Sidekick Slide vs. Sidekick LX
We were fortunate enough to preview the Sidekick Slide way back in July, and for the most part, our opinions and views haven’t changed. Instead of just doing a review on the Sidekick Slide, we’re going to pin it head-to-head with the Sidekick LX. For each category you’ll see our opinions on both of the devices, so sit back, relax, and put them profiles on "Buzz".
Operating System
Sidekick Slide: If you’re a previous Sidekick user you’ll immediately notice the refined look of the new OS, new system sounds, and a couple of other handy features.
Sidekick LX: We might be hearing things, but we noticed different system sounds on the Slide, and the LX. In general, the Sidekick LX really shows off the new OS nicely because of the real estate screen space.
Screen
Sidekick Slide: The Sidekick Slide’s screen has a resolution of 320×240, and is exactly the same physical size as the Sidekick iD. Even though it is quite smaller than the LX, the Slide’s screen is crisp, bright, and shows vivid colors.
Sidekick LX: We’re in love with the Sidekick LX’s screen! At a resolution of a 400×280, it provides ample room when web browsing, or just doing general tasks with the device. This is the main reason we’re so inclined to stick with the LX. It really is fantastic.
Instant Messaging
We can’t really show off the differences between the Slide and LX because they both have the exact same IM clients on board. Again, LX screen size makes IMing oh-so-easy!
Size
Sidekick Slide: The Slide’s physical size is the smallest of any Sidekick yet. It’s even thinner than the LX at 17.2mm, and is perfect for someone constantly on the move, yet not willing to give up Danger’s OS.
Sidekick LX: The LX is really for the more hardcore Sidekick users. It is 21.8mm thick, wider, and longer than the Slide, but for anyone with large hands, this is the way to go
Keyboard
Sidekick Slide: When you make the Sidekick smaller, the keyboard obviously will get smaller, too. The Slide’s keyboard is actually hard plastic circular-shaped keys, and while we could get used to them, there is minimal tactile feedback. We can see the younger / female market loving this.
Sidekick LX: As the manufacturer of probably the best keyboards for mobile devices on the planet, Danger can’t mess with success here. And they haven’t pretty much. The LX’s keyboard is roomy, extremely pleasurable to type on, and sort of combines the Sidekick 2’s rubber keyboard, with the Sidekick 3’s plastic key keyboard into one. This turned out very well, and we have no keyboard regrets.
Reception
Sidekick Slide: We’ve got Motorola for the first time, and we’ve got Sharp for the LX. Motorola came to play and we think they did a great job. Reception is on-par with average Motorola reception, and we hardly noticed any "two-dot dances" or "X’s" we previously have gotten on earlier Sidekick models
Sidekick LX: The LX is physically a bigger device. That leaves for room to play around with the antenna, and it worked. The Sidekick LX’s reception is fantastic, and totally trumps any previous Sidekick model. It is one hair-level better than the Slide in our unscientific tests.
Call Quality
Sidekick Slide: Motorola integrated the ear speaker on the actual screen panel, instead of the d-pad where all of the ear speakers have always been housed. This was an awesome move, and provides the most clear and not awkward talking experience of any Sidekick to date. It is also incredibly comfortable.
Sidekick LX: As we mentioned above, the ear speaker is housed on the d-pad which is on the left side of the phone. We don’t normally use the Sidekick devices as phones, but when we tried it out, we noticed a buzz / hiss through out all conversations, and after a couple minutes the d-pad started to get annoying.
Speaker Volume / Quality
Sidekick Slide: The Slide’s volume ups the LX by a little bit. We hear a much louder and fuller sound when using the Slide, and you don’t get those fun lights to help you know when you’ve got a call or message, so that speaker better be on point! And it is.
Sidekick LX: Definitely wished it was louder, but it is not iPhone quiet. Speakerphone when talking on the phone was pretty good and definitely audible, but MP3 playback is a little tough. We also miss IMs sometimes because of the low volume
Side note to Danger: Integrate vibrate with the AIM IM sound for the love of god, already!
