Samsung Instinct, 60-Seconds Review

What: Samsung Instinct cellphone, sold by Sprint

Features: Has a 3.1-inch touch-screen display and 2.0 megapixel camera. Comes with a 2 GB microSD card and adapter, but can support an 8 GB card. Includes two batteries, a battery-charging sleeve, travel charger, USB cable, 3.5-mm headphones with microphone, and a carrying case with stylus. Weighs 4.4 ounces.

Price: $129.99 after $100 mail-in-rebate and a two-year contract.

Ups: Selecting something on the screen is confirmed with a light vibration and sound, and because the buttons are large, typing is a breeze.

The menu and interface is easy to use and well designed. It will play music in the background as you do other things, like accessing the Internet. Sprint has some great entertainment features that you can put shortcuts to on your main menu, such as Sprint streaming radio or TV stations.

Downs: It took a little time to get used to the scrolling feature. The camera doesn't have auto focus, so I ended up with photos that were fuzzy.

Bottom line: This is a well-designed phone, and the fast-responding touch screen. Considering what this phone can do and the large display, it's a good deal at $130 and worth getting if you've comfortable using a touch screen.

Samsung Instinct confirms its iPhone-killer prowess

With Apple’s newly enhanced 3G iPhone handset heading for its retail rendezvous on July 11, it would appear that Samsung Electronics and Sprint Nextel are posting pretty decent sales figures for the new Instinct, one of oh-so-many supposed ‘iPhone killers’ heading to market since the emergence of Apple’s trendy touch-screen device.

According to Walter Piecyk, an analyst with Pali Research, the touch-screen Samsung Instinct has performed so well at retail since its launch on June 20 that Sprint Nextel Corp., the third largest wireless carrier in the United States, is presently running low on unit availability.

Shaking free of Apple’s trend-conscious market dominance won’t be easy for rival smartphone manufacturers, but Samsung and Sprint are certainly hoping to prevent the Instinct’s favourable sales from being merely flash-in-the-pan launch performance, which a price tag of just $129.99 should support considering the $199.99 price that will come with the basic 8GB model of the 3G iPhone.

Other makes and models of smartphone also vying for consumer attention against the iPhone include the likes of the BlackBerry Bold 900 from Research In Motion (its first 3G handset), the Voyager and Vu from LG Electronics, the Touch Diamond from HTC, and the Xperia X1 from Sony Ericsson.

Samsung Instinct Interface