The new Sidekick 4 is the latest and best member of the Motorola Sidekick family. The phone packs a tremendous set of features including built-in MP3 player, 1.3 megapixel camera with an LED flash, quad band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), audio jack, SD card slot for expanded memory, and an improved screen compared to the Sidekick 3.

The Sidekick 4 measures 5" x 2.4" x 0.7" and weighs 5.7 oz. There are no complaints on the construction of the phone, it is solid. The large display screen swivels up and locks nicely. The sidekick 4 comes in brown or navy blue. The backside of the phone is textured for better handling. The phone (other than the QWERTY pad) has 10 buttons plus a d-pad (speaker combo) and trackball. The 3 inch display has 65 million colors with a 400 x 240 pixel resolution. The display is extremely bright and clear. Pressing on the top left corner will allow the screen to swivel and will snap into place. Typing on the QWERTY pad is comfortable and easy to type with. The keyboard, send/end keys, and trackball are well lit and the back lighting is set via a light sensor at the edge of the screen. Also note that there are multicolored LED lights that flash in certain patterns or colors for phone events (text, incoming call, etc.)

The MP3 player on the Sidekick4 is easy to use and provides several views such as album, artist, genre, etc. It also includes the ability to queue music as you are browsing through the library. The music can be listened to via the external speaker or through headphones via the 3.5 mm jack.

The Sidekick 4 can surf the net via the built in web browser. The phone browser appears as a mobile browser to websites but can handle most websites. The phone includes a populated bookmark list with sites such as Mobileburn, Facebook, MySpace, etc. There is also the ability to send a page by email, MMS/SMS, which allows sharing these sites with others.

In conclusion the Sidekick 4 is a great addition to the Sidekick family with the new additions of the 3.5 mm audio jack and the high quality screen. The 1540mAh battery is estimated to last for 6.8 hours of talking time or 4 days of standby time. The Sidekick 4 is definitely a phone where the charger does not need to be carried along. The phone is solidly constructed and includes good instant messenger as well as MP3 applications.