The keyboard on the Sidekick II is going to take some getting used to. Couple that with the PDA capabilities of this phone and you’re looking at a very good device. Overall, the Sidekick II’s form factor is a vast improvement over the original Sidekick. The only problem area is the speakerphone speaker being on the back of the device and the mic being on the front. The new form factor of the Sidekick II is awesome it’s more phone-like features still improve upon its overall functionality. On the back of the Sidekick II is the rather large speaker for the nifty speakerphone (a feature I’m going to get a lot of use out of) and the camera shutter and flash as well as a small mirror for those always troublesome self pics. Above and below the USB port are the headset and power ports. The infrared port that had zero use on the original Sidekick is now gone as well. There is still the notorious USB port (which has no consumer functionality, still) which is nicely covered on the right hand edge of the Sidekick II. The two buttons on top of the Sidekick II have various functions but the one on the right of the device defaults to the shutter button for the camera. There are also volume adjust buttons that are very easy to use when on the phone whether you’re using your left or right hand. I especially enjoy the power button being on the outside of the device now (it’s shaped differently than the rest of the rib buttons so you don’t confuse it with another button). The “rib buttons” or external buttons that sit on the top and button of the device are very nice. This button looks like a check mark with an arrow on the left hand side. The “Done” button which takes over a lot of the functionality of the old “Cancel” button. There are still the “Jump” (circle), “Menu” (the old diamond symbol), and “Cancel” (X) buttons but there is a new button. There are also four external function buttons on the face of the Sidekick II (as opposed to three on the Sidekick). As I mentioned before the directional pad is on the outside of the Sidekick II now. There is still a scroll wheel (of course) but above and below are buttons that act as page up and page down or answer and hang up depending upon what application you’re using. The days of random “SIM not ready” warning messages should be a thing of the past due to this new stability in the SIM chip compartment.Īnother interesting improvement is the external buttons. The Sidekick II is still a powerful PDA-like device despite its new phone-ish look.Īnother improvement in the construction of the Sidekick II is a clip that holds the SIM chip firmly in place. This new form factor when compared to the plethora of Nokia phones I have around the house definitely makes it more phone like which is a good thing. The directional pad is no longer part of the keyboard and sits on the outside of the device and has become the ear piece of the phone. The Sidekick II’s screen is flush with the rest of the device and the keyboard is sunken in underneath it. With the original Sidekick the ear piece would not sit up against your ear completely due to the fact the screen was positioned on top of the device. The next major improvement that the Sidekick II brings to the table is the flat face. It looked more like a phone and less like a PDA (or a brick as some of my friends called the Sidekick). The first thing I noticed about the Sidekick II is that it was thinner, narrower, longer, and lighter than its predecessor. I analyzed, prodded, poked, and so on then took it to SeaWorld the next day. On Tuesday, my Sidekick II came and like a gleeful school boy I dropped my SIM card in it and plugged in it to charge. After spending a year with the original color Sidekick I think I’ll be able to write up a very good review. I wanted to push this review out a lot quicker but I figured that a thorough testing and experience with the Sidekick II was necessary. This is a comprehensive review of the T-Mobile Sidekick II.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |