Samsung Instinct (SPH-M800) - black
Manufacturer: Samsung Part number: SPHM800ZKS
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- Bottom Line:
- The Samsung Instinct stands out as one of Sprint's finest devices to date. It's just too bad its call quality could use some improvement.
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CNET editors' review
Samsung Instinct (SPH-M800) - black
price range: $129.99
- Reviewed by: Kent German
- Reviewed on: 06/06/2008
- Updated on:06/17/2008
- Released on: 06/20/2008
The good: The Samsung Instinct offers a slick, intuitive design and a heavy load of powerful, innovative, and easy-to-use features. It particularly shines as a messaging and GPS device.
The bad: The Samsung Instinct lacks Wi-Fi and instant messaging, and its call and video quality were erratic. Also, its Internet browser could be refined, its internal memory is small, and its camera lacks editing features.
The bottom line: The Samsung Instinct stands out as one of Sprint's finest devices to date. It's just too bad its call quality could use some improvement.
Editors' note, June 11, 2008, and June 16, 2008: We updated this review to reflect further testing. On January 20, 2009, we made additional updates after testing the phone's calendar-syncing feature.
Over the last year, the collective response from most cell phone manufacturers to the iPhone has been rather muted. But now Samsung is trying a different tactic. Its new Samsung Instinct (SPH-M800) for Sprint is the first cell phone we've seen that throws some direct competition Apple's way. We still dismiss the whole idea of an "iPhone killer" as ridiculous, but comparisons here are inevitable and Sprint is doing nothing to silence them.
Though the Instinct and the iPhone look about the same, and they rely heavily on touch screens with unique interfaces, there are some important feature distinctions. The Instinct offers its own brand of visual voice mail and it bests the first incarnation of the iPhone by offering 3G (EV-DO Rev. A) network compatibility, integrated GPS, and work e-mail support, just to name a few. The new iPhone 3G will be more evenly matched, but even the Instinct gets points for its multimedia messaging, voice dialing and video recording. In the important areas of usability and performance, however, the Instinct struggled on a few fronts. The Web browser wasn't quite as easy to use as we had hoped, the camera lacked editing features, and the Instinct's call and video quality were variable. However, even with those caveats, the Instinct remains a powerful, innovative cell phone with a loaded feature set and an appealing design. The Instinct is $129 with a mail-in rebate and a two-year "Simply Everything" plan. Simply Everything plans start at $70 per month.
Design
By all accounts, the Instinct has an eye-catching, though not unique, design. The predominately touch-screen device sports a thin candy-bar shape that measures a portable 4.57 inches by 2.17 inches by 0.49 inch. That makes it a bit taller and fatter than the iPhone but also thinner when measured across its front face. Samsung aficionados will also notice a resemblance to the Samsung SGH-F490, which is the GSM version of the Instinct. At 4.4 ounces, the Instinct has a sturdy feel in the hand and offers a solid construction. We also liked the simple color scheme of silver and basic black.
The Instinct's touch screen dominates its real estate. With support for 262,000 colors and a 432,240-pixel resolution, the display is positively gorgeous. Colors popped, graphics were vibrant, and text was crisp. Indeed, it's one of the better displays we've seen in a while. You're offered a fair number of personalization options; you can't change the menu or texting font, but you can adjust the brightness and the backlighting time. It's worth noting that when the display goes dark, it also locks automatically.
Yet, as rich as the display is, we had a minor complaint. At 3.1 inches, it's almost half an inch smaller than the iPhone's display. That may not sound like a huge difference, but the display can look rather cramped when you're browsing the Web or viewing videos. We suppose you'd get used to eventually, and we recognize that it's an improvement over the Samsung Glyde's smaller touch screen, but it's a point we couldn't let pass.
The Instinct's simple menu interface is easy to use and attractive. At the bottom of the display are icons for the four menus (Favs, Main, Fun, and Web). The four-page menu design is an interesting and effective arrangement. The Favs menu (aka Favorites) is user-programmable so you can stock it with your most preferred functions. The Main menu is reserved for messaging, organizer, and GPS features; the Fun menu holds games, multimedia options, and the camera; and the Web menu shows a selection of browser shortcuts. All menus feature bright icons to represent the various features, but only the Fun and Web menus allows for any customization. The secondary menus are intuitive as well. For example, we had no problems determining how to start a new text message or move items around in a list.
