Even in the world of mobile phones, competition is virtually unavoidable. Every season, every telecom giant on earth comes up with a smarter and trendier model that tries to make the rest look like sissies. With all the coolest mobile phone models being born, it’s very hard to make a pick. Finding a phone that fits one’s lifestyle and budget is a challenge. In spring 2007, Helio jumped in the bandwagon and came up with its very own knock-your-socks-off smart phone: The Helio Ocean.
The Helio Ocean has shown much promise, according to many users that rated the product compared to T-Mobile’s Sidekick 3 and Apple’s iPhone. Regarding the release date, the Helio Ocean had a head start by a couple of months, as the two contenders were released in late June 2007. In terms of price, the Helio Ocean and the Sidekick 3 aren’t much different, but the iPhone’s suggested retail price is a whopping $499 to $599.
The Helio Ocean boasts of being the only mobile phone that’s a dual-slider, meaning it can reveal a numeric keypad or a QWERTY keyboard depending on the angle you slide it to. The Sidekick 3 swivels open to reveal only the QWERTY keyboard, while the entirely touch-based iPhone has no keypad at all. Having two keypads is definitely better than one or none, since most users look for faster and easier ways of inputting text.
Talking about a digital camera, all three smart phones have it. The Sidekick 3 has a 1.3 mega pixel camera with flash and zoom. Both the Helio Ocean and iPhone have 2.0 mega pixel cameras, but only the Ocean has zoom function and LED flash. Images should come out better as compared with the other two devices. Plus, the iPhone does not record videos. Video quality and length is much better on the Ocean (up to almost two hours) than the Sidekick 3.
Let’s move on the messaging. When it comes to sending Multimedia Message Service (MMS) formats, the Helio Ocean brings home the bacon. The Ocean is the only smart phone among the three that allows picture messaging, while the Sidekick 3 and iPhone have yet to work on that department. Instant Messaging (IM) on Yahoo!, AOL, and MSN are supported by the Helio Ocean and the Sidekick 3, but the iPhone? Forget about it.
How about gaming abilities? Every phone user wants to have some fun and entertainment while on the go, right? The Helio Ocean and the Sidekick 3 both support and allow game play, where additional games can be downloaded over the air. On the other hand, the iPhone does not have games and will not download over the air.
Think the Helio Ocean’s done? Not yet. Who wouldn’t want to have Global Positioning System (GPS) on their phones? Thankfully, the Helio Ocean supports it, as users have access to Google Mobile Maps to give them driving directions and locate millions of points of interest. Sorry, the iPhone and Sidekick 3 can’t do any of those.
If this evaluation were a tournament, the Helio Ocean would take the trophy. Truly, the Helio Ocean has shown that it can compete with the best of the best in the market.