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.