Related
Hi,
I need some help to decide.
Should I buy this phone now or wait for later this year, or even maybe 2011(witch is to long time waiting).
Currently I own a Xperia X10(tired of this phone, no software update, captivate has way better screen) on Tmobile, and moving to ATT would be good I think.
Plan difference is not so big besides the cap limit on internet.
Please help, I will sell my Xperia X10, to have money ready for a new phone.
Thanks.
nj777 said:
Hi,
I need some help to decide.
Should I buy this phone now or wait for later this year, or even maybe 2011(witch is to long time waiting).
Currently I own a Xperia X10(tired of this phone, no software update, captivate has way better screen) on Tmobile, and moving to ATT would be good I think.
Plan difference is not so big besides the cap limit on internet.
Please help, I will sell my Xperia X10, to have money ready for a new phone.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well honestly it is really up to you. I don't think the community should decide for you. Would the possibility of having a non working GPS bother you? Would the possibility of having a phone that randomly shut down bother you? ( then you'd have to deal with AT&T warranty and such ) Those are some examples of problems that you should consider about. Samsung is known for having ****ty customer service and lack of updates. You see, the latest OTA update that we received were supposed to fix GPS problems... but it didn't... so... * shrug *
Don't get me wrong, I love my phone. It's just that samsung frustrates me at times because of their incompetence.
How about...would I if I were you...
I don't have the Xperia..but did have the Hero..and they are fairly close..
I look at it like this..as much as I loved my Hero with CM6 over clocked to 768mhz and all the themes and goodies...I wouldn't go back. I don't depend on my gps in my telephone to make my life easier..If you do..then you might want to wait..but..know this..You can copy Walmart's info from the web for the Captivate and go into a ATT store and walk out with one for $59.00.
As too the random shut downs..I'm running bare bones stock...I've had my phone on solid since last Thursday and have loaded and played 5 HD movies on it..talked for about 200 hours and sent about 30 text messages..and not one blip/fc/shutdown or anything else..Also..I told the sales lady I wanted one where it would do the 3 button recovery..She Googled it to see what I was talking about and said ok..no problem..Mine worked first time..but had to open the 7th box to get one that did for the wife.Both of ours works great..and the GPS isn't real bad..I lock on to about 8-10 sats under 10 seconds with mine..the wifes is about the same..
If it were me..Hell yes..I love this phone..
Mac
The leaked froyo sure is nice though. I haven't had any random shut down issues unless I let the phone stay on the charger to long and then it will only shut down when its sitting without being used.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Um, not to be a hater here but....
This was the only high end android device that ATT had. All the other phone s the carrier offers besides the Aria is a joke.
I feel very lucky that XDA and Design Gears is around or I would have a completely useless device. No way would I recommend this phone to John Q Public.
There are too many awesome devices out that work. Sure the screen is awesome and its fast as hell. But it is laden with bugs and took folks in this community to get it to run.
Couple that with Samsung's track record? I would recommend getting another device. Most likely an HTC.
Of course with all that being said... I love my phone and wouldn't trade it for any other on the market today...... Until the next shiny new device comes out.
With my phone using Cognition, because it just runs better.
avgjoegeek said:
Um, not to be a hater here but....
This was the only high end android device that ATT had. All the other phone s the carrier offers besides the Aria is a joke.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you meaning to tell me that the Moto Backflip is not a quality phone?! /sarcasm
Thanks for all your sugesstions,
A reply to second post: I am not looking for someone to pic a phone for me, I was trying to get information if there is a better choice comparable to Captivate and better than Xperia. And I didn't find any better device at this time or any confirmed device that would be available later. Sorry if I didn't express myself clearly.
As for Gps issue I know, trouth to be told I don't really use it so no big deal there, as for restarts and lag Captivate is not the only one doing that, my X10 does it to, I noticed it based on ever root or updates, mostly I think it's from incompatible software And hardware, even my Windows and Mac does that. My wife's IPhone 3GS does that too when using it too much and having to many apps xD.
So, are there any shortlly upcoming devices I should know? My google research didn't get far, maybe there is anyone with more information about it.