The Instinct's touch screen offers haptic tactile feedback. It's a nice feature as it lets you know for sure that you're choosing a menu option. You can turn the vibration off but you can't change its length or intensity. For the most part, the touch interface is intuitive and easy to use, but we had a couple of observations. Though some options in the settings menu can be turned on and off by sliding a bar back and forth with your finger, other options require you to tap each side of the bar. Certainly, we prefer the former option. Scrolling through long lists or messages was a pleasure, however. Similar to the iPhone, we just had to swipe our finger up and down.
On the other hand, the Instinct doesn't suffer from the usability drawbacks that we saw on the Glyde. We rarely had to tap menu selections twice to register our choice. Also, the display recognized our selections when we touched around its edges. You can adjust the display calibration and its touch sensitivity.
Below the display are three small touch controls. There's a back button, a home key, and a calling control. Unfortunately, these keys were a bit tricky to use. On a few occasions we had to press a control twice (the Back button especially) for it to register our choice. Also, the vibrating feedback here is barely noticeable. Pressing the Home control normally will take you automatically to the Favs menu, while selecting the calling control replaces the menu icons at the bottom of the display with shortcuts for the speed dialer, your contacts menu, the recent calls list, and the dialpad.
The latter choice opens a standard numeric keypad with a large green talk button. The individual numbers are large, and we like that there's a dedicated Save key for storing new phone numbers. The save key sits just below the dialpad, next to a Pause control and a shortcut for the visual voice-mail feature. Our only gripe was that the letters on the numeric keys are tiny; users with visual impairments should test this phone before buying.
After dialing your number, you have to press the green bar to place the call. That was a bit counterintuitive to us--we wanted to press the calling touch control below the display--but once we knew what to do, it wasn't a problem. When you're on a call, a secondary menu appears on the display with a few handy shortcuts for muting the sound, activating the speakerphone, accessing your contacts list or the main menu, and placing a three-way call. To end a call you have to slide the red bar to the right. It's a convenient arrangement as it minimizes the chance that you'll hang up on someone accidentally.
We were very glad to see that the Instinct's alphabetic keyboard defaults to landscape mode. As a result, we were able to hold the phone in two hands and type away with our thumbs. Onscreen controls include a return button, a space bar, dedicated period, comma, apostrophe keys, a back control, and a dedicated button for accessing a secondary keyboard with numbers and symbols. Overall, the keyboard is easy to use, but we had a few gripes. The individual buttons should be big enough for most people, but users with larger hands may find the arrangement cramped. Also, while you can magnify the text to see what you've written, you must minimize the keyboard to do so, which is rather counterproductive. The Instinct does not correct your spelling like the iPhone does.
Alternatively, you can enter text with a graffiti method. You will have to switch the display's orientation to portrait using the onscreen button--unlike the iPhone, the Instinct doesn't have an accelerometer. When using graffiti mode, the Instinct recognized most of our entries without any problem. The included stylus is a big help for writing in the small space allowed, but unfortunately the Instinct doesn't include a storage slot for the stylus for when you're on the go.
On the left side of the Instinct are a camera shutter, a voice activation control, and the microSD card slot. A power/display locking control and a 3.5mm headset jack (nice!) sit on the top of the phone, and the charger port and the volume rocker rest on the left spine. The camera lens and the self-portrait mirror sit on the back of the Instinct; it's a convenient spot for taking all types of photos.
The Instinct comes with a variety of accessories in the box. Besides the requisite charger and headset, you'll also find a USB cable, a software CD, and a carrying case. There's even an extra battery with a special case. You can power the extra battery with the same charger and keep it on hand when you need emergency power. That's a nice touch.
Features
The Instinct phone book holds 600 contacts with room in each entry for five phone numbers, an e-mail address, a URL, and notes. All in all, that's a fairly small set of options for such a high-end phone. On the other hand, you can save callers to groups and you can pair them with a photo and one of 27 polyphonic ringtones. That's a fair assortment, and we like the design of the settings menu, which allowed us to test one or as many tones as we'd like. The Instinct also offers a vibrate mode for when you need to keep it quiet.
