Looks like someone at Gizmodo got to play with a Sidekick Slide a little bit early.

They mention in the hands on…

…but having held it and played with it, I do believe it has the best build quality of any sidekick.

Also they mention that the keys on the keyboard are lined with “velvecron a fuzzyish paint for gadgets.”

And that’s pretty much it, hopefully they do a full review of it soon.

Still unsure if you want to make the 3-400 dollar dent in your wallet with the Sidekick LX?

CNet and Yahoo! Tech have you covered with reviews of the Sidekick LX. None of the reviews go as deep as I would like, they seem to be more like “First Looks”, but they might help you make the decision.

Yahoo! Tech’s Review
CNet’s Review

Thanks to everyone who sent these in

Laptopmag.com (not sure why a laptop mag is reviewing phones *shrug*) has apparently given the thumbs down to the Sidekick iD in their latest feature, Best & Worst: First Half of 2007. They cite the lack of features as the main reason, with the pain in the neck of replacing bumpers and lack of EDGE as additional downsides. While the Sidekick iD does have less features than the Sidekick 3, you’ll find quite a bit of argument on the hiptop.com forums over whether or not this is truly a downgrade. Needless to say, the Sidekick iD definitely hits a niche in the market and has been doing well, regardless of what the laptop dorks say. What do you guys think? Is the Sidekick iD really the “worst tech” of the first half of 2007?

John Biggs over at CrunchGear has a video showing off the swappable bumper covers on the new Sidekick iD.

T-Mobile went ahead and announced the Sidekick iD officially and the embargo has been lifted on the device. The Sidekick iD reviews are already starting to hit the web, with a flurry of photos as well. T-Mobile posted a press release on their wiki and Crunchgear has the first full review. Their review can basically be summed up with the following paragraph:

If you have an SK3, you won’t want the SK ID. It’s not for you. At $99, this phone is priced for the same folks who might get a RAZR, but instead pick up a hot little messaging phone. The UI is exactly the same as the SK3’s. The only real difference is there is no camera or MP3 playback options. Instead, Danger has added a photo album feature that lets you move emailed photos to your album. It is also MyFaves compatible. There is also no memory-card slot nor is there a USB port.

Pics from Gizmodo:
   

Pics from Crunchgear:
      

T-Mobile’s news release below:

T-Mobile Sidekick iD Makes A Statement
Personalization and Affordable Style Drive T-Mobile Sidekick iD

BELLEVUE, Wash. – April 13, 2007 – T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announces the new T-Mobile® Sidekick® iD, offering the latest in personalization on a communication device at an accessible price of $99.1 Designed to include the spontaneous communication features synonymous with the iconic brand, the T-Mobile Sidekick iD also offers spur-of-the-moment personalization with easily removable and replaceable exterior panels.

The customizable exterior of the T-Mobile Sidekick iD provides quick modification of the outside of the device with fashionable colors to match anyone’s style, mood or that evening’s outfit. Inside the device, customers will feast on the famous buffet of communications capabilities that make it simple to stay directly connected with family and friends, or stay on top of their favorite social networks and other Web sites.2

The T-Mobile Sidekick iD is designed for virtually anytime, anywhere communication through voice calling and a robust variety of options for messaging-based communication. The signature swivel screen is designed to be a large, color window into one’s own personal life. The screen moves to reveal the full QWERTY keyboard providing the luxury of staying connected through the always-on access to e-mail, instant messaging (AIM®, Yahoo!® and Windows Live Messenger), and text messaging.

“The T-Mobile Sidekick has always been about freedom of expression and communicating with style,” said Greg Andrews, director, marketing, T-Mobile USA. “With the T-Mobile Sidekick iD, we’re expanding on the theme of individuality by increasing the personalization aspect and providing pricing that is accessible to a wide range of consumers.”

The T-Mobile Sidekick iD will have T-Mobile’s myFavesSM available out of the box. The unique myFaves experience provides additional customization as the home screen contains images of the five people that matter most or are called the most often. The myFaves interface also enables access to a straightforward communications menu for effortless calling, texting, multimedia messaging and e-mail. Customers can choose from a range of myFaves plans to get unlimited calling to those five designated people — to any number in the U.S., even land lines (excluding toll-free and 900 numbers) — that make up their personal network.3

Key features of T-Mobile Sidekick iD include the easily personalized hardware to express individuality and style as well as the following:

