Comments on: How's your Instinct?

CNET wants to hear what Samsung Instinct owners like and dislike about their device.

[edgaradelchi]

Sure there are other phones on the market besides the iPhone and the Instinct, but for the sake of simplicity lets us compare these two.

Best of the iPhone 3G:
1- 3G network
2- WiFi
3- Glass surface
4- Browser
5- Responsiveness
6- Accelerometer
7- Pinching
8- Music
9- Videos
10- Visual Voicemail
11- Email Support

Bad of the iPhone 3G:
1- Expensive
2- No Navigation just GPS
3- No Stereo Bluetooth Support
4- No Extra Battery (You can not even change the battery)
5- No Speaker (I know they have it on the new iTouch, not sure if iPhone 3G has it)
6- No LiveTV

Best of Instinct:
1- Price
2- Network Signal
3- GPS Navigation
4- Extra Battery with charger
5- USB Cable adapter (also charges the phone)
6- Stereo Bluetooth Support
7- Records Video
8- SprintTV Live
9- Music
10- Videos
11- EVDO Rev A Speed
12- Visual Voicemail
13- Email Support

Bad of the Instinct:
1- Calendar
2- No WiFi Support
3- Slow Response
4- Fragile
5- No Accelerometer
6- Outlook Sync only Contacts

After weighting the options, I went for the Instinct. First because of the price and second because it had Stereo Bluetooth support. I can deal with a little bit of slow response, since once I select a feature (like watching TV, a Movie, Music, or talking on the phone) I do not have to keep touching the screen. So basically it has all the features that I need and that I use. I really love the Navigation GPS, something that I never though getting since I frequent the same places, but I try it and now I am getting addicted to it. The iPhone is a magnificent phone, unfortunately I believe Apple wants to keep banking some cash since there is all these technology that they can already use in their product and they have not been able too deliver, what is their excuse, they want to keep the size of the product small, I do not think so, I think they want to keep the size of their bank account large, and that is not so bad, if you bought Apple stock in April 2003 at $6 a share with $10,000 you should have bank in around $580,000 last January when the stock price was around $175 a share and that would have bough you a lot of iPhones. So the bottom line is save some money and buy Apple stock instead of buying an iPhone, after all a phone purpose is to make phone calls, right??

[uneek78]

I was going to post, but everyone already said great things about the bad things I was going to say about this phone. Thanks for saving me time everyone. I'm taking my phone back to Best Buy today as soon as the store opens. Yes today September 20th. This basic phone dressed up as a phone of the future. Farewell! I would leave sprint, but I don't feel like arguing w/ my wife.

[uneek78]

I was going to post, but everyone already said great things about the bad things I was going to say about this phone. Thanks for saving me time everyone. I'm taking my phone back to Best Buy today as soon as the store opens. Yes today September 20th. This basic phone dressed up as a phone of the future. Farewell! I would leave sprint, but I don't feel like arguing w/ my wife.

[RuhiKuz]

The following says it all...



http://www.instinct-samsung.com/index.php/topic,4197.msg33330.html#msg33330

[jmautobot]

Hello,

I have owned the Instinct for about three months. I can echo many of the other users who have detailed some of the issues with this phone so I will not detail them again. Lack of the ability to use the Instinct as a modem is a great disappointment since it was advertised to have it. However, I must admit that to be fair, Sprint is actually providing some support. I agree that Sprint has not communicated well with users, but I am surprised that they do have forum moderators who do give people occasional bits of information about plans for updates. In one instance, the manager of the navigation portion of the phone frequently updated users with information. While the nav update had a flaw and was pulled, I think they did a good job explaining to users what to expect and when. The upgrades that they have made have made some improvements for me, allbeit not major ones.

I would like to mention that the forums described do have users who are very helpful to other Instinct owners. For instance, while the Sprint TV is, by default, very pixelated and frequently locks up, there are details on Buzz About Wireless describing how to edit some internal system menus to get the Sprint TV to work well. SInce I have done this, my Sprint TV is enjoyable and useful. I believe Sprint should get these changes made official. It would go a long way of satisfying users issues with Sprint TV and radio.

I am honestly happy with my Instinct. The call quality and internet speed, work very well... not perfect, but well. I really enjoy Live search, searching for Movies in my area, and news.

Sprint has a great calling plan for the money. If the iPhone were available on a comparable calling plan for a similar price, I certainly would get it. Currently, I pay about half of what it would cost me to have an iPhone. Recurring costs really make a difference for me and Sprint has done a great job there as a company and with the Instinct. I think it is fair to say that Sprint has always been very kind on the phone when I have needed to call or go to the store. Thank you.

