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"Better than the iPhone and here is why" on by Zenkai76
Pros: Easy to use design, nice user interface, comes with a backup battery
Cons: Video and Camera is a little lacking
Summary: I was a 6 year Tmobile user and wanted to get an iPhone 3G but I was told about this sprint instinct as well, after comparing both phones I will tell you why I decided on the instinct. I will mention though the camera is only 2mp and the video I took was meh, but that wasn't an important part of my decision making because I don't use my phone for that much.
Wanted to add that I went on vacation and I fell in LOVE with the GPS, it helped me get around town to shop/eat, You can even rait these places. The only flaw I saw, was when I was comparing it with mapquest it was an hour off I was wondering why. But near the end of my trip I was on I40 and it looks like I was veered off on new construction, my GPS basically told me I was off course and it looked like I was driving off road. You could tell that this part of I40 was fairly new construction, once that part ran out my GPS found me back on the old I40 and it recalculated my time and shaving off almost an hour off my destination. Mapquest 1, GPS 0
iPhone Vs Instinct
Memory - The instinct only comes with 2gig chip but since it is cheaper than the iphone you can buy an 8 gig chip and come out even.
Battery - The iphones battery is built in, a major complaint even with iphone lovers, you have to PAY apple to replace your battery once it is junk. And for anyone who has ever owned a phone, you know the longer you own your phone the less charge time you have. The instinct actually comes with a spare battery and a charger so you can be charging your battery while still using your phone.
Computer interface - The best thing about the Instinct is NO ITUNES! I really hate itunes, I love my ipod shuffle for the gym but wish it didn't need itunes. As long as you have your USB cable you can easily transfer media, from and to on any computer with a USB port without downloading software. If you are technically challenged and like itunes, samsung has bundled a media software with the phone that is just like itunes.
Service Provider - If you research Sprint vs AT&T you will see that Sprint gives you a little more bang for your buck. For instance, if you where to chose similar rate plans for unlimited internet, you will find that with ATT texting is not included, you have to pay EXTRA to buy a texting package. I would think most people who have these kinds of phones would be doing a lot of texting, especially if you are buying this phone for a teenager. With Sprint unlimited texting was included in the price, I basically saved myself 240 dollars a year by not having to buy this service with ATT, hmm maybe with my savings I can buy a new iPhone to piddle with.
So in short as much as I wanted an iPhone, the instinct proved to be the winner for my choice in more ways than one, I just couldn't justify spending extra for an iPhone.
Updated on Sep 18, 2008
To be fair at the very end of my trip mapquest was off, it wanted me to turn on a road in 8 miles to the right but the road was only 3 miles long and I could go right or left, so I went right. I fired up my GPS and it told me I was going the wrong way, it got me back on course and guided me to the Motel
Mapquest 0, GPS 0
Updated on Apr 2, 2009Well, I have had this phone for 8 months now, no major complaints. I have only locked it up maybe twice which is surprising because any other phone I had I locked them up way more often and they had didn't have the near the functionality.
I am still in love with the GPS, I don't know how I ever lived without it, it's so easy to only get step by step directions but it's easy to find the numbers of local businesses around you, very helpful when McDonalds messed up my order. I recently bought a blue tooth head set, it was easy to set it up, I was up an going in a snap. Another great feature is the "Push To talk" you can program the phone to recognize your speech pattern to get better results. When you do you can simply push a button and say things like "Dial Mom at home" and it calls my mother, it also works with thing functions like GPS.
Updated on Apr 2, 2009The internet seems to have gotten even faster recently after they did an update on their phone, another big plus. I can easily sign into things like facebook and myspace to do updates, I can even sign in photobucket and upload pictures directly from my cell phone. I like the email function too, I have my yahoo set up on it so it automatically pulls in my new messages, I have it where it alerts me if I get new email.
Other useful features I use a lot is the Alarm clock, I love how customizable it is with letting me set if I want the alarm to go off daily, once, or M-F, or Sat & Sun, and I can customize what ringtone if any goes off per alarm and the volume of the tone. The calendar is really nice as well, I can program in my doctor appointments and such and have it throw up an Alarm to me to remind me I have to be there. I really love the streaming TV too, of course the quality isn't what I consider awesome but it is decent. -
"Phone is like a Dumb Blonde" on by jettles1
Pros: Sleek Design, Compact
Cons: Everything else
Summary: The new Samsung Instinct is like a "Dumb Blonde." I'm blonde, so I can say it. I've been the brunt of many "blonde jokes" for years. The Instinct is cute and sleek on the outside, with not much substance beneath the surface.
This is a great, FUN phone. If you like to have a good time, this is the phone for you. If you're looking for a smart phone, you'd be smart to look elsewhere. A brunette (ie- Mogul) would be e better choice. I'll be returning this, and going back to my Mogul.
This phone has very limited web access. To access many common websites (eg-Ebay), you must set the browser to "mobile" mode. In this mode all graphics are missing, and site is in text mode. You're lucky if you can sign in. I actually found it unbelievable that such a high tech phone would have such limited web surfing capability. My friend was trying to check email on Hotmail account, and could not sign in. It was not JAVA supported. After spending over an hour with Sprint tech support (another nightmare) and going to TWO corporate Sprint stores (and visiting tech support live), it was confirmed that the browser is very limited. None of them could access Hotmail either. Sprint would have been much better off using Windows,.
