Um, I saw the negative reviews, and don't really care... May 13, 2011

Reviewer:  Sean Gumm 

Because in my humble opinion, the phone is fun. I'm so sick of touch phones I couldn't bear my TMobile Mytouch 3g anymore. The thing was a pain, force close, slow, etc. I wanted a full keyboard again. People seem to love smaller, because admittedly, it's more accessible. However, just forego the body glove on this phone, and it still fits in your pants pocket. I tend to think bigger phones get taken better care of, because you're more aware of it. My phone doesn't force close. It's incredibly fast. I enjoy Media Hub app, which allows me to purchase or rent movies right to my phone. For the inability to see in broad daylight, turn the light up on your phone. I did and mine works fine.
Being able to text and surf the web at warp speeds has been very enjoyable. I've found the phone to have some things that seem bulky or what not, but all in all nothing is ever perfect. So I'm rating this 5 stars.

Best Android phone for email and texting June 13, 2011

Reviewer:  Jose 

Let's be honest ... there is no perfect phone out there (talking about Android capable phones) Or you opted for a very expensive and heavy HTC or Droid (with virtual keyboard) or you get one with physical keyboard.

I only have a couple of days with it, so I cannot give a full battery's review, but like it so far. This is a fantastic cellphone for email and texting and ok overall device for the rest, including browsing and taking pictures.

--What's great--

Dedicated keyboard:
If you don't text a lot or barely use the keyboard, stay away from this device. The phone screen is not extremely small but this cellphone does not really shine on that area. What you're getting is a dedicated 5 rows keyboard where typing is a real pleasure. After owning an HTC H2 (nice cellphone after rooting and running Froyo) and other HTC models, I should say ... nothing like real typing. Cellphone's screens are really responsive on these days but the problem with virtual keyboards is that you need to swap and change rows all the time so the whole typing experience changes. I was really looking for something like this and happy I found it. I thought about the HTC G2 but this keyboard is better and the hinges mechanism is stronger and way more solid. I also like the idea of having a small trackball for navigating and clicking hyperlinks; there is no trackball on the HTC G2.

Fast
It is really fast. In terms of the touch screen and Operating System, it is very responsive. You swap and change screens without major issue, I have not noticed any lag. The browsing's speed depends of many factors (area coverage, browser, etc) but this stuff is faster than my Wifi connection at home. I am getting 6Mbps; downloading or viewing multimedia content is really nice. It is not as smooth or crisp as my previous HTC HD2, but that's the trade off of having a smaller screen and better keyboard. For "on the go" browsing requirements, it's more than enough.

Layout and buttons
Like I said, fantastic keyboard. The hinges mechanism is stronger and better than similar phones. It has a dedicated camera button but the power button is on the opposite side and below, so it is kind of weird and maybe you can turn it off my mistake? Has not happened to me and you need to confirm when turning off anyway (standard on all phones) but the power button could be in a better place. Not a big deal, you get used to. You will also have the "back" button, which is an arrow, the menu button, the "home" button and there is another button which is kind of a "task bar" button. I did not have that on my Galaxy Tab but lets you switch between applications, it's kind of cool having a dedicated one just for that, instead of press and hold the "menu" button (I think is like that on most Android Phones)

Android experience
Won't talk too much about this (we all know it's running Android 2.2 out of the box) but the UI is nice. Has been customized a bit by Samsung but not bloated with tons of unproductive and expensive programs like ATT does on most of their Android models. You can do wifi calling and tethering and as fas as I know, it's completely free (wifi calls will consume your minutes though but you can call a USA number while traveling, let's say from Europe or South America. Just be sure roamaing is off. Tethering will also use your available data plan air time so please refer to your Tmobile representative and confirm)

--The not so good--

Screen
Well ... the screen is really responsive but not the biggest one. It's 3.5 I think but based on the overall phone's size, it could be bigger. There are two black bezels at both sizes of the screen that are "stealing" precious space. Unless they did this to save money and sell it cheaper (this cellphone actually has an attractive price) this is a waste of space!

No camera flash
I am not a big camera flash lover (I do photography as a hobby) so I don't really miss this. I prefer and use a dedicated camera to keep my memories, avoiding flashes if I can, but this is certainly a missing feature. It can be useful for some people and situations so keep that in mind. Indoor pictures are ok though, just be sure there is enough ambient light before taking the shoot. However and in order to be fair, there is a front camera for face to face chatting via web or Android programs. Most cellphones come with only one so that's positive.

