Camera Phone Reviews

Helio Ocean

Helio Ocean Reviews

Slashgear reviews the Helio Ocean and writes, "Ocean CAN multi-task, but does only for specific apps. The IMS client is always running in the background. You can surf the web while listening to music. Etc. It’s just that Ocean was designed to multi-task around specific use cases. Remember, it’s not a smartphone (but it’s starting to blur the lines between a featurephone and a smartphone)."

CNET reviews the Helio Ocean and writes, "The Ocean has a 2.0-megapixel camera with plenty of settings. They include eight resolutions (up to 1600x1200), eight shot modes, three quality settings, five white balance settings, a self-timer of up to 10 seconds, five color effects, photo frames, four different preview modes, and the choice of internal or external storage. Photo quality was admirable, with sharp edges and crisp colors, though low-light photos appeared a bit dull and grainy. ... The Helio Ocean is a great beginner smart phone with a fantastic array of multimedia features and Internet capabilities that is sure to please both consumers and mobile professionals."

PCMag reviews the Helio Ocean and writes, "For a phone using Sprint's physical EV-DO network, reception is decent, and audio is deep and clear, though the speakerphone will be too quiet for some tastes. I did find one irritating reception quirk. If you are in an area with very patchy Sprint signal and the phone roams onto Verizon, it will take longer to return to a native Sprint signal than with, say, a Sanyo SCP-8400. The Ocean comes with more than a dozen MP3-quality ringtones, though you can't use your own songs or install your own ringtones, yet. Talk time is very good, at over 5 hours."

LaptopMag reviews the Helio Ocean and writes, "The Ocean was a bit buggy at times. We encountered a few HTTP errors while Web surfing, and on two occasions the phone froze with the browser open; we had to remove the battery and reboot, which was more difficult than it should have been. Also, we noticed a delay between typing and the letters showing up on the device's screen. ... Nevertheless, right now the Ocean is a best-in-class messaging phone. Mobile professionals might prefer the slimmer and cheaper BlackBerry Curve, but this do-it-all device is worth the extra dough for frequent instant messagers and MySpace users. Convenient features like contact presence and Direct Search seal the deal. This is the first Helio phone that's worth switching carriers for."

PCWorld reviews the Helio Ocean and writes, "Overall, the Ocean is a solid contender as a modern do-it-all phone. The occasionally lackluster call quality is a disappointment, but not a deal-killer, especially if you intend to use your phone for Web and e-mail communications as much as for voice. And while I might wish for a larger (and cheaper) selection of add-on programs, a great amount of functionality is already packed into the device."

InfoSync reviews the Helio Ocean and writes, "Helio's YouTube app looks even better than the similar program on Apple's iPhone, with a polished looking interface and easy searching, thanks to the Ocean's real, QWERTY keyboard. We had no trouble logging onto our YouTube account and finding our favorites. We were even more surprised to be able to upload videos directly from the phone, using the phone's built-in camera. The quality wasn't great, as we'd expected since we weren't thrilled with the camera in our original review. Still, the feature is unique, and we're sure there's an audience for this concept."