Samsung Instinct, LG Dare, iPhone 3G... fight!
by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 14th 2008 at 12:04PM
Alright, you three are sworn enemies, so what are we waiting for? Let's get it on! Go ahead, seriously, exchange some blows. No better way to get the party started than with a little speed test; the
Instinct's data services still
seem to be jacked, but the
Dare and
iPhone 3G squared off with the LG model consistently besting Apple's by between 50-100kbps over Verizon's EV-DO network (see the gallery for the side-by-side). That's not to say the Dare is consistently the faster phone -- it has everything to do with the network in your area, the time of day, the circumstances, and which side of the bed you woke up on this morning -- but it's an interesting observation here nonetheless. We'll follow up with an Instinct speed test (and another round of testing on the Dare and iPhone) when we can.
Filed under: Handsets, LG, Samsung, Apple
Tags: 3g iphone, 3gIphone, apple, att, dare, features, fight, instinct, iphone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, lg, samsung, sprint, verizon, verizon wireless, VerizonWireless, vzw
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
yode @ Jul 14th 2008 12:22PM
woke* up on. not work...
Chris Ziegler @ Jul 14th 2008 12:27PM
Thankey!
MMisterio @ Jul 14th 2008 12:53PM
so is there an actual article or do you consider a couple of crappy pictures enough to be "blog worthy"
Chris Ziegler @ Jul 14th 2008 12:55PM
So is there an actual constructive statement here, or do you consider a couple of crappy words enough to be "comment worthy"?
Omagus @ Jul 14th 2008 1:20PM
Ooooooooohhhh, in yo' face, son!!!!
slamEVIL @ Jul 14th 2008 2:51PM
BURN!
beanspants @ Jul 14th 2008 3:39PM
i agree. all you did was go to a speed test site once, then take some pictures, and you have the nerve to call out his call-out?
how about moving around some? or making a call, or comparing features or something?
or re-title the article as "one-off speed test between X,X,X".
M @ Jul 14th 2008 4:50PM
actually Beanspants and MMisterio are right IMO, I thought this was going to be a proper comparo not just a gallery...
I think it's pathetic how everyone jumped down MMisterios throat to "save the editor". Ziegler's work on this site is good, but a calling out is a calling out.
albi @ Jul 16th 2008 5:23PM
i dont mind of a just photo post, but you could at least take some shots from the sides, stack them up, compare their thickness.......
all ur pics look similar, just different zoom, different screen display
t-pain @ Jul 14th 2008 12:58PM
Bored over there at Engadget headquarters are ya guys? Well it's an interesting idea anyway, but I'd rather see how the iPhone stacks up with some of Verizon and Sprint's phones.
t-pain @ Jul 14th 2008 12:59PM
*Smartphones is what I meant to say there at the end- my bad.
Chris Ziegler @ Jul 14th 2008 1:02PM
Well, like it or not, these are the phones that Sprint and Verizon are looking to position most closely to the iPhone, and considering the similarity in the form factors and the arguably slick interfaces, we figured it was worth the side-by-side.
t-pain @ Jul 14th 2008 1:54PM
Yeah I get that but I think a lot of people like myself grapple with the decision of whether or not to go with the iPhone or a Smartphone because we want wifi and the other great features that come with high-end devices. I really don't think a lot of people put the Instinct or the Dare on the same level as the iPhone.
derX @ Jul 14th 2008 5:23PM
You can't be serious, t-pain.
There is nothing wrong with the phones used in this comparison. They are devices with similar forms from one of each of the big three. I'm sure some people would like to see the iPhone stacked up against any other phone--or any other phone in this comparison, I guess--but this three-way bout compares three phones clearly designed to compete with one another.
Sofunnytom @ Aug 27th 2008 7:54PM
every person i know who has an iphone has a seperate work phone that they actually use and just us the iphone as a feature phone
MMisterio @ Jul 14th 2008 12:59PM
@ Chris Ziegler
Thanks for showing us the obvious. Verizon network > ATT's network
Bang up job there buddy.
Adam @ Jul 14th 2008 1:17PM
Hey MMisterio... here ya go.
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/9282/photoys5.jpg
Chris, don't let him break you. You do an excellent job here on Engdget.
egoviri @ Jul 14th 2008 2:58PM
Have you used AT&T's network lately? Even Sprint's is faster than Verizon currently with rev. A. A crappy phone does not equal crappy network.
Kyle Teachman @ Jul 14th 2008 1:30PM
I waited in line to get the iPhone 3G, and I think it is totally worth it... even if my 3G signal isn't too great.