The Instinct steps up the plate in a big way by offering its own version of visual voice mail. Similar to the iPhone, each message is displayed on your screen in list format along with the message sender's ID, the time received, and the length. You then can listen to messages in the order you choose. The service works just as it's intended.
Organizer features are plentiful and include text and multimedia messaging, a calendar, a notepad (you can use the keyboard or the graffiti method), a calculator, a unit converter, a tip calculator, an alarm clock, a timer, a stopwatch, and a world clock. Most of the organizer features are easy to use and we couldn't help but notice that the stopwatch and the timer look exactly as they do on the iPhone. On the downside, the calendar was a bit cramped and it doesn't offer a week view. Also, the world clock was rather buggy. Instead of typing in the city name, you have to select the exact location on the map and then touch your desired city in the highlighted area. It's a clunky and imprecise process; we kept getting Buenos Aires when we tried to touch the map near New York City. Also, you can only show four cities at one time.
Other features include full Bluetooth with a stereo profile, audible caller ID, a speakerphone, mobile syncing for stored contacts, and USB storage. Samsung included phone-as-modem support, but Sprint has not enabled the feature. The Instinct also offers an extensive voice-command feature that you can use to dial phone numbers or call contacts, address a text or multimedia message, and access information like traffic, sports, weather, or news. There's no speech-to-text support but the voice-command function does integrate with a nifty Microsoft Live Search. By speaking the name of a business or even the type of business (like "pizza"), it will use the phone's GPS connection to search your surrounding location for a match. You can then get a map and directions to the business, share it with a friend via a message, or call the location with one touch. In our tests it worked quite well. When we tried saying "Maya," we got not only a restaurant located a block away, but also a doctor in Palo Alto, Calif., with the name Maya. And when we tried saying "pizza," we got a long list of choices. This is one of the Instinct's better features.
Messaging options are plentiful and we were surprised at the clean and intuitive e-mail integration. Text messaging and multimedia messaging options are mostly standard but the Instinct goes a step further with its texting. Like the iPhone, it displays the full thread of a text conversation so you don't have to sort through individual messages. Instant messaging was not present, however. That's a disappointing omission on a phone of this caliber.
The Instinct does an excellent job with its e-mail features. It's not quite a smartphone, but it's far ahead of most other handsets on the market, including the first iPhone. You'll find integrated support for POP3 accounts for AOL, AIM, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail. We had only to enter our Yahoo account information and we were up and running in no time. You can keep multiple accounts open at once and the Instinct will let you know of new messages by showing a blue star on the Main menu icon. E-mail syncing was rather random. At times, new messages would show up in our in-box automatically, while other times we had to press the Refresh button. Either way, it's not a big deal. Just be aware that the Instinct e-mail application does limit you in a few ways. The Instinct's in-box can show a maximum of 100 messages, and you can't access individual folders inside your in-box. The latter quirk is particularly troublesome. Also, only messages sent from the phone will show in Instinct's sent box.
On the work side, you can connect directly to your e-mail if your company supports Outlook Web Access. We used this method, and again we had our e-mail in minutes. OWA mail is subject to the same limitations described above, but if you need work e-mail on the fly, it's a satisfying option. Fortunately, any e-mails sent from the phone will appear back on your office computer. If your company doesn't have OWA, you must use Sprint's Mobile Email client. Admittedly, that experience isn't as fluid as a smartphone with true Microsoft Exchange server support. You can read but not edit attachments many attachments including word documents and photos. What's more, you can send messages with attachments stored on your phone. The Instinct strips out any HTML in e-mails, but you can open Web pages by clicking on the links.
Seven months after the Instinct's release, Sprint added calendar syncing for Microsoft Exchange Server 2000, 2003, and 2007 accounts and IBM Lotus Notes. We had to download three software updates, which took about 20 minutes, but the updates loaded without incident or a missed connection.
