You can just imagine the conversation. The Sprint executive screaming to the Samsung rep: “I don’t care how shitty you have to make it, just give me an iPhone knock-off in three months!!”.
And Samsung, who otherwise makes nice stuff (I loved the P-300), caved and delivered the Instinct:
Terrible, just terrible. More pictures on Gizmodo.
JF
on 01 Apr 08The proportions are all wrong. The screen is being pinched by the thick side bezels and the space at the bottom is about 1.5x the space at the top. Gawd.
I also wonder where the phone number shows up when you’re dialing it. The screenshot above seems to replace it with a huge Talk button, but how do you know if you’re dialing the right number? Does it pulse between the number and the talk button? I wonder.
And “Pause”? What is that for? Voicemail? But you’re not in Voicemail yet.
mark
on 01 Apr 08haha! i thought this was an april fools joke, but when i looked at sprint’s website i realised it wasn’t
Josh Walsh
on 01 Apr 08As terrible as that is… it’s still better than the tPhone chinese ripoff.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/20/keepin-it-real-fake-part-lx-iphone-clone-on-video/
Paul
on 01 Apr 08JF, “pause” is probably for inserting a pause in a number to dial.
Anonymous Coward
on 01 Apr 08Looks like the Instinct has one feature I really really wish the iPhone did: voice dialing.
I don’t care if its even a cheap voice recording matching thing, I used to use voice dialing on my cheap t610 all the time and it was really nice when you’re in the car…. don’t have to look down at the screen to dial.
But still… the Instinct UI looks pretty terrible.
Brad
on 01 Apr 08Eh, this looks a heck of a lot nicer than my Blackjack (honestly the phone isn’t so much the problem – it’s Windows Mobile, the crap the Microsoft markets as an operating system).
Evidently the Instinct is going to cost less than $300, and it does have some cool features like GPS, expandable microSD memory, voice dialing, etc. I know I’m commenting on the wrong blog for people to get excited about more features, though.
So yeah, it’s a knock-off, but it looks a heck of a lot nicer than most other phones out there. There may be a niche for this thing. If it were less than $200, I bet there’d be a huge niche.
AaronS
on 02 Apr 08Did anyone else notice the two huge logos you have on the front of the phone? I bet they were arguing about which logo should go on the front of the phone and just “compromised” that both would.
Meh.
Andrew
on 02 Apr 08omg the main menus hurt my eyes i liked the p300 as well the p310 designs their designs a bit lagging nowadays f480 lookz hot though
worst UI offender is motorola always feels like i’m back in DOS mode when i use a motorola
Spencer Fry
on 02 Apr 08April Fools! Right…?
Luther Baker
on 02 Apr 08Why is it Terrible, just terrible?
Jeff Hartman
on 02 Apr 08It’s funny how this is considered “terrible.” Not that I disagree. It’s just that prior to the iPhone, based on the screenshot UI, this may have been heralded as good design.
The bar has been raised so very high.
quandro pujammi
on 02 Apr 08i weeptoday
Chris
on 02 Apr 08It is not that bad, we have seen worse from Motorola and AT&T before. For those who are in Sprint, this is a good one, replaceable battery, Faster Broadband, expandable memory, and no costly fees of Apple & ATT fees (for $99, you get everything), are good for the customer.
Ben
on 02 Apr 08So wait, is this a product review, or are you basing your criticism solely on a screenshot?
Apple fandom hits a new … wait, forget that last point.
mgroves
on 02 Apr 08I’m pretty happy with the Mogul, myself, but Sprint is the only major carrier that doesn’t use SIM cards, so I guess this is just a move to try and retain customers who really care about style and trends I suppose. Meh.
Ryan Bergeman
on 02 Apr 08I see a ‘Store’ nav widget on the Music 2 screenshot. I wonder what that will be? (Worse thought: I wonder what it’ll be like?)
Reuben
on 02 Apr 08When it comes to gifts, it’s the thought that counts right?
I was given a LG Prada phone. It lasted two weeks before I switched back to my two year old nokia.
Was there a similar post for the Prada phone? Maybe LG thought people who buy prada phones wouldn’t be seen dead writing a text message, so it wouldn’t matter how frustrating it is.
Clark
on 02 Apr 08It’s amazing the amount of influence US telecoms have over the design and development of mobile hardware makers. No doubt the train wreck pictured above is a result of this influence.
some guy
on 02 Apr 08$500 phone you have to have a mac to develop for where apple skims 30% of your profits: genius!
unreleased phone you’ve never used and have no idea what it will actually be like (amounting to little more than unsubstantiated rumor on par with all the fake iphone ‘screens’ that circulated the internet): lame, even if it does wind up being > $200 cheaper!
