It was time for me to get a new cell phone. For months I researched all the several new mobile techologies and service plans out there. At first I was a bit disuaded by the all touch screen phones. To me it seemed that the mobile unit I carried needed buttons to push in order for it to feel real to me. Still the more I read and researched on the different technologies out there, the more I started liking the phones that were all touch screen based. Iphone, HTC Touch, LG Vu, BlackBerry Storm and the Samsung Instinct were all at the top of my list. How did I decide on the Instinct? Because Sprint (the exclusive dealer for the Instinct) offered the best unlimited data/text/messaging/web/nights & weekend plan for the price.

After making my decision on the phone I started shopping around to my different cell phone shops around my area. Surprisingly the Sprint store was the MOST expensive for the out the door pricing of the Instinct. Some mom & pop type shops had okay deals but nothing spectacular. Then I happened into Wireless Toyz (check local area for one near you!). They had the BEST prices on all the phones from all the networks around. I won't go into monetary details here, but lets just say that out the door it was under $300 and after my mail in rebate the phone will have cost me under $200.

The Samsung Instinct is toted as the iPhone Killer. It is a really great phone, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it the iPhone Killer yet. The instinct is a great gadget for the guy on the go. It has Sprint's ultra fast data network and mobile web. So you can get your internet and email with steady speed while out and about. It offers TV, Radio, MP3, and Video playback. Excluse Sprint entertainment network channels, and even PPV movies are available over the air to your phone. Many of the TV/Movie/Radio chanels are completely free of charge (ie: no monthy subscription needed) while some do cost from $3-$20 a month for use.

Included in this slim little dynamo is a voice guided GPS. It's like having a talking version of Google maps with you where ever you go! With this phone you will never get lost again...as long as you have a signal. The GPS can be programmed to be voice activated (along with the rest of the features of the phone) and will quickly zero on your location and give you pretty much all the geographical information you could desire. From the locations of the nearest McDonald's to off the road National Landmarks, this thing will find them and lead you to them.

Instinct comes out of the box ready to be configured for your POP3 email. AOL, MSN, Hotmail, GMail, they all work! It does NOT support Exchange Server though. So if you're planning on hooking in to your company email, unless it supports POP3 you are out of luck.

Another cool feature on this phone is called "Visual Voicemail". When you get a voicemail you go to a screen on the phone. There it lists all the voice mails you have. You simply touch the voice mail you want to hear. No more skipping through 5 messages just to hear the 6th one. Now you can listen to your messages in the order YOU want. I thought that was awesome.

This phone sports a decent 2.0 mp camera and comes with a 2 gb micro SD card for storing pictures, videos, MP3, and other downloaded content. It does everything under the sun that you could possibly want a mobile phone to do. The thing is though it is lacking any decent downloadable applications yet.

The little unit is still relatively new on the market, but in order to be the "iPhone Killer" it needs apps, APPS, APPS! And not just games either. Sure there's a handful of games available for purchase/monthly fee from Sprint, but nothing absolute OMG I gotta have it and am willing to pay $3 a month to keep it. The apps available are just not that great. Who cares about instant celebrity news updates and NASCAR highlights? If this is to be toted as a "smartphone" then we need Exchange interface, ability to view documents, have apps available for day planning because the calendar feature on the Instinct is nothing but a glorified alarm clock. Lastly it needs to be made more compatable with existing mobile games and apps out there. Bank of America offers a great tool for checking your account balance and status right from your phone, but it doesn't work on the Instinct (or any other touch screen phone actually). So while having a touch screen is great, it is a curse too because most of the mobile software developers out there have only concentrated on the button phones. Soon though...soon Touch will rule all.

All in all, the Instinct is a great way to go if you wanna save some cake (which is a lie) over buying the iPhone. It's sturdy, light weight, suprising clear sounding, has great service and network backing it up, is easy to learn how to use, and is great for the non-corporate person. The bad side of the phone, sometimes it locks up and reboots itself when you're trying to view video/tv channels, and its lack of downloadable/compatible apps.

For some video on the multimedia features of the Samsung Instinct, click here

For some vidoe on the general features of the Samsung Instinct, click here