Helio Ocean

User reviews and rating

Great Phone=Great Value

13 Jan 2008 by R8r-Bobby

7.8 out of 10

I have been looking all over phonearena.com and some clips in youtube. Actually, I was going to buy the Voyager but it was way more expensive than I thought. I TXT a lot and I like to schedule everything in my phone (not a business man but I like to organize) so I needed full keyboard as my X-phone LG the V (Quite old, tho...) At first, I liked it because of the price and the plan ($65 for everything. Enough said) and I hated it because of thick design(thicker than enV or Voyager, and heavier than The V)

BUT it helped me with everything.
I went to San Diego, LA, Santa Barbara, and San Jose for the trip during the winter break. I was totally freaked out when I was heading to San Jose because it was already 10 O'clock at the 101 highway and my parents and I was hungry.(could not find any restaurants) Then I went to Google map (Free app.) to find the restaurants, hotels, etc.

Bam! I found and I was able to call them to reserve the room and the dinner. I think Google map is the best app. in Ocean.

The two problems that I have are Signal and speaker mode. Well I can call wherever I am but sometimes it sucks/ only one or two bars. Well I live in SF so its still fine. (It worked well in SD, LA, San Jose, and Santa Barbara, too.) I use speaker mode a lot when I am driving cuz I don wanna mess up with police. The V worked very well as a speaker phone you just open up the bigger screen and that's it, but for ocean you need to click menu and speaker on. Ocean's speaker mode sound comes from the back I think so you need to rotate that you can hear it very well.

by the way, I have been using this for 2 months with traveling all over the So Cal.

I recommend Ocean than Voyager because it is cheaper and fun to use (as someone said Verizon phones are boring)

Oh Ocean has the youtube, too. It is not mobile version. It is same as the youtube on your computer, but created for Ocean. You can log on it and watch your favorites, playlist, and subscribes.

I hope this review helps you to decide your cell phone.

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Phone just not for me

10 Jan 2008 by TechSaint

5.8 out of 10

I had the Helio Ocean for 1 month, and i dropped the ocean, and helio after that and moved back to tmobile.

Lets give some history, I have used a Nokia 3650 (3-4 years) and 6086 (3 months) before the Helio, my usage patterns were built using the Symbian 60 platform.

First Impressions:
The first thing i noticed about the Ocean is that messaging on it is a dream. Its awesome. Bar none. I started using services like twitter and myspace way more, using this device. It just felt "natural". I also noticed that everyone i called, had trouble hearing me, and I had trouble hearing them. with Full bars, and the 3G network wouldnt always work 100%.

Pros:
Messaging is awesome. Side Kick eat your heart out!

Youtube app is a nice extra.

The media player is also great. It supports PlayForSure, and specifically Yahoo Music, of which i have a 2 year subscription to. So that was a nice surprise.

You can also make custom playlists right on the device, which is a nice change from most portable music players.

GPS was awseome! and being charged monthly now is really nice. (one knock is i tried using the GPS during a phone call, as someone was telling me their address and i wanted to input it into the phone...no multitasking...so i had to write the info down. Not a huge deal, but added to the feeling of being constricted by my device)



Cons:
My usage patterns developed on the Symbian, this device is not for what i call "device power users". On my 3650 (which i had for 3-4 years...and still miss), i became accustom to calling people, and using my device features while on the phone, such as the calculator, notepad, calendar, MMS, Games, etc. The Ocean can NOT do any of that, on a call (outside of simple phone functions), you can just send an SMS, and record the call...thats it. I felt myself being very constricted. Even my admittedly horrible 6086 gave me more freedom.

Also no application can be left running "in the background", there are many times during my 3650 days where i would need to write an SMS, but go back to my contact screen for a name, or copy some info from my notepad. All those things could be done without having to close my SMS message. There is very little multitasking with the ocean. You can listen to music while browsing, thats about the extent of it. Which is sad, because the device seems to be powerful enough for it.

The keypad slider is all but useless. its really cool to look at, but using it is cumbersome and you'll get finger cramps, unless you have really small fingers. It should have been left out, and the device made thinner.

There are a few other quirks such as the face buttons not really locking (if you press on them long enough, the ocean will beep and ask to unlock....and then proceed to unlock...while in your pocket), so if you like tight pants, or have lots of things in your pockets...not for you. If you like the dork look ,with a cellphone in your belt, thats ok (not sure how that fashion caught on....its a darn phone, not a hammer!). The TV service is a joke, each piece of content is about 2 minutes long, i did not find any episodes or anything. I was sorely disappointed (maybe i missed something???).



General:
Be sure to download the Ocean drivers from helio. Makes life alot easier, and allows for most music applications (Windows Media player, Yahoo Music Jukebox, etc) to use it.

I have a girlfriend who is in europe. Helio's MMS messages dont reach europe, so my daily voice messages i send to her had to stop for a month. she was unhappy. I was not to thrilled either. SMS only to europe.

I mentioned no app can be left running, but thats not 100% true, the IM applications that come with the Ocean are always running once you sign in, which is nice for those who use IM. And again, using the keyboard is a dream, making IM on this device very usable.

Also, get a bluetooth headset, people you are talking to will thank you. (which brings up the fact that you cannot turn on or off bluetooth while on the phone, so if you left it off to save battery, and someone calls, you have to tell them to call back, or call them back so you can turn on your bluetooth....very restricting...)

And WTH Helio? No normal ring tones? I cant be in a meeting and "Is Yo phone ringing, pick it-pick it-up!" chiming in my pocket. I need a normal ringer for work please....

Conclusion:
I will be selling this baby on ebay. Moving back to Tmobile, take the early termination hit. Probably getting a Wing. The device just wasnt built for my usage patterns.

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smart, uhh device!

4 Jan 2008 by Danny

7.6 out of 10

Ive had my ocean for about a month now and I still find it fascinating
the device or phone or whatever comes packed with features. I love the free text msgs. I've sent about 900 this month. Hey, they said free text.
also the free internet and GPS enabled google maps is great. very useful tools on the go. the design is great! Everyone that sees it is awestruck.
Although the coverage drops two bar from outside to inside my house, despit there being a sprint tower a mile up the road. And the less bars the slower the "3G" network is. Videos are washey and video messaging might as well be picture messageing. But I still love it. E-mail' youtube, and all. over all a pretty good unit, device...uhh...phone?

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