Catalog
We actually don’t have to split this up because as far as we can tell, the Catalog is actually exactly the same on both devices. We reported that the Catalog would stop using "blocks" to show how much Application / Game space you had left, and we were 100% on the money! We finally have the storage space shown in Kilobytes, and this helps judge the remaining space more accurately. Something which you’re not able to do, is store Applications / Games to your memory card. This really puts our mind to work, because we have no idea why! It is not like you could copy the app off the memory card and send it to your friend so they can install it for free! The Sidekick platform is only open to developers, so with out a dev key, you are not able to do anything besides buy apps and games. Come on, Danger! If I want to buy more stuff, but don’t have space on the handset, you’re not going to let me? Totally wack! On the flip side, if you do uninstall something you bought, you’re free to install it again because the Sidekick back-end keeps track of your purchases. Not the best of methods, but at least you don’t have to buy something over and over again.
Conclusion:
We hope you liked our head-to-head battle between the Sidekick Slide and the Sidekick LX. What’s our ultimate conclusion? If you’re a hardcore Sidekick user you’ll want to grab the LX. The keyboard and screen alone make this a win. The Sidekick Slide isn’t really beneath the LX on the totem pole, so if you want an awesome phone, but love the Danger OS all in a small device, you will definitely want to pickup the Slide. It’s a hard choice, believe us. We switched from the LX to the Slide, back to the LX probably 6 times alone in the past day, but for now, we’re sticking with the Sidekick LX. The screen is just too good…
Click on over to our Sidekick Slide vs. Sidekick LX gallery!
I have them both @the post about the slide yes it shuts off when i slide it back down thats why they recalled them and LX has a 2mp cam while the slides is only a 1.3
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Im writing this from my lx right now. Its the best phone I have ever had. Before this I have a blackberry pearl and broke it about 5 times. I just wanna know if the lx is durable. Thanx
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I have had almost all the pda/ superphones compatiable with TMobile fron the Accompli 009 to the Sk3 and I chose the slide for a few reasons one being the lx is freakish large its border line PSP and to be honest all tmobile did was remodel the sk3 that’s why neither one can carry the title sk4 because the are still some kinks that need to be worked out such as wi-fi and besides that I couldn’t see myself paying an extra 120 for a phone that will not allow me to access you tube or and other moving pictures on my phone! I bout my wife a DASH and I wanted a Shadow but once you have a full QWERTY keyboard you never go back
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Isn’t the lx coming out iN purple, anyone know how i can get it now, i dnt feel like waiting for it. if you knoe ANYWAY that i can’t my hands on a purple lx asap contact me at brooklynchic8@tmail.com
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Evrybdy out thr, go by a lx!!! Thy kck ass. I hce bth a lx nd a slde nd I dnt evn bthr wth th slde. I only evr brt it cz I own al th prvs mdls, nd gnr kp byn thm al. Th lx kcks so mch ass. I lve it. Its th bst mdl so far!!
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okay I have a sprint treo 755p & was thinkin about switchin 2 Tmobile&gettin an LX.. now if any1 knows if the phone I have is better than the LX? this treo has a nice cam w/a few pic edittin apps&camcorder….pic/vid mail…. but I like the way the LX looks/feels….am I doin the right thing? meaning am I about 2 give up a nice phone 4a downgrade?! some1 plz respond
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i’ve been doing a lot of reseach based on both the slide and the lx and im gonna go with the slide. i find both of the sidekicks extremely appealing but i just don’t want a big phone. right now i have the sk3. im not sure if im doing the right thing by getting the slide. im stuck beween my sk3 or the slide. cuz i know i don’t want the lx.
[P.S. DeeLowe 708: i personally believe that you should keep your phone cuz the new sidekicks aren't all that great.]
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hey, i hav not yet owned any of the sidekicks, and im going to buy one within the nxt 2 weeks, i was wondering which one i should get. i was leaning towards the slide. but now im not sure. any help?