Refreshing Interval for Social Network apps.
If you are an Android user, you probably know what I am talking about. If this is your 1st Android phone, this is basically the refreshing interval when your cellphone's widgets (Facebook, Twitter, email) will connect and download new stuff while device is idle seating on your desk. The Android software has been customized here so you can only set refreshes one time every day (or manually) It is good for saving battery but I don't like it. I want to be able to refresh whenever I want and I can miss important notifications that way. What's more weird is that even with that daily option only, my Facebook and email got new stuff frequently so I don't fully understand yet how or why that's happening. I mean, for sure the cellphone is doing a more frequent refresh but why the "one time per day" option only?

Plastic look
Granted, plastic phones do not look as professional or nice as steel ones, but hey! ... you want a cellphone to impress or because you need it for work and family? My wife's HTC looks nicer but it is heavy as well. The 4G Sidekick is not ugly but if your cellphone is a "self esteem booster" to you, get the HTC G2 maybe. Not saying this is a cheap one, but has a younger look than most mid range cellphones. I don't mind that, honestly, it's superb for texting and emails.

-- UPDATE, AFTER 10 DAYS WITH IT --

Really like this phone. I have no additional things to comment or say but the battery, and good ones. After 10 days with it, maybe more, I can confirm this cellphone has a decent battery life. With moderate usage (20 to 30 min browsing Internet, a few short calls of 5 min or less) I ended the day with about 65% battery; unplugged about 9am, returning home at 6pm. I had one day where I really pushed hard and it was 40% charge at 6pm. The small screen definitely helps on this aspect. I should say I had Engadget Widget, Facebook and sync emails every hour I think and screen brightness was on auto mode, nothing more. "Juice Plotter" , a free Android App. , helped me with the statistics. I know for sure now that this cellphone can give you more than 24hrs on standby.

--Summary--
Great phone overall. Good Android experience (Froyo out of the box) with a nice Samsung customization on the UI. The screen is not the biggest one but this cellphone is great for "texting" with a very attractive price.

its all about marketing. the sidekick 4g is not just for teens and social network junkies. June 27, 2011

Reviewer:  M. Calixtro 

although marketed as a smartphone for teens, people who love to text, a social networking phone, blah blah, its much more. compare this to other phones "for adults" or something like the Droid "Pro" on verizon. compare the specs and the sidekick 4g is more of a business phone/poweruser phone than the Droid Pro and some other smartphones out there.

it makes me sick that most reviewers on tech sites are also sold by the marketing of the sidekick 4g. they all claim what they were told: a mid-range phone great for social networking and texters.

lets see...

Droid Pro: 3.1 inch screen with hideous hvga resolution. 480x640? seriously? try showing some google analytics charts on that resolution. the droid pro is basically a motorola charm on extra strength tylenol

Sidekick 4G: 3.5 inch screen with a 480x800 resolution.

processor? the sidekick 4g has the SAME processor found in the ultra popular samsung galaxy s smartphone, a 1GHz hummingbird processor. the sidekick 4g is no slouch.

only the marketing and 'youthful' UI make the sidekick 4G a smartphone for high schoolers and non-business people.

for starters.. try downloading a "home" replacement from the android market such as launcher pro or adw launcher. this will get rid of some of that kiddish user interface and will likely speed up the phone a bit.

not a fan of smartphones with sliding keyboards. they always give when in your pocket and when typing its so annoying to have the touchscreen jiggle and give when open. but since the sk4g sliding screen in surrounded on two sides this(and the strongly built slider) make the sk4g a solid slider that doesnt feel like its going to break.

the camera is sort of a downer but its not that bad. no led flash is a drawback for some but for a 3mp camera, the quality of pics is pretty good. this just shows that its not all about megapixels and the quality of a good camera lens helps.

the front facing cam is a plus and makes up for the 3m camera and no led flash.

Would've been a two star review under any other carrier. October 14, 2011

Reviewer:  Slushymermaid  (Phoenix, AZ) -

I've had this phone since July, and having grown fed up of the random system issues, I used my not-so-useful "insurance" to get a replacement phone.

The original one I had would give me a 1 in 5 chance of freezing in either the browser or map (and it has crashed in Angry Birds as well), often when I am driving and need directions. Not just a regular freeze though; a 'hurriedly get the backing off and remove the battery, put it back in, and wait an eternity for the ostentatious loading screen to get me back to the home page' one (this could take two or three minutes on a good day). All of this while trying to avoid other cars in rush hour traffic. The issue was a dangerous one at that point. The lag was the second worst issue to deal with. I can live with some lag, but even after using the built in program manager to clear processes running in the background, the memory it clears is only in the single digits and would leave me with only a fifth of free memory total. The screen lock is just a pain (you have to slide an angled sliver down to unlock or up to quickly access an application and it'll do either of those in your pocket/purse) and the text layout was equally frustrating. God forbid you know anyone with more than one phone number because the drop down list for a new text does not differentiate between what is mobile, home, work, etc. Fed up with two months of ever-mounting dislike of the phone, as all of the issues happened to crop up about seventeen days after purchase of the phone, just in time to not be able to return it, I requested a replacement. Perhaps it was just a bad phone to match my luck? Negatory.

