Since I started writing here at JAMM, I have had the opportunity to work extensively with a myriad of mobile operating systems, including WebOS, iPhone/iPod Touch, Android, and Nokia’s Symbian OS.  Through it all though, none can compare to the amount of time I have spent with Windows Mobile.  I have owned at least half a dozen different Windows Mobile devices, and tested/reviewed plenty more.  To be honest, it was a pretty difficult decision for me to switch from Windows Mobile over to Palm’s WebOS when I bought the Palm Pre, but Windows Mobile had been growing a bit stale for some time.  It was badly in need of some forward progress, and little was coming on the horizon.  Then, last summer, Microsoft released the Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade.  No, this is not THE Windows Mobile 7 which everyone has been anxiously awaiting, but it is a step back toward respectability for Microsoft and the Windows Mobile Operating System.  It took a little while, but I was finally able to get my hands on a Windows Mobile 6.5 device, the Samsung Intrepid.  This is the third in my trilogy of Samsung reviews, which started with the Instinct HD, and continued through the Android-based Moment.  Let’s take a closer look at the Intrepid and see both how the hardware stacks up, as well as the new operating system.

What’s In The Box: There are really no surprises in the box on this one.  In addition to the phone, you will find:

• a stylus
• lithium ion battery
• AC charger
• stereo headset (with microphone)
• USB sync cable
• assorted manuals

Noticeably absent from this package, as with other Samsung devices are a screen protector or case.  I am always disappointed to find this lack of attention to any form of protection for your device.

Hardware: Before we get too far into the review, let’s go ahead and take the traditional guided tour and look around the hardware.  The top of the device is pretty empty.  Here you will find the 3.5 mm headphone jack and wrist strap slot.   Likewise, there is nothing to see on the bottom.

The right hand side bears the power button, camera button, and stylus…Stylus??

Yeah, I thought that seemed a bit out of place in 2010 as well. 

On the left, you will find the volume buttons, and micro-USB sync/charge jack.

The back, as has become commonplace, bears the 3.2 megapixel camera, along with the flash and speakerphone speaker.

Slide open the back cover to reveal the 1480 mAh battery, microSD slot, and SIM card.  This is something of an oddity, as you rarely find a removable SIM card in Sprint phones.  The ability to swap SIM cards is important due to the International calling feature, but it also gives a glance to the potential of using multiple CDMA phones on a single account, like users can do with GSM phones on other networks. I hope Sprint will use this tool in more phones in the future.  As I have noted with other Samsung phones, while I was happy to find a microSD slot, I was not impressed with the placement, which requires you to completely remove the battery (and turn off your phone) in order to swap cards).

This brings us to the face of the device.  The screen is bright and crisp, but tiny.  I found this screen to be far too small for many of today’s tasks, such as browsing the Internet, checking email, or even playing games.  After spending so much time with devices like the Zune HD, iPod Touch, and Palm Pre, this tiny screen was extremely difficult to use.

Beneath the screen is the four row QWERTY keyboard.  This keyboard worked well enough.  I found it to be pretty easy to type on, without constantly tapping out the wrong key.  While I prefer a five row keyboard, I did think Samsung did a nice job here organizing the numbers and special keys in order to make them as easy to find as possible.

Between the screen and keyboard lies another set of buttons, with a full D-Pad, with four-way controls, OK, Start Menu, phone controls, and soft keys.  Whew.  That is a lot of buttons for a modern phone.  Let’s take a look at how it all works.

Controls/Buttons: If I had to choose one word to describe the controls on this device, it would be schizophrenic.  The Intrepid simply cannot decide what kind of a device it wants to be.  It includes a touch screen, with the latest and most finger-friendly version of Windows Mobile 6.5 to date, along with a stylus.  There is a touch screen, as well as a hardware button for virtually every control.  It simply cannot decide whether to be finger-friendly or not (and that stylus does not exactly help matters); whether to be a touch screen device or a non-touch device.  I found this lack of focus made the device far more inaccessible than it should have been.

Personally, I think we have entered a stage in which that skinny little stick of a stylus could and should be a thing of the past.  To be honest, I could not even figure out the stylus when I first started using the Intrepid, since it had been so long since I had used a device which relied on one.  And once I started using it, I was reminded of how much I hate using them.  It felt a lot like listening to a football game on the radio instead of watching it on a large screen HDTV.  But that is just me. 