[ARob1979]

First off, anyone who says the Instinct's browser works perfectly is a liar or is someone who has never owned a smartphone before. The Instinct's browser is just the absolutely worst piece of junk ever programmed. Web pages load extremely slow. They more often than not render as mobile versions rather than desktop versions of the page even if you select desktop in the browser settings. It is well documented that the browser crashes on many different websites. The browser is the worst aspect of the Instinct has although it is highlighted in Sprint's marketing of the phone.

What is the Instinct really? Well, the Instinct is a low end, incomplete touchscreen cell phone, rushed to market to solely to compete with iPhone 3G. Ironically, the features that the Instinct touted as being superior to iPhone, don't work or are totally irrelevant compared to the glaring deficiencies of the Instinct.

The Sprint Navigation app worked nicely for awhile...then the voice notification stopped notifiying me of upcoming turns and even when I was following the map, it would tell me I was off course.

The SprintTV app is pixelated, blocky and often just unwatchable. The picture quality is just bad and I never use it because it just isn't worth it.

The few times I've actually sent a video mail, it sits as pending in the outbox for upwards of 20 minutes or more. The ones I sent never got to the people I sent them to. Picture mail does the same thing.

Oh, I'll go on. Sprint originally advertised the Instinct as a smartphone, an "iPhone killer" if you will. I was an early adopter, I signed up for an e-mail list to get the Instinct one day before release. I actually had a Sprint rep tell me that the Instinct would handle MS Office apps and PDF because I specifically asked. Obviously, the Instinct doesn't and the smartphone distinction was soon changed to that of a media phone.

The lack of the LCDUI is disappointing. It really kills the potential of the Instinct. I believe it was no mistake; it is rumored that the Instinct already contains the functionality but it is just switched off. This is because Sprint want developers to make Instinct specific applications to sell to the masses. Once Sprint sees profits from those apps, they will turn on the LCDUI.

The MP3 player is mediocre at best. It's just not intuitive enough with it's design.

The lack of a calendar sync is just atrocious. I've seen more robust calendars on cell phones I've owned over four years ago.

Absoultely no customization options as of yet. There's no way to make the Instinct unique yet.

No file explorer.

Instinct doesn't support enough media file types (no mpeg playback, really?)

And it's just a lot of annoying quirks to the Instinct. For instance, the default screen is your 'Favorites' screen. When you press the phone hard key, you don't get the dialer, you get speed dial. There should be options to change these actions. Scrolling through many contacts is a pain as there is no search.

It's not all bad, however.

The Sprint Mobile E-Mail app works nicely. I have two personal e-mail accounts (Gmail) and my work MS Exchange account working great. I know many people who have had issues however.

Live Search is awesome. Although this app is essentially free for anyone, it works beautifully with the voice command.

The Handmark apps (weather, news, sports, movies, entertainment news, marine forecast) work as expected pretty much. The news videos often don't play, however. Still, they are solid overall.

Visual Voicemail is an absolutely supurb idea. It worked great...at first. In the past two weeks, users have experienced periods of time where voicemails couldn't be downloaded or even called in to listen to. So, when it works, it's great. If it doesn't, then you just might miss an important message.

So there you have it. If you leave a smartphone to get the Instinct, you will be horribly disappointed. If you retired your old flip phone to go to the Instinct, you may be impressed. But iPhone killer, competitor, whatever you want to call it, this phone is not.

I've already ordered a HTC Touch Diamond to replace my Instinct.

[finncox23]

I AM NOT an Instinct owner, and I wanted to make that clear up front. But, after playing with it several times in the store for about an hour each, I found the web browser really NON-FUNCTIONAL. It was awkward to use, the keyboard was very inaccurate when typing, and some of the control buttons were placed too close to one another (if I recall, the clear/delete button was oddly placed when I tried to delete mistypes). I have played with the iPhone as well (also, NOT an owner), and while I had mistypes, the keyboard on the iPhone was much more accurate in my opinion. I don't really see the two as comparable. I thought the instinct (from an in-store tester's opinion) was a rushed, shoddy attempt at competing with the iPhone.