After installing the update and syncing the phone with our CNET OWA (Outlook Web Access) e-mail, a new "work calendar" update button appeared under the calendar menu. Pressing that button synced the Instinct and my Outlook calendar in just a few seconds. The data connection cut out on our first try, but the second attempt brought success. All of our current appointments then appeared under their appropriate days with the correct times, locations and descriptions. To get back to the calendar from the main menu, we could choose either the calendar or e-mail icons.
As Sprint promised, we were able to create a new appointment on the Instinct, which then synced back to our PC automatically. Also, we could get meeting reminders, accept or decline new appointments, and edit or delete current meetings right on the phone. Any edits made on the Instinct synced back to our PC in just a few seconds, but the reverse process took a bit longer. Despite that, it was a satisfying experience on the whole.
Still, there were a few quirks. If we made a change to one instance of a recurring meeting, it applied only to that specific meeting. We didn't have the option to apply it to every meeting in the series. What's more, we could get only daily and monthly views--weekly views were not a possibility.
The Instinct defaults to separate personal and work calendars, but you don't have to use them. There's nothing to stop you from entering all events, personal or otherwise, under your work calendar. In any case, that probably is your best bet, considering that since the syncing function doesn't support calendars through IMAP4, e-mail services like Hotmail, AOL, and Yahoo are not supported.
The Instinct's Web browser excited us, but we came away with mixed impressions. On the upside, it is a full HTML browser so it will display Web pages in almost their full glory. It lacks support for Flash, but that's common on devices likes this. Alternatively, we liked that you can choose to see stripped-down mobile versions of pages instead. That's a great option for times when you're away from a fast 3G connection. What's more, inputting new URLs via the onscreen keyboard was easy. Yet at the end of the day, the browser's interface was disappointing. The actual pages are squashed into a small area of an already small display. That left us feeling rather cramped and we had to do a lot of scrolling to see the whole pages. You can drag the page by moving your finger, but the screen responded slowly with jerky movements. We had the same experience on the LG Voyager; in other words, it's like the iPhone but not quite as elegant. Alternately, the Instinct offers a unique Web-panning method for moving around a page. Just hold down the camera shutter (that will be on the top of the Instinct since the Web browser defaults to landscape mode) and move the phone up and down and from left to right. The Web page will move correspondingly, which allows you to sweep throughout the page. It's a neat idea but the concept is better than the reality. Though the movement was fluid, we found it difficult to control the speed. Too often, we zipped past something we were hoping to land on. Also, we didn't like how when you reached either side of a page, the panning reversed direction automatically. But wait, the Instinct offers yet another way to move around a page. Clicking on the "full screen view" will display the page in its entirety. You then can move a blue square around the toggle to select the area of the page you'd like to see. It works fairly well except that you can't read any text when the Web page is in full screen view. Oops.
Fortunately, we had few problems selecting links on a Web page. There were times where we had to press a selection twice but that's not uncommon on touch-screen phones. Yet we did notice that selected links weren't always highlighted when we touched them. That could be an issue if you're a busy browser or you're surfing a crowded page. The Instinct does include a load of handy shortcut buttons surrounding the browser window. Among other things you can search the Web page, open your favorites list, return to your home page, review your surfing history, and zoom in on a page. The latter option is a nice idea but it's not terribly effective as it only zooms in one degree. Indeed, we admit we've been spoiled by the iPhone's multitouch interface.
The Instinct's lack of Wi-Fi is quite a blow on such an Internet-friendly phone. Sure, Sprint's EV-DO connection will do the job most of the time, but there are times where 3G coverage isn't available. Also, even though the Instinct requires an unlimited Internet plan, it would be nice to be able to use your home network if you preferred to do so. It's all about customer choice.
Besides the main browser, the Instinct offers dedicated channels for weather, sports, news, and movies. The weather options works much like the iPhone's; just punch in your list of cities and you can see the forecast for each. But as an added bonus you also can see a radar map of U.S. locations. In the movie channel you can get area show times by entering in your ZIP code.
As previously mentioned, the Instinct supports full GPS. You can use the feature to use Sprint Navigation for spoken driving and visual turn-by-turn directions. You also can search for neighboring businesses as you would with the Live Search. Traffic information is available as well, including a neat 3D map option. Using the touch screen to pan through maps was easier than on the Web browser. The finger motion is more fluid and the response time is quick. Read our Sprint Navigation review for a full description.
