Helio Ocean Review - Tour & Design

Richard Baguley
Published on May 16, 2007 Comment on this

Front Closed

The front of the Ocean is dominated by the large 2.4-inch LCD screen, which has a resolution of 240 by 320. But that’s not the only thing on the front of the Ocean; from the top we see the holes over the speaker, two soft buttons, the screen, then two more soft buttons, the directional pad, the call and end buttons plus a final button that works as a return button.

Front Open

The Ocean has two open positions; the first is the keypad position, where the front of the phone slides upwards.

The second is where the front part of the phone slides to the right, revealing the keyboard.

Left

On the left side of the Ocean are several features; from the left we see the cover for the 2.5-mm headset socket (a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter is included), the volume up and down controls, three music controls (fast forward, play/pause and rewind).

Top

There are no controls on the top of the Ocean, but because of the curved design of the case, you can see the headset socket and get a glimpse of the second speaker outlet.

Bottom

On the bottom of the ocean the main feature is the socket where the USB port and power cables connect. This is a proprietary socket; if you loose either cable, you’ll have to buy another one from Helio. A replacement charger will cost you $29, but the socket is the same as the one used by other Helio phones.

Right

On the right side are the following features (from left to right); the cover for the Micro SD card slot, the shutter button for the built-in 2-megapixel camera and camcorder, the voice memo button and the holes over the secondary speaker used to play music and with the speakerphone.

Back

On the back of the Ocean the main feature is the camera, which is surrounded by the small LED flash (on the left) and the reflective dome which can be used for self-portraits. Below this is the cover for the battery which is rather difficult to take off.

Battery Out

The Battery is a slim lithium polymer battery that holds 1320 mAh of charge. There is no separate cover for the battery compartment; the cover is the back of the battery itself. Because Helio uses Verizon's CDMA network, there is no SIM card. [CORRECTION: Helio uses Sprint's network, but callers can roam onto Verizon' s network at no extra charge in areas Sprint does not cover]

In the Box (3.5)
The Ocean comes with the following accessories in the box: - Manual on CD, plus printed quick start guide - Stereo headset - 2.5mm to 3.5mm headphone adapter - USB and power cables - screen cleaner charm.

Handling (8.0)
The Ocean fits nicely in the hand; the curved shape of the phone makes it comfortable to hold and place against the ear. The dual slider mechanism is also good; both sliders are easy to use and have a good, positive feel that slides out easily and locks into place.

Portability (7.5)
At 5.6 ounces, the Ocean is a little heavier than many phones; the Motorola Razr V3M is just 3.5 ounces, and the Motorola Q is just 4 ounces. However, the Ocean is no heavyweight, and it is pretty thin, at just 0.86 inches thick. The Ocean is not as portable as the Razr, but it is a very small, compact phone that packs a lot of features into the small sized case.

Aesthetics (8.5)
No doubt about it; the Ocean is a great looking phone, with a stylish, elegant design that belies the number of features it offers.

Durability (7.0)
It’s hard to say how durable the Ocean will be; we’ve seen the slider mechanisms on similar phones fail when they are used heavily or when they are damaged by being dropped. But the sliders on the Ocean do feel pretty robust, and don’t feel like they will be easily broken. These sliders may let in dust and moisture, though.

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