#Helio phones full
#Helio phones portable
#Helio phones trial

The browser lacks an address bar, but scrolls quickly through a page when you hold down the click wheel.

#Helio phones trial

In general, Helio's selection of games is better than its assortment of utilities, and the games are fairly priced those I looked at cost $1 for a seven-day trial run or $6 to buy.Īs for built-in apps, the Helio sports a serviceable Web browser, a music and video player, a nice contacts database, and an excellent message center. These non-Helio designed apps aren't yet able to use the Ocean's keyboard or landscape layout, but that may change. Third-party sites such as Heliocity and Mobile GMaps are just now stepping in to fill the gap, though, with free Helio versions of the Opera Mini browser and an alternative map program.

Typically you'll have to shell out a monthly fee of $3 or $4 for the paid programs, too. Another nice freebie is the Helio UP utility, which lets you easily upload pictures or video straight to Flickr, Helio's site, or YouTube right after taking them.Ī handful of other downloadable Java apps, some free and some paid, are available, but Helio's selection is limited. Since it'll run you a ridiculous $3 per day, however, I'd suggest sticking with the less-functional but free Google Maps.

#Helio phones full

Not free by any means is a just-released Garmin Mobile program, which does bring full GPS features such as dynamic routing and voice directions. The also-free 'Buddy Beacon' GPS app shows your location and that of any friends using Helio phones, if you enable the option.

#Helio phones portable

Though it isn't a full-blown portable GPS program, it's still useful enough to convince me that the next phone I buy should have some sort of GPS, no question. Most applications (some games being the exception) automatically adjust the 2.4-inch, 240-by-320-pixel display when you shift from portrait to landscape and back again, and assorted buttons on the front and edges of the phone let you quickly change the volume, stop and start music, and perform other functions.Ī free, downloadable Google Maps application works with the Ocean's internal GPS to display your current location and use it as the start or end point for directions. The dual-slider design presents large buttons for phone dialing in portrait mode, and the spacious keyboard in landscape mode makes for smooth e-mail and other text entry. Whether the cause was Sprint or Helio's local service in San Francisco or a hardware limitation in the phone itself, I couldn't say-but calls from my Treo (with AT&T service) to the same numbers generally sounded better.Īnother minor issue: Battery life for the Ocean was only fair in our tests, lasting 5.5 hours (we test for a maximum of 10 hours). The only drawback I found with the $295 Ocean was occasionally fuzzy or hollow-sounding audio in my informal test calls to various numbers. Overall, I'm impressed with this fun phone.