As an EV-DO phone, the Instinct offers full support for Sprint's 3G services. You can connect to Sprint's Power Vision and Sprint TV, which include live and on-demand programming from a wide variety of channels such as CNN, E!, MTV Mobile, Discovery Mobile, ESPN, Logo Mobile, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon. You also can check out movie previews to help you select a flick. In all it's an exhaustive selection of programming with much of it exclusive to Sprint. You also can stream more than 150 channels from Sirius Radio and Sprint Radio. The touch-screen interface for the media player is intuitive and responsive. At first it was disconcerting to use the phone's Back button to navigate through the video menus. Since you're using the phone in horizontal mode, the Back button is facing down.
The Instinct's music player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA formats) is relatively similar to that on Sprint's other music phones. You can access the Sprint Music Store for simultaneous downloads both to your PC and wirelessly to your phone. The music player interface is nothing fancy. Though you get album art, the features are limited to repeat and shuffle modes, and you can't use MP3s as ringtones. The airplane mode turns off the phone's calling functions for listening to music while in-flight. As we said earlier, the Instinct uses a 3.5mm jack, so you'll be able use the headset that came in the box. You can send the music player to the background while you're using other phone functions. When a call comes in, the music will pause automatically and will resume again after you hang up. The Instinct also supports the Sprint Media Manager for syncing the phone with your PC.
The Instinct has a 2.0-megapixel camera, but we were surprised by its lack of options. You can't adjust the resolution, quality, brightness, or any of the other settings you'd find on any basic camera phone. We're not sure what Samsung was going for here. Perhaps they're trying to make the Instinct easy to use, but we were disappointed at the lack of options. Sure, those options don't always make a big difference in photo quality, but it's still nice to have them. As we said earlier there is a self-portrait mirror but the Instinct doesn't have a flash. However, we did like the handy photometer and the "fuzzy picture" warning when you're about to take a bad photo. Photo quality was decent, though not spectacular. Objects were distinct and colors were natural but there was too much light in most cases.
On the other hand, we liked the Instinct's photo-viewing feature. Similar to the iPhone, you can move between photos by swiping your finger across the screen. It makes for a fun experience and we like that fluid motion. Alternatively, you can view photos in a filmstrip mode. Shortcut options are plentiful as well. You can send your photos via Bluetooth, upload them to an online account, save them as a contact's photo ID, or zap them to a friend in a multimedia message. There's also a 2x digital zoom.
The camcorder lacks editing options but it takes clips with sound in two lengths. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 30 seconds; otherwise, you can shoot according to the available memory. Camcorder lips were very sharp and we like that the video player can support files from your PC. Both photos and videos are saved directly to the microSD card for easy transfer off your phone. The Instinct can accommodate cards up to 8GB, which is a good thing since internal storage tops out at a paltry 32MB. More memory would a bonus.
You can personalize the Instinct with background images and alert tones. Additional options are available from Sprint via the wireless Web browser. Games and applications include demo versions of Bejeweled, Brain Challenge, Sudoku, Midnight Bowling, Million Dollar Poker, Nascar Sprint Cup, Scene It, and Pac-Man. You also get Sprint's NFL Mobile application. The full versions of games plus additional tiles are available for purchase. For further fun the Instinct offers direct access to MySpace Mobile and Photobucket.
Performance
We tested (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) the dual-band CDMA Samsung Instinct in San Francisco using Sprint's service. Call quality was fairly mixed, unfortunately. Though the volume level was fine, the clarity was not. Not only was the sound on our end rather harsh, but it could also be rather patchy at times. We wouldn't say it ruined our experience--far from it, in fact--but it was enough for us to take notice. We recognize that this is one of the first Instincts available, so it may be just this unit. After extended testing call quality improved a little, but not by much.
On their end, callers had no trouble hearing us but they could tell we were using a cell phone. They also reported patchy sound quality and they said that the phone picked up some background noise. It didn't ruin their experience, either, but the Instinct's call quality wasn't the best we've heard from a Sprint device. Similarly, speakerphone calls were loud but we encountered noticeable static. We had to speak close to the phone to be heard, but that is not uncommon. Automated calling systems could understand us if we were speaking in a quiet location.
