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Any Interest In Rubin's Essential Phone?
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Wow. Spot on.
[doublepost=1504039919][/doublepost]Essential finally confirmed my refund for the phone. They haven't done likewise for the 360 camera as of yet. I bet it ships!
[doublepost=1504041308][/doublepost]Aaaannnnd refund for the 360 camera completed as well.
Okay then. I hope this is a sign that maybe the company is getting its act somewhat together and all ya'll who are still in this get your devices and love 'em.
To me this situation don't scream out to me as a blatant attempt to screw everyone over, it seems to be more of "in over our heads" type situation, in which there has been a lot of balls being dropped. It's like they are trying to bake a cake faster by using higher temperatures?
They probably should have kept it to themselves a bit longer and made sure the device was done before announcing or at least allowing pre orders.
But now it's more like get the money asap before Google and apple and Samsung get our money first. This I'm sure will make certain the rivel companies get our hard earned cash before giving it to essential.
They probably should have kept it to themselves a bit longer and made sure the device was done before announcing or at least allowing pre orders.
But now it's more like get the money asap before Google and apple and Samsung get our money first. This I'm sure will make certain the rivel companies get our hard earned cash before giving it to essential.
I don't see how the last conclusion fits in with your first one. I think it was an evolution of the first *into* the last. BUT: there is no excuse - zero, nada, jack sh*t - for repeatedly stating the phone was being shipped if it wasn't in fact being shipped. That does scream to me as malfeasance. I personally got too many email promising shipping, then stating there is no ship date, circling back to "24-48", then landing on "You should have an email tonight", then the next day "You will have an email this morning" with NOTHING to show for it. That is way too much work put into telling me something is going out for it not to go out.
I think they are dishonest.
The article is articulated very well and hits all the bullet points. They still confirm my refund but have not processed anything yet. I will file a BBB compliant tomorrow. Then follow up with my states attorney's office. I was charged for a product and non was delivered and I have been getting the run around on the cancellation and refund.
I dont' know if it helped any but my final email to them on the subject told them I considered this fraud. It was a reasonable, calm email but I made sure to emphasize that.
I have hinted at that as well but not come out and said it. I consider it fraud at the moment as well.
Sigh, I miss those days... Heady days when smartphones were trying to be full PC's. It's interesting that while Microsoft shot themselves in the foot repeatedly in the mobile space, they are the only ones keeping the dream of a PC in a smartphone alive with things like continuum. But I guess consumers demanded smartphones to be dumbed down, and it was the right decision to make from a business standpoint, and really other standpoints like battery life and size. But the ultimate dream for me will be the surface phone if it ever comes true, as close to a PC as you can get yet still having modern smartphone dimensions and battery life.
I will just say this final thing. Once the Pixel 2 is announced in a month so come October, and at a similar price point as last years, which is still rumored to be true, in the $650 for the small Pixel and $750 for the XL 2, who the hell would buy the $700 Essential over these new Pixel's ? I sure the hell wouldn't.
Or the iPhone 8, especially if there's a stable Jailbreak released for it a few months later. I'd take an JB'd iPhone 8 from a carrier all day long over this Essential. To me a Jailbreaked iPhone is a really cool phone then.
And the upcoming LG V30 looks to be a real winner too, and LG always offers big discounts after a couple months on their new phone, I bet the V30 will be selling for $600 off contract by Christmas. I'd take a $600 LG V30 over a $700 Essential.
And then there's rumors of a OnePlus 5T coming in December / January, with the SD836 and bigger battery, all for $500 or less, I'd take the 5T for $499 over a $700 Essential.
I think once these new phones come out this Fall / Winter, the Essential phone will have a real hard time selling, unless they discount it big time to be more in the OnePlus pricing.
Lastly;
If the Essential had better spec's like other 2017 flagships, I'd be totally cool with the $700, and would have bought one myself, but it's missing;
- IP68 water resistance, like the Galaxy S8,/ Note 8, iPhone 8, Pixel 2, and LG V30
- Wireless charging all the other flagships coming this Fall
- OLED display, again all these new flagships have the better OLED screens
- Bigger battery, I think this phone should have like 3,500mAh battery to be a battery beast, but 3,050mAh is just ok, not bad, not great.
Or the iPhone 8, especially if there's a stable Jailbreak released for it a few months later. I'd take an JB'd iPhone 8 from a carrier all day long over this Essential. To me a Jailbreaked iPhone is a really cool phone then.
And the upcoming LG V30 looks to be a real winner too, and LG always offers big discounts after a couple months on their new phone, I bet the V30 will be selling for $600 off contract by Christmas. I'd take a $600 LG V30 over a $700 Essential.
And then there's rumors of a OnePlus 5T coming in December / January, with the SD836 and bigger battery, all for $500 or less, I'd take the 5T for $499 over a $700 Essential.
I think once these new phones come out this Fall / Winter, the Essential phone will have a real hard time selling, unless they discount it big time to be more in the OnePlus pricing.
