With the intuitive design and powerfully packed innovative and easy to use features, Samsung’s Instinct is certainly giving the apple iPhone a run for its money. (Dumas, 2008). Though it lacks Wi-Fi and instant messaging facility with at times erratic video quality still the advantages the Instinct has over iPhone are quite large to bridge. (Samsung vs. apple iPhone, 2008). Though both look similar, some of the feature distinctions they have are very interesting. The Instinct has its own brand of visual voice mail, and it offers 3G network compatibility, integrated GPS in addition to email support. Though Apple’s latest iPhone series seems to match Instinct for all the claimed strength, Instinct always scored over by virtue of better capability in multimedia messaging, voice dialing, and video recording.
Design
Instinct has a very eye-catching design but is a little taller and fatter than iPhone. However, its front face measurements give it a thinner feel. With a specified weight of 4.4 ounces, it gives a very sturdy feel and a strong appearance. The hardware operations that are primarily related to sending and receiving calls in both types of phones are quite different. iPhone uses GSM connection while Instinct depends on CDMA technology.
The simpler color choices in grey and black could impress anyone at first sight in the first look itself. The support it gives for 2,62,000 colors and 4,32,240 pixel resolutions makes its display abilities simply awesome. The graphic component is wonderful but it restricts our freedom to change the menu and texting font. Even then one could adjust the backlighting and brightness to match his/her visual comfort level. Still, Instinct is not without any discomfort on these lines – video viewing and web browsing could experience a bit of cramming. (The product summary, 2008).
The iPhone has only one button on the face while the Instinct has three. Instincts menu is very simple and attractive and is designed in four icons at the bottom, namely- Favs, main, web, fun. The Favs or favorites allows to store the most preferred functions, The Menu carries the functions for messaging, an organizer in addition to the GPS features inbuilt in it. Fun is exclusive for games and entertainments, multimedia, camera, etc.
The numeric keypads are larger and the ability to save the presence of a dedicated save key to store new phone numbers makes the process more comfortable. The major inconvenience is the small size of the letters on the numeric key which would be a testing time for people with light visual impairment. The arrangement to maneuver the call is something very interesting on Instinct. A shortcut is visible on the secondary menu to mute the sound, activate the speaker phone, or access the contact list without causing any accidental hang-up of calls. The presence of an alphabetic keyboard in the landscape mode would help to hold the phone in two hands and to use the thumbs to type the matter.
Though the keyboard is impressive, a few disadvantages exist. The size of the keys should have been a little bigger because persons with larger hands may find the present arrangement a bit packed. The automatic spell check on the text as present in the iPhone is totally absent in Instinct. Though one can use the stylus in Instinct to write on the smaller spaces, it has failed to provide a slot for the stylus.
The camera shutter, voice activation control, and micro SD card slot are all provided on the left. Unlike the iPhone, the camera and self-portrait mirror are placed on the back conveniently. The locations of the power/display locking system, charger port, and the volume rocker are all placed at convenient locations in the Instinct. Instinct is also rich in accessories. Besides the necessary pieces like battery charger and carrying case, a USB cable, software CD, and an extra battery for use in emergencies, make it a very valuable purchase pack.
On Features
Higher volume of contacts with every contact having entries for five telephone numbers, email address, a URL, and brief notes are very attractive. Though iPhone claims to have much higher contacts, Instinct’s options to pair the callers in groups and placing them with photos and specific polyphonic ring tones give a slight advantage on features. (Douglas, 2008).
Also, the Instinct’s ability to provide its own version of visual voice mail is very impressive. Message display and retrieval could be at the choice of the user giving a feel of more customized services. Organizer features are identical to those of the iPhone, which include multimedia messaging, a calendar, a unit converter, a notepad, a calculator, a stopwatch, and a world clock. The display of both calendar and world clock is a bit cramped in both types.
Other special features on Instinct are full Bluetooth with a stereo profile and an extensive voice command. Though speech-to-text support is absent, the voice command function can easily integrate with Microsoft search. The search could be integrated with the phone’s GPS connection to search the surrounding location for a match. The words of one of the users testify this point “When we tried saying “Maya,” we got not only a restaurant located a block away but also a doctor in Palo Alto, Calif., with the name Maya. And when we tried saying “pizza,” we got a long list of choices”. This is certainly one of the best features of Instinct.