The phone I was sent as replacement was even worse than the original. It was freezing right out of the box, doing the same things as the first. I called to have it troubleshooted and was using it bare bones, hard reset and with no SD card (rendering the usefulness of the phone down to about 12%). The issues were even more severe by that point and I knew it was the hardware and not my SD card or handful of applications. I called them the next day (today) to figure out how a solution was going to benefit all parties involved. This is where the one star gets its name.

Customer service at T-mobile is worthless, particularly on this phone. It's one thing if it's user error or just a bad apple in the bunch, but the Sidekick is, and I quote, "already noted in their system for having these technical issues" and their way of fixing the problem? Vouching to send me Sidekick after Sidekick until I get one that works, if it ever works. There's no way around the policy outside of buying a different phone, and for full price since I used my upgrade to get the Sidekick. I was LIVID to find that they knew this phone was harboring a slew of crippling mechanical errors and would not budge on satisfying a very angry customer. I just wanted a different phone and some sort of deal on the darn thing. Full price left and right AND an extended contract to replace THEIR broken cell phone.

I was prepared to just go back to using my G1 and eat the cost of three payments I'd made towards the phone... only if they'd waive the last payment. Flat out refused and expected me to throw down another payment towards a glorified paperweight.

Told them I would be cancelling my service with them for their lack of understanding on a matter that is entirely their fault and I'm the one getting shafted over it.

- T-mobile knows this phone is full of malfunctions yet still tries to pawn it off on loyal customers like it's a baby iPhone.
- You will be stuck with it because they sure don't want it back.
- Avoid this cellular phone like it's carrying the plague. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

Awesome for sidekick fans May 13, 2011

Reviewer:  Leslie 

I used to have the previous Danger sidekicks, the original sidekick and the sidekick id. I was thrilled when Tmobile debuted with the new sidekick. It's not at all like the old sidekicks, the only thing in common with them is the screen flipping up. It's very easy to manage and I love all the android apps. It is more bulky than other phones, but not so much that it's an issue. Plus, this sidekick is a touchscreen. also, as a side note it's manufactured by Samsung. I definitely recommend the phone. It's highly customizable.

Horrible, ignore good reviews, you dont want this phone June 26, 2012

Reviewer:  Ryan 

I got this phone probably about a year ago. I can't even type in a phone number with out all the glitches, bugs, and freezing. I have traded it in 3 times already. I went over to t-mobile and argued how badly I hated this crappy phone. She said ya, T-mobile had to discontinue all sidekicks because of all the issues. So in conclusion, if you are thinking of buying this phone, let this be a warning, you will regret it.

Freeze, freeze, and more freeze! May 31, 2012

Reviewer:  S.N. Ken 

I love Sidekick, and I thought I would love this one but all I want to do it throw it across the room!! It freeze at just the right time, when you are doing something or need help with something. I have done a master reset thinking that would help and it just cut the freezing down to maybe twice a day. I was told by T-Mobile that is it from a Samsung update. They are right. I didn't have a problem until I was forced to do the update. I put it off for about a week and then Samsung did a force update on my phone.

T-Mobile doesn't seem to care that this phone is acting up, I have emailed them, phoned them, and even went as far as blasting them on their own Facebook page. Nothing works, I just keep getting the same generic answer "we are working on the problem". I suggest that NO ONE get this phone if you can help it. As I said before I am a Sidekick lover but this new Sidekick and turned into a nightmare.

Worst phone ever, definite do not buy December 19, 2011

Reviewer:  V. Amador  (Chicago, IL) -

The phone locks up several times a day. While it is a sold piece of hardware, Samsung's touchwiz launcher on top of android makes the phone unusable. It locks, generally when you are trying to answer a phone call and needs a battery pull to work again. That means you miss a lot of calls and have to call friends and clients back. Youtube locks all the time. Sometimes you have to battery pull it and sometimes you get lucky and just have to restart it.

If I had a dollar for everytime I had to factory reset this phone I could afford a new phone that worked.

