UPDATE: 2/9/09
This phone is terrible. I still see no 3rd party applications worth having. I still don’t see things that were promised by sprint and Samsung. This is a terrible phone, I am so angry with sprint and this phone that I have switched to the Iphone, however, I am still always looking for that phone that may overthrow the iphone. Palm and sprint are coming out with a new phone called the Palm Pre. It looks pretty promising, but then again so did the Instinct before that piece of garbage came out. I’ll talk more about the Palm Pre later on. DO NOT BUY THE INSTINCT… EVERYTHING GOOD AND PROMISING ABOUT THE PHONE IS A LIE!
UPDATE: 11/1/08
I am now in the EVDO (3g) network and the internet on my phone is still ridiculously slow. Page loads very slowly, unable to scroll that well either… do not get this phone!
I have owned the samsung instinct since it first came out in July. As I recall we were promised certain things at the time of purchase. We were promised that it would be comprable to the iphone it is not. We were promised that we would get 3rd party applications, we have not, by the way what happened with that contest? does anyone know?
One of my problems with this phone is the internet. I am not in the EVDO network where I live so I do not get the broadband speeds that sprint promotes. Because of that I wish the phone had wifi for one. Now suppose samsung gave the phone wifi, there isn’t much of a browser to view the internet on. The web browser is appalling. Even the new BH29 update that updates the browser didn’t do much except make certain sites work. I still have problems with many of the sites I log into such as Ebay and my online banking sites. I am not sure if it’s just because of my slow internet connection or what but the browser seems slow to me as well.
I hate the fact that we cannot sync the phone with outlook or any other scheduling database. There are not very many 3rd party applications available. I tried installing opera mini onto the phone and the newest version doesn’t work. The older version does work, however, there is no keyboard functionality because the developers of the software at samsung didn’t seem to think that 3rd party apps may require a keyboard. This is supposedly to be rectified in an upcoming update, but who really knows. I was also told that the 3rd party application contest would conclude by this month and we will be getting new apps soon after. I am not sure if that has happened.
I am very disappointed with this phone. Excited at first, but unable to do a lot I was hoping I could do with it. Definately looks and feels good, but does not compare to the Iphone or blackberry in functionality.
If your looking to get this phone, I would suggest against it. If you have the phone… do you agree with me?
Filed under: Technology , Samsung Instinct, Iphone killer, Iphone competitor, Smartphone
It’s too bad that you cannot access the faster internet speeds offered by Sprint. The browser does have some issues, but IMHO it has improved with the last update.
About the app store, many on other forums have kindly reminded me that the IPhone did not have an app store until a year after its release. So, I think that we should be a little more patient with Sprint in this regard. However, I do agree that they should tell us something. Oh, here is some good news, a new update is coming on Friday 11/14 and according to an email from Sprint, it will once again provide several requested updates.
If you’re looking for apps and haven’t visited this site, check it out. Some developers got together and created an app store ahead of Sprint.
http://instinct-software.com/
I’m so disappointed with this phone I’m considering switching to verizon after ten years of sprint service. Connection speeds are so slow and stuttering, even with all bars lighted up, as to make the phone unusable for anything but making phone calls or reading text news. Forget about video or live TV. Sprint so completely oversold the capabilities of this phone and their network they’ve lost all credibility. Did you know you can’t even shut off the ringer on this phone? You can bring the volume level down very low, but not off.
This phone is the biggest piece of garbage I’ve ever been dumb enough to buy, and believe me, I bought some stupid stuff in the past. Slow internet, no third party apps, etc…I’m thinking about eating the 200 bucks and saying goodbye to sprint.
I “upgraded” from an LG-350 flip phone because I wanted to combine PDA function (calendar mostly) and only carry one device. I usually feel savvy about these things and did some reading *before* I got the Instink. It is an abysmal piece of crap. Same complaints as above, web browser, no IM apps, no Outlook sync, no wifi, and no three way calling! WTF? Every sprint phone I’ve had over the last 10 years has had 3 way calling… I need to conference for business… I am deeply disappointed in Sprint and Samsung. To switch phones I’d have to shell out $500 for a phone that does what I need it to do…
Yep this is truly a hunk of junk phone I really had enjoyed using it up until the time that my 30 day guarantee was good for and then all hell broke loose. My internet browser was constantly shutting off giving me a black screen of death then resetting just like everything was fine. After having to quit using the browser the phone itself would constantly freeze whether it was going in to read a text message or just unlocking the phone it would not work. So finally I got fed up took it to sprint and they told me they would run a diagnostic test and that screwed it up even worse overall this phone is the most worthless investment. If you don’t have it don’t get it.
