Q. I am looking at new phones and my problem is this: Which do you rate higher, the Helio Ocean or the Sprint instinct?  (I'm not switching to another GSM network for other reasons, so iPhone is o-u-t)  (I know Sprint and Helio use SK, so calling should be the same, right?)

Also, are there any other phones you'd recommend on Sprint that may be better than the Ocean (I'll be using it mainly for multimedia, email, web, txt, video/pics (taken on the phone), and navigation ((note: I'll be using these features ALOT=multiple times a day)))

So, can you help me out?

A. You should have the same signal strength and data coverage on Sprint as on Helio, yes - Helio leases network space from Sprint, so it's basically the same network.  If you go with Helio beware - Helio just got bought out and may be closing its doors before too long.

The big difference between Ocean and Instinct is that Ocean has two physical keyboards - one for dialing and a second for QWERTY - while Instinct is a touchscreen-only phone.  Also, Instinct's screen is much larger.  Beyond that, each offers some unique (and very good) features:  Ocean has integrated search from the Home screen and several cool social networking features, while Instinct has tons of multimedia offerings and an excellent GPS and Live Search system.

They're both great devices - I think the difference comes down to how much you want the physical buttons.  Instinct has a pretty good touchscreen, but if you send a lot of messages you might like Ocean's QWERTY board better.  Also, Ocean is smaller and thicker, while Instinct is bigger and thinner.

You might want to check out the BlackBerry Curve, since it combines a real QWERTY board with a pretty good camera and multimedia player.  It's not as fun and flashy as either the Ocean or Instinct, but it really works well - especially for messaging.  RIM is also preparing a bunch of new BlackBerry devices (Bold, Javelin, Thunder) but they're not quite out yet.

The other Sprint phone I'd recommend isn't out yet -- I'm pretty certain that they'll be releasing the HTC Touch Pro and/or Touch Diamond later this Summer or Fall.  These are both Windows Mobile devices, and will replace the Mogul (Touch Pro) and Touch (Touch Diamond) in Sprint's lineup.  While I'm not a big Windows Mobile fan, I reviewed Mogul awhile back and thought it was excellent.  Touch Pro should be even better - QWERTY, camera, full smartphone & Web support, and a new user interface.