* T-Mobile Sidekick’s signature swivel screen with a large landscape color display (2.4-inch screen with 65K colors and 240X160 pixels) for improved viewing of Web pages and contacts
* A full HMTL Web browser with enhancements for faster downloading and optimized viewing2
* Beneath the screen, a full QWERTY keyboard ideal for speedy instant messaging and other text-based communication
* Dedicated support for three major instant messaging clients (AIM, Yahoo! and Windows Live Messenger) with the ability to hold up to 10 IM conversations at one time to stay constantly connected to a social circle
* Support for personal e-mail with a dedicated “t-mail” account or use of an already existing personal e-mail account
* Inclusion of myFaves for additional personalization and the benefit of unlimited calling to any number on any network, including landlines, to stay connected to the five people who matter most
* A convenient trackball for one-handed navigation and an improved gaming experience
* A speedy ARM9 processor to handle the massively multitasking communicators
* Replaceable battery with up to 5.3 hours of talk time and 6 days of standby
* Dimensions: 5.12 x 2.48 x 0.87 inches; 6.2 ounces with standard battery
* Accessories available in black, yellow, blue, white, purple and glow-in-the-dark

The T-Mobile Sidekick iD will be available for $99.99 (with a qualifying two-year contract and mail-in rebate) at T-Mobile retail locations and online at www.t-mobile.com beginning April 25. For more information on T-Mobile Sidekick, please visit www.sidekick.com.

[1] Taxes additional; requires activation of a qualifying two-year service plan and Sidekick data plan. 2 Separate charges may apply to some features. Not all Web sites optimized for mobile browsers. 3 Nationwide plan; myFaves contacts limited to total of five U.S. phone numbers (certain exceptions apply); minimum one-year service agreement required.

When it rains, it pours… We’ve gotten confirmation from several sources that the new Sidekick will be dubbed the Sidekick ID, or the SKiD for short. (Yes, we know, be glad we didn’t pick a different picture for this post) This is the PV-150 we’ve seen on the FCC site, and heard in passing the past few months. Consider it confirmed now though. The details? It’s going to be about $100 with a 2 year contract and $150 with a 1 year contract. No bluetooth, no camera, no miniSD, no MP3 player, etc. Basically it will be a phone, web browser, and AIM client, with the addition of MyFaves. Why would you buy this? It’s inexpensive, people that can’t have camera phones at work can take it to work, and it’ll probably end up being one of those “Free with activation” phones further down the road. Expect it to hit in the next month or two, leaked pictures before then.

UPDATE: Speaking of leaked pictures, CrunchGear already has one:

We apologize for the lack of updates in the last few days. We’ve been playing, proking, and prodding around our Sidekick 3 non-stop since Friday.
With our exploration of the Sidekick 3 and its secrets, we’ve come to realize that there is a ton of functionality that isn’t even being taken of advantage yet. While we can’t reveal these details due to the NDA agreement with Danger, we can say you guys will be very happy with the device within the next few months.
So far we’ve heard three main complaints, (a) ringtones/apps/games, (b) slow browser, (c) battery life.

Ringtones/Apps/Games
Like most people we were a little disappointed to see that apps and ringtones aren’t transferring over, but we kind of understand from a business perspective, it is a new phone. People complaining about the lack of apps and games should be patient. With the Sidekick 3 there were a lot of changes in the OS that require work on these older applications in order to make them work right. Even the splash screen for all apps has to be changed! We hope that all games and apps will be ported over soon, but ultimately it’s up to the programmers to do this. The lack of ringtones, well that’s just T-Mobile and we’re not happy either having to pay for the same ringtones that came free on the Sidekick II.

Slow Browser
Like everyone else we had some difficulty with keeping G and loading webpages the first few days. This has gotten a lot better in the last 24 hours or so. when a webpage does load, boy does it scream! I was so used to switching over to AIM or email while waiting for a webpage to load, and now with some pages I don’t even have time for that. Keep in mind that this is a new device, and I’m sure it’s putting some strain on Danger’s servers. Give them some time to tweak the servers and I’m sure things will be running smoother and faster than ever.

Battery Life
I’ve seen in passing some comments about battery life. Since we haven’t done any conclusive testing, we’re not sure how much merit is in these complaints. We do recommend you charging the battery fully, then letting it drain all the way, rinse & repeat. This will help condition the battery to get the full amount of life out of it. If anyone wants to do some serious battery testing and has results, let us know. We’re talking “I unplugged with 100% battery at 7:23pm, received a phone call for 23 minutes, browsed the web for 15, etc.” type research, not “uhh yeah, it lasted for 5 hours.” Additionally, there are companies already working on new extended life batteries, so those should be out soon.

To wrap things up, we’re very happy with the Sidekick 3. It has lived up to most of its hype, and will only continue to get better. To all those that have received the blessings from UPS and have received their Sidekick 3, we hope you’re enjoying it! For everyone waiting on UPS or the 10th, hang in there.

Before you comment on this post, think about what you’re posting. If it relates directly to this info, go ahead, but if it’s unrelated please head over to the forums and post it where it’s easier to carry on a conversation. Thanks!

This video kicks ass. I’d love to see TMobile have the guts to air it as a real ad.