Sprint's Samsung Instinct S30 hands-on with video
By Sean Cooper 
posted Apr 1st 2009 10:02AM
posted Apr 1st 2009 10:02AM
We had a few minutes with Sprint's Samsung Instinct S30 at CTIA this evening and while we couldn't dive in to find its deepest darkest secrets, we did get in a quick tour. This handset is well balanced in hand, perhaps even a tad on the light and "plasticky" side for our taste, but hey, we only had scant minutes to tour before the mob descended. The touch screen seems up to Samsung's "Please Touch" theme for this year's CTIA, the haptic feedback adding nice, ah, feedback when in use by reassuring the lab mice in us that our input was doing something. Follow on for a gallery and a quick video tour of the UI and a 360 view of the set proper.
Looks nice, but with the Pre right around the corner...
Very interesting design in general. Looks manageable with one hand; +1 for that.
Kind of agree, Saad. One of the things that bugs me about the first generation of touchphones is the need to use two hands to do basic tasks. This should find the gap in the market that the 5800 and others are starting to fill.
@Paul A. Chapel
I can't figure out if you're actually an iFan or working for another company paid to troll blogs turning people off Apple products.
Seriously. From people who care about Apple everywhere: STFU.
I don't get this phone... Samsung and Sprint didn't really up the specs all that much... screen is slightly bigger, but not enough to brag about; same 2.0 mp camera; same exact UI with same feature set. Only difference is the curvier look.
People must be laughing in the background because he is using a Sprint device. And I saw full bars on that phone. Where is he, in a building right next to a tower? Everyone knows Sprint's coverage sucks!
Sarcasm, of course!
You must be an apple homer.
I swear by Sprint. While everyone seems to be letting go of Sprint for the ifone or because of Sprints "problems" I merely complain about the problem which is then followed up by free text messaging, or free Vision or free nights and weekends starting at 6PM.
At this point, I'm so happy with my plan and the clear quality service, I can't wait for the Pre.
You're just a hater, Sprint has just as good of service as anybody else...I have had them for over 5 years and never have I had a problem with their service and not just because of where I live because I travel alot and again my service from Sprint has been exceptional. You've probably never even had Sprint and you're on here bashing them...Get a life!
My bad aaron, i neglected to read your follow-up post
The design looks a lot better than the first "Instinct" with the rounded edges but wonder why they kept the horrid Samsung UI instead of going with the Android platform.
WOW! No April First jokes or strange graphics on Engadget!!!!
This must be an anti-April Fool's by having us think they WOULD do something and then doing nothing.
I'm not sure what exactly I was hoping for, but that wasn't it. (I'm a Sprint customer, for what it's worth.) But yeah ... with the pre on the way and this thing not looking all that different, UI-wise, from the first Instinct, I can't get really excited by this.
i agree. im a sprint customer also and this sucks. its the same thing except rounded corners. what was sprint thinking?
does anyone know if there is anything that is upgraded on the phone other than smaller size (if u would consider that upgrade)? i would get the pre but its going to costs too much (for me anyway lol).
looks exactly the same as the OG - my girlfriend has this phone and she hates it. And it's not because of the all touchscreen either.
I've looked at her's here and there, the internet sucks on this thing, pandora works great, until you plug into the headphone jack and the volume drops to about -8 at it's max. no hardware keyboard, only a horizontal keyboard, and you can't see the OG message or page while your typing.
It will lag or freeze all the time, camera is ok sometimes and sucks other times - lets just say she WONT be getting this one.
There are updates that make the browser much better. If that fails, you/your girlfriend knows this this can run Opera Mini, right? Blazing fast, maintains layout but wraps text when you zoom in...can't see how Opera Mini doesn't satisfy you if the native browser doesn't.
Boooring!!! can't wait for the beast(Nokia N97) on at&t. And sprint is useless, left it last year and am not going back. June come quickly.
Not too shabby, but does it support DivX?
basically runs smooth
The Instinct is a solid device with a good UI, but I'm shocked they didn't change anything. It looks nice rounded, but I prefer the rectangular look of the original. I don't really see why this exists, but it is a very solid phone with all the features you could ask for so I'm not against it. I just don't understand it.
No tactile keyboard, no thanks. This looks like the Samsung Impression, sans lack of the slide.
I completely agree with you Jonathan... I currently own an instinct and I see absolutely zero incentive to upgrade to the new instinct. There is also no reason to attract new owners to the new instinct. Rounded corners isn't a very good marketing strategy to sell your new product. It's a great phone though and I feel it fits a need. It is a smartphone for the people that can't figure out smartphones. Work on that marketing Samsung/Sprint.
i personally cannot stand the interface of the instinct. it's sluggish and ugly IMO; it needs to be completely revamped. I normally love everything samsung but these phones were a HUGE disappointment for me. For shame samsung...
im surprised no one has said it..no wifi on a smartphone in 2009,
,EPIC FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why didn't he demo the web browser?
