IntroductionEarlier this year,
Helio CEO Sky Dayton said that the Ocean is the phone he "dreamt of making" when he first took over as the MVNO's chief executive. The Helio-designed, Pantech-built Ocean has also been near the top of my - and every other phone reviewer's - "can't wait for it" list since it was announced. Featuring a unique dual-slider design affording dedicated QWERTY and dialing pads, a 2mp camera, media player, and messaging-centric features running over
Sprint's 3G data network, Ocean looked ready to take the mobile phone world by storm.
Now that it's been available for a few weeks, “Ocean's” been put through the ringer by reviewers and users alike. Helio's motto is "don't call it a phone," and Ocean really brings that slogan to life more than any other Helio device. While it of course works just fine as a phone, Ocean would be overkill for the user interested primarily in voice calling - this device, coupled with the provider's "All In" unlimited data plans, is clearly meant for the always-connected IM and MySpace set. In fact, it reminds me of a T-Moble Sidekick, what with its chunky body and robust support for IM, Email, and Web services.
But is Ocean all it's been hyped up to be? After a few weeks with the device I can definitely say, "yes and no." In a nutshell, Ocean is feature rich and very fast, but also both clunkier and cheaper-feeling than I expected. While smaller than an Sidekick 3, Ocean's QWERTY pad is cramped, and in general I wish Helio had done away with some of the buttons in favor of a slimmer profile and/or larger screen. And the software is a little buggy and sort of does "everything pretty well" instead of "anything great." But Ocean is also feature-rich, user-friendly and - in a few places - quite innovative and smart.
So ... Is the Ocean for you? To answer that we must delve into the details ...
Read full review here -> http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-reviews/pantech-ocean/introduction-design-102435.aspx
