AU: This phone is not available in Australia. _-EH

It’s also got Opera MIni 9.7 off the bat, a capable, though not phenomenal browser, along with (crappy) apps for Facebook and Twitter, besides the usual Sprint stock: Navigation, Live TV, etc. Overall, the experience feels clunky and, far too often, frustratingly laggy.

Why anyone would buy this $US250 (or $US200 at Best Buy) faux-smartphone over the much cheaper, more elegant and just plain better Palm Pre or HTC Hero—which are real and excellent smartphones on Sprint—I don’t know. The welcome addition 720p video isn’t worth it, even if it is pretty decent vs. the Flip Ultra HD:

[Sprint]

The Samsung Instinct HD has been officially outed as a $US250 (after rebate) addition to Sprint’s line, with a lean spec sheet that matches up with previous rumours: it has have a 5MP camera with HD video recording and TV-out—Samsung’s using Microsoft’s definition of “HD”, evidently — that it runs a proprietary Samsung OS, and that it is, well, an incremental upgrade to the popular-but-underwhelming Samsung Instinct. On top of that we now know it’s got a 320×480 screen, Wi-Fi, the fantastic Opera 9.7 browser and GPS — none of which are overly surprising. The release date confirms prior suspicions as well: It’s set for September 27.

It’s announced, it looks decent and it’s about what we expected — so what’s wrong? For one, it’s inexplicably been tagged with a higher price than Sprint’s Pre and their Hero, two phones that are objectively more capable that the Instinct HD. And why is Sprint being so cagey about specs? We don’t even know how much storage this thing comes with, or what the quality of the HD video is. It’s a bizarre way to launch an utterly un-bizarre phone which, mind you, could still be a nice handset. It’s just gotten off to an inauspicious start. [Sprint]

Samsung Korea let slip a press release teasing their CTIA announcements, in which the S30 makes a clear appearance. Alongside its picture, we find two lonely nuggets of information: that the S30 will have a 3.2-inch screen, and that it has updated software. For reference, the original Instinct has a 3.1-inch screen, so shelve those ‘Mini’ fantasies (and for that matter, the odd notion that all handset manufacturers are planning to create teensy versions of their products).

So here’s what we can infer from our little bit of data: the S30 is almost certainly just a newer, rounder Instinct, and will replace that years-old handset. The inclusion of its screen size as a banner feature in the preliminary press release indicates that there won’t be anything groundbreaking, so unless the new software is something really special, Sprint’s game is going to have to be price—as in, the lowering of. [Samsung Korea via Akihabara]

It’s really not looking so different than the original Instinct, save for the rounded edges that should make it more comfortable in the hand while distinguishing it a bit more from the iPhone. If earlier leaks are to be trusted, you’ll see this handset sometime in mid-April. But is anyone out there earnestly excited about the redux? [Sprint Users via BGR]

Version: BH29
Delivery: OTA
Projected Release Date: 9/17 (client initiated) 9/24 (network initiated) Projected Release Dates are best estimates and are subject to change with no notice.

Notes: Instinct firmware BH29 includes the resolution of 249 tickets open since the previous public firmware release, BF30. The release also marks the first public release of the updated Instinct Web Browser, version 1.1. The new browser is based on an entirely new codebase and brings an 10x improvement to rendering speed, most noticeable in the areas of pan/zoom/resize functionality.

New browser features include:
* VC Button -> Hide/show controls; browser controls can be hidden to provide more screen to webpage display
* Favourites enhancements -> Improvements to favourites UI allows for sticky mode lock
* 34 other web browser tickets resolved

So what did the reviewers think?

CNET
The Instinct’s touch screen dominates its real estate. With support for 262,000 colours and a 432,240-pixel resolution, the display is positively gorgeous. Colours popped, graphics were vibrant, and text was crisp. Indeed, it’s one of the better displays we’ve seen in a while…but [it] can look rather cramped…

AP
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.

Wall Street Journal
The touch system on the Instinct is more like that on an ancient ATM than a cutting-edge gadget, even though it has a gimmicky feedback mechanism that gives you a tiny vibration-jolt when you press an icon.

infoSync
Above all else, the Samsung Instinct made phone calls that sounded great..crisp and clean, with no static or drop-outs in our test period. Reception was a steady three bars in lower Manhattan, which seemed a bit low, but this didn’t affect calling, messaging or data, so we didn’t let it bother us.

PhoneMag
Messaging is a mixed bag, with the Instinct falling a little more on the corporate side than the consumer. SMS, MMS and email are all supported, with the latter playing nicely with webmail, POP/IMAP and Exchange accounts, but there’s no instant messaging client and only plain-text, not HTML emails are viewable. Attachments can be sent with outgoing email, but not opened from incoming messages.

Gizmodo
Samsung and Sprint borrowed liberally from the iPhone playbook when it came to look and feel. But the comparison itself isn’t fair: The iPhone is a software platform that is growing every day, soon to have a host of applications that put it squarely in the smartphone category along with BlackBerry, Palm and Windows Mobile. The Samsung Instinct will never be mistaken for a smartphone.