While waiting for the new iPhone to reach the market, I spent a week with Sprint’s new Instinct and briefly tested Verizon’s Dare, two iPhone wannabes.

Samsung’s Instinct

Made by Samsung, the Instinct is similar to the iPhone in shape, size and design. It has minimal physical buttons and a large touch-sensitive display. (www.instinctthephone.com)
When it came to hardware, faults are hard to find. The black phone has a sleek design, a 2.0 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, GPS, EV-DO (Sprint’s 3G data connection), a standard stereo headphone jack and a USB connector. It does lack WiFi, necessitating an EV-DO connection to access the Internet at any reasonable speed.

I disliked the hold button’s location on the top of the phone. It is not in a place for easy one-hand access. Plus, it requires double click and hold to unlock the phone, a major hindrance when just trying to make a phone call. The phone also cannot be used in direct sunlight; the screen completely washes out.

Beyond hardware, software is what can make or break a phone of this nature. The Instinct makes a great effort but falls short.

The Instinct’s software looks good, but feels like it was rushed to the stores. The Instinct Calling works very well, almost exactly like the iPhone. The system layout is designed well; any finger can negotiate screen buttons. However, Instinct poorly implements the iconic iPhone finger-flip scroll.
The iPhone uses a capacitor-based system, which requires a finger to complete a circuit. A typical stylus will not work with an iPhone. The Instinct is a pressure-based system; any screen contact interacts with the phone. While I tried to scroll though lists, it became clear that the pressure-based system did not handle as well as the capacitor-based system.

The Instinct can check e-mail, including Microsoft Exchange; however, it lacks push mail or the ability to use ActiveSync to update contacts and calendars. It actually will not sync calendars at all. It will only sync contacts via Outlook when using Sprint’s very crude and difficult-to-use Windows-only software. It was actually easier to get my contacts on the phone by uploading a vCard via Bluetooth from the Mac side.

I was very pleased with the tactile response to interface; the phone vibrates slightly when touched to confirm selections. It is very subtle but makes the system much easier to use.

Verizon’s Dare

The second attempt at an iPhone killer I tested was Verizon’s Dare. Since the phone is only available online until later this month, the demo I had was running beta software. Also, my time with it was very brief, so it was hard to judge the software design. However, even with the beta software, the phone seemed to work well.

The Dare is smaller than the Instinct in height, but slightly thicker. Again, it has minimal physical buttons in exchange for a large touch screen. The hold button is on the side in a much more comfortable position and does not require a strange holding pattern to unlock.

Many of the features of the Instinct are found in the Dare: Bluetooth, headphone jack, tactile feedback, GPS, etc. Verizon will also release visual voicemail within the next couple months. The Dare does feature a higher quality 3.2 megapixel camera with “flash” (it is an LED that flashes, not an actual flash strobe).

The software was straightforward and put together pretty well, considering it was unfinished. Though my time was limited, the design of the software seemed better suited for a pressure-based touch screen. I unfortunately did not get an opportunity to try and sync the phone to a computer.
Neither of these phones claim to be a smartphone, which is good because it was hard to find anything that made them smart. They are both good phones, but there is little new about them. Both are simply media phones. Design, not function, is the only thing that separates either of these from a basic flip phone.

These phones are great options if you are stuck to Sprint or Verizon via contract or coverage. However, if you need a smartphone, both providers offer many better options. Both phones try hard to be the iPhone, but do not pull it off. If contracts and service area are not an issue, wait and see what happens with the iPhone update. It does most everything the Dare and Instinct does and more.
The new iPhone and iPhone 2.0 software upgrade were released July 11. Current users can upgrade their iPhone’s software to get all the newest features. The price of the iPhone dropped to $199 from $399, so a whole stream of new users will be surfing the Web on their new iPhones this weekend.
I’ll write a review of the new iPhone and the software upgrade in the next CBT Tech Advice column.

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