Review: Sprint’s Samsung Instinct

Sprint has launched a full-frontal assault on Apple with the release of the Samsung Instinct, a touch-screen phone that offers pretty much all the iPhone has. It’s also cheaper, but in a cumbersome and, ultimately, negligible way.

Sprint is clearly targeting price. The Samsung Instinct sells for $129 on a two-year contract, compared to an entry-level new iPhone that will cost $199 for a similar two-year contract with AT&T. Sounds good, right? But dig deeper and you’ll see it’s a bunch of marketing mumbo jumbo that gives you a $100 rebate after you pay $229 up front or $30 more than the cheapest iPhone.

Over two years, that’s a price difference of $15 a year. A little over a buck a month. Hardly enough to get excited about.

I wouldn’t buy the Instinct on price alone. After testing one a few days, I think, in the long term that Sprint may be shooting itself in the foot by emphasizing price so much. After a day of testing the unit, I think the Samsung Instinct really challenges the iPhone on features. It looks pretty much the same, works the same and has several new services and features that really stand out.

Among them is Voice Search. Looking for a Starbucks? Push a button, say “search” and then, at the prompt, ask for “coffee shops.” You’ll get a quick return of all the shops that the Instinct’s built-in GPS capabilities note that are near you. Punch one of the listings and you’ll get turn-by-turn voice and onscreen directions. How’s that for cool?

That same Speech to Action button provide many other functions using speech activation for calling, texting, picture messaging, traffic, movie, sports, news and weather information. If you really crave noise or have a short attention span, it has multitasking capabilities that allow the user to play music in background mode while surfing the Internet, texting or playing games.

I’m also impressed with Sprints’ video offerings of sports, news and entertainment clips. And the Instinct uses haptic technology, giving you a little force feedback vibration every time you punch a button.

The Instinct runs on Sprint’s EV-DO Rev A high-speed network, similar to Verizon’s BroadbandAccess network. The new iPhone (to be released July 11) will run on AT&T’s 3G network, also delivering near broadband speeds.

In the box with the Instinct is a 2GB microSD card that can hold approximately 2,000 songs you can download from the Sprint Music Store, two standard batteries that offer up to 5.75 hours of continuous talk time each, battery-charging sleeve, travel charger, USB cable, 3.5mm headphones with built-in microphone, and a carry case with stylus. The Instinct, besides clearly copying the look and heft of the iPhone, also mimicks the iPhone’s Visual Voicemail, which lets you look and listen to your voicemail messages in whatever order you want. And it comes with a 2 megapixel still and video camera, Bluetooth and support for corporate and consumer (POP3 and IMAP) email.

Access fees and voice and data plans are pretty flexible and competitive with AT&T and Verizon. They’re also a bit complicated.

Like the iPhone, the Instinct must be activated on a pricing plan offering unlimited data. Customers can choose from what Sprint calls Everything Plans for individuals starting at just $69.99 per month for 450 voice minutes or Talk/Message/Data Share plans for families starting at $129.99 per month for 1500 voice minutes to share between two lines. There’s also the Simply Everything Plan offering both unlimited nationwide voice and data services for just $99.99 per month. The Simply Everything Plan offers premium services, including GPS navigation, email, Web surfing, Sprint Music Premier and Sprint TV Premier, while letting customers easily budget for phone expenses.

Of all the smartphones I’ve tested this year… and it seems like a new one comes out each week… the Instinct is the most impressive iPhone alternative I’ve seen. It’s not an iPhone killer. But it’s a strong competitor.

More details can be found at www.instinctthephone.com

Four phones that rival the iPhone

Remember all the hype over the iPhone last year at this time? Get ready for it again as Apple releases iPhone 2.0, a whole new model that works even faster on July 11 and, next Tuesday, a bunch of new programs for the current model. But this year Apple has some serious new contenders.

When you;re talking touch screen, check out the Samsung Instinct. It works on the Sprint network and offers all the iPhone has and then some, at a cheaper price, just $129. Voice-to-speech commands, GPS navigation, streaming TV and video, music and full e-mail and messaging capabilities.

Verizon has three cool phones to look at. The Samsung Glyde has an iPhone like touch screen, but a full QWERTY keyboard. It’s a bit tricky for one hand operation but the real keyboard will be appreciated by many. Cost? $299.

Next, consider the LG Decoy. Again, nice screen. Plays music and multimedia. But what’s really cool is a built in Bluetooth headset that docks right in the phone. $179.

But the top of the Verizon lineup is the all new LG Dare. It has big three-inch touch screen, offers a sort of visual speed dial and plays all media. But what really sets it apart is a 3.2-megapixel camera and high-quality video recording capabilities. It costs $199.

The phone’s camera has a Schneider-Kreuznach certified lens for outstanding image quality, and the camera offers advanced features, such as face detection and an LED flash so customers can take enhanced-quality photos from their mobile phones. Additionally, customers can use the photo editing tool to personalize their digital photos with features that include borders and landscapes, and they can draw on their pictures directly on the screen using their fingertips.

The touch-screen also supports handwriting recognition and tactile feedback so that customers can more easily select their options on the phone.

iPhone: You’ve got some competition.