Helio Fin (Samsung SPH-a513) Cell Phone Review - Hardware
|
Alfredo Padilla Published on August 29, 2007 Comment on this |
|
|
|
|
Keypad
Text Words Per Minute (6.34)
To test how easy it is to type on the Helio Fin's keypad we timed how long it took to enter a simple phrase using predictive text entry and two hands. We repeated this test five times and took the average for our score. The Fin took an average of 30.32 seconds, which works out to 31.7 words per minute (WPM). As you can see from the table below, this is a relatively slow time. We were hampered by the Fin's keypad design, which has almost no play to the keys and doesn't provide any tactile dividers. The lack of clear differentiation between the keys leads to a lot of mistakes, while the lack of play means you often aren't sure if you have pressed a button. The Fin's keypad looks nice, but is painful to actually use. | Cell Phone | Words Per Minute | Score |
| Helio Fin | 31.70 | 6.34 |
| Sanyo Katana DLX | 39.10 | 7.82 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 38.49 | 7.70 |
| Nokia N75 | 42.48 | 8.50 |
| Nokia N73 | 34.90 | 6.98 |
| Sprint Upstage | 37.50 | 7.50 |
T9 and Auto Complete (5.0)
The Helio Fin supports T9 predictive text entry, but does not support word completion. Give how painful it is to type on the Fin's keypad we would have appreciated the latter.
One Hand Usability (6.54)
To provide information for those of our readers who like to type one-handed (hopefully not while driving), we also do our words per minute test using only a single hand. We were surprised to find that, unlike most phones, one-handed typing on the Fin was actually faster than using two hands, as we were able to score 32.7 WPM. This difference may just reflect our greater familiarity with the keypad, as we did this test after the two-handed test. It also may reflect that one-handed typing generally obscures less of the keypad, and better visual feedback may actually be a help with the Fin's lack of tactile feedback. Whatever the reason, the difference is slight.
| Cell Phone | Words Per Minute | Score |
| Helio Fin | 32.70 | 6.54 |
| Sanyo Katana DLX | 38.24 | 7.65 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 29.80 | 5.96 |
| Nokia N75 | 38.10 | 7.62 |
| Nokia N73 | 32.85 | 6.57 |
| Sprint Upstage | 32.70 | 6.54 |
Keypad Backlighting (6.5)
Controls
D-Pad/Joystick (3.0)
The Helio Fin's directional pad is, to put it mildly, not good. It suffers from the same problem most of the other buttons on the Fin have, in that there isn't very much differentiation between it and surrounding keys. The directional pad has a very small ridge surrounding it, but it's almost impossible to distinguish by touch. The directional pad itself doesn't provide any tactile differentiation between the different directions and the center select key, and that combined with its small size leads to a lot of mistaken presses. We were not happy with the Fin's performance in this area.Touch Screen (0.0)
The Helio Fin does not have a touch screen.
Jog Dial (0.0)
The Helio Fin does not have a jog dial.
Soft Buttons (3.0)
The soft buttons on the Helio Fin are located where you would expect, flanking the directional pad at the top of the keypad and controls. The buttons are sufficiently large, but once again we need to complain about the lack of differentiation between the keys, which leads to way too many errors. As is to be expected from single piece keypads like this, tactile feedback is slight.
Volume Control (6.0)
The volume controls on the Fin are located on the left side of the phone toward the bottom part of the flip. As with most volume keys it is a rocker control, with a sharp division between up and down that makes it easy to find and use by feel. The positioning did lead to a few mistaken presses at times, and we would have liked the keys higher up on the body. Otherwise, they performed admirably.
Power and Standby (3.5)
The Fin's power button is a secondary function of the end key, as is standard on flip phones like this. The button suffers from the same lack of differentiation, limited travel, and poor tactile feedback as every other button on the keypad and controls. It does require a long press to turn the phone off however, so thankfully it's unlikely that a mistaken press will shut the phone off completely.
Other Buttons (3.0)
In addition to the buttons discussed above, the Fin has a few additional useful buttons. Underneath the directional pad and between the send and end keys is a dedicated back key. This key acts as a backspace when typing, takes you to the previous screen while moving through the interface, and takes you to the previous page when browsing. A long press on this button launches the voice command software. Above the send key and to the left of the directional pad is a dedicated music key. A short press on this button takes you to your music organizer, while a long press launches the music player with your last song playing. Opposite the music key is a dedicated camera key. A short press on this key takes you to the imaging menu, while a long press takes you directly to the camera. All three of these keys are useful, but of course they all suffer from the same lack of differentiation and poor travel we've found so vexing on the Fin.