The signal reception for voice calls was marginally erratic, but the GPS and EV-DO connection remained strong even when we were in a building. And as is the case with most Sprint phones, we could get a strong signal underground.
As it is the first Sprint device to support EV-DO Rev. A from birth, we were excited to see how zippy the Instinct's Web browser would perform. However, during our initial testing we didn't notice much of a difference between other Sprint devices. In fact, busy Web pages such as CNET.com took quite a few seconds to load. Sprint assures us, however, that the delays are related to network enhancements and not the device itself. On a couple of occasions, pages appeared incorrectly but this was fairly rare. Song downloads were quick, and it took about 30 seconds to download a 3.7MB track. Games downloads were very quick; in our tests it took just a few seconds for each title.
The phone's internal menus performed well. We moved between individual pages quickly with a delay of only a second on some pages. Overall, the navigation is a pleasant experience, and that's an improvement over the Voyager. Playing games with the touch screen involved a slight learning curve, but it was pleasant experience for most titles.
Multimedia performance was a mixed bag unfortunately. Music sounded fine for the most part. The single speaker has decent output but the sound is distorted at the highest levels. Video performance wasn't quite as good, however. The streaming videos take up only a small part of the Instinct's display and the quality is pixelated. Also, the sound was a bit off and the video couldn't support jerky movements. Live video was about the same, unfortunately.
The Samsung Instinct SPH-M800 has a rated battery life of 5.75 hours talk time. In our tests we got a little more than six hours of talk time. Don't forget that a backup battery comes in the box; it should provide an additional 5.75 hours. According to FCC radiation tests, the Instinct has a digital SAR rating of 1.46 watts per kilogram, which is on the high side.
User reviews
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Better than the iPhone and here is why
by Zenkai76 on August 20, 2008
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 ...
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.37 out of 42 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Phone is like a Dumb Blonde
by jettles1 on June 30, 2008
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 ...
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.30 out of 45 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Awesome phone from Sprint! (Finally)
by Susanoo on June 19, 2008
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 ...
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!19 out of 22 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Multi-media phone, yes - Smartphone, no
by sd_davis on June 20, 2008
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 ...
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!13 out of 13 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Very Disappointed!
by JRRTolkien on June 21, 2008
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 ...
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.
17 out of 26 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Awesome unless you use email
by legit526 on June 20, 2008
Pros: Easy to use, cool fad features
Cons: EMAIL!!!!!!!!
Summary: Phone is great for anyone who doesn't need any features above and beyond the realm of the phone itself. The email capabilities seem great until you hit 25 emails ...
Summary: Phone is great for anyone who doesn't need any features above and beyond the realm of the phone itself. The email capabilities seem great until you hit 25 emails where it maxes out on storage. I missed the ability to add programs even after only having it for a day, things like splashid and sync capabilities with computers is limited if at all. This phone is amazing in my opinion for high school, maybe college but anyone doing any sort of work that has used blackberry or treos before stay away. you'll miss what you had.
6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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amazing!!!!
by fidel209 on June 22, 2008
Pros: looks really nice, and a ton of cool features, best phone i have ever had hands down.
Cons: make some mistakes while texting
Summary: the phone is simply amazing, i would highly recommend this phone to anybody. the email application is awesome, gps is good. I internet is really fast on this phone. the ...
Summary: the phone is simply amazing, i would highly recommend this phone to anybody. the email application is awesome, gps is good. I internet is really fast on this phone. the really great thing about it is that it comes with a 3.5 mm jack so you can connect it to the AUX in your car and home stereo. battery dies on me kinda fast luckily it comes with two batteries, although i find the back kind of hard to take off. this phone is also real user friendly and i love the favorite menu where u can text somebody instantly or check your email or go to your music. overall this phone is awesome the only reason i didnt give it a ten is because you can make a lot of mistakes texting if you try to do it to fast.
5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Merely Okay
by rizzoads on July 14, 2008
Pros: Look & feel, email & messaging features, GPS
Cons: BROWSER, BROWSER, BROWSER
Summary: I had been holding my upgrade eligibility for quite some time, and decided it was time to take the plunge with the Instinct.
