Review: Sprint's phone is iPhone clone done right

Amid the buzz surrounding Apple Inc.'s new iPhone model, coming out July 11, it's been easy to miss the news that Sprint Nextel Corp. is bringing out a phone on June 20 that is the closest thing so far to an iPhone made by someone else.

The Samsung Instinct is, like the real iPhone, a slab with a large touch screen and few buttons. There are other touch-screen alternatives, but the Instinct's the only one that does what the iPhone does: wrap a wealth of features into a package that's easy to use.

This is a remarkable achievement, mostly on Sprint's part. The hardware, made by Samsung Electronics Co., is available overseas. Sprint commissioned its own software to run on it, working very closely with an outside design house on its development.

The result is a lucid, logical interface. It's not as pretty as the iPhone's, but it allows the user to quickly use e-mail, Web browsing, GPS navigation and text messaging; watch videos, live TV and photos; and listen to music and online radio.

Of course, Apple should get much of the credit for inspiring competitors to come up with phones like this. But the Instinct is more than a copy: Sprint pulled out all the stops when it came to adding features, resulting in an almost absurdly capable phone that outdoes the first-generation iPhone in many ways.

If that were the only competition, the Instinct would look very good. But a fairer comparison is with the upcoming 3G iPhone, so called because it will use AT&T's third-generation wireless network.

To start with the similarities, the Instinct's price will likely match that of the 8-gigabyte iPhone model: $199 with a two-year contract, but Sprint hasn't confirmed this. The cheapest service plans will cost the same, at $69.99 per month.

Both phones will use fast data networks--the Instinct is one of the very few phones to use EV-DO Revision A, the fastest flavor of Sprint's network.

Both have 2-megapixel cameras. The Instinct comes with less memory, at 2 gigabytes, but it's expandable with cheap MicroSD chips. Both use an on-screen keyboard that's quite usable. Both will connect to corporate e-mail servers and Microsoft Outlook e-mail programs, though the details differ.