Samsung Instinct s30 Review

Introduction

Last summer Sprint took arguably the best shot at the iPhone at the time, and the Samsung Instinct stood toe-to-toe with its fruity rival. While it may have bested Apple’s wunderphone on paper, the Instinct lacked the pizzazz and savvy to be a real competitor. Customers no doubt stayed with Sprint because of it, but we doubt too many AT&T customers defected for an Instinct. Now we have the Samsung Instinct s30, which offers a refreshing design update and promises deeper access for developers. Will this new Instinct prove a compelling upgrade or more of the same?

Included in the box you’ll find:

• AC Adapter
• Li-Ion battery
• 3.5mm stereo headset
• USB charging data cable
• 1GB microSD card


Design

The most striking difference in the Samsung s30 is the design. Gone is the boxy exterior, replaced with svelte curves. The metal frame is now plastic, a downgrade in materials but an upgrade in the weight saving department. Despite the smaller feel in hand, the Instinct s30 is actually a touch bigger than the original.




You can compare the Samsung Instinct s30 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The 3.2” resistive touchscreen remains, but feels ever so slightly more responsive than the already responsive original. We said the Instinct’s onscreen keyboard was the best we’d ever used, and we still feel that way. It seems a bit brighter as well, but that may just be in our head. Either way, it’s a pretty darn good display even if it’s not up to snuff with Sprint’s own Touch Diamond or Pro.



There are two new color options: “A Touch of Copper” and “Cobalt Metal”, the latter of which keeps the gunmetal trim of the original but has a gray back instead of black. The basic layout remains the same though. The same touch-sensitive Back, Home and Phone buttons appear at the bottom of the display, the left side has the volume rocker and proprietary Samsung 20 pin charger and the right has a microSD slot and Speech to Action and Camera buttons. Along the top is the familiar 3.5mm headset jack and power button. All of the buttons have good feedback, including the touch sensitive buttons thanks the haptics.