Sprint's $130 Samsung Instinct twists free
By Thomas Ricker 
posted June 20th 2008 3:53AM
posted June 20th 2008 3:53AM
Mossy don't like it, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't put finger to screen and give Samsung's new Instinct a test of your own. Particularly if you're a fan of Sprint either by choice or by contract. Available now and right on schedule for $129.99 (with 2 year contract and $100 mail-in rebate), not the original $200 bounced around initially. With Sprint trying hard to position the Instinct as an iPhone killer, we guess they really didn't have a choice but to undercut it in price.
[Thanks, Mona]
[Thanks, Mona]
just got my hands on the phone yesterday and it is AMAZING!!! do NOT knock the phone unless you actually have one....this phone is probably hands down the best one i've ever owned and ive owned a lot!!!
I agree it is an AWESOME phone!
The biggest problem with any of these "iphone killers" is that none of them offer an itunes-like program to go along with it. Plus unlike Apple who makes only one phone and puts all their support and interest into it, these other guys like Samsumg are making three or four different models all with slightly varying os and interfaces, which could only be a pain for developers.
I really don't get what's wrong with companies like Samsung and LG. It's like they only see the touch screen aspect of the iphone and not everything else that makes it great. It's really not that difficult to figure out.
Many people hate the concept of iTunes with a passion. I think the problem with this phone is Sprint service which is not available in nearly as many places as ATT and Verizon. Sprint may have some great prices on their packages but it's useless if you can't get it.
Problem? iTunes is the one and only reason I don't own an iPod or iPhone. People actually WANT that crap as opposed to just dragging their files onto there?
I mean, for middle school adolescent girls I can understand, but for the rest of us...
Michael,
About companies offering variety of models... Some people prefer their phones with video recording or tethering or ... you pick. Apple's model is not by choice, they simply have not developed another model yet. Just wait a couple of years :-)
Uh yea, itunes is hideous...non-mps3's for a buck a pop? not in this day and age.
i like ipods ok but not itunes...thank god for anapod.
btw got my instinct yesterday. it kinda rocks. the gps and visual voice make it worth it. took my tomtom back to the store that i bought last week decent video as well...it's as good as my old iphone....sorry cult of mac.
on another not there will NEVER be an iphone killer. cult of mac types will never stray from apple products regardless of what else is out there.
i do think that those of us not assimilated by mac or have hatred of att will buy the hell out of this phone though. talked to my friend at sprint an hour ago and there are about 40 people in his tiny little store standing around waiting for the UPS (or FedEx) guy to show up with the second shipment.
@happy_penguin
I hope you're being sarcastic it not you might want to compare Att's 3G coverage to Sprints, Att's 3G is very limited and spotty at best. Also, Sprint has the largest mobile broadband network.
@ Vcize
"People actually WANT that crap [iTunes] as opposed to just dragging their files onto there?"
god forbid some people want ID3 tags, powerful searching and organizing capabilities, automatic Podcast capabilities, decent quality legally-acquired music, tv shows, movies and rentals, a rating system, syncing of calendars, contacts, photos, etc.
If you don't like it, that's fine. but do you really think people like messing around in their folders trying to remember which album had that song they like so they can drag it onto their mp3 player? seriously.
I don't think you guys are really getting what I'm saying. Having an iTunes-like program does not mean it needs to be a requirement to load the phone. Just a nice stable program that makes it easy to create playlists, automatically download and sync podcasts, videos, apps and contacts. If designed right it doesn't need to be the closed box solution Apple offers. They could still make it compatible with just dragging and dropping files onto the phone. But for everybody else who does like that ease of use, that software is there.
Like it or not Apple does make things easy to use and consumer friendly and that's why people are buying the iphone/ipod, even people who wouldn't ever consider buying a mac.
And starting with a single platform phone (like Apple did with the iphone) and getting a bunch of developers to jump on board with it is also a pretty smart idea. It gives developers an incentive to develop for the platform knowing that it is going to have some life to it and isn't just going to be totally replaced by something totally different a year from now.
