Samsung Fin SPH-A513

It seems Helio has orchestrated yet another collaboration with Korean phone manufacturer Samsung. Helio, already boasting two Samsung sliders in its portfolio, the Drift and the Heat, is trying to maintain its cutting edge reputation when it comes to its devices. Changing things up a bit this time, Helio has introduced a flip style handset, the Samsung Fin.

This good looking and extremely thin (12mm/0.5") 3G handset has very sharp angles and attractive lines. The Fin's magnesium body is draped in a dark blue hue throughout, though Helio's TV and print advertisements for the Fin tend to make it look a bit lighter and bluer in color than it really is. Though thin, the Fin's grippy edges make it easy to hold onto even when opened. The Fin is solidly built with a sturdy flip top that seems to have no play or sway - definitely a design that should be able to endure everyday use.

On the outside of the Fin is where you will find the phone's extremely small external display, a 16 character OLED screen that sits high on the flip's front, just below the lens of the 3 megapixel camera. This tiny display provides indicators for signal strength, messages, ringer status, battery life, and time. When in direct sunlight, the external display is basically useless.

The Fin can handle up to 4GB microSD cards but does require battery removal for swapping. The outside of the Fin is almost barren except for its left edge, which is where the tiny volume rocker and covered charging/headset port are found.

Flipping open the Fin exposes the large and brightly colored 2.3" 262k color TFT QVGA (240x320 pixel) resolution screen.

The Helio Fin runs on Sprint's CDMA voice network and uses EV-DO for high speed 3G data. The Fin provided us with great reception and coverage, never dropping a call.

The Garmin Mobile navigation service can be accessed for US$2.99 per day - once the software has been installed.

Similar to Helio devices of the past, the Fin has an endless supply of apps and multimedia that include video and music downloads. Downloads are not the cheapest on the market, but with a good 3G connection you will be off and running in no time. The Fin's music player can be launched quickly via its dedicated shortcut key or via the Helio menu. Helio does a fantastic job here by sorting music files by playlists, genre, artist, album, and song. The only nit to pick is the music is alphabetically categorized.

The Fin comes with a 3 megapixel fixed focus camera and offers video recording in QVGA (320x240) or QCIF (176x144) resolutions. Once pictures or videos are taken, the Helio Up app allows users to upload photos and assign titles, tags, and descriptions easily. If enabled, recordings and pictures can be sent from the Helio Album to Flickr and YouTube without the need for a personal computer.

Helio's Samsung Fin measures 104mm x 52mm x 12mm (4.1" x 2.0" x 0.5") and weighs 98.1g (3.5oz). The manufacturer rated talk time is 3 hours with an impressive 8 days of standby.