The T-Mobile Sidekick Slide, the first Sidekick created by Motorola, is our favorite since the original. Motorola hasn't overhauled the brand, but breathed a little freshness into it, something sorely needed if this fashionable phone is going to keep from looking dated.

Given a new color scheme and a slightly reduced size, it feels fun again. If the developers could do something about its poor e-mail and lack of Wi-Fi support, we'd be ready to rave about it.

This Sidekick model is only a bit smaller than previous models (it measures 4.7 x 2.4- x 0.7 inches and weighs 5.3 ounces, as opposed to the Sidekick LX, for example, which measures 5.1 x 2.4 x 0.7 inches and weighs 5.7 ounces), but that slight difference is enough to make it competitive in the rapidly shrinking world of smart phones.

It comes in an attractive black and indigo color scheme, and takes its name from the fact that the screen slides upward, as opposed to all previous Sidekicks, which offered swiveling screens. While we always like the swivel design, the slide motion feels more solid.

The Slide's front offers a 2.5-inch, 320 x 240, 65,000 color screen, and is surrounded by the usual Sidekick controls. The left side offers a menu button and a button for returning to the main menu, with a directional pad between them; the right side offers Cancel and Back buttons, as well as call start and stop buttons and a track ball.

The top holds to soft keys which, by default, call up the picture messaging interface and the camera. The bottom holds the volume controls and the power button.

On the right side, you'll find headphone and power ports. The headphone jack accepts 2.5mm plugs, so you'll need an adapter to use standard headphones. The rear holds the lens for the 1.3 megapixel camera. You'll need to remove the battery to get to the micoSD card slot, which is a nuisance.

The raised thumb-keyboard is easy to use for testing, but we were disappointed that the number keys aren't a different color, as with the LX. That makes dialing a little tedious.

The Slide comes packaged with a stereo headset, a USB cable, and a sturdy belt clip.

As always, the Sidekick excels at messaging, and is targeted at younger users who value staying in touch. Easy controls for making calls, connecting to three instant messaging services (AIM, MSN, and Yahoo), text messaging, and picture messaging, make the Slide a pleasure to use.

The e-mail application was improved before the release of the LX, but it still has a way to go. It's irritating that it can't sync with an account, so that messages you've deleted using a home computer aren't deleted here. As a result, mailboxes fill up quickly. You also can't prompt the phone to check for messages; the Slide checks on its own schedule.

The Slide can play music tracks (MP3 and AAC) providing you have a microSD card to store them, and the pictures from the 1.3mp camera look decent, just a little shadowy. The camera can't capture video, unfortunately. The phone offers Bluetooth support (but not for stereo headsets), but still lacks WiFi.

T-Mobile MyFaves subscribers will like the built-in MyFaves support.

We tested in the New York City area, and call quality was consistently good. Surfing over T-Mobile's EDGE network is slow going, though. The battery is rated for 5.9 hours of talk time or 86 hours of standby. In our testing, we needed to re-charge after about 2 1/2 days of moderate use.

The Sidekick LX may offer a little more, but we prefer the slender good looks of the Slide. This is the future of the Sidekick brand: slimmer models, same great performance.