Lastly;
If the Essential had better spec's like other 2017 flagships, I'd be totally cool with the $700, and would have bought one myself, but it's missing;
- IP68 water resistance, like the Galaxy S8,/ Note 8, iPhone 8, Pixel 2, and LG V30
- Wireless charging all the other flagships coming this Fall
- OLED display, again all these new flagships have the better OLED screens
- Bigger battery, I think this phone should have like 3,500mAh battery to be a battery beast, but 3,050mAh is just ok, not bad, not great.
I miss those days too. Each iteration of smartphone was pushing the bounderies of what they could do. So many companies and OS's in the mix. (I will never forgive Palm for screwing up the Pre. Best damn notification system ever.)
They couldn't get OLED cut in the way they wanted. They went with LCD to, literally, have less than 1% higher screen to body ratio.
Don’t you lose the warranty? Or can you un-jailbreak it before going to the Apple Store if anything goes wrong?
Yes but the LG doesn’t have the best build quality (my wife’s 5X had the dreaded boot loop), their skin is meh, and the OnePlus has a 2016 design, so-so cameras, and they put the display the wrong way on them and then claim it’s working as intended. I wouldn’t buy one.
I think none of those things are essential. Why do you need water resistance, do you shower with your phone?
I had wireless charging on my Nexus 4, it’s not all that great. The phone needs to stay in a particular position on the charger, if you move it a little bit on the night stand (e.g. while putting a book back) it might not charge, I personally think the USB-C connector is a great solution, you can plug it in easily in absolute darkness and it’s 100% reliable. OLED is nice to have but not required, Apple sold a ton of phones with LCD screens and that’s fine. My own phone is LCD, I had OLED and I don’t miss it. And as long as the battery lasts the day, its capacity is a moot point.
I think the software updates (in particular Oreo and fixing the camera software) and the upcoming attachments will make or break the Essential. It’s not all lost for them but they need to be on the ball from now on.
Essential’s proposition is a high-end, unique design and build with titanium and ceramic. Nobody else does this. Now I understand you don’t care about this at all, and as such, the phone is not for you. Not everybody feels the same.
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Perhaps useful for people who ordered the Essential phone: https://9to5google.com/2017/08/30/p...al-phone-order-verification-email-its-a-scam/
Agreed that their software updates make or break this particular phone. However, the camera may not improve much. This was an interesting video from someone that spoke with Essential personnel.
YMMV as I'm not overly familiar with this guy. However it sounds like the camera was always mean to be just okay at best.
I've seen the video before. If only Essential would apply to their general communications strategy the same openness and earnestness they seem to show at this kind of events!
The camera may not improve much in terms of low-light quality, I agree. They simply oversold it. Perhaps they just can't get much more out of the sensors. But they can, and should improve the experience within the app itself, which by all accounts is laggy and buggy.
Now personally I probably will not order a phone without a good camera. It doesn't need to be the best out there, but needs to be certainly better than my P9's, which is both good and has probably the most capable, well-designed and feature-rich camera apps out there, and I tried all the notable ones.
That's my take on the camera as well. I don't need the best in class, but I shouldn't have to settle for worst in class either. And lag on shutter speed is completely unacceptable. That just makes it borderline unusable.
I really don't see how this company survives all this. The slow or non existent communication. The delays with no explanations. The outsourced customer service that contradicts each other and promises communication that never happens. Shipping promises that don't happen and no follow through.
The latest phishing emails that show their systems were compromised that could lead to their customers having their identities stolen.
I mean this company is valued at 1 Billion? I can see everyone that have funded Essential shaking in their shoes right now.
And this phone is geared towards the uber nerd, [H]hardcore tech geek. Meaning we're extra picky and look into details way more than Joe Blow public would.
If this phone was for the masses, the average schmoe wouldn't even notice these issues. But it's going for us niche smartphone nerds, and bad press and a phone not 100% to our eyes, can really sink a startup like this.
This phone is done, I bet at the new year it's selling for $400.
Geeks run Linux on PCs, not Windows or MacOS
Back on the topic though, I am still very curious to read real impressions about the Essential, from ordinary people. I didn’t want to jump in on the early order bandwagon to avoid the kind of disappointment some here are experiencing, but the phone still looks interesting. So do the V30 and the Mate 10 though
Yes we do, and custom ROM's on our phones
https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/30/16226028/essential-customer-email-drivers-license-phishing
They're not helping themselves.
They're not helping themselves.
Reddit has the customer service number an Andy's extension listed
650-300-0000 ext 1001.
https://www.reddit.com/r/essential/..._release_megathread_shipment_updates/dmc0e4a/
650-300-0000 ext 1001.
https://www.reddit.com/r/essential/..._release_megathread_shipment_updates/dmc0e4a/
Now that is pathetic. The company is being screwed over by their seemingly incompetent customer service. Very unfortunate.
What a circus! So they haven't delivered/shipped yet, months after they were supposed to. They were hacked already and who knows what else was stolen outside of email addresses. Customers are all talking to each other via the hacked emails since they were all Cc'd. And now they have the CEOs personal extension and are contacting him. Lol this couldn't get much worse if they tried.
No, the company is screwing over customers by not using even the smallest amount of qc in regards to customer experience.
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