The phone is gorgeous, no doubt. I ...Summary: I had been holding my upgrade eligibility for quite some time, and decided it was time to take the plunge with the Instinct.
The phone is gorgeous, no doubt. I like pretty much everything about using it except for the browser. I love the landscape keyboard for texting and email (At least somebody caught on to the gripes about the iPhone). It works great for music. I love the expandable memory which uses a microSD card (2GB included WITH the SD adapter). I love that it came with a spare battery and a small case in which the spare battery can be charged while not in the phone. It seems they thought of everything, except....
My previous phone was the Palm Centro, which I absolutely LOVE. Going from that to the Instinct was absolute torture when it came to browsing the internet. The browser is incredibly slow, and wouldn't pull up many (and I mean MANY) of the pages I used to frequent on my Centro. On top of that, the "vision.sprintpcs.com" home site that seems such an excellent portal on all of the other Sprint Power Vision phones was completely different, and practically useless on the Instinct (unless all you want to see is CNN, ESPN, etc...)
In short, if you're new to surfing the internet on your mobile phone, the Instinct might not seem that bad. But after using the Centro (not to mention playing around with an iPhone here and there), the Instinct absolutely will NOT get the job done.
In the end, I returned the phone and restored my upgrade eligibility and previous contract end date.. The Instinct just didn't get it done for me... Maybe Palm will release that Treo 800 with the palmOS.....5 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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It's good for what it is... a phone.
by kc.obillo on June 28, 2008
Pros: You can make phone calls on it
Cons: Really, it's just a phone.
Summary: For starters, I got this phone on the 20th of July, when it debuted in public.
A couple of things you should know if you're about to read this... ...Summary: For starters, I got this phone on the 20th of July, when it debuted in public.
A couple of things you should know if you're about to read this... I've been with sprint for the longest time now, so I'll write down the last couple of phones I've had with them, starting with the most recent one: Palm 755p --> Palm 700p --> Motorola Razr (Red) --> Samsung A900 (Blade) --> Sanyo 2300.
Just keep that in mind.
I've had the Instinct since it had its debut to the public on July 20, 2008. I went from a palm 755p to the instinct - and the following day, as soon as I figured out what I did, the first thing that came to my mind - what the heck was I thinking?
It looks good, sleeker than an iPhone. Still cuter (a bit) than an LG Vu. It has a lot of features to it. And I can make pretty clear phone calls with it, as long as I'm not surrounded by trees (and really, that's a Sprint thing). It has a built-in turn by turn GPS Navi, which is one of its best features.
But then again, it's not a Palm. It really is just a phone. If I upgraded from a Samsung A900 to the instinct, yes, that would've been a true upgrade. But I went from a PDA to a phone. So, in a way, I kind of downgraded. The calendar, yes, it's there. But, it's not an organizer. It doesn't read word documents (.doc/x), it doesn't read excel documents like I relied heavily on my palm. But - then again, it's just a phone. It was wrong of me to expect that.
For what Samsung intinct (M800) is, it's a decent phone with plus features to it. The Operating System of it is proprietary (meaning, it's between Samsung and Sprint), so I'm limited to just the games that would work on this gadget, like any other phones. So, all those games that are installed on my palm, pretty much - are - gone. The games for the instinct are still very much limited. It's a new phone, and it's a sprint phone, so... gives Sprint a reason to sell games to me.
It's an MP3 player, movie player, and yes... with the help of a 3rd party, I was able to make my own ringtones (people, it's doable). The speakers have good quality on them. I have a car charger as well as a wall charger, so I always keep it charged. Battery life with all these things hasn't been a problem.
I'm happy with it. Again, it's not a PDA... Just a phone. It's not a fair comparison. I can get used to it. I was required to do one of the unlimited data plans, and there wasn't any problem with it.
All in all, it's all good... for now, anyway.4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Most people have the wrong idea.
by kwaldecker on July 10, 2008
Pros: This phone is very easy to use and has some really cool features.
Cons: Battery life is not what was quoted.
Summary: I have read everyone's reviews and the huge thing that they are bashing this phone for is all worng. I have used every smart phone available for sprint. Where ...
