Advantages and Disadvantages of Samsung Instinct HD (Review)
Posted on | January 15, 2010 | No Comments
The Samsung Instinct HD is a followup to the Instinct, which premiered last year on the Sprint network. The main idea behind this device is to turn your mobile lifestyle into a high definition experience, with a five megapixel camera and camcorder and HD output, which allows you to display your videos on a compatible HD television if you purchase the necessary cable.
Advantages:
* Great screen
* Great camera and camcorder
Disadvantages:
* Poor video output quality is less than expected
* Unusable virtual keyboard in portrait mode
* Relatively poor battery life
DESIGN & BUILD
The Instinct HD looks like virtually every other mobile phone out there these days, featuring a black exterior with a few silver accents. It’s very thin and surprisingly light, but wide enough that it’s difficult for me to use one-handed.
Display
The display on the Instinct HD is gorgeous, simply one of the best I’ve ever seen. Everything comes through sharp and clear, especially photos and videos. It’s large enough that your friends can gather around the screen for a slideshow and actually be able to see everything.
Keyboard
The Instinct HD doesn’t have a physical QWERTY keyboard, because the focus here is squarely on photos and videos, not messaging. Unfortunately the virtual keyboard isn’t too great, at least when you’re starting cold. The landscape version is OK, though you won’t want to enter too much text with it at once.
PERFORMANCE
I’ve had the Instinct HD for a few weeks now, and have found that it doesn’t seem to be as snappy as I would expect, especially since it’s a relatively simple featurephone instead of a complicated smartphone. It takes forever to start up when the device has been turned off. There are noticeable delays when launching applications, and it seems that almost every single one requires updating — and sometimes updates even when I choose “no” when asked about immediately downloading and installing an update. This could be a problem with the particular unit I was sent for review, but it does seem to be a full retail package, not a stripped down loaner device.
Wireless/Call Quality
After making several test calls I have found the call quality results to be somewhat disappointing. One of my callers described the quality as just “decent” when I was indoors in a quiet environment. The sound quality on both ends was somewhat below average, though we didn’t have any major problems communicating.
Productivity
Basic calendar and note applications are included, but there is no task list. Word processing/spreadsheet applications were not included on the loaner unit I’m currently evaluating. Obviously this isn’t the sort of phone you would choose if you have heavy personal information organization needs, but I was a bit surprised by how little the Instinct HD offers in this area.
Entertainment
The Instinct HD includes the standard Sprint entertainment options such as Sprint TV, Sprint Radio, NFL Mobile, and NASCAR Mobile. YouTube is included, but I was disappointed to see that it was just a browser shortcut, not a full application. Demos of Monopoly and Uno are included, with good graphics and fun gameplay. Other games are also available for purchase.
Battery Life
I’m concerned about overall battery life: my experience during the review period is that it is relatively short for the Instinct HD as compared to other similar devices. You will definitely need to charge the device a minimum of every 2-3 days to prevent yourself from being caught with a dead battery.
CONCLUSION
Samsung Instinct HDI’m not really feeling the love for the Samsung Instinct HD. It seems fairly responsive and offers fabulous graphics and good sound, but the battery life, web browsing issues, and other UI quirks make it impossible to fall in love with this device.
If you want my advice, and photos and video are your primary focus, get a great digital camera, and look elsewhere for a phone that better fits your needs.
The Instinct HD is a great idea, but it doesn’t quite deliver on the promise.
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