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  • moonfinger
  • Member Since Dec 12th, 2006
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Guess I should have posted this when I picked up the Instinct on Thursday. Oh and I thought "ooooooh.. I get a special invite to get the phone a day earlier".. "I must be speical". LOL!! Eeeeeekkks...
Yes, the slickery feel of this phone was pretty enjoyable...but that's about it.... and I am disappointed. Greatly.

Eight years with Sprint... and got the shaft again. Alot of hype over this phone so I had to check it out. Within the less than an hour....I started to find one thing after another...that disappointed me. (It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure these things out, I think the manual was a waste of some trees).

Here's my review:

Really the only things I DO like about this phone:
* IS smaller than the iPhone (but definately NOT an iPhone-by any means.
* Touch technology
* GPS
* I can use the same mem card for cam & this phone and send better quality pics to family.

Did I mention anything else I liked?
* Oh yes, the texting history and call history holds alot of info.... hmmm...

* Screen size could have been moved about 1/2" instead wasted space that could've been used for more viewing.
* Grainy vid and internet viewing on let's say YouTube... horrible quality.

* Visual qwerty keypad is too small: The space bar is too small!!! Unless I was a cat trying to send texts. I hitting the "?" when trying to use the space bar instead. No, I do not have "man hands".
*Fun tools with the emoticons (smilies)
*No PRESET MESSAGES or RECENT messages that you could just tab and it would have it all typed out?
*No T9 predictive texting either.
Maybe I just the 1000 texts I send a month are too much. Is this Sprint's way of say, "we have unlimited texting..they'll stop after they get this phone".....

* Personalization: None. Main screen with fav pics or skin
* Cannot change the format of the screen...It is just the main menu in Samsung's format. The only time you can see a background screen is when you come out of standby mode (periodically, it doesn't always show up).
* Display - you cannot change anything, fonts, colors, pics, nothing worth getting a glimpse @ for more than a fraction of a second.

* TOO DARK: You struggle trying to see this outside even when it is cloudy. It is hard to see visuals on the phone and the vid quality is not great. Colors are dull, no vibrance at all.

* Camera: It does not have a flash. Quality is horrible (which I do not know why they sacrificed the camera when the European model had a better one) and this was dropped to 2.0 Mega).
* No fancy or fun tools to experiment with when taking pics, adjusting, zoom or editing, brightness, nothing.

* INTERNET/APPS: Where are the Java enable apps? Internet - it has the Sony PSP format in mind for it. Almost to a teeee! Which blows. Oh....I thought I was on the NowNetwork. Oh man...still no better signal and the internet isn't even worth looking at because it is so painfully dreadful.
* Too slow
* Navigation on the web is awful.

..............Not hip on the fact it locks up every ten seconds. You have to keep pushing a button to unlock it to do anything.

* Dialing out.. seems there are more strokes needed then necessary making calls and answering them.
I do however like the GPS.. that's pretty nice. I played around with it lastnite. It was about the most interesting piece on this phone.

Hmm...battery life. Ok, yes, it is a "removable battery"...They say anyway. Did I mention at the store the rep about lost a finger trying to get the back off to put in a new battery? He didn't think I saw him..but I really didn't think anything of it. Ok, yes you get two batteries to always have 1 on deck if the other dies. Oh did I mention I cannot get the back off to put in the charged battery?

* It died alot quicker than I imagined.

It seems they forgot all the basics that ALL cell phones have and completely dropped them. Usually when new phones come out, they improve/add to existing features. I am a texting junky and it seems like all the tools I had before..are gone. Things that made a quick text easier and not a chore. Now I dread sending text. EEEKS! Let alone using the internet. So basically, I got suckered info upgrading my plan for services I will probably no longer use.

Well, maybe Sprint thought with charging a flat "unlimited" fee for all the perks, maybe selling a crap ton of these phones would prevent their demise...and people won't use the internet or send text because they made a phone my Barbie doll from 3rd grade would have had a better time using it than I... She could have sat in her phat towne-house sending texts to my family and friends instead. Do you know anyone that has Barbie doll sized hands with pencil sized fingers? Hmmm..Maybe my dog Larry could use his tail and text better? ;-)

They should have actually had someone use this phone before blowing so much $ on it and actually trying to sell it. Who designs this stuff? Maybe I need to go back to school and get into product development....and go to Japan or where ever it is they design this crap and make them realize....we have bigger fingers than Barbie in the US! Hugely disappointed.
Oh reaaaaallly. Seriously, when is Sprint going to come up with some new shiz? Same phones and most of which are new, are Nextel. Is there that big of need for pic functionality for the click and talk crowd? Anyway, 8 eights strong here and debating on whether or not to sit any longer thru the Storm. Come up with some new phones already!!! LOL!!! Ps. I don't think I can wait for the m800 'til June??!?! They need to get on that asap. There really isn't much left appealing to Sprint anymore.
*** I sent some info to the "contact us" section regarding this phone... MUST READ!!!!
Thanks!
Hmm.. A Sprint Playbook. What & where is this? This junkie has a contract reknewal next month and yet to see something that really grabs my attention. Not a fan of the ever-so-tired same over-priced lacking quality phones. Just why is it so hard for Sprint to get good phones..and why so far behind? I check every few days, hoping to get a glimpse of something new in 2008. If there is something out there, let me know.
Thanks!
Sluuuuuurp that right up! And this American Sprint customer will probably never see one of these right? :-( Oooh... I want it!
I am hooked on your site. Before I buy or even consider, I always go to your site for reviews... and check out the newest specs on new gadgets. LOVE your site. Yes, this chic is a gadget geek. Well, if I am picked.. I am Sprint customer for about seven years now..... ;-) And yet I still can't find what I am looking for with Sprint. ;-( Love the Helio! Good luck to all!
I have been accessing Gmail from my mobile for a very long time. You can't beat it. There is a newer version of the application which Sprint now has on their site. I will add that I have been with Sprint for many years. And by far, the random delayed text messaging, pics coming in at 4am is a huge problem. And don't get me started on the voicemail notifications. Never get them. Sprint seriously needs to improve on alot.
Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I'm in the market for a new phone and money isn't a limitation. I'm also not partial to any particular US carrier, but here are some of the features I'd like to have: WiFi, GPS, good coverage in lots of places, push Gmail (a must!), physical keyboard (a must!), a touchscreen, decent battery life and a relatively slim body. And please, nothing that has a fruit logo on it. No offense to the fruit fans, though. Thanks!"

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