Sharp Sidekick-LX Review
Teenagers and text messengers rejoice--the new Sharp Sidekick-LX is finally available. As the successor to the highly popular Sidekick 3, the Sharp Sidekick-LX (also known as the T-Mobile Sidekick LX in America) is a phone that is fit for even the most advanced texters. With its full QWERTY keyboard, all kinds of social networking options, and even a MySpace application, the Sharp Sidekick-LX is certainly designed to be used by teenagers and college students around the globe.
The Sharp Sidekick-LX is a quad band GSM phone, so it can be used anywhere in the world where you can find reception. Unfortunately, however, the Sharp Sidekick-LX does not include any 3G support, so you are limited to data transfers over the slower GPRS/EDGE network. Normally it would not be such a big deal, but on a phone that is highly social like the Sidekick, every kilobyte counts.
Like all of the other Sidekick phones, the Sharp Sidekick-LX is absolutely massive in size. Measuring in at approximately five inches by two and a half inches by one inch, don’t expect to put this in the pocket of your tight jeans. And with a weight of 162 grams, you’re going to need a sturdier belt.
The amount of battery life on the Sharp Sidekick-LX is downright dismal. Expect to get less than seven hours of talk time and only four days of standby time. If you have plans to go anywhere for a weekend, be sure you take a charger.
On the bright side, the Sharp Sidekick-LX is loaded with features. Taking up most of the space on the front is a huge 400 by 240 pixel screen that’s three inches on the diagonal. Unfortunately it only supports 65k colors.
Other features include a 1.3 megapixel camera with a flash, a music player, expandable memory via microSD, the full QWERTY keyboard mentioned earlier, Bluetooth support, a speakerphone, a number of IM and other social networking applications, MySpace applications, and tons of phonebook related features.
Pros
- The perfect phone for teenagers and text messengers
- Lots of decent features
Cons
- No 3G support
- Terrible battery life
- Large
Overall
If you’re a text messenger, you need this phone. If you like to stay in contact with your family and friends, you need this phone. Everyone else--you’re better off with something else.