Sharp Sidekick LX 2009
Phone Scoop Review
May 12, 2009 by Eric M. Zeman
Sharp brings a wealth of improvements to the latest Sidekick in the LX 2009. Messaging and the display dazzle, but some features fizzle. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Great Piece of Ingenuity
I've owned this phone for about 3 weeks now and I have to say that this phone has not let me down. The design and improvements from the previous sidekicks are very obvious and significant. Let's start out with the most talked about feature which is the screen. One word to sum it all up SUPERB. Nothing short of great really everything seems to pop out and just grab your eyes. The messaging of course is great and now with all the application features myspace, facebook, and twitter work great with the phone. Call quality is fine I haven't had any problems at all although once in a blue moon it gets fuzzy but I think it's because of my Bluetooth. Camera works great takes very good photos but when it comes to recording videos it's not up to par but it gets the job done. Gps isn't that bad but it isn't as good as you would expect it to be but I believe it's because of the windows live search. Hopefully T-mo can bring out a better application to really bring out the best of the gps. I can honestly say that this phone can really compete with the best out in the market.
Still a great messenger, terrible phone though
Let's start with the obvious. The phone looks amazing. The screen is huge and the device no longer looks like it was made by fisher-price. Solid construction all around. Nice soft-touch paint and really tight locking screen, almost too tight.
The keyboard is great as usual. Same with the camera surprisingly. Pictures looked great. Media player is good as well.
Messaging on the Sidekick is still aweseome. IM, e-mail, the works. All good. Twitter integration is amazing and that was one of the big reasons I had problems returning it. Very good.
Battery life was surprising as well. 2 full days, 1 charge, and moderate to heavy use. Never had a Sidekick, besides my SKiD, do that.
Now the bad news. Call quality was sub-standard. Sidekicks have always had average calling and this is version is unfortunately worse than the original LX and the 08. They upped the volume (good thing) but the call quality is still bad so the cracks, pops, echoing, adn hollow sounds are now amplified. Terrible.
The GPS is terrible and to me basically broken. It could never find me indoors or outside. Live search works great as long as you do not turn on the GPS.
Also, videos are terrible. Both taking them with the camera and youTube. Choppy, low volume and slow.
Finally, the phone is slow. Not lag, but just slower than the previous versions. All the icons are now animated, so they have to cycle the animation, even if you flick the trackball fast, with acceleration to max. Also it froze up on me several times.
So, yes, I returned it. For the premium price that the T-Mob is asking for this phone, unfortunately it isn't worth it. The messaging, as expected, was top notch and definately worth it. The calls though and the overall phone portion need some work still.
Best edition ever!
Best sidekick made to date. Involves new features plus the ones we all know and love!
PROS:
3G Speeds [in 3G area]
Ringtones
Louder calls [in call speakers]
Sharp display [and large]
3.2 MP Cam [looks great]
Backend servers [keeps data safe/updated]
New keyboard [fun and new]
Easier use while charging
Thin and sleek
Video streaming.
GPS
CONS:
Only con I have (which isn't even an issue because it will be added to shortly), but the small items in the catalog. This will be updated soon! So I don't really have any cons!
I love this phone, I have been a sidekick user since 2005 [Sidekick 2], and this by far is the sexiest, most advanced, and overall best performing sidekick made!
Thank you Microsoft/Danger/Sharp/T-mo! =)
Could be much better
This phone is okay, but definitely not the best phone I've ever had.
PROS:
> Camera is fairly nice and has a flash
> I like the few ring tones and sounds they have available for messaging, etc.
> Good sound quality
> Loud ring tones/message tones
CONS:
> I bought this brand new from T-Mobile and the battery life is AWFUL. I have to plug it in at least once a day, and it doesn't give you much warning before shutting off after a low battery alert.
> When trying to charge the phone through my computer USB, the phone has ALL kinds of software issues where it will turn on, turn off, turn on, turn off.
> There is also a glitch where my contacts get magically erased from my phone and I have to import them again from the SIM card.
> I'm pretty careful with phones, but it seems that it would be pretty easy to break this sucker.
Sharp Sidekick LX 2009(1st Edition)
Complex user menus and setup. Call quality below average with sound clarity and volume.