[MandM4792]

So, i got my instinct the day after it came out. I've been completely happy with the device, except for a few things.. The scrolling in some of the menus us very clucky, and i usually get a lot of false touches that lead me into menus im not wanting to go into. This is especially bad in the music player. Also, i hate that I cannot get third party apps on my phone. I see all the apps in the itunes store for the iPhone and it makes me want to just got up to Sprint and ask them whats wrong. I want the same thing! Also, the interface is a little weird in the telephone part of the phone. The call history doesn't automatically give you the time of the missed call - you have to tap the little arrow to the right (be sure not to tap the number, it will begin a call with that person), click on "this person's" history, and there you go - the time of the missed call. The interface in general could use a little facelift. i know it's brand new, but its very lackluster compared to the iPhone's interface - less "shiny and smooth" and much more "flat and cluncky". This is fine, though, seeing as i couldnt switch over to AT&T, and the phone cost 80 dollars less than the iPhone. Some things i like about the Instinct are the design. Still not as sexy as the iphone, but it's almost there. I pretty much think of it as the girl who gets all the sloppy seconds in high school. The customizable "Favs" menus is very nice, but it could hold some more items. It stops you after 12. The haptic feedback is a very nice feature. It always startles all my friends who i let see it. "oh my gosh! it just like, moved!" is the reaction i usually get. But asides from impression, it has a good use too. It lets you know when you're touch has been registered. This is useful when you're entering a slow application, or a link on the web browser, so i dont end up hitting the link or the app link 4 or 5 times and causing a freeze. I also love the dedicated "back", "home", and "telephone" buttons. They make using the phone much easier. The picture quality is good, could be better. Sometimes they come out perfect, but other times - such as when there is low light - they come out with contrast lines and the colors are way off. Finally, about freezes. i have had quite a few freezes since i have had the phone. It freezes, so you have to take the battery out, but the battery case is impossibly hard to remove!

[goygacon]

Sold Completely on advertising, I admit, I fell for the Instinct hype as soon as I saw it, Then New Java/Brew, Smartphone touchscreen. Able to support Gifs and tethering and all the other goodies we were all Lied to about.
100 million dollar advertising Fraud. They spent all that money compairing the Instinct to the iphone when in fact they shouldn't have released this phone to begin with...Winner of the C-Net blah blah blah, This phone is perfect for Suckers like me...
Okay, now the good....calls are clear, never dropped a call. Visual voicemail is awesome, checking your voicemail in any order is a smart move. E-mail comes through with a buzz on the phone to let you know one came in, pretty nice. Haptic feedback, nice touch response. Bluetooth, listen to your music while surfing the web, or texting, even playing games, very nice. Voice to action button lets you call a contact, check news, sports, and weather just by talking to the phone, one of my favorites. Gps voice guided directions, this is very handy, Personally, I've never gotten lost, but getting directions has never been easier. Live search, coffee shops, pizza joints, cheapest gas prices, hospitals, you name it, live search will find it, then gps guides you if needed, couldn't see myself not having this very useful feature. Watching movies on a bigger screen is fantastic. The list keeps going, but let's not brag.
So, add the bad with the good, and you get a phone that Is perfect for Suckers like me...
I Love this Phone!!! Sprint Needs to make this phone Everything it should be. Fix the calendar, the keyboard issue, the browser flaw, and stop comparing this phone to the iphone...It's in a league all it's self...iphone can Never compare to this phone. Spend your money more wisely...Make this the phone everyone compares their phones to.

[jonesns]

My roommate works for Alorica, a company that handles Sprint's customer service. Wanna know why Sprint's CS is so bad (bad enough to be compared to AOL)? It's because they (the companies) are more concerned about making money than actually providing quality customer service.

As for the Instinct, based on the calls that my roommate and his co-workers have recieved, it's bad enough to be given names such as the iClone, the iPhoney, and the it-stink. It does have it's strengths, but as for catching up with the iPhone, it's just not living up to that standard

[uneek78]

Like I said in my previous post. I am taking this phone back TODAY. I took it back and got an iPhone. I was 3 days shy of the 30-day return policy. Phew! Just made it. I'm a lot happier now. Bye instinct! Bye Sprint!

[BUDGETBOY]

Kent,
I feel that the Instinct was a rush job. Sprint was trying to beat Apple to the punch. With that said, I do Like the phone overall. The phone does need work. Love the Touchscreen and Keyboard for texting and sending emails. Like the fact that it comes with a extra battery. Like the Visual Voice Mail (when it works). Like the Email (even with the work arounds). Live Search is great. Even with some small issues, the GPS is great. The Browser has ISSUES!! Crashes on some websites. Will not let you login on other websites. Having problems with the Bluetooth. With my volume turned all the way up, I can barely hear the person I'm talking to. Don't use the Speaker for listen to music. Sometimes it sounds if the speaker is blown. Customer Service/Support, or THE LACK OF. Some Sprint Employees have tried to help, others have acted as if I was the only one with a phone problem. Still waiting on someone to make an "OFFICIAL" statement, acknowledging that this phone has issues and what they are doing to correct them.

