CrunchGear

Helio is a surprisingly fit contender in the phone market. I never gave them credit for really trying to reach the consumers that want both fashion and tech, and a little bit of off the grid phone service. I still don’t understand how people can go about without getting very good reception though.

Just like to mention that the phone won’t use MiniSD for expansion, but rather MicroSD (look at the ad).

It’s not a GSM phone, none of the Helio’s phones are GSM, ridiculous! How are they going to break the market like that? I went to the Helio store recently, because I was fascinated by the design, when I walked in I saw 3 phones styles and a sales person came to greet me immediately. I began to ask the usual questions one asks when checking out a new phone, #1 Is it GSM? No, it isn’t. My jaw must have dropped, ’cause the sale person looked very embarassed, and said “we get that a lot!”. I thanked her for her time and left the store, never to return again.

Is that 295 figure with a contract?

I don’t think so. With a contract, it’ll be less then 200.

My wife works for Helio. I am dying to get my hands on this phone. Nadia, I have a question for you…what is GSM? Do you know? I do, and I know that the GSM/CDMA question is pretty irrelevant. Some people claim they can tell the difference, but I haven’t in over 10 years of experience in wireless communications. The contract thing is weird. They don’t seem to price the phone off the contract. And if you want it cheap, go to FYE…they sell the phones WAY cheaper than the company owned stores.

i work for FYE and i can attest to the VERY cheap prices!! the dirft, as of a couple of days ago, was only $50!!!! that’s HOT!! right now the heat is only $100 but those prices change ALL the time!

GSM, Cameron, is just a phone that uses a SIM card. think Cingular, AT&T or T-Mobile. You can pick up ANY GSM phone that uses a SIM card and use it with whatever service you have. basically, people want helio to just be a phone producer, not the whole service. that’s what a lot of people think. it is, as you know however, very much a service.

i have the drift and the hero. i’ve already got the presale for the ocean at my FYE store. it’s $50, but that’s a guarentee to get device! so im just chillin’ for the release date. looks killer.

best regards!

are all fye’s doing this?

bgp, I was joking when asking about the difference between GSM and CDMA. The thing is soooo many people want to dog Helio for making a CDMA device. The bottom line is it all works out about the same anyway. In fact, Sprint’s (which transfers to Helio’s) 3G network is faster than Cingular’s in almost every city in America. If one were to say they traveled to Europe on a VERY regular basis, then I could see having a problem with CDMA. But here in the States, it’s no big deal. I now have a Helio Heat and I have to say it replaces my old favorite, the 3360 that I had with Cingular. Also, you can’t put ANY sim card in ANY GSM phone. You can put any SIM card in any UNLOCKED GSM phone (or the same provider’s phone). With Helio, you can change phones simply by putting in the ESN for your new phone on their web page!

This sucks, I love this phone. GSM i may be able to get over…maybe, but can I get it unlocked? Can I use it with another carrier? You don’t become number one by locking your product in your own service. Hello….do you remember APPLE! Do any of these guys read the reviews of the consumers that buy there products….You don’t have to be a genius to hear what the consumer wants….

Obviously this phone is oriented toward young, design-oriented people. I’m one of those people, and both I and all my friends of similar lifestyle that live on either US coast spend significant time in both Europe and Asia. This phone, though lovely, is useless to us.

T-Mobile will quickly unlock all its phones after a short introductory period.

So Sony Ericsson it will have to be…

Does anyone know when this phone will be available? Also, if you are a new customer and sign a 2 year contract do you get money off the phone?

hey guys anyone now how to make this phone to send something by bluetooth…. it’s the first time that i see a phone with bluetooth can’t recieve or send anything…..

Hey, i dnt noe much about phones and really lyk the design for the helio ocean…I am in New Zealand and planning to order this phone. Could some1 pleasseee tel me if i could use my NZ sim card and use this phone?? with Vodafone? or is it only application in the US?? cheerz!

Hi all!

I think your site crunchgear.com is really good, found lots of usefull info and I love reading the comments.
Sorry if posting in wrong section. Just saw this and didn’t know where else to post!
I’ve heard of software called ‘Mototools 6′ that unlocks Motorola mobile phones without cables, just with the IMEI like you can with Nokia’s.
Don’t have a clue where to get it, wondering if anyone here does? Please help!
I’ve just spent 3 hours trying to find any information, with no success, not very good with computers!.

Love, Shelly Douglas

I purchased one each of the ocean for my gf and I and returned it after one week. Great features, wrong software. I need a phone that can sync with my outlook for calander, contacts, and email. I have had a new phone twice a year for the last 20 years, and this could have been the best with activesync or another like program.