"p3t3b2 @ Jun 20th 2008 12:46PM
@happy_penguin
I hope you're being sarcastic it not you might want to compare Att's 3G coverage to Sprints, Att's 3G is very limited and spotty at best. Also, Sprint has the largest mobile broadband network."
I'm dead serious. It doesn't matter how big Sprint's 3G or broadband network is when you have no phone service. The holes are huge and I venture a guess it's the same in most states. Sprint might be great in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago etc., but venture out much and you got nothing. I need phone coverage across the midwest and Sprint simply can not provide it.
@happy_penguin
If you're serious then you're talking out of your butt, Att's 3G coverage is not even half of Sprints and don't even mention 2G. Again, look at Att's coverage map, one thing of many about the CDMA network is, it permeates through walls and underground, the relay from tower to tower is much quicker than GSM. If you continue to believe Att has a better network than Sprint you are extremely delusional.
First of all, keep the personal attacks out of it. Second, read again. I am not talking about 3G coverage. I am talking about PHONE SERVICE and I can tell you for a fact that I get a phone signal where people I know with Sprint can not. Again, it doesn't matter how much better the 3G coverage is if I can't even use my goddamn phone where I need it. It does not matter how much better CDMA is than GSM if the signal is not there. ATT and Verizon are the only services which cover most of the area where I need it. Sprint doesn't even come close.
Take a look at this Sprint coverage map. The gray areas are roaming and there's a lot of it where I need coverage.
http://coverage.sprintpcs.com/IMPACT.jsp?mapzip=44314&covType=sprint&returnUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fnextelonline.nextel.com%2FNASApp%2Fonlinestore%2Fen%2FAction%2FDisplayPhones&language=EN
You'll probably have to zoom out on that map. I am talking about Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Yea, if iPhone continues with 3rd party software availability it is going to be hard for other phones of similar nature to keep up with limited expandibilty
The Instinct has 3rd party software developmenet as well, it is 100% open sourced SDK 3.3.
Going to the Sprint Kiosk this morning to grab one for my brother. Played with it Thursday at the store, seemed pretty slick for a non smartphone...and $129 is dirt cheap.
Played with one yest at the sprint store. Very, very cool phone. Blazing fast browser (at least with the built-in favorites web sites, like CNN mobile,etc). Also GPS seemed fast & accurate - 2D & 3D street level views - nice!. What I didn't like is the fact that the phone supports attachments in an email, but you can't view them from the phone. They are downloaded and have to be viewed offline! Huh?? Also, I couldn't find a task/to-do app. I know its not a PDA, but this is a simple app that I thought every phone on earth has built-in?
OK, dumb question but whats SERO? I'm currently a Sprint user, contracts been up for a while & been waiting for some good phones to come out. Planning on checking out the Instinct but since full internet is the more important feature for me right now, I'm thinking a flip to ATT is still in the works. I'm not an Apple fanboy, in fact this will be the 1st Apple product for me (seriously, never even owned an Ipod) but the new Iphone finlly looks like the real deal as far as Internet, GPS & email. I have a 8700 Crackberry for work but I don't know for how much longer so I think either the Instinct or the Iphone will be in my life by mid July. Can't wait.
SERO is god's gift to cellphone users, especially ones that want data plans.
It stands for Sprint Employee Referral Program, but it's actually open to anyone.
Basically, it's crazy cheap. My plan includes 500 minutes/mo, unlimited data, and unlimited texts for $30/mo. A similar plan on Verizon or AT&T is around $110/mo.
how you sign up for sero
The Greatest cell phone plan known to mankind = SERO.
Basically destroys whatever T-Mobile, ATT, Verizon, or anyone else out there on the market has.
No other plan out there even comes close to it.
My SERO plan includes:
1250 anytime minutes
UNLIMITED DATA (I tether as well with my Mogul)
Unlimited Mobile to Mobile
Unlimited Nights/Weekends starting at 7
Unlimited Roaming
Unlimited Messaging (be it plain old text or MMS)
$49/month
The exact same plan except with 500 instead of 1250 mins = $30/month
If you want the Instinct phone,Best Buy has it for $129.99 & you do not have to wait for $100 rebate like Sprint.