Thank you, I appreciet all your opinions
better but comparable to captivate, hmmm the g2 from t-mobile. thats about it. no other phone has the 3d procesing of a galaxy s. but some are faster at other things. the g2 is very fast across the board.
snapdragon htc phones have bad battery life, the aria has too small of a battery. i had one it had alot of features but the screen was too small and no battery life, its basically a hero with android 2.1. so other than the g2 that leaves motorola phones that are only on verizon and have less performance than the g2.
i like the captivate but i think i would also like a g2.
nj777 said:
Hi,
I need some help to decide.
Should I buy this phone now or wait for later this year, or even maybe 2011(witch is to long time waiting).
Currently I own a Xperia X10(tired of this phone, no software update, captivate has way better screen) on Tmobile, and moving to ATT would be good I think.
Plan difference is not so big besides the cap limit on internet.
Please help, I will sell my Xperia X10, to have money ready for a new phone.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would and did and don't have an ounce of regret. I have learned so much in the past few weeks which is empowering when it comes to choosing and flashing ROMS. My expectations from a $500 device that does so much is very low so I am rarely disappointed.
My GPS works to around 30 meters. Good enough. The Music player is phenomenal even through the stock buds.(and I normally use Westone 3s and ETY 4s) I have never seen such a customizable device and fool proof as well IF you take the time to really understand and follow directions
Read the later parts of long threads so you don't get into the middle error area where issues are resolved. Don't be afraid to ask questions after you look for an answer. It is a very friendly forum. Very few "self appointed forum cops"
I would not wait. get the JH6 and begin playing with ROMS and recovery. When the official 2.2 comes out you won't be afraid to burn a better cooked Cognition ROM of it later.
There will be bugs...There are always bugs......
i say get it, i went from the fuze to the captivate and im never looking back, couldnt be happier
If I were you, I will wait probably... X10 is a great device, but i dont know if they are going to release update... I will stick with X10, and change to a better phone next year... samsung is too ****ty, dont get ur hand with them if u can... also, dont even try to get att, they are ****ty too...
if u want, sell ur X10 and buy a vibrant...
im with att because they are the only carrier with rollover... and i have captivate because its the best android on att
Foxy Roxy said:
Well honestly it is really up to you. I don't think the community should decide for you. Would the possibility of having a non working GPS bother you? Would the possibility of having a phone that randomly shut down bother you? ( then you'd have to deal with AT&T warranty and such ) Those are some examples of problems that you should consider about. Samsung is known for having ****ty customer service and lack of updates. You see, the latest OTA update that we received were supposed to fix GPS problems... but it didn't... so... * shrug *
Don't get me wrong, I love my phone. It's just that samsung frustrates me at times because of their incompetence.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tHe OTA update BRICK my phone, and att/samsung are blaming each other... they sucks...
Mac11700 said:
How about...would I if I were you...
I don't have the Xperia..but did have the Hero..and they are fairly close..
I look at it like this..as much as I loved my Hero with CM6 over clocked to 768mhz and all the themes and goodies...I wouldn't go back. I don't depend on my gps in my telephone to make my life easier..If you do..then you might want to wait..but..know this..You can copy Walmart's info from the web for the Captivate and go into a ATT store and walk out with one for $59.00.
As too the random shut downs..I'm running bare bones stock...I've had my phone on solid since last Thursday and have loaded and played 5 HD movies on it..talked for about 200 hours and sent about 30 text messages..and not one blip/fc/shutdown or anything else..Also..I told the sales lady I wanted one where it would do the 3 button recovery..She Googled it to see what I was talking about and said ok..no problem..Mine worked first time..but had to open the 7th box to get one that did for the wife.Both of ours works great..and the GPS isn't real bad..I lock on to about 8-10 sats under 10 seconds with mine..the wifes is about the same..
If it were me..Hell yes..I love this phone..
Mac
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you mind to share your gps configuration?
I am one of the few or possibly not so few people who did not really have any problems with my Captivate on the android 2.1 release, and actually the 2.2 recently leaked os either.
One thing people do not appear to keep in mind that these phone are closer to a PC now than ever before with pound for pound nearly the same power house operating systems on them. With such a customizable OS on a phone like Droid its bound to have some kinks as I think alot can agree on this, most operating systems do.
That said, its not unheard of for there to be lots of updates, firmware fixes etc, and the numbers in this forum who are posting may not seem to be all that many people when you consider that there are probably far more Captivate owners out there with no issues whatsoever.
What I am saying is that this phone may have some kinks for the people posting in here but it clearly is not every captivate owner having a problem. You can go to any other forums from other sites, and even manufacturers and read hundreds of posts about nearly every phone made with problems.
