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Though pink phones are so five minutes ago, Samsung and Sprint decided to roll out a pink Instinct this week. Features are no different from the standard version, and the $99 price tag is unchanged as well. And that's all we have to say about that.

Two weeks ago, I asked Samsung Instinct owners to tell me what they thought of their phones. Normally, I don't write blogs asking for comments on individual phones after we've reviewed them, but Sprint's Instinct had me worried. While I liked the handset when I reviewed it, I know that people who use a phone long term can develop varying opinions. After I started to get e-mails from disappointed Instinct users, I began to wonder if I had it wrong. Even now, the average user score on the review almost matches my score of four stars (or 8.0), but perhaps opinions were changing over time.

After a careful review of the responses to my blog, it's clear that the Instinct is a good phone, but it falls short of a being a great phone. Of the 67 verbose and candid comments that passed the "relevancy" test (I had to discount quite a few because they were duplicate posts, comments from non-Instinct owners, flame wars, or just off topic), opinions were just about evenly spread. The largest group (39 percent) wrote that they liked the phone overall, but they didn't shy away from registering quite a few complaints. The next largest group (31 percent) was soundly positive with very few gripes, while 30 percent were strongly negative with very few praises. So even though the majority of users like the Instinct, many of them do so only begrudgingly. On the other hand, the unhappy minority is shouting at the top of their lungs.

Let me state that this wasn't a scientific study by any means. Also, while one reader warned me that there was a "concerted effort" on Sprint forums to bombard my blog with negative comments, the results are interesting nonetheless. For the most part the "likes and "dislikes" were universal. I'll list those below. Also, while I agreed with most of the complaints, and noted them in my review, there were a few gripes that didn't occur to me before. As I said, long-term use gives a fresh perspective. So now, on to the opinions (albeit in a Zagat's Survey format). … Read more

Owners of the Samsung Instinct, I want to hear from you. Though the iPhone rival was one of the hottest cell phones of the summer, its successes and shortcomings haven't received quite as much attention as Apple's device. Similarly, while I see tens of iPhone users every day, I've seen nearly as many Instincts in the wild.

The first time I saw an Instinct owner using his device in public, I had to ask him what he thought of his phone. He responded that while there were certain things he really loved about it, there were also … Read more

Last week I told you that Sprint was preparing to offer its new Instinct cell phone for $199. But now, I have to admit that I jumped the gun just a bit. Sprint finally confirmed today that when the Instinct goes on sale Friday it will cost just $129 after a $100 mail-in rebate. You will have to sign a two-year contract with a Simply Everything plan, which starts at $69 per month. With such a hefty price drop, it's even clearer that Sprint is taking on the iPhone 3G, which will sell for $199 or $299 depending on … Read more

The Samsung Instinct, Sprint's answer to the iPhone, finally has arrived. It's been two months since we first saw the slim touch-screen cell phone with a boatload of features, but now we've had the opportunity to kick its tires and run it through its paces. What we found is an innovative, powerful and easy-to-use device that matches the original iPhone in many ways. The Instinct's appealing design and plentiful features, particularly in the messaging and GPS areas, push it to the forefront of Sprint's lineup. Things got a little shaky on the performance side, but … Read more

Though Sprint is carefully avoiding any direct comparisons with the iPhone, it's obvious that its new Samsung Instinct (SPH-M800) is meant to compete with Apple's device. They look almost the same (our Instinct slide show has a gallery of shots), they do a lot of the same things, and they rely heavily on touch screens and unique interfaces. These comparisons are inevitable and Samsung and Sprint are doing nothing to silence them. So Apple fanboys and slamboys, just take a deep breath before the flame wars begin.

I have to emphasize the Instinct is no iPhone killer, but … Read more

Last year in Orlando, Samsung's UpStage was one of the biggest announcements of the CTIA show. And this year in Las Vegas, Samsung may have done it again. Today the company announced the Samsung Instinct SPH-M800, which will land at Sprint this summer. The Instinct looks a lot like a certain cell phone from Apple, but Sprint (thankfully) isn't positioning it as an iPhone killer. Rather, a Sprint spokeswoman called it just an iPhone competitor. We're not quite sure what to make of that, either.

But whatever you call it, the Instinct is undeniably eye-catching. (See our … Read more