I bought a new cell phone the other day. It’s the 4th cell phone I’ve owned since 1999. Up until now, I’ve always had a pretty bare bones phone. My phones have been used to make calls, and that’s about it. I haven’t gotten to enjoy all the features that have we’ve been starting to see on phones in recent years: Cameras, video, games, email, music, Bluetooth, web browsers, etc. I didn’t really even text that much because my last phone made it inconvenient to send texts, and half the time the incoming or outgoing texts would get lost in oblivion somewhere. On top of that, my sucky plan charged me 10 cents per text, which really starts to add up after a while.

But really what I’ve been doing is holding out for the next big thing. That “Big Thing” is the Sprint Instinct. It’s basically Sprint’s answer to the iPhone. I probably would have gotten an iPhone if it wasn’t exclusive to AT&T. But AT&T can blow my ass, sorry Apple.

The Sprint Instinct is an amazing phone. The more I play with it, the more I’m amazed by the features. It was a little daunting at first to have a phone this powerful. It’s like having a computer in my pocket. With the touch screen, texting is actually fun now (and unlimited with my new plan) and no longer feels like a chore, like it did with my old phone. I can receive my email, take pictures, use it as GPS navigation while driving, play some kick ass games, browse the web (ACTUAL websites, not just preset “News”, “Weather”, and “Entertainment” sites that are text only) and tons of other stuff.

My only complaint with the phone so far is the signal strength. On the first floor of my house, I only get 1 or 2 bars (out of 6). At work I only get 2 or 3 bars, and I’m directly underneath a cell tower. My phone dropped a call last night when I was driving home through Bannockburn. That was the only issue so far. I haven’t talked on it enough to see if the low signal strength will be a nuisance. I hope not, because everything else about the phone is fantastic.