Our favorite messaging phone vs. the popular newcomer. Will the Helio's dual-keypads and 3G beat the iPod features on Apple's device?
Review summary of the Helio Ocean:
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Full review of the Helio Ocean:
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Round 1: Hardware design
From the start, these phones take completely different approaches in accomplishing their goals. The Apple phone eschews keys completely for the touch screen experience. The Helio Ocean piles on the keys, but does so in the coolest way possible, the dual slide. For a messaging phone like the Ocean, the dual keypads make sense. For a multimedia convergence phone like the iPhone, the touch screen interface is a nice touch. In testing the Ocean, we hardly used the numeric pad, relying on the QWERTY keys even for dialing, because we were usually digging through our phonebook. Also, the phone seems a bit bulky (even by messaging phone standards), while the iPhone is more sleek and thin. We admire the unique design of the Ocean, but we think the iPhone's design is more suited to its task.
Winner - Apple iPhone
Round 2: Interface
Helio's Ocean uses an admirably colorful and pleasant interface, and is a notch above most other messaging phones, especially the Samsung U740 and LG enV, both of which are stuck in Verizon Wireless' walled garden interface. The Ocean uses a ring of icons as a top-level menu, with some live-updating info on the today screen, and sports a generally polished appearance to most submenus. But you still have to dig to get to the best features, usually through at least one layer. The music store/player, GPS and Buddy Beacon are all buried several layers down. One of the great successes of the iPhone interface is the accessibility of every feature on the top-level menu. Besides the design flourishes, which create an experience leaps and bounds better than any other phone on the market, the organization of the iPhone's menus are a reason it is tops in this category.
Winner - Apple iPhone
Round 3: Calling
For better or worse, the phones were very close in calling capabilities. Both phones lack voice dialing, an unfortunate omission for such advanced devices. Both had similar call clarity, and both offered more than five hours of talk time under optimal conditions. The Ocean has a louder speakerphone, but the most significant advantage for the Ocean is the live searching of the phonebook. Start typing a name from the standby screen, and the Ocean immediately begins searching the phonebook. Compare this to the iPhone--which has no textual search--although scrolling through the phone list by flicking it is awfully fun. Neither phone has great address book synchronization. Going through iTunes is an annoying extra step for the iPhone, and we had some problems with Helio's online updating service, which never figured out our buggy Outlook .csv file. Still, for its slight advantages, we prefer the Ocean here.
Winner - Helio Ocean
Round 4: Messaging
There is no contest between these phones in the messaging category. The Ocean is built for messaging addicts of all stripes, whether you prefer SMS, MMS, IM or e-mail. The phone comes with plenty of preloaded settings for all the popular services, including special uploading features for YouTube and MySpace. Organization of all your messaging inboxes is exceptional. We even liked the Ocean's wide, comfortable QWERTY keypad. The iPhone has some messaging features, but compared to the wealth of options on the Ocean, they aren't really worth mentioning.
Winner - Helio Ocean
Round 5: Video
Both phones have special access to YouTube, and may be the only phones available with that bragging right. The Helio phone offers a plethora of other streaming content as well, including clips from iFilm and other viral video sites. Content was unique and varied, but usually only about 3-5 minutes long. The iPhone, on the other hand, has the iTunes store for movies and TV shows (albeit only on the computer), and a handy gadgeteer can get plenty of videos from other sources on the device without much trouble. Then there's also the iPhone's screen, which is not only larger than the Ocean, but also more clear, with better options for zooming and scrubbing through videos. Helio's all-in plans make video a fun choice on the Ocean, but the phone is simply outclassed by the iPod, a true multimedia device.
Winner - Apple iPhone
Round 6: Audio
Helio has recently added an over-the-air music store to their phones, and the catalogue we've seen has been comparable to other carrier offerings, like the Sprint Music store or Verizon's V Cast store. Downloads OTA can be fun in a pinch, but they aren't a practical way to build or manage a music collection. Though we lament the lack of OTA downloads on the Wi-Fi-enabled iPhone, the iTunes store and management software is still the best in the game, and alone could make the iPhone a killer music phone. But the iPod software on the phone itself is fantastic and fun, and Coverflow offers a cool browsing option you won't find elsewhere. For music playback, the Ocean is capable, but again, the iPhone takes things to a new level.
Winner - Apple iPhone
Round 7: Web browsing
Helio borrows a version of the mini-map feature we liked so much on Nokia's N-series devices, but otherwise offers a browsing experience that is more mobile-looking, compared to the near-desktop experience on the iPhone. Even with the navigation aid, and the powerful browser, the Ocean can't match Safari and the multi-touch interface. Scrolling through pages by flicking them aside and double-tapping text to enlarge the story are spotlight features on the iPhone.
Winner - Apple iPhone
Round 8: Navigation
Both Apple's iPhone and Helio's Ocean use Google Maps for navigation, but with some slight differences. Apple's version of Google Maps, with slick animations between steps, looks nicer. Helio's phone may pack GPS, but Google Maps updates its location intermittently, and requires the user to skip from turn to turn in a list of directions. On the Ocean, we actually prefer the MapQuest app that accompanies the Buddy Beacon app, and we think the Buddy Beacon is a real winner. Even though neither of these phones really quenches our thirst for good GPS navigation, the Helio at least has a GPS sensor, and lots of potential for buddies on the same network.
Winner - Helio Ocean
Round 9: Value
In terms of hardware, the iPhone costs $500 - $600, while the Ocean costs $300. We won't debate what you get for your money, except in terms of gigabytes of storage, which the iPhone has and the Ocean does not. For their calling plans, Helio offers 500 minutes with everything else included in unlimited quantities (even text messages!). Data, messages and navigation services are offered free. For the iPhone, users pay $60 for 450 minutes, which includes unlimited data. But remember that the iPhone has only EDGE access, not 3G like the Ocean. Also, for unlimited messaging, AT&T charges a $20 premium. The iPhone isn't blown away by Helio's offering in terms of value, but Ocean buyers clearly get more bang for their buck.
Winner - Helio Ocean
And the winner is . . .
We'll be honest. We liked the Helio Ocean, but in our minds it was never a contender for the iPhone's crown. We've read numerous comparisons recently, but the iPhone is a much better device than the Ocean. However, does this mean there is no room for the Ocean in the iPhone's world? Certainly not. For messaging fans, people who text, MMS, IM and e-mail from their phones, the Ocean is by far the better choice. Some people aren't willing to drop $600 on a phone, though half that may seem more reasonable. And, some people just can't do without real buttons. For those people, the Ocean will make them very happy. For the rest of us, the iPhone has reset the bar for interface-driven multimedia phones, and we're waiting for the other manufacturers to catch up.
Champion - Apple iPhone
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