Samsung has issued several "fixes" for this phone, none of which have fixed anything.

Only buy this if you like being frustrated, enjoy pulling the battery, like factoryresetting and losing your data and apps and like relogging into google to redownload your apps.

Otherwise, buy something else. Preferably not Samsung.

Do not buy this phone! November 27, 2011

Reviewer:  Marisawith1s 

I've had older versions of the sidekick and it was my favorite phone. This new Android version is the worst phone I've ever had! If you do some research on the Tmobile user boards you'll see that all owners of this phone are dissatisfied if not angry! There are so many problems that occur daily such as freezing, dropped calls, touch screen not working right ect. I have to take the battery out at least twice a day to reset. Tmobile is not doing anything to help the unhappy people who are now stuck with this phone. Stay away!

great phone September 20, 2011

Reviewer:  Angela Folson  (WASHINGTON, DC, US) -

I purchased this phone to replace my G1 with Tmobile because I damaged it. Initially I was never interested in the sidekick because I thought it was for more of the younger group...well was I surprised when I received this phone and how wonderful it is. I actually like it better than the G1, and I was in love with the G1. A great phone with many great features and the android market is great. Love it love it!!! It will not dissapoint.

Amazing! August 26, 2011

Reviewer:  OrphanAnnie 

I really love this phone. I got it almost a month ago and it took a bit of getting used to. But I did and its great. Sadly I have to get rid of my service, But I really wish i could take this phone with me.

Very slow and regret buying this android phone February 14, 2013

Reviewer:  Al Kim 

I bought this item thinking i would enjoy the android experience as well as have a cool phone with a qwerty keyboard. However, this phone sucks. It is very slow and and right when i got it. It started to turn on and off over and over again. Once in a while it would work for about ten minutes and then do the same thing. DO NOT GET THIS PHONE. SERIOUSLY. Even if it didn't have the problem I had with the turning on and off, it is still not worth getting. The keyboard is literally the only good part about this phone. Do not waste your upgrade on this crap. I'm usually a Samsung guy with most electronics, especially phones. Although their other stuff is fantastic, this phone really discourages me from getting a phone from the Galaxy or Note Series and instead getting an Iphone. Hopefully T moible hurries up with getting the IPhone in their lineup.

Worse smartphone ever September 24, 2012

Reviewer:  Adrian Lau 

Processor is too slow and phone is constantly freezing up! Very frustrating when trying to work basic functions on this phone! I highly recommend discontinuing this phone.

worst phone ever! March 2, 2013

Reviewer:  Da Cleana 

this is by far the worst phone I've ever had, it freezes up all the time, the touch screen is unresponsive at times then other times it'll do things you didn't tell it to do like its possessed! it always drops calls and i cant even have any apps on this phone because it'll continuously have to be force closed. i have to charge the phone at least once or twice a day with just minimal texting. the internet and even when not on the internet is soo slow. don't be fooled by the appearance of this phone, its a horrible phone, do not buy it

HORRIBLE August 23, 2012

Reviewer:  Arpie 

I own this phone and within a week it was messing up. The android system is old froyo 2.0 and there has not been an update even though they promised one in 2011. The keyboard is nice , but when I text it switches to search, it shuts down and, at one point I couldn't text at all , then another time I could only text certain contacts..this phone is too expensive for such crappy quality. To sum it all up
It lags, sometimes won't text , shuts off by itself and is a piece of crap

its not worth it July 2, 2012

Reviewer:  egyptian goddess 

the money that anybody asks for this product isn't even worth your paycheck the phone is sometimey and tempermental it works when it wants to and freezes most of the time, I had the black one refurbished so I thought it was because it was refurbished but then I got a new white one and it acted the same way

perfect phone! January 14, 2012

Reviewer:  blackthorns 

I have had this phoned for a while and i love it. Now i know there is no such thing as a perfect phone per se every phone has its problems but this phone is perfect for me.
PROS: *awesome keyboard, the keys may be a little small but they are perfectly spaced and make a nice clicky sound when you press them so it makes for a good typing experience.
*Nice screen, the phone may not have the greatest or biggest screen but it is perfectly acceptable for this phone since you have a qwerty keyboard and it comes with swype as the default on screen keyboard.
*music player, the music player has a nice look to it and it sounds pretty good with the phone speakerr now of course it has a 3.5 mm headphone jack so you can listen to music and watch videos in private.
*very customizable, this phone has a lot of options to make this phone completely your own it has themes you can add you can change the fonts and downloadother fonts from the market for .99. And of course you can change the wallpaper.
CONS: not too many just minor stuff like no digital clock on the homescreen but you can download some if you want to.
SUMMARY: i love this phone! Thiss was the best phone i have ever had. Its great for people of all ages i am very pleased with my purchase and would buy this phone again.

get something else March 13, 2012

Reviewer:  megan 

this is the worst phone ever! i pay for insurance and yet i still have to pay $20 for a replacement. it freezes all the time and i mean the take the battery out and restart it. i'm stuck with this phone because i dont get an upgrade for another year. tmobile doesnt care that i have been a customer for years and im upset about this phone, they wont do anything to help me. so, if you are thinking about getting this phone do not.

