Danger's Sidekick phone has two major assets which boost its 'must-have' rating.
1. It is arguably the favoured device of the street cred and sexy (rappers and Paris Hilton swear by it). 2. It has a distinctive snap-open, swivel display that you fall in love.
These two assets are superficial, but I feel highly important. Phone manufacturers and operators will virtually kill for those kind of assets. They give phones to celebrities by the bucketload in the hope that they will use and endorse them. They also try to bring out phones that have at least one 'must-have' feature. No-one can beat the Sidekick for the sexiness of its snap-open display.
So has Danger improved on Sidekick II with this new version?
It's a sleeker device with plastic keys instead of rubberised. It's got bluetooth and a 1.3 Megapixel camera. Snap open the display and a recessed keyboard is revealed. You basically cradle the device in both hands and happily type on the keyboard with thumbs or fingers. This is a phone for text addicts but also has a speakerphone for easy phone use.
It's a very user-friendly phone with loads of help within any option that you are using, but it has to be: there are so many applications and so many choices within each application.
Pros: Impress friends and enemies with the funky snap-open display. Simple to use but rich in features. You can play music on it. Rugged, feels built to last. Nice big(ish) screen and qwerty keyboard. Introduction of a trackball. Email on your mobile without the added expense of Blackberry or similar email phones. Faster web access than the Sidekick II. Good battery life.
Cons: On the heavy side (182 grams), not really a pocket phone. New plastic keyboard is not as good as the old rubberised one (bit slippy). Camera is a tad limited due to poor quality. No video capability. Snap-out display is a bit grinding compared to the smoothness of the Sidekick 2. Tie-in with AOL webspace is not everyone's cup of tea. Uses less common 2.5mm headphone jack (yes, the small type). Only handles MP3 music files. No Wi-Fi or 3G. Storage space for only about five photos. Screen fonts and graphics look irritatingly basic and teenager focussed.
The bigger issue: This is a tasty phone, but design-wise it is only playing catch up with the growing generation of smartphones, many of which now offer video. So the big question is: does the youth market want the same phone as their favourite rapper, or do they want to move on and get a phone they can actually stick in their pocket?
UKMR Verdict: I can't help liking the Sidekick 3 because the design is so cool and the software friendly. But I can't help thinking that this is a design that suits the texting/instant messaging generation that is fast morphing into a mobile internet, voice over IP, video mobile generation. Unless the next Sidekick addresses these issues this looks likely to be the last in the series. One year down the road the iPhone will surely blow Sidekick out the water in the cool stakes, so Danger and T-Mobile have much work to do.
Buy one? The Sidekick 3 is exclusively available through T-Mobile in the UK.
You want pictures? We ain't got many but Phonescoop has the full range. Enjoy.
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