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Essential Phone, available now

essential.com

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Re: Essential Phone, available now

#91
post #43

As someone who worked in a large OEM company releasing tons of smartphones, I'm actually impressed it only took 100 people to getting this out. I presume there was an incredible amount of sleepless nights, as this is no easy task. To be fair though, Sprint is one of the easier carriers to work with after T-Mobile. I can't imagine them releasing a phone on AT&T or Verizon, as their process is grueling. I guess since t…

Pretty sure they used Sharp as a partner, so it isn't like they started from scratch. That guess is based on this Sharp phone looking mighty familiar (http://www.gsmarena.com/sharp_aquos_s2_taken_apart_a_bezelle...) and Rubin having worked with Sharp extensively during the Danger days. (most of the Sidekicks were made by Sharp)

I'm kinda sort interested in this device, but honestly I'm in the sit and wait given that Sharp isn't exactly a name brand anymore.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#92
post #48

> Your phone is your personal property. It’s a public expression of who you are and what you stand for. No, it's really not. It's literally just a tool I use for communication.

That's a public expression of who you are and what you stand for.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#93
If you are buying an Android phone, I am not sure why you wouldn't wait for phones officially supporting Project Treble . For example , Nexus 6p will get Android O, but without Treble.

Treble is the framework which could potentially make 0-day Android updates possible.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#94

No 3.5mm jack, no thanks.

Does it have a floppydrive?

This is not a really fair comparison. For a device whose primary purpose is generally media consumption, a headphone jack is a real feature. To me it's currently a must as I don't want to buy more head phones when I already have a few really good pairs.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#96
post #48

> Your phone is your personal property. It’s a public expression of who you are and what you stand for. No, it's really not. It's literally just a tool I use for communication.

This is a fancy way of saying it's a fashion accessory for many people. Just like clothes, cars, housing, etc. I bought one because the materials seem like they will be nice, and that has value to me.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#97
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too short IMO, I personally would value having a 5yo device still useful, above that I can accept limitations in terms of new; below it's just pushing for renewal for no reason.

Batteries don't last that long still, last I heard you get about 1000 charges before you need to do serious maintenance to a phone, in which case you'll probably want the latest and greatest anyhow.

But when the latest is NOT the greatest, I don't want the latest.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#99

I admire the gumption of making a new phone. But controlled obsolescence kills me. The real feature that improves in phones the past few years for me is the software and apps, not the hardware . My wishlist: - Give me a lighter, snappier OS. Not something clunkier and slower and uses more ram, gpu/cpu (aka battery life). - Actually support updates to the things for longer than 2-3 years. - (Not related to this phone)…

All I want is to get google fi on an iphone. Ok battery, reasonable lifetime (I can usually get 3.5 years out of an iphone) and cheap international data.

Re: Essential Phone, available now

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's for official support. Project Fi worked fine on my iPhone SE. However, I had problems with Project Fi sending my calls to random other peoples' phones across the country even when I was using my sim in my Nexus so I went back to T-Mobile.

I recall it "working" on other phones, but it's stuck on T-Mobile or Sprint (depending on your phone's hardware), and you lose out on some functionality since it uses specific bands[0]. Plus you still need an approved phone to activate it. 0. http://arkienet.com/2016/03/fi-on-a-non-nexus-phone-is-like-...

AFAIK, Fi uses both T-Mobile and Sprint if you have a dual band phone, and wifi if you're in a building without reception. Most phones have been dual band for a couple years now.
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