Samsung Instinct Mini (S30)

I got Verizon as my cell provider five years ago because they were the were the only provider in my area. I have been unhappy with Verizon's customer service and price gouging for a while now and was excited that I could finally afford to get Sprints Simply Everything plan. Samsung came out with a new Instinct model the Mini (S30) on April 19th and I thought it was time to get Sprint.

I have had the phone for almost two weeks now and like it for the most part. It's definitely not anywhere close to being an iPhone but it's good for the price and you can't really beat all the features.

Here are my thoughts on the Samsung Instinct Mini:

Screen:
Easy to read on the lowest brightness if you are indoors but is very difficult to use if you are in the sun. I don't know that I will ever watch a movie on it or use the TV feature but it is cool to know it's there. The screen just isn't the quality of the iPhone but it's adequate.

Touch capabilities:
Once you use an iPhone you are spoiled because of the different touch screen technology so it's a little hard to not rag on the Instincts screen. For resistive technology it's not bad. The texting would probably be almost as good as the iPhone if it had the auto correct like the iPhone but it doesn't so I end up hitting backspace a lot on the Instinct. The other thing that's a little annoying is when I am scrolling through my contacts it sometimes confuses my scrolling for clicking on a contact.

Audio:
The handset audio is ok as long as the person you are talking to has decent audio. I have a hard time hearing if I'm talking to someone with a lot of background noise. I love the fact that the phone hase a 1/8" headphone jack so I can use a decent pair of head phones or connect the phone to my cars stereo. I really am not fond of bluetooth headsets and this helps comply with local hands free laws.

Speakerphone:
Audio is maybe a little above average of the speakerphones on other cells I have had.

Battery:
Battery life is ok. If I don't talk a lot or listen to the internet radio, the battery will last for about 3 days in standby. If I use the phone heavily, I'll have to charge it at the end of the day.

GPS:
The GPS is great! I love the turn by turn directions and the ability to check traffic. A huge benefit to the phone

Apps:
Radio - nice to have a selection of free stations. Audio isn't amazing but it's adequate.
TV - I don't anticipate using it much but if I was really bored, it would be ok.
Web browser - is ok but I don't like the way the zoom works. I wish it was similar to the way Opera Mini zooms in. Because everything is so small without zooming in, it's hard to click on stuff. Many times I have to tap on links several times unless I zoom in.
Opera Mini - Works so much faster than the default browser. I wish it could be the default browser. They should really make it landscaped as well.
Email - No complaints. Works great with my gmail.

All in all I like the phone and it's great to have no limitations on how long I talk, how many texts I send etc. On the Simply Everything plan, Sprint roams on Verizons network so you should always have good service. If you can't afford the iPhone or would like a phone that you can actually get insurance on and need unlimited everything, the Instinct is right for you.

--- update ---

I don't know if there was an update to the default and Opera Mini browsers or if I was just missing it before, but my issues with them have been fixed. Opera Mini can be set to landscape mode and the default browser can tap to zoom.