SAMSUNG: Samsung Instinct M800

Friday 6 July 2012

Samsung Instinct M800

Over the last year, the collective response from most cell phone manufacturers to the iPhone has been rather muted. But now Samsung is trying a different tactic. Its new Samsung Instinct (SPH-M800) for Sprint is the first cell phone we've seen that throws some direct competition Apple's way. We still dismiss the whole idea of an "iPhone killer" as ridiculous, but comparisons here are inevitable and Sprint is doing nothing to silence them.

This CDMA phone features a large finger-touch display, EVDO Rev A data, and visual voicemail. Other key features include a 2 megapixel camera with video capture, memory card slot, threaded messaging, web browser with camera-based motion panning, voice control, and highly customizable menus.

Though the Instinct and the iPhone look about the same, and they rely heavily on touch screens with unique interfaces, there are some important feature distinctions. The Instinct offers its own brand of visual voice mail and it bests the first incarnation of the iPhone by offering 3G (EV-DO Rev. A) network compatibility, integrated GPS, and work e-mail support, just to name a few. The new iPhone 3G will be more evenly matched, but even the Instinct gets points for its multimedia messaging, voice dialing and video recording. In the important areas of usability and performance, however, the Instinct struggled on a few fronts.