Well, they took my payment info Wednesday with a promise to ship within 7 days. They got till tomorrow to send shipping info.
C'mon, Essential. Don't screw this part up.
C'mon, Essential. Don't screw this part up.
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Any Interest In Rubin's Essential Phone?
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Must admit, having panned the design originally, now I have seen loads of actual device photos with the screen on, I'm really starting to like the look of it.
Can't wait to read all your thoughts for those who pick it up.
Can't wait to read all your thoughts for those who pick it up.
Interesting long form discussion. Not completely encouraging, be forewarned. Basically it sounds like the phone out of the box has problems. The recent update fixes or goes a way to fixing a lot of it, and suggests the company is both cognizant and working to improve the product.
One thing is becoming pretty clear: sounds like the camera is a dud.
And yet the Pixel can take pictures without the chance of freezing the phone.
Are you seriously using an anecdotal account as the bases for judging the device? Or has there been a pattern reported that I'm missing?
My point is to say that just being "stock Android" means little. Essential has a lot of bugs, Pixel doesn't have as many. I'm arguing against the idea that slapping AOSP on a phone is all the needed work.
So in the official post by Google about Android Oreo release, Essential is mentioned. "by the end of this year, hardware makers including Essential, General Mobile, HMD Global Home of Nokia Phones, Huawei, HTC, Kyocera, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp and Sony are scheduled to launch or upgrade devices to Android 8.0 Oreo."
Personally I think Essential needs to be a little quicker then the "end of the year" but that's just my take...
https://www.blog.google/products/android/android-oreo-superpowers-coming-device-near-you/
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It doesn't matter if it's stock Android or not... The OS still needs to be tuned for the hardware. Add to that the fact that I was referring to the custom camera software and you should be able to see where I was coming from.
Personally I don't think the camera is a dud... The software just needs tweaking in order to improve performance. The simple fact that one update took the camera from crappy to usable according to a few reviews says enough.
Personally I think Essential needs to be a little quicker then the "end of the year" but that's just my take...
https://www.blog.google/products/android/android-oreo-superpowers-coming-device-near-you/
[doublepost=1503345049][/doublepost]
It doesn't matter if it's stock Android or not... The OS still needs to be tuned for the hardware. Add to that the fact that I was referring to the custom camera software and you should be able to see where I was coming from.
Personally I don't think the camera is a dud... The software just needs tweaking in order to improve performance. The simple fact that one update took the camera from crappy to usable according to a few reviews says enough.
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That's a fair point. HOWEVER (you knew that was coming!) the camera is actually one of the few (only?) Essential-specific apps on the phone. Limited reviews thus far suggest fast performance all around, so the argument that AOSP on good hardware might just really be all you need.
Okay, you got me there. AOSP might be great on its own. Didn't think about custom camera software.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Rubin said the first accessory allows for high-quality audio to be wirelessly sent from the Essential Phone to your car stereo.
http://www.androidauthority.com/essential-magnetic-accessories-addiction-794837/
Gah! THAT interests me greatly. God, I hope they deliver on this stuff. And I hope the phone is awesome enough for me to keep it.
http://www.androidauthority.com/essential-magnetic-accessories-addiction-794837/
Gah! THAT interests me greatly. God, I hope they deliver on this stuff. And I hope the phone is awesome enough for me to keep it.
The camera app on the Essential doesn't appear to be the AOSP camera app. The verge said that video review said that the new camera app they got while filming fixed a lot of the problems.
What interests me the most is that 3D laser scanner... As a mechanical engineer I would love to have a pocket sized scanner that I could just clip to my phone whenever I needed it...... DAMN you Andy Rubin.... DAMN you....
On the vergecast they said that they had installed the pixel camera and that that improved things a great deal too, and that is with that app not taking full advantage of the second sensor. So I think the hardware is there, it's just whether or not they can pull it off in the app.
You could be right and it could be software. That could explain some of the delays as well
Drivers, camera software, special stuff they wrote to handle the notification area, there's plenty of stuff to improve here.
Out of interest folks, the Google Pixel camera with HDR+ has now been unofficially ported to other devices with the Snapdragon 821 & 835.
It's not perfect and can be buggy, but it sounds like the essential camera software isn't ideal in that regard so it may be worth giving it a shot.
---/. (My own 2 Rant warning)
1. For a device conceived by Andy Rubin, why are the Essential App icons so awful. The camera Icon itself is just a plain disgrace. They really stick out like a sore thumb and go against everything about stock androids material aesthetic.
2. Why no international love ? Seriously is it not bad enough Google can't do proper international rollouts that Essential couldn't have shown them how to do it properly rather than limiting release to USA only 'for the moment' .... (and perchance Essential please define how long is a moment? 10 seconds, 10 days, 10 months, 10 years ?) aghhhhh
Ok rant over, back to the phone.
It's not perfect and can be buggy, but it sounds like the essential camera software isn't ideal in that regard so it may be worth giving it a shot.
---/. (My own 2 Rant warning)
1. For a device conceived by Andy Rubin, why are the Essential App icons so awful. The camera Icon itself is just a plain disgrace. They really stick out like a sore thumb and go against everything about stock androids material aesthetic.
2. Why no international love ? Seriously is it not bad enough Google can't do proper international rollouts that Essential couldn't have shown them how to do it properly rather than limiting release to USA only 'for the moment' .... (and perchance Essential please define how long is a moment? 10 seconds, 10 days, 10 months, 10 years ?) aghhhhh
Ok rant over, back to the phone.
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Come on, it's just a startup. Plenty of people - some on this very thread - thought they would never actually get the phone out at all.
And if you look at a major company like Huawei, who's shipping volume is I believe just short of Samsung at this stage, they've barely scratched the US market, just to show how difficult it is to do a proper international release.
I think if it comes to Europe at all it will be amazing.
I'm curious to see if the US devices support the European LTE bands. Information I got so far on this topic has been conflicting.
Wow...this phone has a really small foot print compared to other phones....I wonder if it is going to be too small for me? I tried the S8 and it was way too small for my big hands.....
http://mobiledevicesize.com/compare/#801,772,749,675;1
http://mobiledevicesize.com/compare/#801,772,749,675;1
yeah, I do like the footprint. I love the size of my S8 (regular) but it is too narrow IMO. I do like that the Essential PH-1 is slightly wider. But I'll see if it is too small too. I was used to the 7 Plus for such a long time
Screen size is all that matters right, unless you're into bezels? On that account it's similar to the 7 Plus, just in a smaller package. I personally like it - my own P9 is physically as big as the regular 7, but with a much bigger screen.yeah, I do like the footprint. I love the size of my S8 (regular) but it is too narrow IMO. I do like that the Essential PH-1 is slightly wider. But I'll see if it is too small too. I was used to the 7 Plus for such a long time
Same here. The footprint looks ideal. I've gotten used to both the iP7 Plus and an S8 Plus but I don't prefer the form factor on either for different reasons. This looks to be like a bowl of porridge that's just right.
Now if they'd just ship my f*cking phone already. I think they charged me last night which means I should get a notice today.
I signed up for the initial "pre order" but ended up not ordering. Since the original email saying I can actually buy it now I'm receiving an email per day saying my chance to order early is closing fast and I need to act NOW!
I'll be really interested to see what you guys think once you get it.
I'll be really interested to see what you guys think once you get it.