Otherwise a very good device.
Not bad
When buying this phone ones must know what they are buying. And well it is a sidekick so as a sidekick it is great
Cons:
battery life is not terrible but i have noticed when i text a lot 2000 a week it dies but i guess that is expected
- i wish danger would allow us to use our own pics as background images. nut like i said when buying a sidekick you should already know the basic jist of it
-accessories are not easy to find
Pros:
the call quality is good
3g speed works great
camera is an improvement.
-texting is obviously very easy and addicting on this device
-danger is doing a better job at getting good apps
great phone
ive had a behold, memoir, 8900, and g1. now i just got the sidekick lx 2009.over all for what i mainly use my phone the lx 09 has them all beat all its missing is a touch screen. i wont say its better then these other top phones, but i will say if you looking for a good cam with flash, full browser, keyboard and a sharpe looking phone, check it out.
SideKick LX 2009 NIce
Phone has a great feature set. E-mail, IM, texting all work great on this phone which BTW has a beautiful screen. Overall opinion is very high but I will note some things here.
Small: cannot assign ringtones other than what they provide; cannot make a group of say 30 people with the same ringtone without doing each one individually; shortcuts could be better designed; camera not that good: pics are a little fuzzy and the flash tends to wash out pics; video mediocre although I did not buy this thing to replace my 8 megapixel cam or my digital vid recorder, trust me. Makes cute sounds and flashes different color schemes depending on the setting..this is neither a plus or a minus just something to note! I live in EDGE country with 3G only being downtown. So far EDGE is passable, can't wait to take this thing to work and see what 3G can do. Battery life is rather good; takes a while to charge; the swivel keyboard is great and the entire device feels solid and great quality. Screen is gorgeous and colors pop off this baby. GPS is wierd and glitchy and drains the battery quickly so buy a real one from circuit city if you care about that, I don't! I got Windows Live and AIM to work but Yahoo Messenger says my http protocol is out of date and won't work. How many IM's do ya need? I don't do Twitter but I do Facebook and it works great, but limited browser does not reveal all the links a real PC would. But it is OK.
A Must: Log in to my t-mobile and register your sidekick. You get this incredible feature called desktop interface which lets you do EVERYTHING on the internet (think address entries)and it automatically downloads all info to your sidekick. Even with the great keyboard on your LX, you cannot beat a full sized PC keyboard for fast typing. We all know SIM card data transfer completely SUCKS so all of those extra phone number, email addresses and personal notes need to be re-entered into the new device and this web-based interfaced totally rules.
Sidekick LX '09 -VS- Sidekick LX '07
I currently own a sidekick lx 2007, but I have read many upon many reviews about the sidekick lx 2009 and it sounds awesome! They both have web browsers but the 09 version is getting an update to 3G so you can now stream video over the internet. I really love my sidekick lx (2007) and will probably upgrade to a sidekick lx 2009. I think Sharp took the sidekick lx 2007 and made the features it already had better (take the camera for example) and added new, uniquely intuitive features to an already awesome phone. Here is a list of my pros and cons for both phone models:
Pros (SKLX 2007)-
* ok web browser, using it right now to write this review =)
* the best screen by far that I have EVER seen on a phone, although I hear rumors that the screen on the new lx is better...
* messaging is incredible!! IM, email, and texting are basic but fun to use at the same time (keyboard makes everything better!!)
* best keyboard EVER!!! That's the bottom line
* Battery life is good with moderate to heavy use, I use it all the time
* multi tasking is the best I've ever seen on a phone, you have 1 jump button to handle all your applications, and you can run multiple at apps at a time =)
*much more (trust me!!) but these are just the ones that come to mind
Cons (SKLX 2007)-
* No 3G browsing which means no streaming video over the internet
* very poor speaker and call quality, but you can use the wired headset that comes with the phone or buy a bluetooth headset. --------------------------------Pros (SKLX 2009)- *bigger and higher resolution screen than on the previous model (if that's even possible!)
* 3G browsing, now you can stream video over the internet, yay!! =D
* more options on jump screen for further customization, and who doesn't like customization??
Cons (SKLX 2009)-
* speaker quality is still poor as on previous model