The helio ocean is NOT a smartphone. I went on the helio website and it is a very advanced phone for what we have now, but is in no way a pocket pc.

I love this helio ocean.
but the internet dosent work and Ive already paid my bill??
I dont get it please reply If you know anthing to help start my internet work again that the only resean i got this is helio to check my mail.
PLEASE REPLY SOON

Hey people, well I like the design of the phone but my prob is that it’s not a GSM phone so I can’t use it, because I live on Aruba.
Very sad , but what to do.

I dont know who it is but if somebody wants to buy a Helio and yor in a nother country i dont think it Ilv work PEACE

hey so if my service was t-mobile and i bought this phone and put the SIM card from the t-mobile phone into the helio ocean would it still work?

helio ocean doesnt have a place for sim card. kinda useles…

Does this phone use sim cards? If so can you get it unlocked? If i have a t- mobile sim and put it in will it work?

Thanks

hey i got question wat if i had a cingular sim card and i bought this phone will it work ?????

i have a question wat if i had a cingular sim card and i bought this phone would it work ????

Helio Devices DO NOT USE SIM CARDS.

someone was talking about switching phones by just using the ESN number through the helio website.

i’m waiting for the samsung sch-w240 to be sent to me, so if i bought the helio ocean, would i be able to switcch over to a different phone. i figure since their both korean phones/companies, and both by SK it shouldn’t be a problem

The “OCEAN” phone by Helio is a phone that was developed and is sold by HELIO, and HELIO is a wireless cell phone provider. They offer an UNLIMITED DATA PLAN with 450 anytime minutes w/ night and weekends free, mobile to mobile free (only to OTHER HELIO CUSTOMERS HOWEVER) and unlimited incoming and outgoing messages, unlimited sms, basically EVERYTHING IS UNLIMITED that the company orders on the plan, but you ONLY GET 450 anytime minutes to use, to upgrade to 900 you pay an extra $20 more per month. the 450 min plan w/ everything else unlimited is: $65 a month PLUS TAX, that IS slightly higher than the iPhone plan w/ 450mins and UNLIMITED DATA which cost $59 plus tax, and with AT&T also on the iPhone plan, you can upgrade to 700 mins (not 900) for $20 extra per month. So BOTH PLANS offered by AT&T for the iPhone and by Helio for the “OCEAN” phone are comparable, yet the PRICE difference between the iPhone and the Helio Ocean IS a big difference. To buy the phone WITHOUT a contract thru Helio will cost you $499 for the phone, same price as the iPhone 4GB version. BUT I bought my iPhone on the day they came out, 29th June and AM VERY HAPPY WITH IT. But i have seen LOT”s of interesting info on the Ocean phone and it DOES have features that the iPhone doesn’t offer, like MORE data space for downloads, and also you can download ANYTHING YOU WANT with the Ocean, on the iPhone you can hardly download anything at all. To get a download on your iPhone, you must FIRST download it onto your computer, then connect your iphone and it will SYNC the two. With e OCEAN phone you can DIRECTLY DOWNLOAD from say the ADOBE website and either pay for it, or get a FREE offer. I DID ORDER The Ocean because they offer a no questioion asked money back GUARANTEE if you are not satisfied w/ the phone, so unless it’s spectacular, I will MOST LIKELY return it, because I don’t need 3 cell phone bills in the mail each month!!!! BUT FYI, you can’t switch phones using the ESN number on Helio’s website. If you want the Ocean, telll them to switch it to you AND ASK FOR THE $199 PRICE Its NOT advertised, except I found it advertised by an independent Helio Dealer who set up his own website, and then I called Helio and they said that because I knew about it, THEY WOULD HONOR IT. email me @ chrisallenhendrix@gmail.com and i’ll give you details. ALSO to my knowledge the OCEAN DOES NOT come UNLOCKED and if it did, what carrier would you use it with? It uses the 3G Ultra Fast network, & in the USA the only other carriers to use 3G are Sprint and Verizon. and you will come to see that 3g is SUPER FAST when next to a cell phone user on t mobile, AT&T, Alltel, and OTHER providers, since only a tiny providers use HIGH SPEED 3G. Hope all works out with you. Chris

Hey guys i gotta quick question.. I like the Ocean phone and its great and all, but in some of the areas i go, my sprint phone does not give me coverage.. does that mean that my Ocean wont b able 2 recieve coverage either, since it uses Sprint coverage?

And also, i keep hearing that a Helio can get coverage from Verizon when Sprint coverage can’t b picked up.. Is this true?

btw here’s the link to the thing i wuz tlkn bout..

