http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/ User Reviews of Sprint Phones en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:45:24 GMT vBulletin 60 http://img.sprintusers.com/images/forum/misc/rss.jpg http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/ http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197474&goto=newpost Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:26:51 GMT So over the past month I have used the Samsung Moment (currently), Samsung Instinct HD, Samsung Intrepid, and HTC Moment and it occurred to me, with these 4 high end handsets, there was no direct comparison out there, at least that I could find, so I decided I would right my own. First:... So over the past month I have used the Samsung Moment (currently), Samsung Instinct HD, Samsung Intrepid, and HTC Moment and it occurred to me, with these 4 high end handsets, there was no direct comparison out there, at least that I could find, so I decided I would right my own.

First:
http://media.obsessable.com/media/20...tinct-hd-1.jpg
Samsung Instinct HD
http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/...-33772477.html

This is really what the first Instinct should have been. While those familiar to the original Instinct will feel very little has changed, new users will probably appreciate the simple interface that give you access to everything in about 2 or 3 screen presses.

The Instinct HD (Henceforth to be referred to only as the HD because I am tired of typing Instinct) expands on everything that was present in the original. The camera gorgeous at 5mp and the HD Video is truly something amazing for a camera phone. Web browsing is WAY better, and the included YouTube app is a nice touch. Enhancements to email are cosmetic at best, because you are still only checking your email from a dumb phone, if not a very nice dumb phone.

The inclusion of Wi-Fi is a nice touch, although without a real platform for 3rd parts apps it is a kind of a moot point.

The HD Video output is a very cool feature. Reminds me of the Video Out option on the HTC Touch Pro, but just like on that phone, CABLE SOLD SEPERATELY :doh:. I have to say, that one confuses, and a little irritates me. It is called the Instinct HD. The point is it records in HD, but Sprint doesn’t bother to include the Cable to make it work unless you remove the memory card, play it in a DVR or something. Anyways, off my soapbox

The onscreen keyboard is as good as always. I always felt the touschreen keyboard of the original Instinct was on of the best on the market, and blew comparable phones onscreen keyboard away (ala HTC Touch/Diamond or iPhone) and this one is no exception. With a larger screen the keyboard is only improved.

Visual voicemail, which started out on the original Instinct, is back here, and is awesome as always. I always feel when I switch back to a phone with traditional voicemail it feels clumsy and awkward compared to V.V.

I can only find a few real drawbacks to the Instinct. Some minor, some not so much. First, it is still a dumb phone. The email app is handy, but if you live and die by email, or just find it a very important tool for you, you will probably get frustrated very easily by this device. Secondly, the lack of Synchronization. I know I already pointed out it is not a PDA, but plenty of high-end dumb phones are capable of syncing with Outlook. Lastly, and this is a big one, the price. $250 AFTER and 2 year contract and AFTER a $100 mail-in rebate.

PROs

• 5mp Camera with HD Video recorder
• HD Output
• Wi-Fi
• Visual Voicemail

CONs

• Price! $250 After rebate and contract
• Dumb phone. No real PDA function. No PIM sync
• HD Video Out Cable sold separately (C'mon Sprint)

Second
http://www.gsmdome.com/wp-content/up...g-Intrepid.jpg
Samsung Intrepid
http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/...-33775410.html

Wow. Where to start with this thing.

This is kind of a flagship model for Sprint. The first Sprint handset with WinMo 6.5. Talk about putting your worst foot forward.

I hated this phone. A lot. Although the keyboard is nice, the underpowered device often is lagging a few keystrokes behind which can be very frustrating.

The international roaming a nice feature if needed, but this follow-up to the Samsung Ace really has no other redeeming qualities. Its price is on par with most of the other releases but is severely lacking feature wise. The screen is very low resolution. QVGA is very dated, but even with that, it is not as bright or crisp as my old Mogul or Touch was. The touch screen is surprisingly inaccurate.

