Samsung’s Instinct Doesn’t Ring True as an iPhone Clone
June 12, 2008
by Walter S. Mossberg
The parade of iPhone lookalikes continues. Soon after Apple (AAPL) announced the first iPhone a year ago, factories in Asia, at the behest of U.S. phone carriers, were asked to respond to the sleek, touch-screen device. Some already have reached America; more are coming.
The latest to arrive is the Samsung Instinct, to be introduced by Sprint (S) on June 20. I’ve been testing the Instinct, and while it isn’t a bad phone and has some features the Apple product lacks, it’s no match for the iPhone. The manufacturers haven’t replicated the iPhone’s greatest strength: beautiful, powerful, breakthrough software.
Samsung Instinct
Also, the timing of the Instinct is unfortunate. It was designed to go up against the first iPhone. Sprint even has a Web site (nowisgood.com) comparing the two devices. But the Instinct will go on sale only three weeks before Apple and AT&T (T) start selling the new 3G iPhone, the second-generation model announced earlier this week. This second iPhone model corrects some of the first model’s main weaknesses, wiping out some advantages Sprint hoped the Instinct would have.
Before getting into the details of the Instinct, a few words about the new iPhone, its main competition. I don’t do full reviews of products until I have tested them extensively, but my first impressions of the 3G iPhone are largely positive.
The price of the new iPhone’s base model, which comes with 8 gigabytes of memory, is $199, a 50% price cut from the comparable first-generation model. Yet, it now works on AT&T’s fastest data network, promising anywhere from two to five times the speed of its predecessor. It also has GPS for tracking your location, and fully supports over-the-air synchronization of email, contacts and calendars — through Microsoft (MSFT) Exchange in corporations or via a similar new consumer service from Apple called MobileMe. And you’ll be able to download directly to the phone a whole universe of third-party programs, from productivity software to games.
On the downside, the new iPhone’s camera remains very basic and still can’t capture video. For people who prefer physical keyboards, the iPhone will still fall short. It continues to include only a virtual onscreen keyboard. And the iPhone remains locked to a single carrier in the U.S., AT&T, which will charge $10 more per month for unlimited data consumption on the device.
The iPhone, along with some competitors like the BlackBerry, are really hand-held computers that happen to make voice calls. And they’re getting more powerful and innovative. So far, competitors like the Instinct, while trying to look like iPhones, are still mainly voice devices with so-so computing features tacked on.
For instance, while the Instinct is a touch-screen device, it lacks the iPhone’s “multi-touch” system, which includes features that recognize multiple fingers and gestures, and allows actions like shrinking a photo by “pinching” it. The touch system on the Instinct is more like that on an ancient ATM than a cutting-edge gadget, even though it has a gimmicky feedback mechanism that gives you a tiny vibration-jolt when you press an icon.
Physically, the Instinct looks a lot like the iPhone — a dark slab without a physical keyboard or many buttons dominated by a large screen. It’s a bit longer and thicker than the iPhone, but a tad narrower and lighter. Its screen is smaller than the iPhone’s and has lower resolution.
The Instinct has the same $199 price tag as the new iPhone, after a rebate and with a two-year contract. Service plans are likely to start at around $70, in line with the minimum monthly fee AT&T will charge on the new iPhone. But it comes with just one-quarter of the memory the base iPhone includes.
Like the 3G iPhone, the Instinct runs on a fast cellular network that promises speeds similar to what people get with slow home DSL service. In my tests, it seemed to deliver this promised speed. It also has GPS and navigation. But, unlike the iPhone, the Instinct lacks Wi-Fi wireless networking, which can often be faster than the cellphone networks or available where there is no speedy cellphone coverage.
The Instinct has a removable battery, something the iPhone lacks. And Sprint claims 5.7 hours of talk time on one charge, more than the five hours that Apple claims for its 3G model. Sprint’s new baby has a few other features that even the latest iPhone omits, such as a built-in service for viewing TV shows and a voice-command system.
But I found its email system and Web browser to be less sophisticated than the iPhone’s or the BlackBerry’s. I also thought the phone’s onscreen keyboard was harder to use than Apple’s. It would flip unpredictably from landscape to portrait mode. The Instinct does allow handwriting recognition as an alternative, something the iPhone doesn’t.
If you’re a devoted Sprint customer, or want to avoid AT&T, the Instinct is an OK choice. But it’s no iPhone.
- Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.
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Comments
Dear Walter:
Posted by Paul Finger at June 17th, 2008 at 10:39 amFirst, I love your column! You have a great and balanced perspective. But, I want to hear your thoughts about the “voice user interface.” Though Nuance Corporation has announced plans to allow the iPhone to surf the web through their service. Most regular “phone-phones” already allow users to phone home by simple voice command. Does the future include voice activated hand held computers??
This column missed 4 big items that the iphone does not have that is useful.
Posted by andrew moung at June 19th, 2008 at 4:28 pm1.use the phone as a modem for laptop. this is a must for travelers.
2.expandable with cheap SD cards that iphone charged 8G extra for $100.
3. the samsung phone is going to sell for 129$…70 dollars cheaper than the iphone.
4.The iphone 3G package from ATT is 40$phone-service + 30$data-plan…that plan does not include any text messaging…which could add another 5$ a month…and then there is other stuff that the sprint plan has that att does not give for free.
yes iphone has multi touch..but since when do you see people using multi finger that much…
and iphone cannot be use with stylis…which eliminate any change of hand writting….
so you should ask yourself …other than the pretty user interface, what does the iphone has that this samsung phone does not.
if you are willing to pay $100 a month, sprint’s plan is unlimited which the ATT is not for heavy users.
