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Samsung Instinct Review

0. phoneArena posted on 21 Jun 2008, 08:06

Touchscreen devices are nothing new, in fact they've been in the mobile world for nearly a decade, but there's no denying that the iPhone jumpstarted their popularity. In the last year there have been several attempts to replicate the iPhone experience, names like Voyager and Vu come to mind, but in reality no one has come close. Part of Apple’s success lies in their ground-up approach, a fact that went largely overlooked by competitors. Samsung and Sprint took note. Nearly a year to the day after the iPhone’s release the Instinct is here, and it is the first touchscreen device that can truly go toe-to-toe with the iPhone ...

This is a discussion for a review. To read the whole review, click here

12. 1DESIRE (unregistered) posted on 26 Jun 2008, 20:40

I WOULD GET THIS PHONE IF I HAD A FULL QWERTY KEYBOARD LIKE THE GLYDE :(

14. (unregistered) posted on 27 Jun 2008, 10:21

Have you tried to typing on the Instincts virtual keyboard yet? I wasn't sure I would like it myself but after the first day I was amazed with how responsive it was. The only problem I have is the "?" is right next to the space bar so I somethings have a "?" instead of a space.

15. (unregistered) posted on 27 Jun 2008, 10:39

Did anyone know that if you are using the GPS or radio that you will not receive phone calls. They go right to voice mail.

17. (unregistered) posted on 30 Jun 2008, 08:02

I received a call on Saturday night while I was using the Navigation so you may have a probelm with your phone. Now if I'm watching TV or using the RAdio app it will go to VM but not when I'm using the Nav

16. Sara98 (unregistered) posted on 30 Jun 2008, 04:31

I enjoyed reading this review thank you phone arena. The only inaccurate item in your review is saying sprint has the largest 3g network. If you go off of sprints website their EV-DO is available to over 230 million people in the U.S. If you go off of Verizon's website their EV-DO coverage is available to over 245 million people. But hey who's perfect?

22. (unregistered) posted on 08 Jul 2008, 14:07

ev-do is not the same as 3g

26. (unregistered) posted on 10 Jul 2008, 15:12

ev-do is the name of 3g that sprint and verizon use.

40. tuscan_sun posted on 11 Dec 2008, 08:23

"largest" can mean geographical area, rather than metro population coverage. Personally when assessing a network coverage i dont care about the other 244,999,999 folks.. i want the largest geographical coverage from a network.

18. sprintrules01 (unregistered) posted on 30 Jun 2008, 12:27

These are all the known device issues so far, glad i didnt get it as soon as it came out, :) Customer may experience slow response or service unavailability on the Samsung Instinct (M800) MicroSD card not recognized on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Important Voicemail information regarding Swaps to the Samsung Instinct (M800) Issue with sending a 2 min video to another carrier on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Wireless backup to Mobile Sync not working on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Mobile Sync times out with large address books on the Samsung Instinct (M800) User Guide is not included in the box on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Phone as Modem not supported on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Prohibited services with Visual Voicemail on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Lotus Notes not supported by Desktop Sync at launch on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Sprint Mobile Sync MySprint headers missing on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Sprint Mobile Sync / MySprint Authentication issue on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Desktop Sync email issue on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Sprint Mobile Sync entries missing on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Intermittent Sprint Mobile Email delays on the Samsung Instinct (M800) USB phone off when in USB mode on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Intermittent TV Quality Issues on the Samsung Instinct (M800) Some websites will not recognize Instincts web browser as capable of handling PC formatted versions of a site on the Samsung Instinct (M800) SOFTWARE UPGRADE There are no Known Issues of this Type EXCHANGE / REPAIR There are no Known Issues of this Type

19. Al in TX (unregistered) posted on 02 Jul 2008, 12:27

I got my Instinct the day it came out, and now I'm on my 2nd one. The GPS and the Live search only work when it feels like it. I just moved and it has gotten me lost TWICE for over 30 minutes each. One more mess up and I'm turning it back in and reactivating my old trusty M1 flip phone.