[macbranson]

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this phone a 7. In comparison to smartphones like Blackberry and even the Palm Treo or Centro (which I used to own), this phone isn't very good. When you compare it to the Iphone, it looks even worse. I kind of bought this phone as an impulse buy when I happened to be passing a Sprint store. So unlike a lot of other Instinct owners, I didn't have the same initial high expectations. But similar to other Instinct owners, I find myself very disappointed in this phone, nonetheless.

First of all, it seems like the phone gets worse as time goes on. Certain applications worked for a few weeks, then stopped working. For instance, Sprint TV, Sprint radio, Weather applications and music player has glitches. I called Sprint and after a reset, I got TV, Radio and Weather working again. However, the music player takes forever to load the songs and doesn't even display the music images sometimes. I really don't want to go over the whole list of flaws, because I would just be repeating what all of the other people have said. The phone just doesn't operate smoothly in any regard aside from the basic phone function. That's pretty bad. Of all the advertised features, the best thing about this phone is the BASIC phone features? I can make a call on ANY phone.

I also have this odd problem with battery life. The battery on my phone is pathetic. If this phone didn't have two batteries, I'd really be in trouble. Overall, I just want to say that this phone is not only disappointing, but it's downright annoying. I've never owned something that just had so many problems in so many different areas. And what's worse is that no one at Sprint or Samsung seems like they should take the time to address all of the various problems with this phone. Spring should be ashamed at the response (or lack of response) they are giving to the owners of this phone. And Samsung should be ashamed to put an item on the market that clearly is such a half-hearted attempt at being a quality item. If I could take this phone back, I gladly would.

[MGP67]

As a phone, it works decent enough. I get echoing and that is annoying. It doesn't happen a lot, but enough for me to voice it here.

The web browser is something I avoid using unless I really need to. It's not very fast.

-An update MESSED UP my calendar. It won't alarm me "10 minutes" before an event or "30 minutes", or even an "Hour before". It worked when I got it, but an update that Sprint/Samsung sent out crippled my calendar. Now, it only alarms me when the event is scheduled to happen. That means I have to set the time for however early I need to know. This is very inconvenient.

-Also, I'm on my 3rd phone. The first one had a screen glitch when I texted and the second phone's vibration broke. Lucky number 3?

Over all, this phone is ok. I'm not completely enamored, but it will do. The GPS is alright, but it takes a while to re-route which causes me to drive blindly until it corrects itself. I would have updated it, but apparently from what Sprint has stated, the update is flawed. The GPS update will freeze your phone (brilliant).

My main complaint is that it really feels like this phone was rushed. I understand that 3rd party applications are being worked on, but there are just glitches out the gate with this phone. When they send an update, they have to send another update to fix the previous update. What's up with that?

I sell phones in a Best Buy Mobile. I'm not biased towards any phone because it will just bite me in the rear if I sell the wrong phone. I tell all my customers the issues I've had with this phone and half the time, they still get it. I also tell them that it is a new phone that will, hopefully, get updated and fixed. However, I don't sugar coat things.

I've had customers who couldn't go to certain web sites and I've had the same issue as well. The Sprint Tech Support told my customers that they should just not go to the website they want to go to.

My complaints about Sprint is another thing all together. They tried charging me 2 upgrade ($18 each) when I've only had the phone for 3 months. This phone wasn't even an upgrade. It was a new activation with Sprint!

I know this phone is just an entertainment phone. I'm not a business customer, but this phone doesn't even work properly. If I didn't get such a good employee rate on this phone, I would have gotten the Iphone and even that phone has it's problems. No picture messaging? Really?

[larryreiler]

I like the Instinct for the most part, but it does have it's downfalls. The web browser, lack of Outlook sync, unable to use as modem, does not stand up well to drops and the screen scratches easily. For these reasons I am already looking for a replacement.

[Jim Griggs]

Had the Instinct for 2 weeks and returned it. There is very little Instinctive about it. Very sluggish. We have three moguls and they got better reception than the instinct and that is not saying much. The email was at best weird. But the deal killer was that it would not sync my appointments. Truly the dumb blond (male or female so as to not be sexist) of cell phones.
Ratings
Sexy phone = 9
Features = 7
Well thought out implementation of features and functions = -10

[deneem4]

Okay to give some background information i recently came from helio and using the fin and drift as my phone. but i also have a nokia n800 internet tablet and my best friend has a iphone. So now i have an instinct which i bought jun 19 and it has been more like my other pocket device.

