Sprint's Samsung Instinct S30 hands-on with video
by Darren Murph 
posted Apr 1st 2009 at 10:02AM
We had a few minutes with Sprint's Samsung Instinct S30 at CTIA this evening and while we couldn't dive in to find its deepest darkest secrets, we did get in a quick tour. This handset is well balanced in hand, perhaps even a tad on the light and "plasticky" side for our taste, but hey, we only had scant minutes to tour before the mob descended. The touch screen seems up to Samsung's "Please Touch" theme for this year's CTIA, the haptic feedback adding nice, ah, feedback when in use by reassuring the lab mice in us that our input was doing something. Follow on for a gallery and a quick video tour of the UI and a 360 view of the set proper.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jae Hova @ Apr 1st 2009 10:35AM
So basically its just smaller. Great but I keep my smartphone over a media phone anyday.
bldgengineer @ Apr 1st 2009 2:20PM
]Where is the Instinct 2? Samsung Dash? where's the accelerometer? the 5MP camera? Is this really it? This is grandma with a facelift!
vv1r3d @ Apr 1st 2009 11:58AM
Also, this model seems to be faster than the original instinct..... I had one and got rid of it due to the terrible lag between things.... they should try typing with it....
evangi23 @ Apr 2nd 2009 6:51PM
Haha, that's what I would like to see. The keyboard's just too terrible, and the spellcheck on it is just as bad. When you misspell shouldn't with a comma by mistake and the spelling suggestions for it are should,t, should,y, should,f, and should,g, there's a problem.
Kevin @ Apr 1st 2009 2:22PM
This video hands on was useless. The things we wanted to see on this video are the new features that differentiate it from the first Instinct like the Opera Web Browser and the IM client. That would have been something to see. Not SprintTV or Settings.
bitburn @ Apr 1st 2009 4:38PM
Well it looks aiight methinks. But knowing Samsung aI bet the web browser still crash when creating a bookmark...the Instinks.
chris @ Apr 2nd 2009 1:26PM
there is a instinct 2 coming out like 2 months after this sprint rep told me bout it...it will have the 5mp cam and the accelaromiter as well as the opera mini...this one runs rev-o so upload speeds are going to be slower than the original model...you get 20% less in the box with this one to
subzerohitman721 @ Apr 2nd 2009 4:39PM
What you guys missed in the announcement from Samsung and Sprint, was that an OTA update has been confirmed for the Instinct Original SPH-800. This update will include opening up the Java API's on the original Instinct to match the s30's. The camera, playing audio/video files, streaming content, sending and receiving messages, accessing/writing to the file directory, Bluetooth, accessing/writing to contacts, and more.
From the Press Release:
"Sprint plans to extend access to these Java APIs to the Instinct s30’s predecessor, Instinct, within the next few months through an over-the-air software update. The Java APIs will then be available on all future Java-enabled Sprint phones."
Also, a follow up to this inquiry also includes that the new Java API's being opened up also includes opening up the GPS to developers. No code signing and no PDE settings. So Instinct original users will not be left out in the cold.
I think of this as an answer to the iPhone 3.0 update to keep the Instinct and s30 competitive with the iPhone. Full Java compliancy and open API's, will make it easier for independent developers to get into the game.
So its a big deal for Instinct users and Instinct s30 customers.
Kim @ Apr 19th 2009 1:45PM
Halleluhah on the contacts.. How about Calendar sync?
evangi23 @ Apr 2nd 2009 6:57PM
Unless this phone gave me money, I wouldn't get it. Even if it paid me, the second the Pre came out, it'd meet the current Instinct in the dumpster. This phone keeps getting worse and worse, and this new one only looks rounder and the battery cover isn't as large and that's it. They couldn't even jazz up the menus a bit. Lately I've been questioning why I got this and was so excited for it.
Josh @ Apr 20th 2009 3:26AM
Does it have an app to tell me when the pre comes out?
Garrick @ May 22nd 2009 3:34PM
This phone is the worst phone I've ever bought. You can't even watch a third party video and the key board is so difficult to type. I was so excited when i purchased this phone.
Well, one more year of this and I'm done unless they came out of something much better to compete with i phone.