Brendan Lee
on 02 Apr 08Oh my gosh! Im going to totally agree with what you guys said in your blog and then spout off some statistic about why you guys are right!
SwitchStories
on 02 Apr 08I can see great excitement about Samsung Instinct, everybody asking if it syncs with Microsoft Exchange, will it be 3G, what about SDK?
What people don’t understand in today’s world is attention to details. Apple is very strong in this area and that is why copying their products is hopeless. For the same reasons Apple is one of the strongest and best known brands in the world. Of course, iPhone is pricey but at least they have enough money to compete on the market. And they have people that are smart enough to bring innovation and fresh air to the mobile industry.
Have you heard what Jobs said about the iPhone development? He came to the office one day and realised he doesn’t like it and they start over again. This is about not accepting mediocre products and about understanding that PUSH market no longer exists (technology sector). You can’t just build an average product, buy a lot of TV ads and count revenue.
Would anybody give Apple any chances 12 years ago? Competition is great and I am happy Apple is fighting for the market share on different fields. If iPhone helps in that, as iPods do, then great!
Apple changed the rules on the mobile market. Do you think Steve Jobs would allow sticking an ugly carrier’s logo on their phone, like LG did?
@Jeff Hartman: The bar has been raised, you are right. And we, consumers, should be happy about that! It is a consumers’ market now.
Tom G
on 02 Apr 08Hmm… This would be like making a MacBook Pro clone loaded with Vista… Hmm… Certainly not for me, but I’m sure there’s a market for it.
BTW I’ve been carrying my Samsung Smartphone for 2.5 years and its been a very good phone.
Terry Sutton
on 02 Apr 08Knock-offs (and any other form of competition) can only stand to make things better. I (firmly) believe that the world would be a better place if Windows had any competition 10 years ago.
Matt Radel
on 02 Apr 08Heh. Prolly the biggest thing it’s got going against it is that it’s on Sprint’s network (the only network that was soooo bad I paid to get out of), but I totally agree with the criticisms above.
I think there’s a few too many Apple fans (myself included) here to give this thing a real fair shake. As Tom G eluded to above, I think there are enough people out there that would love to have an iPhone knockoff because they a) HATE Apple or b) don’t want to jailbreak an iPhone for their carrier.
But this isn’t the first time that Sprint has tried to rip ideas from Apple either. I’m sure it’ll work out great for them here too…
John Herr
on 02 Apr 08@Terry—Windows did have competition 10 years ago, it was called Apple, and it buried it. Of course Steve Jobs was ousted, and so that could have been (a little) different, but to say there was no competition is naive.
@37 Signals Sprint is smart here—they’ve got an iPhone-like device on their network. If you’ve got Sprint service, do you think you’ll be more likely to get the more expensive iPhone and switch to ATT or do you think you’ll get the less expensive Sprint device. So it doesn’t have the same polish, so what? Many people will not even notice, because they don’t have the same standards.
Everybody thinks iPhone is great, me included, but if you didn’t see the touchscreen/monitor interface coming, then you just weren’t very smart yourself. Apple did it first, but then again, maybe they just looked at Kiosks the world-wide, or ATMs, and said “Huh, we can do that”. Anyway, the iPhone, as a geek device, sucks. Maybe somebody else can do better… like Nokia.
@SwitchStories You can’t? Checked out Glam.com? You certainly can sell cheap products by leveraging TV ads.
Amy S
on 02 Apr 08This is more about usability and design than the technical functions of the phone: as a designer, I totally understand why David said “Terrible …”.
One look at these screenshots and those of us involved in the visual aspect of design and UI projects see a THOUSAND bad ideas and executions in just this small series of screenshots. It’s a total disaster and I would NEVER enjoy using a phone with this slap-dash UI garbage. Of course, that describes 99.9% of all phones on the market.
As with many objects which inspire passion (music, art, Apple, software code) one persons “abomination” is another persons “I don’t see why that’s so bad …”.
The iPhone (and knockoffs) brings some emotion out of just about anyone who comes into contact with it … and that alone is noteworthy.
dusoft
on 02 Apr 08Better stay independent and go for LG Viewty: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=lg+viewty&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
Nice to use and strong in photos/video.
John D
on 02 Apr 08Sprint/Samsung phone: comes with an “in-phone tutorial”
Apple iPhone: No tutorial necessary
GeeIWonder
on 02 Apr 08Everybody thinks iPhone is great
Not everyone. Not me. I like tactile response, thank you very much.
Jared V
on 02 Apr 08The big difference here is that Apple made a product that people would enjoy using, and the knockoffs are simply products that work (presumably). The iPhone is the first phone large numbers of people would fall in love with. It’ll take more than mimicking the appearance and feature creep to break up that love affair.