Genius, Unbiased and factual, will subscribe to these feeds,
Thanks,
Marius
Posted by Marius Franek at July 4th, 2008 at 8:36 amNice article, you mentioned so cons that I didn’t know before on the Instinct.
I really wish i live in the US, the cellphone is just as good as the service plan behind it. People are not only buying a product, they are paying for a long term service. In this case, the Instinct price plan and contract wins compare to what Rogers are offering on the iPhone.
Posted by Roy Ng at July 4th, 2008 at 11:57 amAndrew Moung…
You are wrong about AT&T’s plan. Text messaging is included even in the basic plan, even though it is a measly 200 texts per month.
As for the multi touch, you obviously don’t use the phone. I use multi touch constantly. In some ways it’s something of a necessity, especially if you are surfing the web.
As far as using it as a modem for a laptop… part of the point of the phone is that you don’t need a laptop to use the internet. It’s a reasonable temporary substitute.
Handwriting recognition… you couldn’t have known at the time of your post, but the iPhone will actually support handwriting recognition for asian characters. My guess is that it will support english languages as well.
I don’t want to respond to each point, but it is more than just a pretty interface. You should actually use it and then understand it before commenting on it.
Posted by cee ayy at July 6th, 2008 at 9:26 pmI’m glad someone responded and corrected Andrew Moung. cee ayy made all good points that Andrew I can only assume doesn’t really know about for sure. I used to be a Sprint user and coming from Sprint to AT&T and using the iPhone was so much better in terms of plan, price and service. Andrew also says the sprint phone can be used as a modem for a laptop. But really is it necessary when you can just use the iPhone as you’re handheld computer? Which cee ayy has said already. As far as multi-touch goes, I too use it constantly. And I feel its a great feature to have. Andrew, I would suggest heading to an Apple store near you and really take a look at the iPhone and play around with you. You may be quite surprised.
Posted by Thomas Sieverts at July 8th, 2008 at 10:31 amwow… the ignorance of these clones… please get your facts straight before posting. Honestly, lets look here: http://www.wireless.att.com/ce.....e-info.jsp
wait is that? oh no really? Yes that’s right, the REAL PRICES FOR the new Iphone plans. The plans DO NOT include text messaging…
Just an FYI to all you Clones out there. Its great to be a fanboy of your particular product but to be ignorant is just plain unacceptable.
Posted by Ben Dover at July 10th, 2008 at 12:58 amGee, Mossberg, how much is Apple paying you? 5 full paragraphs on the new upcoming Iphone before you mention hardly anything about the Instinct, not to mention you’re talking rumors and speculation.
Posted by Ben T at July 10th, 2008 at 5:16 amYou skip over, or downplay every single element of the Instinct. I’ve had an Instinct since June 19th, and I have been very impressed with it. Obviously, the Iphone is very good, but I find that the Instinct is far superior where it matters. As I told someone the other day, the Instinct is the Instinct, not the Iphone, and Samsung and Sprint did it right. They rolled out the right package (”Simply Everything”), they took the base of a good product (the Iphone) and put their own character behind it, while not only releasing their product at a cheap rate ($129), but releasing it to their own customers at that rate, not just new buyers.
The phone itself works on a faster network – still. Right out of the box, the Instinct comes with two interchangeable batteries, which when you’re talking about everything it can do, the extra battery power in itself is phenomenal.
The Instinct’s touchscreen does not seem to me to be “archaic”, but it works perfectly fine…and to be honest, if you’re going to choose the Iphone with it’s “pinch-screen” photo feature, then you’re obviously an Apple fanboy, b/c I hardly find that to be anything other than a “kinda cool feature”. The Instinct doesn’t do that, but it does have 3 zooms for every webpage, it does have instant feedback to everything you push, which I find absolutely wonderful, b/c it’s a more interactive device, and it gives you the “feel” that it’s “working real time”.
Yes, it has a 2MP camera, WITH VIDEO. It has LIVE TV, which is a cool feature when you’re waiting on food at your local barbecue joint, and the kids are getting antsy, turn on Disney and let them watch. The Navigation works very well, just used it on the way to Florida. I also find the Customize “Favorites list” to be excellent as an addition to tailor the phone to your use.
The sliding feature of the touchscreen to answer calls and such is great too.
Although Apple has a very good product, and was the first major pioneer of this type of phone, the Instinct is a very impressive product, and I am thrilled with mine. Although I know much of the advertising has been geared as an Iphone competitor, which it is, the Instinct stands well on it’s own, and it is a well thought out product, but apparently the “Apple seal of Approval” just isn’t there for your average fanboy.
Walt, after using my Instinct along with my Blackberry 8830 WE for a few weeks, I have found the Instinct superior in many ways to either the Blackberry or the Iphone. The Iphone has some nice features quite true, but for a high use, easy to use device I prefer it to the Iphone. The Blackberry has some great features as well, and is probably the least intuitive device I have used since a Timex Sinclair
. The GPS features are especially useless when compared to the Instinct. Sure a few things are better, and as I use both all the time the compliment each other well. I am glad in retrospect that I did not allow the bas of your article to change my decision.
Posted by Ray Krause at July 13th, 2008 at 10:52 pmI have a Treo so I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I consider the Instinct an Iphone alternative, not a clone.
I’ve been a Macboy since 1984 (Macman?) so I’m a fan of Apple’s designs and software. But I also acknowledge better alternatives to the Mac when they appear. Don’t know if the Instinct is one of those, but it should fit the bill for those seeing the deficiency’s in Apple’s offering.
Posted by Tommy Chuck at July 25th, 2008 at 6:08 am