Just arrived: Samsung's touchscreen Instinct

Once of the most promising phones to come out of CTIA is only a few weeks away from release, and FedEx just dropped off my review unit. Check out my initial impressions.

The Instinct is, of course, Samsung's (and Sprint's) answer to the iPhone—and it stacks up well when you consider the phone's access to speedy 3G networks, memory expansion, GPS, and streaming video capabilities, not to mention one of the best non-iPhone touch interfaces I've seen.

Then again, there's that little matter of the expected 3G iPhone—supposedly armed with HSDPA access, GPS, and maybe even video conferencing—which may very well steal the Instinct's thunder come Monday.

But for now, at least, the Instinct (set for Sprint on June 20; no price yet, but should be below $300) still strikes me as one of the strongest iPhone competitors I've seen yet, thanks mainly to a snazzy, peppy interface that—for once—feels like it was designed with touch in mind (I'm looking at you, LG Vu).

Menus slide fluidly to and fro, and you can scroll long lists of menu items with the flick of a fingertip, roulette wheel-style; also, the touch UI feels much more responsive than on the disappointing Samsung Glyde.

I'm also liking the Instinct's tabbed main menu, which lets you add "favorites" such as Web bookmarks, streaming video channels, and shortcuts to SMS contacts (indeed, I wish the iPhone had one-touch messaging icons for specific contacts on the main screen).

I'm so-so on the Instinct's Web browser, however, which lacks support for multi-touch gestures (such as "pinching") and tends to bog down when loading big, full-HTML Web pages (although Sprint says browsing should speed up once "network enhancements and testing" are completed). From what I've seen so far, Safari on the iPhone (even running on AT&T's poky EDGE network) has little to worry about.

Messaging is a mixed bag (so far, at least). You can tap on the QWERTY keypad in portrait or landscape mode, a plus over the iPhone, and you can even draw letters with your fingertip (although the Instinct is having a tough time deciphering my messy handwriting). But text correction isn't as seamless as it is on the iPhone, and there's no magnifying glass for precisely placing the cursor.

And one last note: The Instinct's screen is plastic, not glass, which makes for a lighter phone but potentially more scratches.

Anyway, that's all for now—I still need to test such features as turn-by-turn navigation, music and streaming video playback, the FM radio, and the on-board digital camera, for starters. Expect a full review in the coming days, along with a head-to-head match up with the new iPhone once I (finally) get one in-hand.

In the meantime, have any Instinct questions? Let me know.