The variety of text messaging and email options that are available are very interesting and this has certainly gone one step ahead of the iPhone. But a disappointing omission in such a high-caliber phone is the absence of instant messaging. On the email and other web support facilities, integrated support for POP3 accounts for AOL, AIM, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail. The Instinct’s inbox has enough space to accommodate 100 messages. One can read the attachments through the emails, but one cannot edit them.
Of course, the selection of links on the web page are not without problems. The common problems often experienced on touch screen phones are also experienced with Instinct. It seems that busy browsing would not be a possibility on this so also surfing a crowded page could cause a few problems. iPhone’s multi-touch interphase are also equally comparable to these options. (Will, 2008).
The music interface available may not be a fancy facility in these types of gadgets. Camera provided is 2.0 mega pixel with a very few options. Most of the basic settings that are usually found on any basic model camera is virtually absent on Instinct. Most surprising is missing adjustments for resolution, quality, brightness etc. Of course, absence of these options may not cause a major problem on the quality of photo, disappointment on seeing only very few features cannot be covered.
Though it does not have a flash, the handy photometer and the “fuzzy picture” warning it gives when one is about to take a bad photo, is a good feature to compensate the earlier mentioned missing options. The camcorder too lacks editing options but is capable of taking clips with sounds in two lengths. The Instinct can accomadate cards of size 8 GB, similar to that of iPhone. (Samsung instinct vs apple iphone comparison, 2008).
Performance
The call quality is mixed – the volume is fine but clarity is missing. The signal perception was marginally erratic , still callers had no trouble to hear the voice properly. The Samsung Instinct can support a talk time of 5.75 hours on a fully charged battery. The trails have shown that the battery is capable to support more than 6 hours of talk time. One can obtain additional time by using the spare battery supplied as accessory.
Comparison
(Price comparison samsung instinct vs apple 3g iphone, 2008).
IPhone
Instinct
- Initial Price $ 199 $ 129
- Contract term 2 years 2 years
- Storage 8 GB space 2 GB Micro SD card
- GPS navigation No dynamic driving Included door to directions. Door navigation
- Monthly cost of 70 $ 70 $ cheapest plan
- Carrier AT & T Sprint
Conclusions
Though one cannot compare the two phones directly as they are totally different types – iPhone being a smartphone and Instinct being a touch screen enabled usual phone. But, as iPhone lacks 3G capabilities, Instinct can be considered superior for this round of evaluation. On the type of software being used by both phones, iPhone uses MAC OS X while Instinct uses its own proprietary operating system and hence one cannot install any other software in it.
Instinct has navigational software unlike iPhone which depends on Google Maps. The sales data available on the websites too gives an initial picture in favour of Instinct. (Samsung instinct m800 apple iphone 3g ipod touch itouch universaL touch screen stylus pen clip 2008). Regarding the cost of operation , 2 year unlimited call category would cost $ 3320 for iPhone while Instinct is positioned at $ 2530. (Price comparison samsung instinct vs apple 3g iphone, 2008).
References
Dumas, Danny. (2008). Samsungs instinct gives iphone a run for its money. Wired Network: Gadget Lab The Hardware that Rocks Your World. Web.
Samsung instinct vs apple iphone. (2008). YouTube. Web.
The product summary. (2008). Cnet Reviews. Web.
Douglas, Tom. (2008). Insight into the Samsung Instinct: An Iphone Killer or Sophisticated Copycat. Bright Hub. Web.
Will, (2008). Samsung vs apple iphone: Round 1. Into Mobile: Always a strong signal. Web.
Samsung instinct vs apple iphone comparison. (2008). Gadgets Reviews. Web.
Price comparison samsung instinct vs apple 3g iphone. (2008). Navigadget. Web.
Samsung instinct m800 apple iphone 3g ipod touch itouch universaL touch screen stylus pen clip. (2008). Shopping. Web.