Isn’t Life Strange?

Being the gadget geek that I am, I could not resist the very reasonable $130 price tag on the new Samsung Instinct phone from Sprint.  I’ve owned this nice little phone for about a month now and have a few impressions that I would like to pass along.  Much has been said about the Instinct in the past weeks since its release.  Some of it is honest criticism while much of it is not.  

Despite all the media hullabaloo, the Instinct isn’t really an "iPhone killer".  It can however be considered a viable alternative to Cupertino’s latest and greatest.  In an attempt to get the full scoop on the initial problems Instinct users have been experiencing and to find answers to some of my own questions, I have attempted to look for information online.  There is some good information out there but discussion forums are overflowing with comments by people throwing verbal tantrums and saying they are going to return their Instincts and buy the iPhone.  Most of the problems could have been avoided had Sprint not been in such a hurry to put it on the market before the iPhone 3G was released.  However, by all accounts Sprint has had trouble keeping the Instinct in stock, so the strategy worked even if the phone’s performance out of the box was a little shaky. 

The Instinct initially had some irritating little problems that were widely criticized.  For starters, the signal meter would fluctuate wildly, rendering it relatively useless.  The power meter would go no higher than ninety percent, even if the battery was fully charged.  Perhaps the most annoying problem was the Instinct’s knack for losing its ability to connect with the 3G network to download weather, news, email, and other data from the Internet.  This was a problem I experienced often.  Fortunately a call to Sprint’s technical support and a reset of the phone helped, but it did not completely eliminate the problem.

With last week’s software update, Sprint seems to have fixed all of those problems, and that gives me some hope for the future of what I think could be a very nice, powerful little phone.  I have no expectation that the Instinct will rival the iPhone in the number of users or applications written for it, but I do think over time there could be some very nice improvements and additions to the nice list of features already included.  Here are some of the hits and misses with the Instinct in my own opinion:

Strengths

• A very nicely calibrated glass touch screen with both audio and force feedback.  Both of these features can be turned on or off depending on the user’s preference.
• Perfect size for the pocket.  Feels good in the hand.
• An outstanding live search function allows users to search for businesses through a voice interface, then choose to view the business on a map or select the option of turn-by-turn navigation on the fly.  Undoubtedly, this is the best feature of the phone.
• Web-based email interface updates AOL, Google Mail, Hotmail and other services automatically without needing to refresh.  The phone can alert you of new email if you choose.  It will also link with POP mail accounts and business mail servers. 
• A nice Photobucket application, allowing users to upload photos to their Photobucket accounts.  Photos taken with the phone’s camera can be seamlessly and instantly uploaded. 
• Nice, helpful applications offering instant weather information (including radar), movie times, and sports scores are clean and easy to use. 
• Nicely structured account plans offering "everything", all of which include unlimited data download/upload, unlimited text messaging, Sprint television, and radio services, and turn-by-turn navigation.  These plans are a better value than those offered by AT&T for the iPhone.  
• A battery that can be accessed and changed by the user.  In fact, Sprint gives you two batteries with the phone, and a nifty little charger for the spare. 
• Micro SD card slot allows for expansion of storage.  Included in the purchase is a 2 GB card. 

Weaknesses

• A HORRIBLE web browser is perhaps the phone’s most criticized feature.  This has a long way to go before it can even compare to the iPhone’s outstanding Safari browser.  As it stands now, the browser is relatively useless and is something that Sprint simply must address if the phone is to be successful.
• No Java support
• No instant messaging tools other than the standard SMS/text ability
• Lack of downloadable applications
• Lack of ability to organize photos into folders and collections. 

I’ve found that everyone has his own nitpicky little issues with his gadgets and Instinct users are certainly no exception to that rule.  I think that over time Samsung and Sprint might have a very nice, powerful little phone that will attract quite a following.  What remains to be seen is the level of commitment there will be to support it.  If they continue to refine and fine tune the phone, improving its stability while offering more functionality, then it could be a very profitable product.  However, if they lose focus on this product and are slow to offer users expanded content, this phone will likely have a short life.  Sprint has put a lot of money into the Instinct, advertising it to be the next great thing.  If they don’t deliver on their promises, then they will likely see people walk over to AT&T. 

I’d like to see an initiative that opens the Instinct to developers who can create a wide variety of applications and tools for the phone.  Some of the things I would like to see in the future include a Flickr upload tool, access to Pandora radio, instant messaging utilities for MSN, Yahoo, and AIM, and the addition of the Opera Mobile Browser.

Some may be wondering why I didn’t simply go with the iPhone to begin with.  To be honest I am perfectly happy with Sprint for the time being and given that the pricing was right for the Instinct, I was more than willing to give it a try.  So far, I’ve been quite pleased and I am willing to exercise patience to see just how far Sprint is willing to take this.  I am optimistic about the Instinct and hopeful that with a little development the Instinct can be everything the advertising makes it out to be.  I guess we’ll see.