Originally Posted By DVC_dad I just had the opportunity to test drive Sprint's new iPhone look alike, the Instinct. Having had the iPhone since day 1, BUT NOT being a member of the Cult of Apple, I really gave the Instinct a fair shake. Final result, it's fun, and certainly an upgrade from a regualr old cell phone, but compared to the current iPhone, which as of July 11 will be retired forever, still the Instinct should be renamed the Instink! I could drag on for hours about the differences but I won't. I will just point out a few positives and a few negatives for your review. 1.) The camera is BETTER, as for picture quality, than the iPhone, BUT the software driving the photo features is S L O W as molasses in winter. 2.) The phone is a wee bit smaller than the iPhone, BUT the screen is just a wee to small. 3.) The overall use and function of the Instinct is pretty good, but there are some things and menus about it that are not outright intuitive. Here is where the wheels begin to fall off... 4.) The internet browser of the Instinct is not even close to true internet surfing. Everything is delivered in mobile version and is again S L O W. I don't think the lack of speed has anything to do with the internet connection, I think its the poor processing power of the phone. Why? Becuase the general speed of anything on the phone touch screen is very consistant, but just simply slow. The phone cannot keep up at all with what I want to do, when I want to do it. It lags behind, and I find that I have to slow down for the phone to keep up. 5.) mp3 player? Yes. iTunes? Of course not. That is a big one for me. The speaker of the phone delivers somewhat decent sound quality when considering how small it is. With headphones the MP3's sound great, but switching from song to song is klunky at best. 6.) PRICE! The iPhone KILLER! Not so faaaaast! The owner of this phone says that she paid $140 for it. Well the new iPhone coming out July 11 will be $199 and it is EASILY worth the extra $60. 7.) GPS. The GPS and direction feature is neat. It will tell you when to turn left and turn right and even to take a U turn if you go off track. No GPS in the current iPhone but the directions features of the current iPhone are much richer, and can be tailored a lot easier, such as plotting a course from my current location. Also the new iPhone will have GPS instead of the current method of knowing where you are from cell phone tower tiangulation. The Instinct wins the GPS comparison, but only until July 11. 8.) Battery life. The thing is a batter life hog, not so much in the sense of use, but it seems to recharge a lot slower. 9.) LCD touch screen. The touch screen is good, but no where near the iPhone. I found myself having to press two or three times and sometimes getting the wrong feature activated, usually due to the S L O W nature of the processor. The screen seemed to get confused often. The SPELL CHECKER is a complete joke. The iPhone just corrects your spelling on the fly, while the INSTINCT turns the word red, until you click on it, then it gives suggestions. The iPhone seems to "learn" my personal common typos while the Instinct is stupid in this area. It works but it makes you have to do more to correct your words. There is a lot more, but I will sum it all up with this. The phone is nice, but not in the same league at all whatsoever as the OLD iPhone, much less the new. The most offensive thing is the general S L O W speed of the general operation, and the horrible excuse for browsing. The email function is acceptable, but just. Spend the $60 and get the new iPhone. The Instinct is more of a cross between the Motorolla SLVR and a big touch screen. Final opinion, 6 out of 10 and that is being generous.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad As a footnote, this wasn't just from picking up the phone in the store. I spent about 2 hours with the phone, even drove around in the car with it, and had someone with me that knows all about the functions, working the phone with me, showing me this and that. I think my review is fairly reliable. But of course given more time, I would better be able to compare without bias. But in the two hours spent, I had seen enough to know...if you know what I mean.
Originally Posted By Disneyland55 Awesome! My wife and I have the "old" iphones. My parents just ordered themselves instincts. I wasn't sure whether I should be jealous. Now I know! Thanks