Likewise, the inclusion of so many hardware buttons made the device feel entirely too cluttered.  Particularly since most of these buttons are repetitive of actions which can be taken via the touch screen.  Again, this repetition may have been necessary (and even critical) in the days of Windows Mobile 2003, when many users were still transitioning to touch screen devices, and those touch screen devices which were available were hardly finger friendly.  Today, however, we have moved well beyond those early stages.  With the Intrepid, Samsung simply fails to acknowledge any of this progress.

Interface and OS: As I mentioned, the Intrepid relies on Windows Mobile 6.5, which is the latest and most finger friendly approach to mobile devices to come out of Redmond.  Note that this is not the major overhaul of Windows Mobile which we have all been awaiting.  That will come next year (hopefully) with Windows Mobile 7. 

The main interface of Windows Mobile 6.5 should look familiar to all of you Zune or Zune HD users out there.  It is a text based menu, which allows you to access many of the primary features of the device.  Items in this list include:

• Pictures
• Music
• Getting Started
• Phone
• Voicemail
• Clock
• Text messages
• Email
• Calendar
• Internet Favorites

I did notice a few significant omissions from this list, such as tasks, programs, games, marketplace, and plenty more.  Not to mention the fact that your needs are probably different even than mine.  This menu was just not easily customizable enough for my taste…or even customizable enough to keep up with other devices which are available today. 

As any Windows Mobile user knows, the Today Screen is only half the interface.  Accessing your programs and other items can be done through the Start Menu.  The Start Menu is probably the biggest change in the device.  Replacing the traditional pull down menu is a whole new screen, containing icons representing each of the apps and programs loaded onto your device.  This screen is famously not organized in a grid format, but in a honeycomb, meaning the rows of icons are offset from one another.  Frankly, while I thought this sounded nice on paper, I found it did not work well in practice.  The offset nature of the icons made it confusing to scroll through the interface.  Especially if you are using the D-Pad controller.

More disappointing, however, was that once you get passed this new interface, much of what you will find is pretty much the same Windows Mobile 6, which continues to fall well behind other interfaces.  Sure, there are various tweaks and changes, but the truth is Windows Mobile 6.5 is not significantly more accessible than Windows Mobile 2003SE was.  In those seven years, Microsoft has done little more than tweak its aging interface and stand idly by while Apple, Google, and even Palm continue to develop state-of-the-art devices with innovative interfaces.  Using these other devices, simply serves to show how far behind Windows Mobile had fallen.  While Windows Mobile 6.5 serves as a small step for Windows Mobile, it could hardly be called a giant leap for mobile devices.  To the contrary, although it may have appeared innovative when it was initially announced, by the time Microsoft released the new interface, it already felt dated and inadequate.  One can only hope that Microsoft will deliver a far more comprehensive option with its upcoming Windows Mobile 7.

Email, Internet, and Messaging: There are not many surprises here for users of previous Windows Mobile phones.  Like the legions of phones which have come before the Intrepid, email and text messaging are handled by Outlook Mobile.  This is the same Outlook Mobile which has always been included with Windows Mobile.  Aside from a few tweaks in the interface (and the addition of threaded text messaging), there has not been a lot of updates to this program over the years.  The good news is that it should look familiar to most users.  The bad news…it should look familiar to most users.

The biggest change here comes from the Internet browsing experience.  Pocket Inernet Explorer has been a part of Windows Mobile since its earliest days, and it has been commonly characterized as a clunky program featuring a poor user interface and difficult browsing experience.  So, I cannot imagine anyone was sorry to see this one finally go by the wayside, replaced by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6.  Now, given the fact that your desktop is probably running Internet Explorer 8, the decision to “upgrade” to this already outdated version is perplexing.  On the other hand, it is nice to see Microsoft moving in any direction on this one.  In the end, however, while the Internet browsing experience has been significantly improved, it is still generations behind Apple’s mobile version of Safari, and even Opera Mobile, which also runs on Windows Mobile.  This is evidenced best by the zoom controls. 