I don't care for much of the iPhone comparisons. I've never heard Sprint officially state that this is an iPhone killer. Either way, I'm not an iPhone fan but I'm not a hater either.
I'm waiting on the HTC Diamond. That phone is more my style. The Instinct looks good, seems like a decent phone (if Sprint didn't already ruin it with their crappy SW). However, I'd rather wait for the HTC Diamond (probably sometime in October).
"I've never heard Sprint officially state that this is an iPhone killer"
Well if you go to Sprint's Instinct site: http://nowisgood.com/
You'll find about five videos comparing the iphone and instinct.
hahaha ...oh, you're serious:\
And who would I have to suck up to for said SERO plan? Because something that cheap would definately make the swing to the Instinct likely :)
use this e-mail
savings@sprintemi.com
at http://delivery.sprint.com/m/p/sprint/epc/epclanding.asp
Has anyone been able to get the instinct with their SERO plan? i was shot down by customer service who said they only allow the unlimited plans with this phone.
Too bad this isn't on the $30/month SERO plan.... had so many possibilities. No way I'm gonna be paying $99/month. Even if they had a comparable plan to the iPhone on ATT at $60/month (gen 1 plan)
$99 isnt really that bad for unlimited everything. talk, text, sms, data. SERO rocks but the only they are oly doing unlimiteds with the instinct. oddly enough their "unlimiteds" start at 60 a month with 450 minutes (unlimited everything else). weird.
Looking forward to getting this on sprint when my upgrade is ready NEXT march.
*sigh* such a long wait.
heard nothing but good things about this.
Call customer service. When they ask what you want say "Cancel Service" You will immediately be sen to the "Retention Center." Just tell then you aren't due for upgrade til next year. Say you're thinking of leaving but wanted to see if they could do better on the price (150 off) if you agreed to sign a new 2 year.
I had had my phone for only a year and was eligible for the $75 off, not the $150. But they were cool and knocked off the $150 when I called. It's worth a try.
Sprint is hurting so bad they'll do what it takes to make you stay.
Unfortunately, it appears the $99 Unlimited Simply Everything Plan is the only option through the Sprint SERO site right now.
It would actually be cheaper to get the $70 for a 450-minute Simply Everything Plan with a regular contract.
Sprint overcharged my small (US) company for over $50,000.00. We caught
them doing it and now they refuse to refund the over-payments. You can
read the full story at http://www.sprint-really-sucks.com
I also wrote an open letter to Dan Hesse the Chairman and CEO of Sprint
Nextel. It is a good read so please consider reading the letter.
http://www.sprint-really-sucks.com/open-letter-dan-hesse.aspx
wow. i totally don't care.
If you go to a sprint store, the store workers are indeed calling this "the iphone killer" I purchased mine yesterday and i must say that it is quite a nice phone. The hapic feedback vibrations is a very nice function and the GPS is one which can replace one that you would normally purchase for hundreds of dollars.
My biggest complaint with the phone is that it does not support calendar syncing with outlook and compared to my old Treo 700 (Windows Mo) appointments and such are not quite as easily tracked.
Yep. It's not a smartphone. But neither is an iphone.
This is not the phone for serious business users who are tethered to their devices for work. That's what a Palm or Treo or Crackberry are for.
Ok, I just went to Best Buy to check out this phone. I played with it for about 10 minutes. I should say, I'm a huge Apple fan and while I don't own an iPhone, I don't think the iPhone can or will be beat.
Here are my first impressions:
- The form factor of the Instinct is REALLY nice. The rubberized back is
definitely nice. It makes the phone feel more secure in your hand because the rubber grips your hand. And, it looks quite classy. The phone is weighted very nicely. It's not too light so it doesn't feel like a toy.
