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Samsung reveals pricey Instinct HD

The Instinct HD improves on its predecessor, but you'll pay for the upgrades.

Kent German Former senior managing editor / features
Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he's planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).
Kent German
Samsung Instinct HD Samsung

When Samsung introduced the Instinct S30 earlier this year, we hoped the company didn't seriously consider the stripped-down handset to be a worthy update to the satisfying Instinct M800. At the time, we heard rumors of another Instinct model, but Samsung kept us hanging until now.

Announced Thursday, Sprint's Instinct HD M850 improves on the original phone in a number of ways. Not only does does it offer the sleeker profile we saw on the S30, but it also packs in more features. The centerpiece is the high-definition 5-megapixel camera. You won't be able to play HD video on the handset, but the Instinct has a TV-out connection for playing clips on an HDTV.

Other features include messaging and e-mail, Sprint TV, stereo Bluetooth, a speakerphone, a personal organizer, a music player with access to the Sprint Music Store, speech recognition, a full Opera Mobile 9.7 browser, Wi-Fi (yay!), an accelerometer, a virtual QWERTY keyboard, a memory card slot, and support for Sprint's (3G) EV-D Rev. A network.

The Instinct HD will go on sale Sunday, September 27. The $249 is quite high considering that Sprint sells the Google Android-powered HTC Hero smartphone for $70 cheaper. To get that price, you'll need to agree to a two-year Simply Everything plan.