When it arrived in April of last year, the T-Mobile Sidekick 4G was more than a re-imagining of an aging brand: the Samsung SGH-T839 was perhaps the best mid-range Android handset we’d ever seen, with a fantastic physical QWERTY keyboard and loads of value for the money. For the past eleven months, the iF Design award-winning handset had a good run, but now T-Mobile tells us that it’s officially discontinuing the phone. (This confirms an earlier TmoNews report.) That said, that doesn’t mean there isn’t another Sidekick in the cards. Here’s what the carrier told us:
T-Mobile officially retiring Sidekick 4G, but the Sidekick brand will live on
T-Mobile is officially retiring the Sidekick 4G (aka Samsung SGH-T839) but says that it won’t discontinue the Sidekick line.
T-Mobile is officially retiring the Sidekick 4G (aka Samsung SGH-T839) but says that it won’t discontinue the Sidekick line.
is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
While the T-Mobile Sidekick 4G is being retired, it doesn’t mean we are discontinuing the T-Mobile Sidekick line. T-Mobile continues to update and expand its 4G product portfolio and we’ll keep you posted when we have news to share on T-Mobile’s latest 4G devices.Perhaps the Hiptop’s legacy will continue with another T-Mobile product, maybe even a high-end phone this time. It certainly feels like the market could use a few more physical QWERTY devices. If you don’t mind a single-core 1GHz processor and a smallish 3.5-inch screen, you can actually still pick up the Sidekick at T-Mobile’s website for the time being. It’s $329.99, or free on contract.
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