T-Mobile (Sharp) Sidekick LX Teardown Analysis
The phone itself (in it’s fully functional and intact form) got a mediocre review at best. We’re wondering if it was due to limitations in the OS/form factor or if it was a larger issue stemming from economy hardware.
Of course, we didn’t really wonder for very long – we ripped it apart!
As you can probably see from the above diagram – this is not a very complex phone. Sharp really made use of the features embedded within Qualcomm’s renowned 7201A core.
The 7201A is a 15×15mm CSP chip that performs as a Baseband and Applications core and supports WCDMA/HSUPA and EGPRS networks. The Apps side pushes 526MHz and the Baseband hits roughly 256MHz. This package covers alot of ground with it’s integrated A-GPS (gpsOne), Camera controller and Audio Codec. The entire design (PMIC and RF Transceiver) includes Bluetooth connectivity and a USB transceiver.
These all-in-one design solutions are great for ODM’s but often do not compete with the highest ranked IC’s in terms of end-user functionality. This is perhaps why I had so much difficulty loading up my classical.
PCB top
The PCB for this device seems to be structural and as such seems a little disorganized. This is only when compared to devices that have much smaller PCBs that pack way more functionality such as the Omnia we previously took apart. In this case, the power amp win goes to Skyworks with the SKY77336. The PMIC and Bluetooth IC both go to Qualcomm with the PM7540 (integrated USB transceiver) and BTS 4020 respectively. The main section of the PCB is show on the right. Here is an image of the other side where the Bluetooth chip is visible:
The bottom of the Sidekick LX's PCB
As can be seen above, the main memory win went to Samsung with the K5E2GIGACM which features 2Gb of Nand and 1Gb of DRAM. The USB PHY belongs to SMSC and what we believe to be the USB3326 part we’ve previously found in both the X1 and G1.
At the end of the day, the T-mobile Sidekick LX is an average device. It has some powerful hardware but doesn’t exactly innovate or open any new doors.
That said, the device is marketed to young folk who will eventually genetically evolve into beings with massive sidekick worthy texting thumbs. The skin customization tools on T-mobiles website are nothing short of impressive.
One discussion I feel worth having is about the long term evolution of device hardware. Are we slowly experiencing a convergence to integrated solutions or is mobile computation infinitely bound to discrete hardware (in the highest level of course). Are integrated solutions cutting costs at the expense of performance? Feel free to share you opinions in the comments below!
If you haven’t yet, make sure and check out the product review!
-Dr.Wreck
I’ve got this phone – it really sucks. Should have held out for a BlackBerry.
hiii.
very nice
I agree this phone could have been much better. The look is great and out does the Blackberry. But the Blackberry’s Performance is way beyond what the Sidekick’s is.