You can see on the back of the device that there’s grooved pattern along the rear. Besides adding some texture and depth to the look, it allows the speaker to perform beautifully. Right by the T-Mobile logo is where the external speaker is housed.
Catalog: Not too much to report on this at this moment. It looks like the Application and Games folders have been merged, but we can’t foresee this happening at release time. Themes are finally available for purchase though in the Catalog. Oh yeah! Finally, we do not have to deal with "blocks" ever again. We have real space as in Kilobytes to refer to when we are downloading stuff.
We hope you got a good taste of what the Sidekick Slide is, and what it will offer. It’s so far our favorite Sidekick to date, but maybe we’re just hype. It does combine every existing feature we’re used to, and improves on some of them. So there isn’t much to hate when we’re getting that in a smaller, hipper device. We’ll go over every single feature you want to know about (the d-pad for instance) in our video review that will be posted soon. So sit tight for now! In the meantime, click on onto to our Sidekick Slide gallery!
On Jul 19, 2007 @ 8:35 am, CRISSY Said:
IT LOOKS TOO BIG AND MISSING CAMERA, THEY SHOULD MAKE IT SMALLER NOT BIGGER, AND ADD MORE FEATURES..
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On Jul 22, 2007 @ 2:55 am, alex Said:
when dose it come out???????
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On Jul 23, 2007 @ 8:52 am, rino pontioso Said:
hi guys!! i just wanted 2 know.. if this phone will b shipped in asia?? i really wanted 2 own a sidekick… & i wish.. they will have it available here??
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On Jul 24, 2007 @ 10:05 pm, Jose Said:
Im a relly big fan of the sidekicks,
as an right now I own a sidekick 3.
I cant wait till the slide comes out.
Sidekicks might not be the best phones in the world but they are really creative witht the stuff they can do.
I love the fact that theres no more “Blocks” & We FINALLY get multimadia text!!!!
Last but not least they upgraded the screen resolution. which is awsome!!!
I was hoping it had at least video playback..=[
But wat about the picture quality on the slide????
ill be waiting for the video review,
can you guys make it quick….plzzzz
Im dying to see the review!!
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On Jul 26, 2007 @ 12:50 pm, 187Killa Said:
Fuck da sidekick 3. i got it the first day it came out. that shit weak ass fuck. I got the T-mobile Dash now. that phones the shit nuuca. U Feel me! ima buy this phone the day it comes out baby boy. im outtiez. Paramount California 4 Life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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On Aug 4, 2007 @ 12:00 am, cuz Said:
how much it cost$$?
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On Aug 8, 2007 @ 1:43 pm, L Said:
Depends how much it costs if I’ll get it. Not that different from sidekick 3 and iPhone looks nicer than it. Kinda dissapointed, expected something better.
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On Aug 10, 2007 @ 1:36 am, sexytshirtz Said:
The sidekick3 isn’t the greatest phone,,but it does have great messaging capabilities w/email& luv the game network..we have digital camaras 4 pic’s.& vid. i’m sure the slide will b more expensive than what its worth anyways….humm a bigger keyboard 4 a smaller screen?? some freakin genius i tell u. i’ll keep faithful 2 my sidekick3.
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On Aug 10, 2007 @ 1:44 am, sexytshirtz Said:
i agree
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On Aug 10, 2007 @ 10:18 pm, DOLORES ND YAMILL Said:
IT,Z DEF.HOT BUT WE LOVE OUR SIDECKICKS VERY MUCH…AND UNLESS THIS SK CAN SHOOT VIDEOS AND HAVE A BETTER CAMARA AND SEND PICS 2 PHONE NUMBERS EASILY THAN IT WOULD BE OVER THE TOP…AND WE WILL CONSIDERED BUYIN IT!!!!!
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On Aug 11, 2007 @ 12:47 am, OG_BobbyJ Said:
so is this phone basically an upgrade of the sidekick I.D.? I mean it looks pretty good, the design, and some of the features sound good as well, you know the whole better speaker and all the other stuff. I would spend the money to get this phone ONLY and ONLY if it’s not a slight upgrade of the sidekick i.d.