Freezes 3+ times a day January 12, 2012

Reviewer:  Gena 

I thought I'd get a phone with an option of touch screen + keyboard, so this funky looking thing got my attention. (Also I really wanted a sidekick in highschool, what better time to fix your highschool woes than in your 20's right?)

BOO, sidekick, you let me down. I don't even have that many apps on the phone, but the phone proceeds to freeze 3-5 times a day, it sucks big time to be listing to a joke on the radio for 5 minutes then all of a sudden get cut off RIGHT BEFORE the punch line gets delivered. BOO. BOO!!!

I thought I just got a bad unit, because I bought it off contract, but it seems like a lot of other people are having the same issue. almost half the reviews I've read had issues with the phone freezing/having to restart. I spent full retail price on this baby, but it's bad enough that I am considering skipping real meals & eating ramen noodles for 3 months to get a new phone.

So I say, if you're a hardcore gambler and you're down with a 50/50 chance of getting a useless paperweight of a phone, then go for it, if not, don't bother.

was a diehard sidekick user. this phone killed my soul. November 29, 2011

Reviewer:  mischababy 

Please dont get this phone. There is nothing pleasing about this phone. windows 95 with a virus works better than this phone. i have read reviews and all are written the same month the phone hit. i have talked to tmobile storelocation workers asking if other people had complained a few say theyve heard nothing, but one employee said he had the phone, hated it, and gave it to his mom. he actually got me my first replacement. i was worried it was just my phone. which would have been a good thing. but trust there are a lot of dissatisfied customers. my expectations arent even high given the fact that that this is my 1st android. but i love the old sidekicks and i love texting!!! BUT MY major complaint is the text messaging! THIS PHONE CLAIMS TO BE THEE TEXTING PHONE! that is a lie! FAIL! when trying to send a text it will hop from one persons text window to another persons text window! it takes about 3 minutes (sometimes) for me to text one person because it keeps jumping out of their window and i have to keep waiting and reselecting them. the messaging app ALWAYS force closes and only sometimes does turning the phone off and on, and/or removing the battery help this. trying to scroll back and read texts that have previously been sent to me that i have already read (i.e. directions etc) takes about 15 minutes. just to go back 10 or 15 texts. this is alll so frustrating! i have considered using my old sidekick and for going data (i wont however because id be getting ripped off plan wise) I have never been more displease with a phone before in my life. however, background story, i havent had many other phones, ive only had the sidekick 2,3& "sidekick 2008" and the 08 was the best working phone to date. I am so upset with tmobile for being a horrible distributor. I purchased this phone when it first came out and about 10 days later notices its decline and now its just balls out crappy! and i dont use my phone to its fullest capabilities! i only text, fb, and take photos! im like a kid! im 25!! i dont use my phone to correspond over emails like other people do! i dont use it to download music! i have other devices for that! i allll i want to do is text message!! and this phone promises that and then it just fall short or not deliver!! it hurts you! by working so horrible! and tmobile doesnt care. i too have other apps drop like the google maps app. my camera app. pretty much every app i ever used (all built in i might add) dont work properly! i am actually on my second phone. i only discovered i could get another phone while in line to pay my bill. and it was from a customer who was already on her 4th phone! they want to just keep sending you refurbished sidekicks hoping they work! youre paying THEM to be a guinea pig! horrible! (the charge 20 bucks to send out a new phone, and they dont even send out the whole phone. it comes sans battery, back and charger!) i will say you get what you pay for and this phone was about 127.87 after tax with my 2 yr locked in jail to be unhappy forever contract. im never been so betrayed, especially because i was still using my 2008 when they forced me off my plan like so many other users. i have just ordered a my touch 4g slide. after 6 1/2 years im leaving the sidekick and trust me i dont want to stay with tmobile but supposidly they gave me this new mt4g for new contract price of 313.48. if this phone does not work i will bite my tounge and set my cash on fire by paying to get out of my contract and going to verizon for the beloved and, as flawless as a phone can be, iphone.