Summary: I have read everyone's reviews and the huge thing that they are bashing this phone for is all worng. I have used every smart phone available for sprint. Where sprint went wrong was to place this under the smart phone section. A smart phone it is not but its still a great phone. You can get your email but its a basic get-your-inbox-set-up. This is more a media phone than a business phone. Yes the new iphone you can get your emails but its the same thing its a media phone not a business phone.
As far as the bluetooth usually its the headset not the phone you get what you pay for and by far the best bluetooth is plantronics for reception.
The bottom line is this is a fun all around phone its not made for business use. If your looking for a great solid business phone that doesnt crash ever, and has a great talk time functionality get a curve there amazing. I loved mine.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Samsung
- Part number: SPHM800ZKS
- Description: There are touchscreens, and then there's the Samsung Instinct, the touchscreen that keeps you in touch better than any other. Everything on the Instinct is designed to take you right to where you want to go faster. Go right to your favorite contact or Web page by putting them in your favorite folder. Go right to your client meeting with GPS turn-by-turn directions. Go right to the one voicemail message you really want to listen to. With the Instinct, everything is just a touch away.
General
- Product Type Cellular phone With digital camera / digital player
- Service Provider Sprint Nextel
- Width 2.2 in
- Depth 0.5 in
- Height 4.6 in
- Weight 4.4 oz
- Body Color Pink
Cellular
- Technology CDMA2000 1X
- Band CDMA2000 1X 1900/800
- Phone Design Candy bar
- Antenna Internal
- Vibrating Alert Yes
- Polyphonic Ringer Yes
- Call Timer Yes
- Conference Call Capability Yes
- Voice Recorder Yes
- Caller ID Yes
- Speakerphone Yes
- Wireless Interface Bluetooth
- Additional Features E-911 compliant, PictBridge direct printing
Phone Memory
- Phone Book Capacity 600 names & numbers
Messaging & Data Services
- Short Messaging Service (SMS) Yes
- Internet Browser Yes
- WAP Protocol Supported WAP 2.0
- PCS Vision capable Yes
- EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) Yes
- Messaging / Data Features XHTML Browser
Multimedia Features
- Playback Digital Video Formats H.264, MPEG-4
- Downloadable Content Music
Digital Camera
- Camera highlights With a resolution of 2 megapixels, this model will give you better pictures than other phones.
- Sensor Resolution 2 megapixels
- Still Image Resolutions 1600 x 1200
- Digital Video Formats H.264, MPEG-4
Organizer
- Alarm Clock Yes
- Calendar Yes
- Reminder Yes
- Calculator Basic
Display
- Type LCD display
- Technology TFT
- Display Resolution 240 x 432 pixels
- Color Support Color
- Features LCD touch screen
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Supported Digital Audio Standards AAC, MP3, WMA
Miscellaneous
- Hearing Aid Compatible Yes
Power
- Type Power adapter
Battery
- Technology - Lithium ion
- Capacity 1000 mAh
- Talk Time 345 min
Product series
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Samsung Instinct (SPH-M800) - black
Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: CDMA2000 1X 1900/800, 345 min, With digital camera / digital player, 4.4 oz
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Samsung Instinct (SPH-M800) - pink
Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: CDMA 850/1900, Up to 345 min, With digital camera / digital player, 0.3 lbs
Accessories
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ATP SD Trio Professional PLUS - Card adapter ( SD, miniSD, microSD ) - flash: microSD - 512 MB - Hi-Speed USB (AF512UD-TRIOPL)$17.00
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Centon - Flash memory card ( SD adapter included ) - 4 GB - microSD (4GBRSDHC)$11.48 - $18.99
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Centon mediaPOWER - Flash memory card ( SD adapter included ) - 2 GB - microSD (pack of 10 ) (S6482656)$63.28 - $77.99
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Dane-Elec - Flash memory card ( SD adapter included ) - 8 GB - microSD (S6720713)$23.38
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Samsung WT17200000136 - Case for cellular phone - genuine leather, spring steel - black (WT17200000136)see site
Manufacturer info
- Samsung
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Samsung products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.samsungusa.com/
- Address:
105 Challenger Road, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660 - Phone: 1-800-726-7864
- Fax: 1-973-601-6001
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