Display
Primary Screen Gross Resolution (8.0)
The Helio Fin's main display measure 240 x 320 pixels (QVGA), which is fairly standard. This resolution is high enough that items on the screen look sharp, and you can pack a lot of information on there. Our score for resolution is standardized based on the total number of pixels displayed. As you can see from the table below, most of our comparison phones also have a 240 x 320 pixel display.
| Cell Phone | Resolution | Score |
| Helio Fin | 240 x 320 | 8.0 |
| Sanyo Katana DLX | 240 x 320 | 8.0 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 240 x 320 | 8.0 |
| Nokia N75 | 240 x 320 | 8.0 |
| Nokia N73 | 240 x 320 | 8.0 |
| Sprint Upstage | 176 x 220 | 4.0 |
Primary Screen Pixels per Inch (8.7)
Pixels per inch (PPI) is a measure of how tightly packed pixels are on the display. Higher pixel density leads to sharper images and richer colors, while a lower pixel density can make color seem washed out and items on the screen "fuzzy". The Fin's screen measured 173.9 PPI. This is lower than the LG Chocolate VX8550 and Katana DLX, but better than either of the Nokia phones or the Upstage. Most users will find the pixel density on the Fin to provide a good viewing experience.
| Cell Phone | Pixels Per Inch | Score |
| Helio Fin | 173.9 | 8.70 |
| Sanyo Katana DLX | 200.0 | 10.00 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 200.0 | 10.00 |
| Nokia N75 | 166.7 | 8.34 |
| Nokia N73 | 168.4 | 8.42 |
| Sprint Upstage | 137.5 | 6.88 |
Screen Physical Size (0.0)
The Fin's main display measures a comfortable 2.3 inches diagonal. This is larger than phones like the Katana and Chocolate, whose screens measure 2 inches diagonal, and is almost as large as the N73 and N75's 2.4-inch screens. We appreciated the larger screen size, as it makes it easier to read and improves the media viewing experience. It also just looks better than phones like the Katana DLX, which has similar plan dimensions to the Fin but appeared smaller because it was surrounded by a lot of plastic.
| Cell Phone | Size Diagonal (inches) | Score |
| Helio Fin | 2.30 | 5.75 |
| Sanyo Katana DLX | 2.00 | 5.00 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 2.00 | 5.00 |
| Nokia N75 | 2.40 | 6.00 |
| Nokia N73 | 2.40 | 6.00 |
| Sprint Upstage | 2.07 | 5.18 |
Screen Brightness (5.15)
To measure screen brightness we point the phone's browser at a blank white Web page and turn the backlight up to maximum. We then measure how bright the screen is from a few inches away using a lux meter. The Fin's screen measured 78 lux in our test, which is better than most handsets, but not the best we've seen. The Fin lacks a light sensor to automatically adjust screen brightness, however it does allow you to set brightness level and duration in the settings.
| Cell Phone | Brightness (lux) | Score |
| Helio Fin | 78 | 5.15 |
| Sanyo Katana DLX | 72 | 4.85 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 55 | 3.15 |
| Nokia N75 | 69 | 6.90 |
| Nokia N73 | 95 | 6.00 |
| Sprint Upstage | 44 | 2.20 |
Screen Bright Light Performance (8.0)
To see how well the Fin does in bright light we turn the screen brightness up to maximum and shine 3000 lux of light on the screen, equivalent to a bright sunny day. We then judge how legible the screen is. The Fin did very well in this test, with the screen eminently readable even in the worst glare. We were very happy with the Fin's performance; it was some of the best we have ever seen on a phone.
Color Depth (8.0)
Color depth is a measure of how many colors can be displayed on the screen. Greater color depth means you get truer colors when viewing photos or video on your handset. The Fin's screen can display 262,000 colors, which is pretty good. Most cell phones today have standardized on 65,000 colors, with a few higher end phones, like the Nokia N95, going as high as 16 million colors. The Fin's 262,000 colors should be more than sufficient to get very good performance and color fidelity from your viewing experience.
| Cell Phone | Colors (thousands) | Score |
| Helio Fin | 262 | 8.0 |
| Sanyo Katana DLX | 260 | 8.0 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 262 | 8.0 |
| Nokia N75 | 16,000 | 10.0 |
| Nokia N73 | 262 | 8.0 |
| Sprint Upstage | 262 | 8.0 |
Secondary Screen (3.0)
The Helio Fin's exterior screen is significantly smaller than what we've seen from other flip phones like the Nokia N75. Instead of using the exterior screen to interact with your device, on the Fin it's really just meant to communicate some basic information. The screen is .9 inches diagonal and is only dual tone, with blue characters on a black background. Helio doesn't provide any information about the resolution of the exterior screen, but given its other limitations this information isn't that important. If you want to check your battery, signal strength, or time it's useful, otherwise you'll be opening the phone up.
Ports & Storage
Power & Data Ports (2.0)
Headphone & Jack Compatibility (0.0)
The headphone jack on the Fin is the same proprietary port used for power and data. Not only is this inconvenient if you want to connect to the port for more than one thing at a time, but it obviously makes it impossible to use standard 2.5mm or 3.5mm headsets with the Fin. We do not award points for proprietary headphone jacks.
Internal Storage (1.0)
The Helio Fin ships with a comfortable 100 MB of internal storage. This is significantly more than most phones, which usually ship with 50 MB or less. It should provide more than enough storage to handle your contacts, calendars, applications, e-mail, etc.
Expansion Slot & Format (5.0)
The Fin uses a Micro SD card, which is inconveniently placed under the battery cover and requires that you remove the battery to access it. We recommend getting the largest card you can, toss it in there and forget it. The slot is helpfully spring loaded, however, so it's not as fiddly as the terrible slots on the Krzr or Razr.
| Previous Next | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
