Review: Sidekick LX

You May Want To Think Twice Before Buying The Sidekick LX
STOP!!!

Before you decide to go and buy that Tmobile Sidekick LX, there are a few things you may want to know.

The Sidekick LX is a pretty phone, don't get me wrong. It has a beautiful screen that flips up with a simple click to the side of it's screen. It comes with a camera, and a full QWERTY keypad which makes texting a breeze.

It has full capability of email, Internet browsing, phone calls, music, and texting.

It is a bit on the bulky side, and I would consider it one of the largest Sidekick's in the bunch of available models.

The bulk though is not a big deal, the big deal is, I'm paying close to $60.00 a month for a phone that I can really only primarily use to check email, and text message.

I have the most basic plan, at 300 minutes, and I pay an addition $19.99 for unlimited use of text messaging and Internet browsing.

Without having the unlimited text messaging plan, my Sidekick LX would pretty much be useless to me.

Why, you ask?

1. The Sidekick LX even when set on high volume is nearly impossible to hear. The phone does not ring loud at all, so I miss a ton of calls if the LX is in my purse.

2. I can barely ever hear someone on the other end of the line when I do rarely catch a call. I actually have to put the LX on speakerphone just so I can hear them. If I am in a loud room, or outside where cars may be passing by, I hear nothing. Again, that is on full volume!

3. I cannot download free ring-tones. Instead Tmobile set up this selfish money making scheme that is directly on the phone in an application where you can shop for music, ring-tones, alert sounds, or background images. (You can however download free background images onto the phone through your computer).

At any rate, each ring tone/application/sound/alert will cost you anywhere from $1.99 to $2.99.

4. If you plan on ordering this phone directly through Tmobile online, you will have to sign a 2 year contract. Ugh! I still think the whole contract thing is bull!!! But if you want the phone, prepare to commit yourself to Tmobile for 2 years, otherwise it'll be a $200 deactivation fee!!!!

Now with all of the cons aside, I figure I had to do this phone some justice, because it does have some really nice features you may want to know about.

1. The LX has the most comfortable keypad out of any phone I have ever used. Although the buttons are small, you will pretty much be thumb pecking letters, and the LX has a keypad that has each letter spaced just enough as to where you can breeze through a long, long text message.

2. The built in camera also takes some pretty nice photos, it's a 1.3mp camera! I was pretty surprised at just how clear photos turned out.

3. The Sidekick LX has an extensive collection of ring tones, sounds, and alerts for you to purchase. Although I am not to keen on paying for them, I will say that every song or tone I have wanted was available to purchase.

With that said, I personally won't be signing up again when my contract expires.

The Sidekick LX annoys me more than it does me any good.

Had the phones ring been louder, I may of said 'yes, this phone is a great phone'; but due to the fact that I miss so many calls based off of the fact that the ring is so low, it's a no go for me. The monthly price I'm paying is much to high for what I'm really getting, which is in my opinion, a texting unit.