The LG Helix is the first AWS-capable phone ever released by the Korean company. Apart from that, however, there's not much to set it apart - it's about as simple as a clamshell handset can get.
Physically, it's a traditional flip phone through and through. It's slim, compact and should easily fit in your pocket, all while sporting a blocky, rectangular design. The Cricket version for the US comes in silver and pink (neither of which are particularly affable); hopefully, they'll bring in the more attractive orange version too. As clamshells go, it sports two displays - a 1-inch color LCD outside and a 2-inch panel (with 220x176 resolution) inside.
As a phone, it makes for largely inconsistent call quality - there's occasional choppiness and crackly audio. Speakerphone was predictably tinny, but usable. Battery life is rated at five hours of talk time, which makes it good for a couple days of regular use.
There aren't much here in terms of features (and that's not an understatement). You get the basics - a 1,000 entry phonebook, standard messaging, some PIM tools, Bluetooth and a WAP browser. As expected, there's neither 3G nor Wi-Fi. Surprisingly, there's no music player in sight as well.
LG threw in a 1.3 megapixel camera, however, with a good amount of editing options. The picture quality was actually very good for such a basic camera, so that's a silver lining. Rounding out the feature set are a few games (Super Street Fighter and Where's Waldo) and apps (MyBackup and MyPerks).
Overall, it's tough to recommend the LG Helix. While I can understand the lack of features (it's $119.99 without a contract), the spotty call quality is an absolute deal-breaker. It could be the network or the phone's fault, though. If Cricket has good presence in your area, it might be worth the purchase.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
“This is a very good phone. After a bad experience with my previous phone, I was reluctant to try a new phone. However, I’m so glad I did. This phone is easy to use and I LOVE the picture quality. I recommend it to anyone looking to upgrade their phone.”
Dave, are you for real? Do you own this mobile phone? If I had a top 10 bad looking phones, this will win at least a Bronze medal for sure.
Though, everybody has its own taste on technology, can’t deal with that.