PEZ @ Jul 14th 2008 1:30PM
You notice how T-Mobile dosnt have anything to bring to the Octagon? Sad. I just cancelled after 10 years of service, because I was getting a bit tired of waiting for them to play catch up.
kellybrf @ Jul 14th 2008 1:31PM
i just ran this test several times on each phone, and got evdo speeds of 48 (not a typo)-540 and edge speeds of 80-220. im not too confident in this testing site
Patrick @ Jul 14th 2008 1:42PM
I am "evaluating" both the Dare and 16gb iPhone for my use right now.
It's not an easy choice. I have been on Verizon for a while with a K1m. I used my 2-year upgrade to get the Dare. Had it for two weeks now. On one side, the compact form factor, integration with MSN and Yahoo messaging services, great camera and video features of the Dare sure make it an attractive alternative to the iPhone. So far the typing speed on the Dare's virtual keyboard is faster. Battery life is also a plus.
On the other hand, I have a mac desktop/laptops an iPod video (with a beat battery), ATT service is stronger in my work location than VZ, the open-endedness of being able to add new features via the app store...
A tough choice indeed....
xxtntxx @ Jul 14th 2008 9:25PM
yeah dude im right there w/ ya..
I've been w/ VZ since the AirTouch days. Recently (well last Nov) got the LG Voyager and have been real tempted to ETF my way over to an iPhone...
a sad dilemma to be in for sure
patrick @ Jul 14th 2008 9:54PM
Well, the Dare goes back in the box tonight. The camera, one of the reasons I didn't upgrade to a new phone, will be missed. It is pretty sweet to have that kind of image quality in a phone. I have been lugging a Nikon D50 around for a while now...
I don't think I would even bother to use the cam on the iPhone. That and the Dare's form-factor. It fits the hand nicely. And the touch screen wasn't bad at all. But the cost of that form-factor was screen real-estate and a small, not-to-functional web browser.
But as someone mentioned a few posts down, file management is an issue for a mac owner. No synch capability other than to manually send files to the device via bluetooth.
Ultimately, the long-run is with iPhone. After two weeks with the Dare, I have seen all it can do. The App Store will help tame gadget lust with new features as time goes on. ETF is not too big of an issue as it is pro-rated, and I only had a few months left on my VZW contract.
jefffaucher @ Jul 14th 2008 1:55PM
Chris,
Can you please show a picture of the "black" theme, where the icons are not all cock-eyed like that? I think this annoying theme might dissuade some people from considering this phone, I know i wasn't sold on it until I discovered the other theme when I played with it in the store. I love this phone, and for the record, I regularly get 600 - 700 kbps when I test it.
Codename @ Jul 14th 2008 2:09PM
Sorry Chris, I kinda have to agree. I was expecting a LONG comparative story here and got...well...some pictures. I'd love to see a big writeup on all of the phones. I actually have the Dare and have played with the Instict that a friend of mine has, but I haven't played with the new iPhone yet and would love to see how they all compare.
Matt Vanandel @ Jul 14th 2008 2:35PM
The iPhone still has a couple of very nagging problems:
1) No hands-free calling. This is an especially big deal in places like California, where touching your phone while driving gets you a tidy ticket.
2) Photo viewer is really bad. Even when you load on large pictures, the phone seems to downsample them so that they are the same resolution as the screen - so that when you zoom in they get really blurry and "pixelated" even though the original image was much higher resolution than what you get to see.
The first point is major, the second just a nuisance. Both are pretty ridiculous oversights that should have been corrected long before the 3G was announced, let alone released.
boris @ Jul 14th 2008 7:29PM
What about copy, cut, & paste? I don't see how something so basic can be missing.
VZWguy @ Jul 14th 2008 2:58PM
the problem I see with these write ups is that there is so much Iphone love, when the truth comes out that the dare does everything the iphone does...and more for the same cost, people will claim they are lying
pros of the 3g iPhone to me:
glass screen
cool UI
hands down best websurfing on any device on any network
cons:
speed isn't THAT great wich takes us to...
3g is VERY small coverage
no BT stereo(isn't this a MUSIC phone??)
STILL no MMS
Battery dies faster than old iphone
GPS sucks for anything other than finding yourself
Dare pros:
Better network nationwide with faster network footprint KILLS 3g
Bt stereo
MMS
Email(and exchange Email as well, with calendar sync)
responsive screen
customizable UI for more looks and better feel
much better virtual keyboard
smaller form, fits in pocket better
Has great GPS turn by turn nav, voice activated with traffic and 3d maps(best nav outside of BB nav)
Cons:
plastic front screen isn't glass, but screen protectors are cheap so /shrug
HTML browser is not safari(but second best IMO, WAY above instinct)
yeah...all I had was two, and I have had both phones for 4 weeks now...and no, you can't ask how I had both almost a month before they launched.
instict:
Haven't used it
Chris @ Jul 14th 2008 3:01PM
What about Diamond and upcoming phones like the Raphael (or whatever it'll be called), Xperia, and Omnia? I wanna see them all fight!!!
slamEVIL @ Jul 14th 2008 3:18PM
is the iphone 3.6k/s or 7.2k/s? 'cause i just got 439k/s on my tilt with only two bars.
last years 3g???