Marc Lehmann
on 02 Apr 08it’s an iPhone alright, it’s from the 70’s though. chunky rims, 90’s dash, but where’s the flare tail lights?
GeeIWonder
on 02 Apr 08Sometimes reading these things is like living in the Emperor’s New Clothes.
Alex D.
on 02 Apr 08GeeIWonder: Have you used one for more than 30 seconds? That’s an odd thing to pick on …
GeeIWonder
on 02 Apr 08Yes I have, thanks. I even thought about buying one until I actually tried one for more than 30 seconds. ;)
Matt Lee
on 02 Apr 08I’m also not a fan of the iPhone. The lack of a real keyboard is a pain for me – in a phone, I need more than what the iPhone offers.
Unfortunately, Apple’s ‘AppStore’ and general lockdown of the device means I doubt I’ll ever see the kind of applications I use on my Nokia E61.
In an MP3 player, the iPod Touch is great for what I need.
Anonymous Coward
on 02 Apr 08Here’s a review from someone who has actually used this device…
http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/02/hands-on-with-samsungs-instinct/
dusoft
on 02 Apr 08I don’t know how can anyone point that the phone is shitty unless he tested it himself (or read it on Engadget or whatever).
Also: LG Viewty has a tactile response as it vibrates every time a key is pressed on virtual keyboard… you can even choose between different vibrating to suit you. I really like it.
PS: I don’t hold anything against iPhone, but since it’s carrier-locked and not available legally in most of the Europe (also part where I am located), I can not use it. And anyway, I don’t like lock-everyone-in policy of Apple regarding the iPhone, so bye bye, Apple.
Andrew
on 02 Apr 08That’s funny. On sites that don’t display an inherit loyalty to all things iPhone this has gotten pretty good reviews.
Methinks thou doth protest too much.
If I have a choice between a 400 iPhone and a Sprint/Samsung device that can perform similarly and at a price that can be much lower, I think I’ll take the knock off device.
Of course, you guys also liked the Macbook Air. Having seen it in person I can say as a Mac fan that there’s not a lot to love.
Serge
on 03 Apr 08I’m 100% happy that Sprint did this. Apple’s decision to exclusively offer this phone on GSM networks isn’t great for market share. If they were to offer it to CDMA carriers they would see an increase in sales without a doubt. But Apple is always happy with extremely small market shares (with the exception of the iPod, of course).
Best thing about it is that the phone works on the EV-DO network which puts EDGE to shame (2Mbits vs. 512kbits). Not only that, but Verizon and Sprint both offer free data plans. So no getting charged per kb you use. Used my Spring phone to get a 150MB file, not a single penny spent. Not to mention it was flying in at around 120k/sec the entire way through. Much
Anonymous Coward
on 03 Apr 08I agree with Serge – I’m thrilled about this thing. Sure, I wish some things were better, but this phone is still better than EVERY OTHER PHONE OUT THERE other than the iPhone. It’s the iPhone you can get on Sprint, who currently offers better data plans ($100 for unlimited everything, as opposed to the $100 unlimited VOICE ONLY plans on ATT and Verizon.)
I just don’t understand why the Rokr and phones like that even exist any more. Give me a rich feature set or no phone at all. Any phone that delivers even some of this is helping push the industry forward and providing some well-needed competition to the ATT/Apple unholy monopoly on excellence.
aaa111
on 05 Apr 08I have the motofone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_FONE_F3) and love it. It does almost nothing :-)
RC PoP Art
on 07 Apr 08I have to agree. Why is anyone even bothering to buy a phone that doesn’t get their email easily and go online and googlemap your position and show you where all the chinese restaurants are in a 5 mile radius and …
you get the picture.
it’s only a matter of another hundred dollars and you go from being a cave man to a CEO.
Some people just like to stick with what they know, I guess. It’s a shame. There will always be those who rush too soon to things that are new and those who will run away for fear of the unknown.
cbody
on 08 Apr 08The Instinct is way better than the Iphone. It runs off of EVDO REV-A which is a much faster internet than the Iphone. It also has the home, back button, and phone key, which the iphone doesnt have. It pulses when you touch the keys to let you know that you pressed the right key. Sprint also offers a simply everything package where you get EVERYTHING SPRINT HAS TO OFFER IN ONE PLAN, internet, tv, phone calls, text, gps, and everything else. Also the Instinct is fully customizeable almost anything on the phone can be altered to fit YOU. Sprint kicks Att’s butt with the Instinct. If you say otherwise, you are in serious denial.
This discussion is closed.