The memory/underpowered issues are the worst example of what is wrong with this phone. After I first turned it on went through the boot up procedure, I got an error that Voice Command had to be terminated because it was out of memory. Running a memory-intensive OS like 6.5 though this becomes very painfully obvious quickly, and apps like Pocket Internet Explorer 6 are very prone to freezing or crashing entirely, especial why working hard like on graphics heavy websites.

The SMS app is horrendous. Instead of sticking with the perfectly acceptable stock Pocket Outlook SMS app, they installed a proprietary SMS/MMS that feels like a very circa 2001 dumb phone.

Maybe I am being a bit hard on this device. Let me put this in different context. If you are not a power user, and you remember to terminate application and reboot your phone regularly it can be pretty decent. But I am a power user and I do not want to have to perform routine maintenance on my phone on a daily basis to be able to get it useable.

Before anyone says I got a defective unit, I want to point out I used not 1, not 2, but 3 different devices.

All in all, with a price tag of $150, if you have to have WinMo, the Palm Treo Pro or HTC Snap are much better devices.

PROs

• Nice large keyboard
• WinMo 6.5
• International Roaming w/ included SIM card

CONs

• Underpowered, not enough memory
• Horrible screen, inaccurate touch screen
• Bad SMS/MMS app

Next
http://www.androidin.com/wp-content/...c-hero-all.jpg
HTC Hero
http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/...-33770450.html

This is the flagship Android phone for Sprint, and a great phone in all. The phone runs HTC's proprietary Sense UI on top of the stock Android UI. It is highly customizable with an expansive collection of widgets.

The 5mp camera is amazing. It features a touch sensitive auto-focus where you can tap on the screen as the viewfinder where you can’t the camera to focus. It also has video record. The enhanced contacts and email apps are terrific and feature some Facebook and Flikr integration, although not as extensive as the Pre.

Web browsing is terrific, and really second to only the Pre as far as Sprint phones go.

The screen is bright and crisp. Battery life is decent, not bad, not great, just decent. The multi-touch screen is great for navigating the web or images.

The onscreen keyboard is pretty good, but it is the amazing word prediction and auto correct that HTC added in that makes it amazing. It is on par with the Instinct for overall ease of use.

Anyone who is familiar with Android knows it does not sync with Outlook out of the box. The Hero comes bundled with the HTC Sync software with allows for desktop sync via USB cord with Outlook or Outlook Express of Contacts and Calendar (Outlook only for Calendar) which is a terrific feature.

There are a few software glitches. I will leave it to you to Google for them, but right now the biggest I know of are the SMS app not allowing the phone to sleep resulting in battery drain and not being able to get on some Wi-Fi routers.

Physically the phone is slim and lightweight, packing a great list of apps and features in a small package.

PROs

• Great 5mp camera with Video
• Terrific onscreen keyboard
• Highly customizable Sense UI
• Bright LCD with Multitouch

CONs

• Software glitches, i.e. SMS and Wi-Fi
• No hardware keyboard (not really a con, just cant think of any more cons)

]]> Phone Reviews chris5h http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197474 http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=196962&goto=newpost Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:11:31 GMT Well, I was in the market for a new phone, seriously thinking about the HTC Snap, and another member here suggested the Intrepid. Ive had it for almost a week, and still getting to know it, but I wanted to give my impressions of the device since there does not seem to be much out there about it... Well, I was in the market for a new phone, seriously thinking about the HTC Snap, and another member here suggested the Intrepid. Ive had it for almost a week, and still getting to know it, but I wanted to give my impressions of the device since there does not seem to be much out there about it yet, and what is there seems to be eclipsed by the Touch Pro 2.

First, a caveat for anyone reading this. I have come from a Sanyo 7050, a phone I really enjoyed, but it was just a phone. I have no experience with a Windows Mobile phone prior to this one. I currently also have a Blackberry issued by my employer, so I can make some limited comparisons there.

The other note is that some of my comments regarding usability may be related to the Windows 6.5 interface, and not necessarily the phone itself. Unfortunately, since both the device and the OS just officially released earlier this month, its hard to tell which is the issue.

To the review!

