Helio Heat

Reviews say the Helio Heat, also known as the Samsung SPH-A503, is a good to very good slider cell phone with fast 3G network speed. The major downside to the Samsung-built phone is its "tricky" and unintuitive touch controls, which offer zero tactile feel. In addition, the slide-out alphanumeric keypad is described by some as being too flat (though others say it's OK for nimble-fingered youths). Even the most positive reviews say the touch controls are an acquired taste. Reviews predate the acquisition of Helio by Virgin Mobile USA in July 2008 and don't reflect a large price drop. At this writing the Helio Heat is available free with a new contract. There are some sacrifices -- the Helio Heat has a middling 1.3-megapixel camera (the Helio Fin (Discontinued) has a 3-megapixel camera), although its self-portrait mirror is noted as a plus. Reviews say the Helio Heat plays music well, but with just a 136 MB capacity and no microSD memory card slot to expand with, your music choices won't be immense, and the speaker receives mixed reviews.

Reviews say the Helio Heat, measuring 3.6 inches by 1.8 inches by 0.6 inches and weighing 3.2 ounces, is comfortable to hold and carry. Like other Helio phones, the Heat has advanced features like GPS, Mobile MySpace access and a full-featured Craigslist search. Some say the web browsing is slow -- as expected for a cheap handset -- and that email is not as full-featured as you'd find on a BlackBerry. Call quality is good, most reviews say, although some detect a bit of background hiss or crackle. Most reviews say the 2-inch display screen is very good, but they disagree about the choppiness of video playback. Helio lists talk-time battery life as "up to three hours," but reviewers get a bit more than that in tests. The Helio Heat comes bundled with stereo headphones and a USB cable.

As is often the case, we found the best reviews at CNET and PCMag.com. Not only do they test thoroughly, they rate enough cell phones to have a good frame of reference, and their scoring system makes it easy to see how a model rates against the rest of the market. We also found good coverage at MobileBurn.com and InfoSync. Consumer Reports does not include Helio models in its ratings. We also found no user reviews at Amazon.com, and just a smattering at CNET.