iPhone Vs. Samsung Instinct

Have you seen the ads for the new Sprint Instinct? They make it look like the latest big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. And while Hollywood may not have produced it - Samsung did - both big-budget and a blockbuster it may very be.

Catering to the wireless touchscreen multimedia-hungry hordes salivating over the latest iPhone, the Samsung Instinct aims to court some of Apple's audience away from that camp. How well does it do? Is it just another knock-off of the same formula, or a remake that's better than the original? The answer is - a little of both.

The feature set of the Samsung Instinct simply doesn't even lift a finger at those of the iPhone, though on the face of things the two devices are nearly indistinguishable.

As with oh-so many movie previews (sticking with our original metaphor) the Sprint Instinct looks a whole lot better than it actually is. It looks, quite simply, like the Next Best Thing in Smartphones, all polished and only 1/2" thick, weighing it at almost 4.5 oz, with a 3+ inch screen and a handsome absence of unnecessary buttons (but for a choice few on the sides for such things as power and volume control). In truth, it looks very much like the industry-leading product it aims to unseat, namely: the iPhone, of course.

But as for what's inside, it's a whole different story. For one, the call quality on the Instinct can't compare with that of the iPhone. Nor can its battery, giving just over half of the talk time the new 3G iPhone allows (345 minutes vs. 600). It does have an FM radio whereas the iPhone does not, but how much is that little addition really worth to you? Surely not.

A couple of notable lacks in the Instinct not missing in the iPhone 3G are a search function for your contact list, Wi-Fi, and a decent web browser (the Samsung Instinct does have a web-browser, mind you, just not a decent one, more of the clunky variety emulating Palm rather than Apple). The Instinct's email functions are also lacking, with no support for reading PDFs and no HTML formatting. The Instinct has no To-Do list and while it does sync up with Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express, it does not sync up with your notes and calendar on your desktop or laptop.

Now the Instinct does offer some minor improvements, including on the application of touchscreen technology, such as the on-screen sliders that let you more easily control variables like speakerphone without accidentally hanging up on your call. And its visual voice mail system shows you who left you messages and lets you play them back in order you choose.

As for multimedia, the Instinct fall short there as well, with internet TV (something the iPhone does not have) but one with poor picture quality. And while it does have a music player and an online music store, the tracks you download are not iPod-compatible.

Worst of all, the Samsung Instinct does not support the user-addition of 3rd party software, making the functionality of the device eminently un-versatile and un-expandable.

If you prefer (whether by choice or necessity) the Sprint network over the AT&T network, then that right there might make your decision for you. The calling and data plans for the Instinct are also a bit more flexible and user-friendly than those of the iPhone.

The sticker price on both devices is comparable: the new iPhone 3G costing $199 (for the 8 gig version), the Sprint Nextel Instinct costing $129.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. But is it worth what you sacrifice for that $70 discount? What do your instincts tell you?