Samsung Instinct M800
Phone Scoop Review
Jun 13, 2008 by Eric M. Zeman
Samsung and Sprint break out the touch screen Instinct to combat the swelling ranks of touch devices. Does it compare to the competition? With video tour. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Great Phone
This is the best "phone" Sprint has ever come out with. I say phone because it is not a PDA and I think their has been some confusion on that. The phone is user friendly and very intuitive. All the features are fast and smooth, and the touch screen technology is amazing. The TV is a little pixilated but you are watching TV on your cell phone! The menu options are simple and user friendly. Samsung hit one out of the park on this phone. The handset will reverberate when you hit a key so you know that the phone recognizes that you are interacting with it. The phone comes with 2 batteries and has a at a charger that you can leave the spare on while you are out and about.
The phone is simply awesome.
SOLID PHONE
DISPLAY: beautiful screen, adjustable brightness, a little difficult to see in high sunlight
TOUCHSCREEN: works extremely well, but not a phone for heavy/fast texters - difficult to type fast without real buttons. works well when you take your time.
INTERNET: revA is a nice touch, internet speeds are fast, can switch between normal and mobile views
MENU: highly customizable menu which is a very nice feature. Easy to navigate and set up.
MUSIC: Sprint Music Store is user friendly, quick downloads, lots to choose from. the music player works very nicely and sounds great when using headphones. external speaker is nothing to get excited about
VISUAL VOICEMAIL: one of the best features of this phone, works very well, easy to set up and use. replay, text, or call right from visual voicemail menu.
PROS: visual voicemail, touchflow, nice slip design, widescreen or regular keypad options when texting/emailing, customizable menu, excellent battery (even comes with 2nd battery and charging pack).
CONS: phone automatically locks after screen shuts off and you cannot change this feature - the unlock key is on the top of the phone and gets annoying to use, not a phone for fast/heavy texters.
Best phone I've ever had
I got the phone a day before it came out and it has not failed me yet. The interface is easy to use and the texting on it is easy. I would recommend the phone to anyone who has sprint and doesn't want to switch to get the Iphone. Great phone sprint
Instinct what a great phone!!!!!
Some have said the signal is bad, hmmm I am typing this from my basement where my sanyo 9000 is sitting here next to me with no signal at all. I have been making calls and have even received a few no voice mails yet though. Oh well to each their own. I believe it's already been said that this is the best phone period and I will say it again, This is the best phone period. If you don't like it you don't have to buy it. Great concept isn't it.
Lovin IT!!!
This phone is just amazing. I have had A LOT of phones. I buy them all the time, and so far this is one of my favorites. I used to have Iphone on T mobile and then AT&T. Iphone rocks, but the coverage was horrible where I live. So I switched to Sprint. I had the Palm Centro which was very good as well. Riding Motorcycle I dropped it yesterday and now Friday I got the Instinct. I have always been a fan of Samsung. And this one is no exception. Stereo Bluetooth is cool for music. I also have the bluetooth in my helmet so no more dropping phone hopefully. This phone WOULD have got 5, except I have had it lock up a few times where I had to take out battery. I also have it sometimes go slow in different menus. Other then that it is a GREAT phone. Great reception, loud speakers. I wish you could rotate it like the iphone, but it only goes into landscape on its own. Except for the lag, lockups, and price of $450 This phone ROCKS!!
You will not be disappointed.
Also comes with 2GB MicroSD card, case, 2 batteries, external charger, stylus, USB cable...there is a lot of stuff and nicely packaged...
One last complaint.. Why is there a stylus but NO place to put it. Most pdas have a spot for the pen, but not this phone...most curious.
Instinct is the one
I picked up my new instinct yesterday with a pre release email and i have to say basically in one word this phone is awsome.. The INTERNET is very fast the touch screen is just great when you touch it , it actually works unlike the samsung glyde and it makes things a lot easier. The UI is wonderful easy to read and easy to use with the earpiece speaker is nice and loud as is the hands free speaker. I have to say this is the best phone sprint ever came out with and i recommend it to everybody, i know sprint is so, so with service but this phone makes up for that i get signal in places i didnt get before.. The price is great also $129.99 after the $100.00d mail in rebate. Trust me i know cell phones i have had very many in my 15 years and this ones a keeper so if you can buy it like the wind. Good in finding one right now.
Eric.
Very Surprised by this Phone
I must say after having this phone since it released I have really loving it. Battery life is one of the best I have seen from a Samsung phone in a long time. Data speeds are crazy fast on the Sprint network and nothing else compares. Reception, even though the bars fluctuate I still have reception from San Francisco to LA with very few dropped calls. Although there are a few things that could be changed on it, I'll just wait the months to come when update and/or 3rd party apps are finally released. It doesn't do all the things my 755p did, but it's worth the upgrade. If you want something new and different from sprint, GET IT.
Simply Everything
this phone is one of the best yet. great touch screen, nice feedback when you touch a button on the screen. the camera is decent for what it is. the internet is wonderful and you get so much when you buy the phone it comes with two batteries a battery charger data cable and a 2 gig sd card... they say that each batter gets 6 hours of talk time havent had enough time to tell yet but it definetly seems good. for the price point of 129 after rebate i dont think you could find a better phone.
First Impressions.. ehhh.
So, as we all know by now, this phone has some cool features. But..
I have had this phone for about 2 days. I wanted to give my first impressions while the things that bug me about this phone are still fresh.
1) GPS is basic. If you think this phone will substitute for having a Garmin in your car, think again. Compared to the one Garmin we own for 2 cars, the Sprint GPS service does a poor job giving you the fastest route. The Instinct voice activated "Live Search" is cool, but I got frustrated when I actually needed to type in an address on the Instinct with one hand. Hearing and following the directions "she" is saying seemed very difficult when compared to my Garmin.
2) If you just want to plug your phone into your computer's USB to charge it, then you've just turned off the phone. If I keep my wall charger at home and just keep the USB cable when traveling with my laptop.. then I can't use my Instinct while charging it with my laptop. I did not install the software that came with it on my work laptop and didn't plan on doing so.
3) Can't browse the web with one hand. If I am walking in the city or to my car or at a restaurant and just want look something up quickly on the web with one hand.. it's not functional. Web is only in landscape mode. The phone already doesn't ever make you feel like you have good grip on it, so trying to thumb type or browse while holding it in landscape is not functional.
Some of the other "nice-to-have" feature are also a little quirky, but are not a deal breaker for me. The TV service, while cool to have, seemed a little flaky. Instinct's interface in general seemed a little slow.. I find myself hitting the [HOME] button several times because it takes so long to exit whatever app it is in.
Also have had some difficulty with people hearing me on the phone, and having a hard time hearing them clearly.
I might need to give up my Instinct for a more traditional PDA phone. Sorry Instinct.
Horribale
So i bought this phone paying Verizon a cancellation fee to come to sprint, when i first got the phone its was actually a really nice phone although the INTERNET was not nearly as fast as the video in the store showed it being not even close trying to get on ebay it takes at least 2 minutes for the home page to come up if at all some times it gets right to the end and stops and then the screen becomes unclickable. Since buying it i received 2 software updates making it even worse now the phone freezes while ringing or when i try to hit the send button to send a text. i took it to a sprint service center where i left it for 2 hours they did their magic but the phone is even worse just out of no were it pops just that my battery is completely dead then all the sudden its 70% charged shortly after the phone will freeze up then you have to either take the battery out or just wait for the phone to recover its self. very disappointed.
Pros:
Large screen
Love the all touch of it
Cons:
to many to list