The phone itself feels good in my hands, not too narrow or thick, and it feels solid without being too heavy for me. I also tried the Treo Pro in the store, and it felt much more plastic-y to me. One handed typing is easy to do, and the controls layout seems fairly logical to me. The resolution seems to be a major detractor for many people that look at this device as a possibility. I am coming from a non-media device, so to me things look great. I dont stream videos or use it heavily for media (yet?) but for me I havent had any problems looking at emails, webpages, texts, etc.

The OS has lots of quirks, that you can read about anywhere. I find myself using a combination of the keyboard and the touchscreen for many of the menus and options, and occasionally grabbing the stylus thats mounted horizontally (nice touch). Its not excessive once you get the phone tweaked to your liking, and the inclusion of the "OK" button to exit out of each program is very useful to me.

Moving between programs there is very little lag, and startup times for new programs seems fairly fast. The camera leaves a lot to be desired for me (again, new to camera on a phone) since you take a picture, and then it seemingly takes a few seconds before it processes and "takes" the picture. If the subject is moving, you need them to stay really really still. (not so good for little kids) Maybe there is a setting that I havent found, but I think Ill have to reserve the camera for still photos only. A big plus on this is the neat "smart reader" feature. You take a picture of a business card, and it automatically reads the information off of the card and imports it into your contacts. Useful if you are using this for business for sure.

Battery life is still a toss up for me. I spend lots of time playing with the phone when I normally wouldnt, so for right now Im getting about a day out of it. Im still experimenting with using the Gmail push settings, the outlook auto checking, etc. My Sanyo usually needed to be charged every other night, and so far the Intrepid wont quite make it that far.

The TellMe application is pretty nifty, but still seems to need some work. No training is required for the voice recognition software, and it will let you call, text, or just look things up. Pretty handy if you are driving and using a headset, or have your hands too full of something to type.

Now for my Cons:

- I would really love to edit the Today screen. I have download the app from the Windows Marketplace, but that doesnt let you add anything that didnt come with the phone. If you customize it, you lose the nice new interface, which is actually very nice to use. The reason I want to customize this is because.....
- I dont like the honeycomb structure of the "Start" menu. Yeah, this is a WinMo 6.5 gripe, not a phone gripe, but still. At least let me organize things better Microsoft! I hate having to dig through this to find my programs. I also dont like that if you hit "ok" you go back to the Today screen, not back one page to the list of programs.
- Im a pretty heavy user of my bluetooth headset (original Jawbone). Pairing was easy, but for some reason the device drops the connection. I have to go into the "Wireless Manager" application and re-enable Bluetooth. Its happened twice so far, for seemingly no reason.
- Along that same line, the TellMe application has too many button presses required to send a text. For phone calls, you just say the name, and if you need to mobile or home. For a text, you have to say the name, then press record, then say the message, then check it and press send again. Not good if you are driving.... It sorta defeats the purpose.
- Already mentioned the camera. C'mon, dont click if you didnt really capture the image. Not cool.
- LED flashing. There are a few threads about this here and on other forums. The LED doesnt flash like it should when text messages or missed calls come in. It bugs me a lot, since when Im at work my phone is silent, and I wont notice if a text comes in if the light doesnt flash. Or I obsessively check the phone and kill my battery. Really a nuisance that Samsung/Sprint/Microsoft should easily be able to resolve.
- Occasionally drop my data connection for no reason. It comes back on its own, but today I had to cycle the power to restore it. No clue why that happened.


So thats my long winded overview of the phone so far. I dont mean to make it sound like there are a lot of cons, its just that there doesnt appear to be a forum to make any issues known yet to the parties that can fix them. Im very happy with the purchase, especially since Im on a SERO plan. It has all of the power of a higher end phone, without getting into the expense of the higher end HTC devices. If you are currently a person considering a Blackberry, or a person who wants a smartphone on a SERO plan, I would highly suggest you consider this phone. While the resolution might be an issue for some, if you are not coming from a high end smartphone, you probably will never know the difference.

Any comments and questions are welcomed! ]]> Phone Reviews Clarkbug http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=196962