All the stuff he showed is pretty much standard. The web browser experience is what I wanna see.
Amen- with the only real weakness of this phone being its web browser (assuming we acknowledge it's not a smartphone and thus can't really compare it against smartphones) it's crazy to spend your few short minutes with it NOT checking out the browser...
This looks like the same moldy mess in a cheaper shell. Sigh.
I love the [instinct]ual pull back from clicking on "Hannah Montana."
If the Pre ends up costing too much or something, then this could be a nice secondary option.
Is it just me or is the hands on an epic failure?... I mean if you
scrounged up this video on the inter-webs thats all well and fine.
But note to the person who created the video:
A.)Noone is interested in the world clock on ANY phone let alone this
Sammy
B.)Show us something useful like the dailer, contacts list (w/ actual contacts), or said
awesome camera (interface...take a picture maybe).
C.)I will gladly take over your job full time and love it. (But until
then i will continue to critique you on my lunch break!)
that phone has 1.3 browser the instinct now is 1.2. I just hope now that a new version is coming they support the phone more. I hate they didn't do much with the first instinct.
hello
I got the Instinct 1? Instinct Original? Papa Instinct? Yea, I got Papa Instinct the day it came out (July 1st 08 or something) and I used it all the way up until recently, when I sold the phone to wait for the Pre. I still think that was a good decision on my part because Papa Instinct's won't be worth much now. But honestly this is the exact same phone. I don't really understand why they did this. I'm thinking about all the Sprint users out there who are going to go buy this, now I'm thinking about all those people crying when the Pre comes out.
Papa Instinct was a no-go for a few reasons:
-Apps that use web (weather, movies, sports, etc.) don't always work.
-The keyboard is awful, I literally had to hunt and peck with one finger and one eye closed even after I'd had the phone for almost a year.
-It is impossible to do many things one handedly because there is no accelerometer, the screen flips itself when you do something that needs a keyboard, and then you flip your phone to accomodate it.
-Browser was awful and very hard to use (try clicking the "google search" button) You must employ the jackhammer method.
All these things are going to be EXACTLY the same on this phone, but hey, at least you got a 3.2" touchscreen instead of 3.1"
That's weird because I have big hands but I type with the horizontal keyboard really fast with two thumbs. The annoying thing is the keyboard lags if you type too fast, but I'm able to do it with two thumbs, definitely doesn't require "pecking" from me. My web/movie/news apps always work except for one time when it couldn't download the information due to a problem on Sprint/the app provider's end. The browser was pretty horrid, they updated it recently and I like it a lot now, but you can run Opera Mini so there's no need anyway.
I would give the Instinct a 8.9/10. I really don't see why I need an accelerometer or apps so that I can find where I parked, the Instinct doesn't plenty and is a great phone in my opinion. I think the Instinct is really solid and while I'm not surprised to see complaints (usually about lack of apps or it's music player not always getting ID3 tags right) but yours, about the keyboard in particular, did surprise me. Maybe something weird was up or maybe it's just different strokes.
This is still a huge disappointment! I still have a year left on my verizon contract and I still like my env but I've been in the market for a new phone. Since ATT and T-Mobile's coverage is basically non-existant at my house I have either sprint or verizon to choose from....and yet neither one has a phone that would drive me to open a new contract...
I was going to go ahead and pick up an Instinct 2 when it came out but if this is all that we are going to get then forget it. I might as well keep my env for another year....
I have the current Instinct and this one doesn't really "wow" me. It has all the exact same features. :-\
I have the original instinct. When I saw the headline about this new one, with its challenge the iPhone line, I was really hoping for a new Instinct version with a real OS that allowed for all the add-on apps, like iPhone users can get. I guess I'll just stick with my plans for a Pre.
BTW, I switched to Sprint about 5 years ago, from Cingular. The switch was brought on by Cingular's lack of an unlimited texting plan, and my kids addictions to texting. My local Sprint store manager paid my early termination fees to Cingular (by way of a $200 credit on my account) to get my business. I've always been happy with Sprint's coverage. I'm retired Air Force, and still work at the base. I'm frequently faced with others who are amazed that I have good quality coverage inside many hardened-type buildings on the base, where they have no coverage at all. Yeah, when I first went to Sprint, coverage stunk because of their roaming plans, but they fixed that 3 or 4 years ago, so now there's no problem at all, anywhere I go.
Yea I have the first instinct and all this one has is round corners now because with the first instinct you can now download opera mini, and it works. so you don't really need the better browser cuz it still sucks compared to the opera mini.
wait, i heard that they are going to stop making the original instinct? if they are, and i have insurance for it, if i break it i pay the $50 and they send me an original instinct or the s30? cuz they won't have the original instinct anymore.... right?