The Sidekick Slide is a funny old thing. Exclusive to T-Mobile in the UK, it looks like no other mobile phone we've seen - apart from other members of the Sidekick family. And while it does some really clever things like backing up all your stuff to the Web, it does some less clever things too, like running a proprietary operating system and create an unsightly bulge in your pocket.

The Sidekick Slide may be a mobile phone, but it is too chunky to hold to your ear for voice calls. And anyway, voice is sooo twentieth century, dahling. Instead, the Sidekick Slide is aimed at the youth market, and more particularly at that section of the youth market that feels it is important to be forever IM-ing and texting friends.

To that end the Sidekick Slide sports a keyboard so you can write stuff down for sharing with your mates. In previous iterations of this device, you had to prod the screen with a thumb to see it swivel round and reveal the keyboard secreted away beneath it. That was always one of this sideways-on, games-console-alike handset's 'wow' factors.

That is now gone, in favour of a much less fun screen which simply slides up to reveal the keyboard. Hence the name, Sidekick Slide - geddit? This new feature is a result of Motorola having taken over the hardware design from Sharp. Another factor coming out of this change is a sleek blue and black design in place of the old silvery one.

Apart from the IM-ing and texting, the Sidekick Slide can be used for e-mail. It comes with an e-mail address and will pick up mail from three more POP3 accounts. It also has a camera, but this information is best whispered as its 1.3-megapixel resolution is entry-level, and there is no video shooting.

Strictly GSM (albeit quad band) with GPRS, the Web browser takes advantage of some backend shenanigans to compress Web sites for quick transfer over the mobile network. Mostly it worked OK during testing, but not all sites come through well, so depending on what you like to browse you could have good or bad experiences. There is a diary and contact book, and a music player too.

That Web backup business mentioned earlier is a real selling point. Whenever you take a photo, enter a contact, make a diary note or send/receive your e-mail, the information is backed up to a password protected area of the Web. You can use this Web area to manage your diary, view photos and so on. And crucially, if your Sidekick Slide ever gets lost, it forms a restorable backup.

Distinctive, though chunky, the Sidekick Slide is definitely one for a certain type of in-crowd. Just make sure you have a large pocket to carry it in.