Whereas many other browsers have adopted the uber-intuitive pinch zoom (or other gesture) introduced by Apple’s iPhone, Mobile Internet Explorer 6 still relies on a popup slider to zoom in and out.

Phone Calls: Despite all of the camouflage, most people are still here to buy a telephone. Sure, it can check your email, surf the Internet, and access dozens of apps.  In the end, however, if it does not make phone calls, then it is not much better than a watch which cannot tell time.   So, I was pretty pleased to find a very nice caller experience.

Like pretty much any smartphone around, green means go.  Tap the green call button to access the dialer interface.  Though there is no need to do so.  If you know the number you wish to call, just start dialing from the Today Screen and away you go.  When you are done, hit the red stop button to hang up.

The dialer interface itself was really quite nice.  The top portion of the screen contains a window, which is prepared to show matches from your contacts list as you start dialing.  This is a live search, so each number you push will amend the list. 

Beneath that is, what could be the most inaccessible call history I have ever seen.  You will want your stylus for sure if you intend to find anything in there.  I continue to be disappointed by Windows Mobile’s reliance on the stylus.

At the bottom of the screen is the dialer keypad.  I will say that I was impressed by how well this dialer keypad fit my fingers.  At first glance, I was afraid the buttons would be too small, but I never experienced any misdials while using it.  Of course, you can always dial from your contacts by simply tapping hide keyboard on the bottom of the screen.

On the right hand side of the keypad are four special buttons:  start call, end call, contacts, and text messaging.  While I appreciated the fact that you can dial by contacts, I was really disappointed to find no way to set favorite contacts or photo dial contacts.  The only way to call a contact is to scroll through the entire contact list.

While we are on the subject of contacts, I was happy to find that you can still sync Windows Mobile 6.5 with your Windows Live account.  This means that Hotmail and Live.com users will have an easy way to sync their contacts online, as well as email and other services.

Once you are in a call, I was pretty impressed by the in-call menus, which allowed you to mute the call, toggle the speaker (a feature which often got lost in Windows Mobile phones, take a note, and even add the caller to your contacts.  This puts most of the common functions you might need mid-call or immediately following the call right in front of you, which I thought was fantastic.

Likewise, I was extremely impressed by the call quality.  I rarely found the crackles or pops which frequently mark poor cell phone reception.  And I did not experience any dropped calls.  In a nutshell, I found that as a phone, the Intrepid worked at least as well as anything else I have tested on Sprint’s network.

What is unique here, though, is the International feature.  Sprint does not offer this on many phones, and it was welcome to find.  Obviously, since I did not travel outside the United States while I was testing the phone, I did not have an opportunity to test it.  Though I did want to make sure I mentioned it for all you International travelers.  It is a welcome feature, which I hope we will see more often from Sprint in the future.

Camera and Multimedia: I am not going to spend a lot of time here.  The Intrepid can display both pictures and video, as well as play music, utilizing the mobile version of Windows Media Player.  Like many other facets of this phone, this is a mainstay of the Windows Mobile operating system.  Windows Mobile fans will not really notice any significant changes between this version and previous versions of Windows Mobile.  Sure the interface has been enhanced a little, with a few edges smoothed over and slightly glossier menus, but in the end, this is all the same material you have seen before.  Not the worst experience for a media player, but at the same time, nothing to write home about.

The Intrepid does feature a 3.2 megapixel camera, and as far as mobile cameras go, this one was not terrible.  I would not recommend it for saving your treasured family memories, but at the same time, it will serve its purpose in a pinch.  I was pretty impressed, though, by the amount of control you have over the camera, both in still photos and video modes.  Then again, the lack of even a digital zoom is extremely problematic. 

More and more, I think the prevalence of digital cameras in cell phones has become a bit of an anathema.  While it can be a nice tool, the tool has never really developed well enough to fit the role for which it was initially intended – combining all of your mobile devices into one small package.  I simply would never consider replacing my Canon G9 with this, or any other, cell phone camera.

Other Tools: Between the apps which are included with Windows Mobile, as well as the tools offered by Sprint and Samsung, the Intrepid comes packed with quite a few impressive apps.  Of course, you can start with the old Windows Mobile standard of Outlook and Office Mobile.  This gives you access to your documents (Word), spreadsheets (Excel), notes (Onenote) presentations (Powerpoint) calendar, and tasks.  While this may sound like a pretty impressive suite of apps, frequent readers know that these included Microsoft apps have traditionally fallen well short in the functionality department, and Windows Mobile 6.5 disappointingly offers no significant upgrades to these programs.