Do not let the people here steer you one way or the other, but heed the notices regarding possible issues. All the reviews for this phone are not that bad at all, and there are alternative phones, but keep in mind that any galaxy s phone will most likely have the same OS and some of the same kinks. All are samsung so.
imo this is a pretty damn decent phone, it is better than my iPhone 3gs was and I am glad I dont have that pos anymore.
The GPS on my phone is pretty fast to get a signal, it was on 2.1 and 2.2 android, but I do find it to be a tad bit sensitive. Gotta leave in stationary in the open the first lock, after that it appears to maintain pretty well, and i have put it through its paces, average for me in my location for a lock on is roughly 10-45 seconds depending on occlusion.
The phones default power saving scheme to be appears to be very aggressive.
My 2 cents
If I were you, I would keep the X10. I just left my ATT Touch Pro and upgraded to a Captivate. At first i was really excited about it. The screen size, brightness, slim form-factor of the phone were awesome. A week later I am looking at the phone going is this really that much better than my Touch Pro?
All I ever used my phone for were to make calls, emails, texts and spreadsheets. Doing the same on the Captivate was better in some area's and worse in the other. Exchange support is no where near where windows phones, but that is to be expected.
I don't have any GPS issues, random shutdowns or reboots or anything, the phone just works great. Yet I still have a little remorse.
Also when the 2.2 update does come out for this, expect this to be the last update they ever make. I have had a few Samsung phones and they NEVER release a lot of updates, very few actually.
jev3gs said:
Exchange support is no where near where windows phones, but that is to be expected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Imagine that.
To the op,
I bought the Captivate, it's not a Cappy, as my first smartphone. I have no regrets what so ever. I must also be outside the norm because I understand that it's a phone first, GPS is a luxury. It works fine for my tastes as well.
If you like to tinker, then you can't go wrong. There is a lot of support and great support at that here.
i would wait. i'm on my 3rd captivate due to either build quality issues, or gps that never fixes. i must just have the worst luck ever to have 3 phones with non working gps i guess. and for those that say its a luxury, yes to a degree it is. but you cant use poynt, places, weather apps, all sorts of things if the gps isnt working right. forget foursquare, twitter locations, geo tagging photos, etc. i depend on my phone for work, and gps is critical to me as my phone replaced my stand alone tomtom unit. and yes i know that its a phone not a dedicated gps, but i never had issues with gps with my iphone 3gs, i left that phone for other reasons however. i like the android os, like the form factor of the captivate, and really like some aspects of the touchwiz interface. but in comparison to some of the other android phones, we really dont have it all that good on ATT. no flash, no led notifications, the capcacitve buttons dont stay on very long at all, and a real lack of accessories for the device in general.
i know that you can root and use custom roms and such, but i just want my phone to work as is. 200 dollars up front plus the cost of the phone over the contract time is a lot of money to spend on a device that i have to void the warranty on in order to get it to do half of what its supposed to. i would wait and try a different phone. problem is i dont think att is too worried about getting any other android phones right now. I would almost get the aria over the captivate at this point. i wish we had a good top line android phone from motorola, or htc to compete with the captivate at this point.
Anytime you buy a product and it has a feature, you expect it to work. To say it is a phone and has GPS but it doesn't work is alright is BS. That is like buying a car and when you take it home the radio doesn't work, the wipers don't work and the dealer tells you to live with it. I don't buy that one bit.
If MFG's can't make something work in a phone when they make it, they better just leave it out then.
I will say though that i have not had any issues with my Captivate.... especially since now I am not running the ESPN widget anymore. Man that always slowed down my phone like crazy!
eclypse3demons said:
I am one of the few or possibly not so few people who did not really have any problems with my Captivate on the android 2.1 release, and actually the 2.2 recently leaked os either.
One thing people do not appear to keep in mind that these phone are closer to a PC now than ever before with pound for pound nearly the same power house operating systems on them. With such a customizable OS on a phone like Droid its bound to have some kinks as I think alot can agree on this, most operating systems do.
That said, its not unheard of for there to be lots of updates, firmware fixes etc, and the numbers in this forum who are posting may not seem to be all that many people when you consider that there are probably far more Captivate owners out there with no issues whatsoever.