I am really glad that everyone that has commented on this post agrees that this phone is a piece of garbage.
I personally am looking forward to the Palm Pre, hopefully that phone will keep up to its promises
I agree with you all. This is by far the worse phone I’ve bought. I should of gotten the Curve. There is no way in hell this thing is going to last until my Upgrade time comes…I already sent the first one back since it froze completely rendering it useless. It too Sprint a week to send me one and it was a fiasco to set up the new refurb. Yes, you get a refurb (or a return phone) with or without insurance on it, so don’t even bother getting their insurance. It does nothing for you…I lesson learned from previous experiences with them. If you have another line, get a Blackberry, activate a cheap phone in it, the activate the Blackberry on the Instinct line, that’s the only way you can get yourself a real phone for a discount. What a dissapontment!
If you are trying to access your online banking I called the Sprint people they didn’t know what to do. So I played with my phone long enough to figure it out… By accessing your online banking you need to: HIT THE MAIN BUTTON, THEN SETTING,THEN WEB BROWSER, AND THEN TURN THE PRIVACY BUTTON OFF, and try to access your online accounts again it should work I tried this 3 times to make sure that it works and It does SO FOR ALL THE LOSERS THAT GAVE UP THE INSTINCT YOU GUYS ARE LOSERS JESUS SAYS NEVER GIVE UP TRY HARDER. I WILL PRAY FOR YOU ALL.
I’ve had this phone since about mid February and I’d have to say that this is absolutely the worst phone that I have ever owned. Sure, this phone has more features than the iPhone, however, none of the features really work that well.
Sprint TV and radio are more frustrating than enjoyable. The stream constantly freezes up and I have found that the only way to fix it is to exit the application and start over from the beginning.
The GPS is slow and sometimes slightly inaccurate. I flew out to LA last week and the GPS function couldn’t get me to the 101 expressway. I actually pulled over and dug through my bags for the Mapquest directions that I printed out before I left.
Maybe my expectations have been tainted by the intelligence of the iPod but I feel that the MP3 player on this thing completely lacks anything even resembling intelligence. Sometimes I will load an album onto the SD card and the phone’s software will store the songs alphabetically rather than in the order that they appear on the album. There are other times where I will load an album on to the SD card and it will not show up under “albums” or “artists” when I start the music player. The phone will save the songs alphabetically under the “songs” menu which makes it impossible to listen to a complete album. I haven’t found a way to correct this issue and it drives me crazy.
My biggest issue with this phone is that it is absolutely impossible to see the screen if you are outside in direct sunlight. I have owned numerous phones and have never had this issue until I bought this abysmal piece of junk. I’m not over-exaggerating when I say this. If you use this phone outside on a sunny day, you can only see the faintest image of the phone’s interface . . . making it almost impossible to navigate through the menus and do anything with the phone.
When I first got this phone and opened the box, I thought it was really cool that they provided you with an extra battery and an external battery charger. Now I understand why they did this and I don’t think it is so cool anymore. The battery life on this thing is a complete joke. First off, the phone will only report that the battery is either 100% charged, 60% charged, 40% charged, or low. Often times, it has trouble deciding how much battery life is left. I will fire up the web browser (or any other application) with 60% battery left and the phone will suddenly tell me that the battery is low and will immediately close the application. Once the phone goes back to the main menu, it will report that there is 60% power left again. What good is this thing if I can’t use any of the features with 60% battery life left?
I bought this phone shortly after my iPod photo died and at the time my Sprint contract was expiring. I thought I could use this as a replacement to my iPod and get some cool features as well. Since then, I have shelled out another $200 for a new iPod because the Instinct’s MP3 player is a joke, I’ve dropped numerous calls, and I got lost in LA while using the GPS. I am only two months into my new contract and I am going to head over to the AT&T store after work today and buy an iPhone. I don’t care if I have to pay $200 to break my contract. It’ll be worth it. Besides, I don’t get Sprint coverage in my house and my corporate discount is better with AT&T. My monthly bill for the iPhone will actually be cheaper than what I pay for this garbage.
Despite all of the issues that I have had with Sprint, I have put up with them for 6 years because it was convenient NOT to switch providers. I will actually thank Sprint for releasing this phone in the sorry state that it is in because they finally gave me the motivation that I needed to break my contract and go elsewhere.
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haha… you guys are babies… this phone has a lot of potential… download opera mini… it is super fast