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I have been a Windows Mobile power user for a long time. I’ve had a TMobile MDA for over a year. I am waiting for something better than the TMobile Wing to come out. My wife has a SK3, and I love the simplicity of using it compared to a Windows Mobile phone. My question is, is there a means of playing video on it. My MDA can play video via Windows Media Player. Is there anything like that on the SK LX? Also, I use Opera Mini on my MDA. Is there a major improvement in web browsing on the LX over the SK3? What about ebooks? Any ebook readers for SK? I’m either gonna eventually get a SK or a Tilt if Tmobile comes out with it. I appreciate any advice or thoughts.
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can any one tell me a place to buy a sidekick sslide for cheap?
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See what I don’t understand is that they say the slide doesn’t have the fun lights. That’s a lie. It doesn’t have it in the cursor ball. But it does have it in the middle of the cursor pad. So they just made the slide look even more weaker.
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@ daniel Dude, you ever heard of vowels? Seriously, I couldn’t even read what you wrote. Maybe you should buy a Sidekick LX and try again
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which one has a better quality camera and do they both have the music player?? like MP3?
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u guys are frikn re re`s, everything is in the review above other than the stupid camera, gosh
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I’m stuck between the T-Mobile wing and the sidekick lx. I’m a student so he organizers should be good. Is there really any big difference between these phones? Which one should I choose?
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UMmmm jst askiin how do u change the souind of the aim thing when sombody writes you to a difeffent sound…thank u soO much
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does the sidekick LX come in black?
get back to me asap PLS anyone thanks.
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I have a sidekick slide. I’m very pleased with it, but mine has ‘resetted’ but came back in a few minutes. The LX was just to big for me and the buttons annoyed me.
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Hello. I would just like to note that the sidekick lx is an amazing phone. I got it about 4 days ago and am already in love with it. I am actually posting this from my sidekick lx. It took about 8 seconds for this page to load on my sidekick lx. The text and instant messaging on the phone is awesome. Once you are used to the spacious, comfy keyboard, which took me about 2 hrs lol, you will fly at typing. Its simply incredible. I disagree about the review of the sound quality though. The sound quality is perfect and is just like any other good phone out there. The camera is 1.3 megapixels but is vga quality so it does not look that great. The screen resoultion is really amazing and the best I have ever seen, including the screen size. The external speaker is not too loud but can definitely be hear when it is in ur pocket. When listen to music on the phone using headphones, the sound quality is absolutely great! Its just as loud as an ipod and is very clear. I highly suggest that you purchase this phone. I purchased it for 400 dollars and have NO regrets. I’m always using it. : )
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well..
hmm..
i live on Guam..
my dad came back from cali. and he got me the sidekick LX.
the sad thing is.. i need the unlock code for it.
i called t-mobile 24-hr line and they dont have the unlock code
and it took the CSR nearly 30 minutes to figure out they didnt
have the unlock code Lol.. sooooo… IF ANYONE… CAN PLS HELP ME
GET THE CODE.. ID BE VERY VERY HAPPY.. AND NOT FEELING SHITTY ABOUT WASTING 450 DOLLARS..
thanks..
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Hey I have never owned a sidekick, I want to get the blue LX and use it as prepaid for texting, internet, and IM. and Ima use my other phone only for talking. until next year when Im of age and can get a contract with T-Mobile. Is that a smart choice? Or should I get a sidekick 3?
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i am getting the slide like in april and i was juss wondering if its is easy 2 typ on it becouse some say its is stidd and slippery and i want 2 know forsure before i get 1
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srry i ment stiff and slippery
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well as a sidekick lx user i have to say that i love my LX its my first sidekick . Its an amazing phone it can do alot of great stuff and i lovE the keyboard its great for texting . I higly recomend this phone =)
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Even though the slide is smaller it has had a lot more technology difficulties than the lx has.
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