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On Aug 11, 2007 @ 4:27 pm, Dudeman Said:
ok, so where is that video you guys promised???
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On Aug 12, 2007 @ 2:18 pm, Mad Mary Said:
the reception problems are not exclusive to the sk. I have a motorola v360 and my bars jump from 4 to 0 all the time. I think it is time for tmobile to replace old equipment on their cell towers. It is very aggrivating, to the point I am willing to pay more for my service, to have a phone that makes and recieves phone calls. Lower phone rates dont do any good if you cant ever use the phone.
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On Aug 14, 2007 @ 1:41 pm, ben Said:
looks overly bulky?? The SK3 is way bigger.
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On Aug 14, 2007 @ 1:46 pm, ben Said:
no phone that t-mobile carries has the ability on the phone to watch video on a website. this will be the last phone to be able to do that when t-mobile phones have that capability.
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On Aug 14, 2007 @ 1:48 pm, ben Said:
On Jul 12, 2007 @ 1:35 am, RogueX5 Said:
It’s not exactly a hardcore tech phone.
It’s marketed to the Teenage crowd who want IM any time any place and SMS which it does perfectly fine.
I believe I saw some rumblings about a MySpace app for TMobile as well.
All t-mobile phones allow IM anytime anywhere.
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On Aug 14, 2007 @ 1:53 pm, ben Said:
On Jul 19, 2007 @ 8:35 am, CRISSY Said:
IT LOOKS TOO BIG AND MISSING CAMERA, THEY SHOULD MAKE IT SMALLER NOT BIGGER, AND ADD MORE FEATURES..
They did make it smaller.
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On Aug 14, 2007 @ 3:11 pm, ben Said:
On Aug 12, 2007 @ 2:18 pm, Mad Mary Said:
the reception problems are not exclusive to the sk. I have a motorola v360 and my bars jump from 4 to 0 all the time. I think it is time for tmobile to replace old equipment on their cell towers. It is very aggrivating, to the point I am willing to pay more for my service, to have a phone that makes and recieves phone calls. Lower phone rates dont do any good if you cant ever use the phone.
Motorola is known for getting poor reception. Buy a samsung or nokia phone you will see a huge difference in your reception.
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On Aug 15, 2007 @ 2:26 pm, Relly rell Said:
How do you send pic messages to a phone from ur sk3 or is it totally impossible i’ve been trying to figure it out all day…
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On Aug 18, 2007 @ 1:23 pm, yammy Said:
i want it!!!
but do any of you know if it is available in hong kong ?
tell me if you know ok??
yammylo1@hotmail.com
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On Aug 19, 2007 @ 11:27 pm, stev-e-o Said:
Yea u can send pics directly 2 a phone but not using a phone number…..u have 2 use an email tht they can acces on their fone like…..tmobileuser@tmail.com which is for tmobile….I hope the slide has vid play back
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On Sep 1, 2007 @ 10:37 am, j-man Said:
the sidekick slide looks amazing.. im getting it for sure.. i just want to see that video you promised us. which was a long time ago. i really want this phone.
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On Sep 1, 2007 @ 7:29 pm, DARRYL Said:
WHERES THE ViDE0 REViEW?!?
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On Sep 2, 2007 @ 1:13 pm, TheShizznizzle Said:
It’ll be better if the camera was better and had video playback!!! Every1 that has a sidekick wants a sidekick with video play back, at least the screen resolution is better… or say they say … but I don’t really like that it slides up, I like the flipping thingamajig the other sidekicks have, I just want a sidekick with video playbak, and faster internet service, hopefully the sidekick 4 has this
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On Sep 2, 2007 @ 5:12 pm, logan Said:
yea moto phone r bad wit bars trust me i gotta razr i agree with most of u wish 4 the vids playback and ability 2 take vids also HOW IN THE HELL COULD THEY TAKE AWAY THE SWIVEL SCREEN THATS LIKE PRACTICLY WAT MAKES THE SIDEKICK SIDEKICK. anyway it lookes like a cool phone im gonna buy it
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