21. (unregistered) posted on 07 Jul 2008, 16:22

Switch to Verizon. Get the LG dare and drop Sprint. youll be happier I promise

24. (unregistered) posted on 09 Jul 2008, 21:44

.......who cares about hte error codes, the N-gage sucked, but people still purchased them, if you want something that will cook you breakfast and wash your clothes get a maid, these are phones, besides, If people are so happy with the Iphone, why don't they petition Steve Jobs to pay them for all the free advertising they do. Who wouldnt want to get paid for getting on their knees whenever someone mentions the Iphone. I'd do it, but they gotta pay me.

25. (unregistered) posted on 09 Jul 2008, 21:56

not to mention if my IPhad breaks, I HAVE to send it off and there is NO REPLACEMENT plan on the Phone, so.....Id rather get something that works, not to mention LG is Samsung......so either way they win

27. (unregistered) posted on 19 Jul 2008, 20:12

Dare and Verizon is a much better choice for me and may be for you as well.

28. dbest1a (unregistered) posted on 07 Aug 2008, 17:07

I am one of those guys that went into the store and played with the instinct for about 2 minutes, and walked away not impressed. However, being the gadget guy that I am, I had to give it a honest go, so I sighne up and got an Instinct (after having a iphone on Tmobile for 10 days). I have to say I love this phone now, the camera if very good with a lot of light. Yes a lot of light, If you know anything about photography then you will know that u need light to get good exposures, so don't bother taking a low light image if you don't have the light to properly expose it, get ur 20d or nikon w/flash. The keyboard is nice, a T9 option in portrait would be nice, html email would be nice, but the push email, with basic text is great on the battery, u take ur pic. Web browser needs work with the crashing, but I still can get to my sites. Notes need work, (ability to add more). Picture Mail, this is great, just need ability to play anaimations. Excell, and Word reader would be nice to, but I don't use em much, or even a txt pad.

29. obrook (unregistered) posted on 09 Aug 2008, 15:23

I have had the phone for about 2 weeks and can't get it out of my wifes hands 5 stars for such a fun phone Tom

30. FYI (unregistered) posted on 18 Aug 2008, 16:31

VZW IS OPEN ACCESS NETWORK translation.....I am using the Instinct on VZW network right now, it is cool but I think the DARE (which I use on the same number as well as my voyager ) is just far better...camera BLOWS IT and the I phone out the water, it is a multi tasker so while I am surfing the net I can listen to my music and I can also recieve my phone calls and not get booted out of any of the apps I am running at the same time...I like the Voice command GPS but that wont work on VZW , which is fine....I did get the TV hooked up with it and it is good quality....But the Voyager is louder....still it is nice to alternate phones .... I use to miss that but with changing esn online for free anytime I want I rotate my phones every other day or so.

34. treybezy (unregistered) posted on 06 Sep 2008, 20:42

how did you get the instinct on the VZW network?

36. (unregistered) posted on 10 Oct 2008, 21:46

after 2 weeks i can no longer access my messaging application. it freezes for a minute then returns to the home screen. also when i get a message it says its from someone else rather than the actual person who sent it. i dont recommend it

37. (unregistered) posted on 30 Oct 2008, 11:11

Now I feel stupid. I got this phone yesterday, and there is only 2 thing I do not like. 1. no space to put the stylus. all this finger pressing is fine, but i like the precision and visibility that stylus gives you. 2. I can't figure out on how to delete a contact name from the speed dial list, with out deleting them from the contacts all together. Someone help! Please! I just refuse to belive that there is no remove feature. That was the my first time I played with the phone, and with the first 3 presses the name got added by accedent that I rearly use. So my next attemp was to remove it... and that is where I got stock, and felt very stupid. read the manual, and did not find that info. But since no one else mentioned that issue, I'm starting to belive it's just me. LOL

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