Oct 23, 2007 12:00 AM

Review: Helio Fin

Name: Fin
Item: Fin

It’s not the freshest-looking phone around, but with a 0.5-inch profile, the Fin is at least slimmer than some competitors. Images and videos captured with the 3-megapixel camera can be uploaded straight to Flickr or YouTube; despite being relatively hi-res, however, shots appear grainy. GPS plus Google Maps is cool, but for real-time, turn-by-turn directions, […]

$175 at Helio

Rating:

7/10

WIRED

Sturdy feel. Vivid 2.3-inch screen. Built-in email clients for all the biggies (Gmail, Yahoo, Windows Live). Access to mobile MySpace and Helio's music store.

TIRED

Keypad is frustratingly unresponsive. Tinny speaker. Measly three-hour-plus talk time. No memory card.

It's not the freshest-looking phone around, but with a 0.5-inch profile, the Fin is at least slimmer than some competitors. Images and videos captured with the 3-megapixel camera can be uploaded straight to Flickr or YouTube; despite being relatively hi-res, however, shots appear grainy. GPS plus Google Maps is cool, but for real-time, turn-by-turn directions, you have to pony up $2.99 a day. Worse, the buttons are flat and squishy, and the directional pad is impossibly clumsy.

$175 at Helio

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