Jake @ Jul 14th 2008 3:21PM
Is this testing site accurate. My Sprint Blackberry 8330 is fast, but at 3-4 bars, I'm getting between 1,100 and 1,450 every time.
udub @ Jul 14th 2008 3:48PM
I'm wondering the same thing. I performed the test 5 times using T-mob's EDGE network and got results of 515kbps 3 times, and even 1446.1kbps twice. A bit surprising.
Squid7085 @ Jul 14th 2008 3:22PM
Apple did everything they could on this one. The 3G chip is up to par, it all lays in the hands of AT&T's crappy network now. I would be the first to admit that iPhone 3G plus Verizons Network (aside from technical impossibility) would be a match made in heaven. We don't need a blog post to know how much AT&T's network sucks. :-)
With that said, I need to make a call with my new iPhone, so I will be on the roof if anybody needs me.
egoviri @ Jul 14th 2008 6:25PM
I understand the points made about AT&T huge gap in 3G coverage.
But when it comes to speed, it runs the fastest along with Sprint's service. Everything comes down to the area you are in and the phone you are using, even the Dare which I have is slower than the Tilt which I have as well in the DC area.
Nicole @ Jul 14th 2008 3:28PM
Wait...the iPhone has no hands-free capabilities? I live in SoCal, and I am currently deciding between the Dare and the iPhone, but if the iPhone can't go hands-free, I have no choice but to get the Dare. The iPhone looks awesome, but not awesome enough to warrant the tickets I will get!
ceric20 @ Jul 14th 2008 4:13PM
Iphone has BT for hand free.. idk where you got that information i use my blue tooth head set everyday
xxtntxx @ Jul 14th 2008 9:25PM
You CAN pair a bluetooth headseat w/ an iPhone.
You can also use the iPhone's speaker option and place it on a dashboard/mount if you wanted to.
What the poster above meant by 'no hands free' is that the iPhone has no VoiceCommand capabilities that are so commonly found on other cellphones.
gjiz @ Jul 14th 2008 5:04PM
Instinct Speedtests:
From Within Browser
http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed
1) 1,025kbit/sec
2) 212kbit/sec
3) 375kbit/sec
mobilespeedtest.com
1) 254.2 kbps
2) 441.5 kbps
Toast.net:
Lunar Pages - Shuttle + text = 263kbps
Go Daddy - Shuttle + text = 275kbps
When Tethered to Computer:
Toast.net
Lunar Pages - shuttle + text: 1,514kbps
GO Daddy - shuttle + text: 1,113kbps
mobilespeedtest.com
482.5kbps
658.4kbps
http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed
846kbps
689kbps
http://speakeasy.net/speedtest (my favorite tester)
1873kbps download 395kbps upload
1841kbps download 403kbps upload
xB Owner @ Jul 14th 2008 5:12PM
I have to agree with others that this is one of the most disappointing blog posts on engadget in quite a while. Really? A weak 3G speed comparison and nothing more?
And I am so sick of all of the biased BS and all out lies floating around in the comments section. (No hands free on the iPhone? Any BT capable phone becomes hands free to some degree.) I'll state right off that I am about as far from an Apple fanboy as you can get. I have never owned an Apple or Mac product in my life.
I for one have been waiting for a decent new touch screen phone for months. And I was one that was preaching the virtues of the "specs" of the Dare before any of these phones were released. And I spoke out against the original iPhone for lack of features. I haven't looked at the Instinct because Sprints network is all but non-existent in my area. That coupled with the end of SERO means Sprint is even less of an option.
In checking out both the iPhone 3G and the Dare in person, I must say that I have changed my mind. For my uses, the iPhone is just a better device. Do I want Verizon's network, the Dare's 3.2 MP camera, video, MMS and stereo Bluetooth? Absolutely. But in actually playing with each phone, all of those advantages disappear.
Even after calibrating and using multiple Dare demo units at multiple stores the devices were more of a nuisance than a pleasure to use. Combine this with many of the issues that have surfaced with this phone (including track ordering problems on albums) and it just isn't the device the specs promised it would be.
