T-Mobile Sidekick 4G Android Phone, Pearl Magenta (T-Mobile) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I am not a former Sidekick user and I have never used Android before - had a Blackberry. This phone has been great - had it for a week. I tried the Motorola phone, but Motoblue would not work with my corp email.
Pros for me:
- Works perfectly with Exchange active sync (EAS) for corporate email, including calendar and GAL.
- Works perfectly with Yahoo and a POP server for personal email.
- Has nice layout, but I added widgets to get what I wanted. Made it look more like the Mot to be honest.
- The camera and video look great and it is easy to hold with one or both hands.
- Has a trackball that works with the keyboard - like the blackberry. That is great. Beats trying to position by keys or your finger. Keyboard is really nice and easy to use with one or both hands.
- Screen is beautiful. Very clean looking and nice colors.
- Although plastic, feels very solid. Much lighter than the Mot.
- Sound quality is good through speaker and works well with Bluetooth - no disruption when doing things on screen.
Cons for me:
- No flash on camera and only 3MP. Picture look good, but this means no zoom. Autofocus is good but slow.
- No desk charging dock - I hope one becomes available eventually.
I think it is an excellent example of a touch+keyboard phone with a good slider (tilt up and slide really) and a good starting set of apps.
UPDATE: someone complained about the screen in sunlight and I was concerned about this too. But, if you go to settings.display, you can set it to automatically adjust to light (uses forward facing camera) and then it works fine in bright light. Of course, the black background (supposed to be for power savings) of the newer Android makes it harder since the contrast of light on dark is not nearly as good as dark on light. But, this is an android problem. I am hopeful they will make it easy to change this via theme-changer or other control. Right now, you have to edit XML files to fix that.


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Powered by Android and manufactured by Samsung, the new T-Mobile Sidekick 4G pays tribute to its heritage with its stylish good looks and a killer keyboard while redefining messaging and upgrading to 4G speeds. One of T-Mobile's fastest smartphones running on America's Largest 4G Network, the new Sidekick 4G is capable of delivering theoretical peak download speeds of up to 21 Mbps.

The new Sidekick 4G redefines messaging with its five-row QWERTY keyboard and Sidekick Group & Cloud Text services. Sidekick's Group Text feature lets customers create, name, manage and participate in reply-all group text conversations, enabling them to lead their network in conversation and social planning. Group Text breathes new life into one of the most popular forms of messaging allowing Sidekick 4G customers to initiate and share the benefit of the application with SMS-capable devices from flip phones to smartphones.

In addition, Cloud Text provides the option to text with friends or groups across platforms, wherever from the comfort of their PC's large screen and keyboard, or from their new Sidekick 4G. Preloaded with Facebook and Twitter applications, the new Sidekick 4G provides easy interaction with customers' social networks by allowing them to update their status from the notification pane, browse their feeds from the home screen, and synch their social contacts to the phone's address book for instant access to post on their friends' walls or comment on their status.

Beyond a communication hub, the new Sidekick 4G is now an entertainment hub. With speeds as fast as home broadband and the Sidekick Media Room, customers have one place to stream and enjoy music, videos, movies, YouTube, T-Mobile TV, Slacker Radio, and to search for content regardless of the source. Multitasking is easier than ever with the Sidekick 4G's jump key, a physical button that enables customers to quickly switch between active applications, even during a phone call, or assign keyboard shortcuts to their favorite functions or applications.

Vital Statistics
The T-Mobile Sidekick 4G from Samsung weighs 5.7 ounces and measures 2.42 x 5.0 x .6 inches.It runs ondual-band 4G UMTS/HSPA+ (Bands I and IV) as well as Quad-band 2G GSM world phone frequencies (850/900/1800/1900 MHz).
What's in the Box
Sidekick 4G smartphone, standard Lithium Ion battery, micro USB cable, AC adapter, Getting Started guide, 2GB Micro SD card, preinstalled SIM card, warranty card.

Android Operating System
The T-Mobile Sidekick 4G runs the advanced Android operating system--OS 2.2 (aka, Froyo)--which provides a faster overall Android experience as well as greater multitasking capabilities.You'll be able to receive notifications, listen to music, and even record GPS data without keeping the application open. And it features a plethora of new enhancements, including an improved onscreen QWERTY keyboard, full push corporate e-mail, and support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 for access to the full Web. It also offers enhanced Exchange support, with Calendar syncing, Global Address Lookup, improved security, auto-discovery, and more.

With integrated Google technology, the T-Mobile Sidekick 4G brings one-touch access to the popular Google mobile services millions use every day, including Google Search by voice, Google Maps with Street View, GTalk instant messaging (with presence capabilities), YouTube, and Picasa. The T-Mobile Sidekick 4G also provides easy access to both personal and corporate e-mail, calendars, and contacts supported by Exchange Server and Gmail. And through Android Market, you'll get access to thousands of useful applications, widgets, and fun games to download and install on your phone, with many more apps being added every day.

T-Mobile Network Features High-Speed Data Connectivity via T-Mobile's 3G/4G Network
This phone is compatible with T-Mobile's UMTS/HSDPA/HSPA+ 3G/4G network, which operates on the 1700/2100 MHz AWS spectrum, and it can achieve theoretical download speeds of up to 21 Mbps. It's designed to automatically connect to the best available network (4G, 3G, or GSM/GPRS/EDGE) to provide faster data speeds when accessing the Web.

In areas where the 3G/4G network is not available, you'll continue to receive service on the via T-Mobile's EDGE network (which stands for "Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution"). This high-speed, mobile data and Internet access technology is fast enough to support a wide range of advanced data services (with average data speeds between 75-135Kbps), including full picture and video messaging, high-speed color Internet access, and e-mail on the go.

Also Available for this Android Device

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