Are these new phone companies any good or just their phones?

Well, until these smaller companies have more towers to send/recieve signals, the reception really wont be as good as that of the bigger companies...something you might want to seriously consider. The best made phones are only as good as the service provided (or available).

I don't know anything about Helio, except it is promoted a lot on Myspace. As for Boost Mobile, it's a great phone. I used to have Boost Mobile because MOST of my friends were on Nextel and Boost Mobile but chose to maintain a contract with Alltel while I had fun "chirping" my friends (I have since kept Alltel and now have Nextel). It has a great coverage depending on where you're located. For a $1.00, you get unlimited nationwide direct connect with Boost and Nextel subscribers. The minutes were very expensive so I stick strictly with the direct connect feature (at the time I had it it was $1.50/day). If commitment and credit is an issue and you need a reasonable bucket of minutes, Boost Premium Prepaid is the way to go. If you do go with Boost Mobile, I humbly recommend NOT to purchase the i415 or i455 since it does not last long (at least it did not last long with my friends who had it). The best phone is the i855.