- The interface menu items are actually really responsive. I didn't have to hit a menu item more than once. While I didn't think it would matter, the haptic feedback is a nice touch (yes, pun intended). It actually helps you confirm what you pressed without questioning it. One thing, the haptic feedback vibrates the entire time a menu is scrolling up or down. This is a bit of a concern in regard to the battery, as the battery will drain much faster with such frequent vibration (the phone ships with two batteries though).
- The icons and overall asthetic theme to the phone is....ok. The main menu which has all the big icons is kind of ugly in my opinion. Once you dig deeper into the menus everything looks much better. When I say much better, I mean it looks like the iPhone menu system. It's too bad Samsung/Sprint couldn't come up with their own, good looking interface but I supposed if you're going to copy anyone in terms of desigh, it might as well be Apple.
- One thing I love about the iPhone/iPod Touch is the smooth scrolling and transitions of lists and menus. While the Instinct's buttons/menus are responsive, the scrolling is not. It's far from the experiencing of scrolling through a long list of items on the iPhone. It's responsive but it's sluggish. (The way I like to compare the two: It's like playing a video game at 60 frames per second as opposed to 30 frames per second. One is just much smoother). I noticed something weird about the menu when you scroll. While the scroll is happening, it's like each item in the list is it's own entity. What I mean is that they sort of "come apart" from each other during the scroll and then settle back once the scroll is finished. It should be one big list that you're scrolling, not several items that you're scrolling at once.
Overall, I was extremely impressed with the Instinct. I honestly didn't expect much of anything from the phone based on all the videos and articles I've seen and read. I was pleasantly surprised. Best Buy didn't have the phone set up with their wireless network so I couldn't test the browser. From everything I've read, it's not a good experience, which is really too bad. But, if Opera Mobile runs on the Instinct, this could be a great phone.
"I noticed something weird about the menu when you scroll. While the scroll is happening, it's like each item in the list is it's own entity. What I mean is that they sort of "come apart" from each other during the scroll and then settle back once the scroll is finished. It should be one big list that you're scrolling, not several items that you're scrolling at once."
No, it should be exactly how it is. That is because you can grab one item and drag it somewhere else. For example, grab a text and drag it up to the trash. I see where you're coming from, but it actually does work out better the way they did it. For some lists that you don't need to drag for any reason, I think they just kept it for visual appeal. I think it kinda looks cool the way they all settle back like they're being restacked. I mean, the GUI is so ugly that any kind of cool visual needs to be kept.
Ok, I just went to Best Buy to check out this phone. I played with it
for about 10 minutes. I should say, I'm a huge Apple fan and while I
don't own an iPhone, I don't think the iPhone can or will be beat.
Here are my first impressions:
- The form factor of the Instinct is REALLY nice. The rubberized back
is
definitely nice. It makes the phone feel more secure in your hand
because the rubber grips your hand. And, it looks quite classy. The
phone is weighted very nicely. It's not too light so it doesn't feel
like a toy.
- The interface menu items are actually really responsive. I didn't
have to hit a menu item more than once. While I didn't think it would
matter, the haptic feedback is a nice touch (yes, pun intended). It
actually helps you confirm what you pressed without questioning it.
One thing, the haptic feedback vibrates the entire time a menu is
scrolling up or down. This is a bit of a concern in regard to the
battery, as the battery will drain much faster with such frequent
vibration (the phone ships with two batteries though).
- The icons and overall asthetic theme to the phone is....ok. The
main menu which has all the big icons is kind of ugly in my opinion.
Once you dig deeper into the menus everything looks much better. When
I say much better, I mean it looks like the iPhone menu system. It's
too bad Samsung/Sprint couldn't come up with their own, good looking
interface but I supposed if you're going to copy anyone in terms of
desigh, it might as well be Apple.
- One thing I love about the iPhone/iPod Touch is the smooth
scrolling and transitions of lists and menus. While the Instinct's
buttons/menus are responsive, the scrolling is not. It's far from the
experiencing of scrolling through a long list of items on the iPhone.
