Review: T-Mobile's Sidekick 3 Launched, Reviewed, and Videoed

Main menu

Main menu

Main menu

User Interface

The user interface found in the Sidekick series of phones from T-Mobile has always been top notch, and the Sidekick 3 is no exception. Danger, the developer of the platform, should be commended for their simple, intuitive, and consistent UI design. The Sidekick has an amazing amount of functionality, and the UI does a marvelous job of keeping it all very organized.

No matter where you are in the device's menu structure, pressing the Jump key (below the d-pad) will always bring you back to the main menu. From there, you can use the d-pad or trackball to scroll up and down through the circular looking menu. A menu item can be selected by pressing on the d-pad or trackball itself, though if there is a further submenu, such as with the Instant Messaging section, the submenu can be entered just by moving right on the d-pad or trackball. Similarly, such menus can be exited by moving left.

In sections of the system like Email and Text Messaging, the Sidekick uses a folder based motif for organization. Subfolders can be expanded or collapsed by moving right or left on the trackball (though oddly not with the d-pad). Everywhere in the Sidekick's UI the menu key, located above the d-pad, will bring up a context sensitive menu. This menu, similar to the folders used in messaging, has submenus that can be opened and closed by moving right and left on the trackball or d-pad. The cancel button can be pressed at any time to get you out of the current screen or menu without any changes being saved, and the done key will get you out the same way, but with changes saved.

A secondary use for the jump key is its use as a shift key, of sorts, for accessing the various menu shortcuts that the user can define. Most any letter key, when accessed while the jump key key is held down, can be used as an application shortcut. For example, holding down the jump key while hitting the m key will load the music player. With the g key, MSN Messenger is loaded. Many, many shortcuts come predefined in the Sidekick 3. Along the same lines, the menu key can also be used for shortcuts within its own menus. For example, while in the email app, you can highlight a message and then press menu and cancel at the same time to access the shortcut for the discard function that would normally be accessed by hitting the menu key and scrolling down to discard.

Web browser

Web browser

In terms of customization of the UI itself, little is offered. The Sidekick user has the ability to change the background image used under the main jump menu system, but little else. There is no support for themes, nor the ability to adjust even font sizes or color schemes.

But apart from that, there really is little to complain about regarding the Sidekick 3's user interface.

 

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