And since VZWGuy gave his own pros and cons, I'll do a quick list of my own...
iPhone 3G
PROS
Glass Screen
Comfort in Hand
UI, UI, UI, UI, UI
Web Browser
Media Player
App Store
(Soon to have navigation App. from Telenav and/or Tom Tom)
WiFi
CONS
Less 3G Coverage
Only 2 MP Camera
No Video
No Stereo Bluetooth
No MMS
Dare
PROS
3.2 MP Camera
Video (High Speed)
MMS
Stereo Bluetooth
Better 3G Coverage
Turn by Turn Navigation
CONS
Touch Screen (Decent, but not great)
UI - Laggy and inconsistent
Media Player
Worst Navigation of the big 3
Sub-Par web browser
No App. store (Few apps likely on Brew)
No WiFi
Those are MY pros and cons. The camera isn't all that important. 2.0 MP is enough for me RIGHT NOW on a mobile device, though a flash would be nice. I'm primarily looking for a phone to converge a phone and media player into a single device. Toss in a little web browsing and a couple games and other apps to pass the time and I'm good. The prospect of decent turn by turn navigation is just icing on the cake. The iPhone seems to be fitting those needs far better than I thought or hoped it would. I really wanted the Dare to be the device for me.
Carney @ Jul 14th 2008 5:20PM
So.. who's represented here? Verizon users? Check, with the LG Dare. Sprint? They get the Instinct. AT&T, the real iPhone, natch.
So what do we T-Mobile users get?
A big heaping helping of nothing.
Great job at planning ahead and customer retention, geniuses.
I realize Android's coming down the pike, but that's not now, is it?
Sean M. @ Jul 14th 2008 6:18PM
Really? This? Again? I think we can all agree that until the iPhone came along, we were really just talking on tin cans and making hard-to-decipher grunting noises in a poor attempt at communicating our thoughts to our fellow neanderthals.
Let's look at the pros and cons one more time so we can settle debate once and for all:
iPhone pros:
* the most technologically advanced thing produce by mankind since fire
* the benchmark to which all future device will be measured for decades to come
* gives any iPhone user the ability to point at others and say "poor poor person. your browser is inferior!"
iPhone cons:
* not yet able to be used as a putty knife
Every other phone pros:
* gives them a fair starting point to understand how much their phone sucks compared to the iPhone, thereby allowing them to aspire to own an iPhone
Every other phone cons:
* pollutes the eyes and ears of iPhone users with it's 3rd world technology and deplorable attempts at being a 'phone'
This is the time people. My predicition: by election time 2008, our votes will be based solely on what our iPhones tell us to do. and to all those other 'phone' manufactures and 'service' providers: Pack it in. I can no longer hear your prehistoric midi ring tones. you sicken me.
John @ Jul 14th 2008 7:32PM
Yeah you are right.. we should pay $2 for our ringtones from iTunes instead of being able to use any audio file we want...
badqat @ Jul 14th 2008 9:11PM
Uh, it isn't that hard to make ringtones out of any audio you want for the iPhone without paying a cent.
zephead @ Jul 14th 2008 11:45PM
1. Convert file to AAC with iTunes (if necessary)
2. Change file extension to .m4r
3. Double-click and watch it import into your Ringtones section.
slamEVIL @ Jul 16th 2008 5:26PM
love your post brother. you get a mod up.
@zephead: or with any other symbian or winmo phone you can just DRAG AND DROP.
VZWguy @ Jul 14th 2008 8:10PM
I don't knwo why everyone keeps thinkingt hey will be getting turn by turn navigation on the iphone.
Tomtom flat out said they had not worked on anything for the device, and after testing and tearing down it was revealed the GPS radio was rather small, and nowhere near powerful enough to actually do real time turn by turn navigation.
the Google maps locator is supposed to be the best you can get.
xB Owner @ Jul 15th 2008 11:24AM
First, because it has been rumored for a while.
Second, because at least one major nav company (Tom Tom) have confirmed working on an app.
Third, because Apple made it official in an interview yesterday.
zephead @ Jul 14th 2008 11:39PM
Speaking objectively here... my 2 cents on the iPhone's competition is that they're failing to realize that the iPhone really isn't just a phone but a fully featured handheld computer (minus cut/paste, flash, other glaring oversights >_>) with a phone built in, whereas Samsung, LG, et al, are merely making phones with extra features built-in. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, in fact it works pretty well, but if they want to compete with the iPhone, they'll need to step it up.
And of course, there are people who will say "the purpose of a phone is to make calls with, everything else is extra" and those are obviously not the kind of people who should buy an iPhone.
slamEVIL @ Jul 16th 2008 5:30PM
"but if they want to compete with the iPhone, they'll need to step it up."
you mean like PPC's?