The Bluetooth is also very poor. I have to switch hands free off in my car since nobody can hear me, only catching about every third word. I never had this problem w/Mogul (same car).
I even find the multimedia to be below average. There is a delay on CNN, and picture often freezes. If I want to watch TV, I'll stay home.
I don't understand what is so impressive about this phone. Sprint/Samsung have done a great job with media hype, and creating a frenzy over this phone. This phone is a novelty. It's fun, does have a great keyboard and touch, but that's about it. If you want a smart phone, this is not the phone for you. -
"Awesome phone from Sprint! (Finally)" on by Susanoo
Pros: Easy Navigation, good Call quality, easy email access, great touch keyboard
Cons: internet doesn't perform that well
Summary: Like a nerd, I went to get my Instinct the today first thing in the a.m. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to navigate. didn't take long to pick up on how to work it and navigate it. Love the touch screen, call quality has been excellent and I love the features. The turn by turn GPS and the Live search are AWESOME. The voice recognition software is flawless as well. The only flaw is that it obviously isn't as 'beautiful' as the iphone and the internet surfing so far as been a little disappointing.
I was one of the guys on the fence about dropping sprint because of their lackluster phones (I had a treo 700wx that was junk)and grabbing an iphone. But sprint has finally put out an excellent phone, with a price point and plan that can't be beat! -
"Multi-media phone, yes - Smartphone, no" on by sd_davis
Pros: GPS, screen, TV, Live Search, Interface
Cons: SMS, contacts, no flash, No desktopp sync
Summary: I have had the phone for over 24 hours now; I got to get a day early (6-19-2008). I was excited about this phone, and I still am, but it has already let me down a bit.
Bottom line, if you want a multi-media phone, this is a good one to get. However, if you are looking for a smartphone this is not it.
It seems like the phone does some amazingly hard things well, but when it comes to the easy stuff, it fails miserably.
I am really hopeing to edit this review, when Sprint and Samsung (hopefully) put out an update. Until then...
The sleekest part of this thing is the GPS. It could actually replace a portable GPS, not as functional, but it does the main job, but has an advantage in that it has a lot of data behind it.
One feature related to GPS is the Live Search. Hold in a button, tell it pizza, and up comes pizza places nearest you in a directory format. Click one and get all the info you can use, and then click map, directions, and get full GPS from where you are to it.
Another example: Find cheapest gas stations nearest to your location. Works, and is cool.
The web interface is good, but feels hurried. I really expected more. The Rev A has great speed.
The screen is nice, large, and has a great resolution. Watching TV on it is nice.
However, like I said, it does some simple things badly. Let's go over SMS.
There is no preset text message, so everything you might send has to be typed each time. There is no text prediction to complete words, so each word must be fully typed. The only way to navigate in a text message as you compose is to minimize the keyboard, use the (soft) nav-keys, and then bring the keyboard back up. The keys on the qwerty (soft) keyboard are a tad small and I am continually having to correct, although it does have a spell-checker. There are more, but you get the idea.
All these may seem little issues, but put them all together and you have an issue. It would have been SO simple to make sure this part worked well.
Also a problem is the contacts section. It is really clunky, and has no flow to it. There is no grouping, and no real search capability, only an alpha-scroller. Like the SMS grips, there are a bunch of littel things that add up to be a pain. For example, when you put a picture in for a contact, there is no way to rotate or pan the picture. So far this means that I have a bunch of sideways head shots, and crotch shots for my contact photos.
Stupid oversight.
I really want to like this phone, and because Sprint offers a full 30 day return, I will use it for the next two weeks, and see if there is an update. If not, it will go back, and I will wait for it, or a better phone.
Additionally, I really wanted a mail and calendar sync. You can do the mail sync, but only if you have an Exchange server. I really wanted this device to sync with my outlook via desktop ala the mogul or touch (by HTC).
Don't get me wrong, I love the MM things this phone does right. Music, web, TV, radio, etc... However, the reality is that most of us use our phone 90% of the time for text and calls, email, and scheduling. All the places where this phone is weak.
Sprint? Samsung? Please add what you can in an update so I cn keep this phone! -
"Very Disappointed!" on by JRRTolkien
Pros: Small & Light. Email works fine.
Cons: Can't synch your calendar or contacts. Very unresponsive!
Summary: For years I've been a user of the clunky, but highly effective 6700sp running on Windows Mobile 6.0. Instinct is a huge disappointment. It did connect fine to my server and found 25 of my emails, but I can't manage the messages apart from deleting, forwarding, replying. With the 6700 I could manage all my folders, move emails to other folders, etc. And everything synched with my Microsoft Exchange Server...calendar, appointments, contacts/addresses, etc. Why didn't Sprint/Samsung stick with the reliable Window Mobile software? If you follow your instinct, you'll stick with what you have or simply get the better IPhone G3. Of course, Instinct is incompatible with MAC, but even on a PC I couldn't get any of the synching software to run successfully. Beyond all of this, Instinct is really unresponsive, and downright quirky. The web works sometimes, and sometimes not. The browser is cumbersome and disappointing. My Instinct is going back on Monday and I'll just go back to my 6700 until the G3 IPhone comes out. Then I'll have to make the decision about moving over to ATT.
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