The music player which is the main reason why i bought it is completely horrible. The helio fin music player blows it out of the water for it simple and quick interface. and the n800 and iphone player should be mention in the same name.

The Web Browser is a mistake child it should've been aborted

The video quality for sprint tv is useless everything is just choppy. also i put transformers on my fin, the iphone, the instinct and n800 and i have to say the fin and the instinct is a tie, which is not a good thing the n800 makes it looks like a camera phone video and the iphone makes it look like tv in the black and white days

now the live search, the navigation, the voice dial, txt message, and the actual phone when being used as a phone is magical complete genius i havent had a problem with it

guitar hero is the only reason i turn this phone on and dont make a call

email sucks my helio was better enough said

phtos and videos is good but camera and camcorder can include some more features

third party, is like a 1080p tv when vhs tapes first came out it can do so much better but u can only used whats availble for it. Which means sprint need to let developers make this phone a media/ internet device. its possible but just not being executed. look at the myspace app, now the helio fin app was better thats bad. also no youtube, what audience are they aiming the phone at

lastly the user interface, this is a touch screen phone so why is the favorites menu in list format? and why isnt anything customizeble other than that. i like black and gray but my sister dont. also why is the icon covererd by squares it makes the phone look dumb didnt samsung make the yp2 why couldnt they suggest that kind of interface for the instinct.

now the last problems is pretty basic why cant u arrange your phtos and videos inside the phone, stupid. Also why isnt there any security on the phone. i cant lock anything, and foinally this phone is great if it's your first

[FinKorps]

It seems to me that most of what I wanted to say has been said about the Instinct. Yes, text messaging is simple and easy. Making a call is simple and easy, but that's where I made the decision to trade mine in for the HTC Touch Diamond. The learning curve is a little harder, but well worth the battery power used to explore all it's many options. Bye bye Instinct. You had your chance.

[sj4231]

I have owned the Sprint Instinct since late July and have used it for business and personal use all of this time.

What I like about the Instinct
* Ability to use with work email at no additional fees like the Blackberry, etc.
*Navigation - Works well, has turn by turn voice prompts, and has a good search feature.
*Works well with web-based email such as hotmail or gmail.
*Weather feature (& radar view) are very handy for checking weather. Take this from someone at the Houston, TX airport on the evening of 9/11 before Ike hit.
*Instant messenging.
*TV & Video feature is entertaining or good to keep the kids entertained those times when you are out & need to keep them occupied.

Items that I think need improvement or features that are missing.
*Calendar - It is inexcusable that the calendar does not sync with Microsoft Outlook. This is obvious cost cutting decision that limits the Instinct. In addition, the calendar alarm feature
*POP3 email- does not work consistently.
*Web browser - tends to freeze though Sprint plans an update for this on 9/24

Items I wish it had
*The ability to view PDF & Excel email attachments. Currently, only Word is viewable.
*The ability to add Opera and have the keyboard stay on the screen.
* 3rd party apps to add for the shortcomings.

Overall, I have been very pleased with this phone and have had very little problems with it. Depending on how you use it is how you will like it. If you want an a multimedia phone with email, it is very good. If you want a PDA phone, then this probably isn't for you.

I recommend this phone but don't bother with the I-Phone killer hype..it is not.

[0to60]

Just like to say that the phone does not have IM nor can you install any third party IM.

-------
I've already have my review of the phone above, but just wanted to add, that this phone is the BIGGEST BAIT AND SWITCH that I have ever fallen for, and I am an electrical engineer that has most all the electronic toys to play with.
Including 4 different game consoles, different generations of ipods, 5 archos player, and creative zen...
I did not want a PDA (thats the new line from sprint - its not a PDA , or its not a smart phone - its a music phone: as of 2 weeks ago it was listed on Sprint as a smart phone), but this phone is great looking hardware with good looking software front end, with beyond terrible functionality.
Sprint used to say that Samsung made the phone but software was done by Sprint in US. I would be getting rid of the software group...
If I was doing the software and wanted a company I was working for to fail miserably, I could not do a better job.

[dentpuzz]

I really wanted this phone to be the phone that Sprint made it out to be. Instead, they just took a basic phone, stuck a touch screen on it and said 'All Done!' It could have been so much more than it is. I'm on my second Instinct, the first one was crashing so badly, it was unusable. The second one is now waiting on a RMA label from Sprint, being replaced by a Touch Diamond (at Sprints expense, thanks to the Better Business Bureau.

Sorry Instinct - I tried!

DenTPuzz
http://instinctventing.blogspot.com/