When the iPhone first debuted in 2007, it was almost certain that this device from Apple would have an impact on the cell phone and smartphone market. Of course, the idea of touch screen is not new; it has been in PocketPC's for ages. However, Apple made a very interesting decision - they made a touch screen device that is fully finger operated, and that made a success. Multi-touch technology is not the point; the main point is that you do not need a stylus to work with your phone anymore. Certainly, after the success of iPhone, many other brands tried to make something similar. HTC Touch, smartphone based on Windows Mobile, made a little step forward to the finger navigation, but it failed this task, not because the model is bad, but because the OS it uses is not very finger-friendly. Therefore, in usability part, the Apple smartphone does not have any competitors. Or does it?One of the biggest cell phone manufacturers, Samsung, observing the success of iPhone and playing on the wave of nowadays fashion, released the new model, completely finger-operated, which can be called true rival of iPhone. It is called Instinct, and is currently sold under Sprint carrier brand. It uses the same philosophy according to user interface as iPhone - finger navigation and complete rejection of stylus. So, we decided to compare this two interesting cell phones and review the advantages and flaws of each.
First, we will start from basics.
Design
When it comes to design, it is certain that there cannot be one true answer, which phone looks better. Everyone has different tastes, so it is better to review some of the design specs this phones have. First - the shortage of hard navigation keys. iPhone has only one button on its face, while Instinct has three. It is arguable what solution is more useful, but in any case, these phones are touchscreen operated, so there could be no hard keys at all, every action can be done via virtual buttons on the screen. Both phones use similar style for icons and menus, however, Apple iPhone icons look somehow more polished. In any case, the design side of device is completely a matter of taste.
Display
When it comes to display, this is where the differences begin. The Instinct has a haptic touchscreen, which is very different compared to iPhones multi-touch. It can imitate the feel of regular button press, which is very useful for sensor screen devices; the main problem of virtual buttons is that they are unreal. Providing "real" feedback from pressed button is very nice feature than iPhone lacks. However, the iPhone gets it on the multi-touch side - unlike Instinct, it can be operated using two fingers, which makes the navigation much more intuitive and simple. Which one to choose? It is up to you. The display resolution is better on the iPhone though: 480 x 320 against 432 x 240 in his competitor, and it is 0.3 inches bigger.
Internal hardware
While both devices can send and receive calls, they do this in a very different way. iPhone use GSM connection, while Instinct is purely CDMA phone. Of course, Edge, used on iPhone, is far less rapid than EV-DO on the Instinct, but Apple phone has Wi-Fi, which is faster than both are. The camera on both is almost equal and has 2-megapixels. Instinct is a little more advanced in this domain - it can record video in QVGA resolution, 15 FPS. While iPhone uses triangulation as its GPS, and can draw a circle on map with approximate 1km radius, where you are standing now, Instinct has a true GPS chip that can tell your whereabouts far more precise. Instinct also has a slot for microSD cards, and its memory can be expanded up to 8 GB. Not bad, but iPhone had 8GB right from the start, and now there are even 16 GB models on the market. The only good side of microSD cards is their replaceability, so you can carry several cards and change them as you like. Moving to the musical side, both devices have 3.5 mm minijack for usual headphones, which make this phones look attractive for people who like music. Still, the headphone jack in iPhone is a little specific - it is sinked a little so only specific headphones can be plugged! There are tons of accessories that are used like adapters, but in any case, it is much more comfortable to just plug your headphones and go without need in purchasing some third-party adapters.
Software
The Apple smartphone is powered by specially redesigned Mac OS X, which will be familiar to all Mac users. However, it is not a copy of desktop edition; it is a very different product. While it has a possibility to work with installed applications, Apple blocked away this ability until release of iPhone SDK. Even now, when SDK is already released, it is not easy to just write your own program for iPhone - you must obtain a certificate from Apple first. Hackers already managed to overcome this limitation (trick known as "jailbreak"), but still it limits abilities of the device. Instinct is not a smartphone; it uses its own proprietary operating system, so you can forget about installing any software on it. It still has BREW though, used for navigation application. Moreover, it really is navigational software, not just Google Maps service that iPhone use.
In other domains, such as audio and video software, photo gallery and such, they are almost the same. iPhone is fully iTunes compatible, so if you already purchased your music at this store, you can always upload it to the iPhone. Instinct has its own music store, powered by Sprint, and many other Sprint services such as Sprint TV.
Unfortunately, Instinct lacks all that interesting features that are possible on the iPhone thanks to multi-touch. Even if you are not using this feature often, it is better to have this possibility. Safari is also Apple exclusive, so on Instinct you are left with a proprietary internet browser, which is far less intuitive and fast as Safari is.
Taking in consideration iPhone's iTunes compatibility, it certainly has one of the best audio player software in the modern devices, simple and finger-friendly, as most of Apple devices are. Both phones support almost every multimedia format, after some conversion of course. Widescreen display aspect ratio and high resolution make these devices perfect for the role of portable multimedia centers. Let us not forget Instinct TV services, which makes it even more multimedia-oriented.
Conclusions
These two phones cannot be compared directly, because they belong to the different types: iPhone is a smartphone with a growing list of applications, and Instinct is a usual phone based on touchscreen. However, it is definitely true that Instinct is the best carrier phone from Sprint. iPhone lacks 3G capabilities, but it is already fixed in new model, which has GPS and 3G functionality, so Instinct wins this round only compared with original iPhone 1G. It is hard to declare the winner, so it will be the best to say that you should try both and select one that fits you the most.