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17814781

here’s the link to the article..

sum1 said the heat/drift are $50? u can definetely find em brand new on ebay for $1 with activation

is there even much point of buying the phone without a contract since it cant b unlocked to anything else anyway???

noo i can’t believe it’s a CDMA and doesn’t have a place for a sim card!
i was so hoping to buy it within the next few days :(

helio ocean, otherwise known as the pantech pn-810, should definitely re-make the ocean, and everything else can be the same if they like, but they should REALLY add a place for a sim card.

NOTE TO HELIO: REMAKE THIS PHONE WITH A PLACE FOR A SIM CARD

i think cdma is way far better than gsm. with gsm internet, productivity etc is slow. but with cmda (evdo) it rocks. stream music, videos, your pc, webcams. and in my experience no matter where i was in america it was the hardest thing getting a signal. so i am happy this company is cdma. way to go.

i got the ocean phone and i feel yall with the cell phone not having a sim card, but im over that. The problem i have with the ocean phone from helio is, they only want you to download ringtone from there site and i feel that that is bs cause i know other sites i try to download from it never work. how can i get around that and download custom ring tones

lease Ostrander suitors airy sprig

http://www.HelioCellular.com gives the best deals anywhere. Give them the best price you’ve seen on the phone you want, and they will beat it!! They also have promo codes they can enter to say you money. http://www.HelioCellular.com ROCKS!!

seemingly husband nudge,mender sagacity dumber

Dear Rob,
FUCK YOU! CDMA is the most communistic thing ever made. If it Not a GSM its Not AMERICAN.
Sincerly,
Steven El Colberto

P.S.
Your still a douche.

Dear Steven El Colberto,
I agree completely.
Love,
Le Steven La Colberta
P.S.
Rob is a douche

I’ve read alot of these testimonials, dont see much mention of the plan. Who cares about the phone, they are offering unlimted EVERYTHING for $99/month! NO OTHER COMPANY does that, helio is awesome.

THIS PLACE ROCKS!!! Retailers say, “Pick me..Pick me” Forget it!!!! Helio retailers submit their lowest price to AuthorizedMerchants.com, then AuthorizedMerchants tells customers who has the best price. It was too easy! I got my Ocean for $79 and I got a free car charger.

I absolutely LOVE this phone! My brother recently called me and told me he had gotten the new Iphone. I, on the other hand, told him that my bf had just bought me a Helio. He was really mad and upset when he found out. I got a little worried about his reaction. I was sure glad they had that 30-day trial thing. We’ve had the phone for 3 weeks now and we LOVE LOVE LOVE it! What actually brought me over were the salespeople. They are absolutely wonderful and they are very personal when it comes to helping you. So great customer service + great overall experience. I trully recommend to everyone!!! Believe me, I have gone from Cingular,At&t, to Nextel/Sprint & T-Mobile and I have never had such great customer service. In my office, I never get reception-I have a SK3 still in contract & everything but I do not get service @ all since I work in the hospital. But guess what- I don’t have that problem @ all with my Helio Ocean. I get reception EVERYWHERE!!!

Helio is the worst company ever… I ordered a pre-paid plan with the Amex Wishlist promo last winter. BIG MISTAKE! … after a week, i was a little annoyed by the Ocean shutting off on me, so i called and asked if i could get a Fin instead, i was told “that wont be a problem” ,,, i receive the Fin and call to activate it… here’s where i gets nice and tricky> i’m told i’m unable to activate it, Only the Ocean is to be used with the plan i had. so i was like, “oh well, i guess i’ll just live with the Ocean for the nexxt 6 months (plan length)” I send the Fin back… 2 month go by, and i receive a bill from Helio. not paying attn, i send them the $415, thinking it’s the origonal bill for the plan (forgetting that i ALREADY Paid for the plan/phone) … for some reason, the payment doesn’t go through, and i never noticed… again, 2 months roll around. and suddenly my phone service is cut off… i talk to a rep, and they see “the problem” and send in a request to have the account credited. again, phone shuts off on me (5 days later) i call, they say that it’s just waiting for approval… another 5 days… again! this goes on for about a month+. and i find out, that they tacked on an extra $32+ for the bill not going through the 1st time! and they are persistant on collecting at least that $32… I’m in cell phone HELL! … today i was so pissed off with the morons, I paid the damn bill, and as soon as it shows up on my credit card, i’m disputing it. and if i have to deal with this company any further. I’ll be contacting a Lawyer, in hopes to put an end to this for everyone going through the same BS.

Thanks Kevin,

Sorry I didn’t see your post before now. Thanks for the nice comments :)
HelioCellular.com

Go to heliocellular.com/Helio-How-To-Tips-Tricks-Facts.html They have all the cool tricks.