It's responsive but it's sluggish. (The way I like to compare the
two: It's like playing a video game at 60 frames per second as
opposed to 30 frames per second. One is just much smoother). I
noticed something weird about the menu when you scroll. While the
scroll is happening, it's like each item in the list is it's own
entity. What I mean is that they sort of "come apart" from each other
during the scroll and then settle back once the scroll is finished. It
should be one big list that you're scrolling, not several items that
you're scrolling at once.
Overall, I was extremely impressed with the Instinct. I honestly
didn't expect much of anything from the phone based on all the videos
and articles I've seen and read. I was pleasantly surprised. Best Buy
didn't have the phone set up with their wireless network so I
couldn't test the browser. From everything I've read, it's not a good
experience, which is really too bad. But, if Opera Mobile runs on the
Instinct, this could be a great phone.
Okay, I have been with Sprint for 14 months. I went in today to look at the Instinct. Didn't walk out with one and here is why.
$449.99 for the phone. I only get a $75.00 credit. Nothing else. Soooo, I would have paid $374.99 for this phone. No way, no way at all. Not worth it. Plus, I am a current customer. You only get the $129.99 price if you are new customer. If you are not a new customer nor at the 22 month point of your contract, you will get screwed. Oh, by the way, Sprint was more than willing to take all my money, and they were going to extend my contract for another two years. So, they get a lot of money, another two years, and what do I get, SCREWED.
iPhone, looks like I am coming your way.
when was the last time you saw a company give you the the sale price on a phone, when you already signed up for "2 years contract" 1 year ago? and your not due until next year?
I'll be getting the Instinct because 1) I'm on Sprint 2) I hear lots of negatives about AT&Ts wireless sevice and 3) the iPhone doesn't seem well suited for business.
But seriously Sprint, what's with the BS mail-in rebate? Offer the Instinct at $130 without any rebate requirements. Kill the cheesy marketing campaign and put the money towards encouraging viral marketing (fellow marketers know that's possible) and dropping the price. Finally, let users get the Instinct without your "Everything" plans to try it out. We can always upgrade later once we realize the phone's full potential won't be unleashed without those plans, but at least we'll have it in our hands immediately.
youll definitely want an everything plan with this thing. although i am not completely happy with it, i have used it more in the past 48 hours than i have used any other phone within the same time period. if you think you arent someone who would use up an everything plan, then this isnt the phone for you anyway.
btw, as ive posted a few times already, u can pick it up at best buy for $129 with no MIR
"The biggest problem with any of these "iphone killers" is that none of them offer an itunes-like program to go along with it."
so im guessing youve never used this phone before posting what it lacks, right? it does come with an itunes-like program called the Sprint Media Manager. most sprint phones come with some version of this.
"Plus unlike Apple who makes only one phone and puts all their support and interest into it, these other guys like Samsumg are making three or four different models all with slightly varying os and interfaces, which could only be a pain for developers."
im also guessing youve never developed for any of these phones. osx = iphones only = 6 million phones. "these other guys" = java = over a billion phones.
"I really don't get what's wrong with companies like Samsung and LG. It's like they only see the touch screen aspect of the iphone and not everything else that makes it great. It's really not that difficult to figure out."
i mean, youve got that right buddy! these other companies suck! its not difficult to figure out that people like MMS, A2DP, Mobile TV, Video Recording, Removeable Batteries, Styli, Voice Guidance, and Internet Radio. er.... wait... my bad, apple is the one without all those features that the instinct does have. not to mention there is no extra charge to use Sprint TV, Radio, and Mobile Sync.
dont get me wrong, im far from impressed with the instinct. but your statements are just stupid at best. but im sure youll be happy with your iphone, considering you probably dont even know what MMS and A2DP stand for.
and before you try to come up with some brilliant reply... ...No, the iphone sdk agreement does not allow voice guidance; there is no word yet of any mms, a2dp, or video recording update; mobitv and radio do not work on the iphone as of yet and if/when they do they will cost about $10 per month per service; mobile sync with mobile me will run you an extra $100 per year; and yes, of course there are some things the iphone does better -- each phone has its strengths and weaknesses.