Review: Helio's QWERTY-Packing Ocean Makes Waves

Helio Ocean

Helio Ocean

Helio Ocean

Helio Ocean

Helio, a US mobile virtual network operator owned by Earthlink and Korea's SK Telecom, first showed the world the Helio Ocean at the 2007 CTIA event in Orlando this past March. Helio's plan has always been to bring unique, ultra high-tech Korean handsets to the US market. The Ocean is the first handset that truly does that. The messaging focused Ocean has a full QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth stereo support, and all sorts of multimedia capabilities.

Physical Aspects

It should not be of much surprise that a messaging-centric device such as the Helio Ocean has a certain heft to it. Its 114mm x 56mm x 23mm (4.5" x 2.2" x .9") dimensions and 165g (5.8oz) weight make it slightly smaller and lighter than the T-Mobile Sidekick 3, which is what I would consider to be the Ocean's most direct competitor.

The Ocean appears to be quite solidly built. There are no rattles or squeaks, and both of the spring loaded sliding mechanisms appear to be fairly durable. The numeric keypad's keys are firm and offer good tactile feedback. I am rather fond of it. The QWERTY keyboard is spacious and easy to use, though not quite up to par with the keyboard found on the Sidekick 3. Its backlight is implemented well, and the bright orange ALT key can be quickly spotted from across a crowded room. It looks cool. Because of the dual nature of the beast, the Ocean has 4 softkeys on its front - two above the display, and two below. Depending on the device orientation and the application, two or more of the softkeys are active at any given time. The d-pad, the red and green call keys, and the dedicated back/clear key are all quite large and work very well.

There are a number of black buttons located on the sides of the Ocean. On the left/bottom side, depending on how you hold it, are the volume rocker switch and the dedicated music keys. Located directly opposite the music keys is the camera shutter button. I don't like that position because I often find myself pressing on the music keys when I grip the device to press the shutter button. Luckily the music keys are disabled when the camera is running, so this doesn't present a real problem. Located on the same side of the phone as the camera button are the voice memo button and the microSD memory card slot.

One of the best aspects of the Ocean has to be its large 2.4", 262k color TFT display; it is a real stunner. The display has a QVGA (240x320) pixel resolution that makes it ideal for messaging and web browsing, not to mention general multimedia functions. The display appears to be just transflective enough as to be considered usable under harsh sunlight when the brightness is set low. The backlight, when configured at its brightest level, is certainly strong enough to overcome the sun in my outdoors tests. So either way, nobody should be disappointed with it.

One last thing I'd like to mention is that the matte black finish used on the body is very nice. It has a nice feel to it and offers a reasonable amount of grip. But what I like best about it is the fact that it seems to be impervious to fingerprints. Matte black might not be as sexy as gloss black, but it is worlds more practical. Thank you, Pantech.

Helio Ocean

Helio Ocean

Helio Ocean