What Microsoft has added with Windows Mobile 6.5 is its new online backup and sync feature, My Phone.  I have written about My Phone fairly extensively in the past, so I will not cover it in too great detail here, except to say that it is a fantastic, albeit limited, way to sync your contacts, appointments, tasks, and even documents online. 

In addition to the standard Windows Mobile applications, you will also find the Sprint application package, including:

• NFL Mobile Live
• Nascar Sprint Cup Mobile
• Sprint Software Store
• Sprint TV
• Sprint Music Store
• Sprint Titan Manager
• Sprint Navigation (powered by telenav)

As the guy on the TV would say, but that is not all…there are several dozen applications and programs which come preinstalled on the Intrepid.  I am not going to run through every one of them, though I will point out that many of the most common functions are now included, which is extremely nice.  And for those of you who still want to add additional functionality or further tweak/customize your phone, Windows Mobile 6.5 now includes the Marketplace, giving you access to thousands of Windows Mobile applications, programs, and tools.

Battery: The Intrepid sports a 1480 mAh battery, which Sprint boasts will give you approximately 6 hours of continuous talk time.  Now, I will admit that I did not attempt to talk for 6 hours continuously, though I did subject the Intrepid to my normal daily use.  I am typically away from my charger from 5:30 AM until 6:00 PM, so I need a minimum of 12 hours of use from my phone.  This includes phone calls, data, calendar, games, and anything else I need to do.  Fifteen hours would be better, though I have yet to find a phone that can keep up with this demand, which is extremely frustrating.  There is nothing worse than spending the day digging through my calendar, tasks, or other features, only to find that I do not have enough juice on the train to call home and tell my wife we are running late.  Although the battery is not the strict purview of Sprint, Microsoft, or Samsung, the poor battery life in most modern day cell phones, including the Intrepid reflects poorly on all of them.  As such, it is incumbent upon them to push battery manufacturers for better technology in order to shore up this weakest link of the smartphone industry. 

Memory: Compared to other Windows Mobile based phones, the Intrepid has an enormous memory.  Compared with other phones available today, however, the 500 MB of built in memory (300 MB storage and 200 MB program) is pitifully small.  While this will admittedly serve you well for apps and data, once you start loading multimedia, such as music and video, that couple of hundred megabytes will be consumed in a matter of seconds.

Fortunately, the Intrepid does feature a microSD card slot (though perplexingly there is no card included with the phone).  This gives you virtually unlimited storage.  Stick a 32 GB card in there and you have just as much storage for songs, video, and other data as the iPhone or Zune HD, and plenty more than the 8GB Palm Pre. 

I was concerned, however, by the placement of the microSD slot.  As with other phones, Samsung has placed the slot behind the battery.  Meaning you must power down your device and remove the battery in order to switch memory cards.  If you are using these cards to store different music playlists or videos, then it would be nice to be able to “hot swap” them. 

Conclusion:  I really felt like the Intrepid suffered from an identity crisis.  It offered a relatively (for Windows Mobile) finger-friendly interface, a stylus, and all the hardware buttons you would ever need to completely control the device.  It really went way too far to be all things for all people, and as you might expect, ended up excelling at none of them.  To me, it feels like Samsung is still designing devices from 5-10 years ago, and I am still waiting for the Intrepid to reach us here in 2010.

What I Liked:

• External volume controls
• Standardized micro-USB connection
• MicroSD card slot
• Crisp screen display
• Fantastic new today screen interface
• Dialer interface
• International calling

What Needs Improvement:

• No case or screen protector included in the box
• Continued reliance on the stylus
• MicroSD card placement behind the battery
• Tiny screen
• Way too many controls and buttons makes for a cluttered feel and experience
• small keyboard
• Redesigned Start Menu was just plain confusing to use
• Internet browsing remains well behind the competition
• Only 500 MB of onboard memory

Where to Buy: Sprint PCS

Price: $449 ($149 after rebates with a 2 year contract).

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