[chris5h]

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)

[chris5h]

and finally
http://blog.wareseeker.com/wp-conten...ent-sprint.jpg
Samsung Moment
http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/...-33775546.html
My new toy. This is the phone I am currently using.

This is Samsung's first foray into Android on Sprint, and Sprint's second android phone. The phone featured an AMOLED display, full qwerty (if not non-traditional) keyboard, and stock Android UI.

The AMOLED LCD is amazing. It is crisp and the depth to the colors and blacks are amazing. The added battery life is terrific and definitely noticeable. The only drawback to it is the blue hue. Everything has a slight blue tint to it. Honestly this is not really noticeable unless you are looking a something very stark white or compared to another instance of the same image.

The keyboard is definitely a mixed bag. It is a large, comfortable keyboard, but definitely not traditional. The keyboard's bottom row is divided in the middle by the space key, and the function key is where you expect the "A" key to be. It has a learning curve but once you get used to it is a great keyboard.

The front of the phone has an optical Dpad. It replaced the traditional trackball on the HTC android phones. I am still on the fence about it. It is good to move around large spaces, like from the top of a web page to the bottom, but at times it can be a bit tricky to move from one little icon or shortcut to another. The Menu, Home, and Back keys are all touch sensitive and the Send and End keys are tradition push buttons.

The stock Android build is kind of basic. It has 3 screens of customizable widgets. The stock selection is kind of bare but there are TONS to download. The lack of built in sync with outlook is a pain but it will sync with Google and Exchange.

The 3.2 MP camera with flash is very nice, but with 2 different 5mp camera phones out for Sprint, including the other Android phone, it is kind of a disappointment. The camera app itself is very VERY basic. It only has about 3 options, and my biggest complaint is the lack of an auto sensor for the flash.

All and all, a great phone.

PROs

• Full QWERY Keyboard
• Better than average battery life
• Beautiful AMOLED display
• 3.2mp Camera W/Flash

CONs

• Non-traditional keyboard with a learning curve
• Basic camera app with no auto-sensor for the flash
• Blue tint to the LCD

I hope this set of reviews helps anyone who is on the fence about the most recent crop of high end Sprint phones.