Mobile Phone | Phone Reviews

Helio is the latest radiophone sound consort to make a play for the youth market, with its flashy mathematician handset.

The multimedia-heavy mathematician includes an frequence and video player, IM and e-mail applications, admittance to games, and a 2-megapixel camera. It also comes with course to a ambulatory edition of the favourite MySpace.com Web site.

Helio is a new MVNO, or Mobile Virtual Network Operator. The consort uses Sprint Nextel's 3G EvDO network for both voice and accumulation service where possible, change to a slower CDMA connection in areas where the broadband-level network is unavailable. The consort launched its service and handsets (the mathematician and another help called the Kickflip) in the United States earlier this year.

The mathematician is a thick, bulky sound that is almost reminiscent of T-Mobile's Sidekick (which we classify as a PDA/phone), though slightly smaller at 4.3 inches broad by 1.9 inches panoramic by 1 inch thick. (The Sidekick III measures 5.1 by 2.3 by 0.9 inches.) When closed, the Hero's dominant feature is its 2.2-inch colouration display. Above the display are dedicated keys for launching the music and video players. Below are digit soft keys, beam and end buttons, a back button, and a four-way navigation pad with an enter button in the center.

While the Sidekick twists open to reveal a flooded QWERTY keyboard, the mathematician slides up to reveal a subpar keypad. My honcho complaint about the handset: The sort keys are recessed likewise far, making them arduous to push. They're also quite slippery. I always prefer a flooded QWERTY keyboard, and it seems as though Helio could hit used the considerable expanse on this sound to include one.

The mathematician weighs 4.7 ounces, which is heavy for a accepted radiophone phone, and you see that weight when holding the device incoming to your ear, especially during long conversations. It offers beatific voice quality, however. Talk-time battery life is only fair, as the charge lasted 5 hours, 52 minutes in our work tests--not the lowest result among accepted radiophone phones we've recently tested, but not at the top of the charts, either.

The 2-megapixel camera is easy to admittance and use, and includes whatever impressive features, such as a flash and a 4X digital zoom. As with many radiophone sound cameras, however, there is a noticeable retard between when you advise the shutter and when the sound actually captures the image, so the moment you desired to preserve haw hit already passed by the instance you take the picture.

All of the unit's impressive multimedia features are easily accessible from the logically unreal menu. The sound ships with Helio's Media Mover code and a USB cable for transferring frequence and video files to the phone. The frequence and video players are easy to admittance and use. The sound also ships with earbuds, but doesn't include a memory bill for the phone's TransFlash slot. You crapper play frequence over the handset's speakers, as well; volume is adequate, but the sound is tinny.

The jillions of MySpace.com users around will appreciate the Hero's easy admittance to a ambulatory edition of that favourite site. While the place looks beatific on the Hero's screen, incoming text and searching are arduous due to the poor keypad.

With a two-year contract from Helio, the mathematician costs $275 (as of 8/4/06). That's not cheap. But if you're in the market for a multimedia sound and you can't stand to yield your MySpace account at home, the mathematician is worth a look.