What I am saying is that this phone may have some kinks for the people posting in here but it clearly is not every captivate owner having a problem. You can go to any other forums from other sites, and even manufacturers and read hundreds of posts about nearly every phone made with problems.
Do not let the people here steer you one way or the other, but heed the notices regarding possible issues. All the reviews for this phone are not that bad at all, and there are alternative phones, but keep in mind that any galaxy s phone will most likely have the same OS and some of the same kinks. All are samsung so.
imo this is a pretty damn decent phone, it is better than my iPhone 3gs was and I am glad I dont have that pos anymore.
The GPS on my phone is pretty fast to get a signal, it was on 2.1 and 2.2 android, but I do find it to be a tad bit sensitive. Gotta leave in stationary in the open the first lock, after that it appears to maintain pretty well, and i have put it through its paces, average for me in my location for a lock on is roughly 10-45 seconds depending on occlusion.
The phones default power saving scheme to be appears to be very aggressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you are one of the VERY VERY few....5 million sold. The "issues" people are having are directly related to their expectations. I bought two..One to experiment with and one to use while giving my wife the N97. Once I realized they were both ok and I could not brick it I loaded froyo on both , gave her one and retired the N97......
I don't expect a $500 device to lock on to GPS within a minute with 10 feet of accuracy....a few minutes and 100 feet is ok and it EXCEEDS those expectations for me....at the end of the day it WILL get you home. I made some settings adjustments and dialed it in as best I could get it. I am confident Samsung will "fix" things that are broke.
I did not expect this phone to deliver the quality of natural lighting pics and videos it does.....bat my expectations.
There is no area where this phone did not at least meet my expectations.
But then again I took what the open device gave me.......did some leading and learning and MADE it what I WANT....not what ATT or Samsung wants. At least they gave me the choice to so, JB an Apple is a joke compared to what can be done with this OS. Been there done that..
My Nokia N97 cost the same and was 1/2 the device this is.....The iPhone is a toy compared to this OS and what can be done with it.
The people who are having issues usually are not following the directions SPECIFICALLY to do things. I know because I too have been guilty of missing a step here and there and panicking LOL
The carrier is fine...T Mobile's 3G is faster...Sprint 4G is faster...Verizon is Apple's sister in control freaky......The iPhone on Verizon will be a lock down on lock down But for those who want to press and play iPhone is perfect....fast and easy.
ATT is not the best nor the worst..they are what they are. You either stay wth them or leave...Simple choice. They give some and take some...
jev3gs said:
Anytime you buy a product and it has a feature, you expect it to work. To say it is a phone and has GPS but it doesn't work is alright is BS. That is like buying a car and when you take it home the radio doesn't work, the wipers don't work and the dealer tells you to live with it. I don't buy that one bit.
If MFG's can't make something work in a phone when they make it, they better just leave it out then.
I will say though that i have not had any issues with my Captivate.... especially since now I am not running the ESPN widget anymore. Man that always slowed down my phone like crazy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just saying it has "GPS" does not entitle it to be a good a GPS as a standalone! LOL It requires a phone to eventually lock on a satellite and get you to a destination. Which this phone does. I have Garmins in my cars. They SHOULD and do get immediate locks and tracking is perfect. They cost almost what this phone does. They don;t take video,pics, make calls...on and on.....
Some phones may have a real issue. But most of them have working hardware and SW is fixing many as well, It is just that people are fixing them themselves.....while waiting for an official fix. I fine very few posts where GPS does not work at all. More of people having to wait too long for a lock. That issue depends on so many factors it's silly to compare. Another brand may have a better GPS implimentation but be poor in other areas....
You choose a device based on it's STREGNTHS based on YOUR NEEDS...If you want a great camera you buy a Nokia N8, If you want geat GPS you buy a G2 or another camera with such.
It's not like this issues has been "hidden" I knew about it reading threads before I bought the phone but I also knew I could live without the GPS...and in all likelihood (as always) it would not be as bad as people claim......
It wasn't perfect..but it is not as bad as people claim either. It is exactly the same on both my Cappys.....when both are set the same and on the same ROM.
My two cents, get it now while you can still unlock it.
The 2.2 update will remove the file that gives you the codes for sim unlocking.
jev3gs said:
Anytime you buy a product and it has a feature, you expect it to work. To say it is a phone and has GPS but it doesn't work is alright is BS. That is like buying a car and when you take it home the radio doesn't work, the wipers don't work and the dealer tells you to live with it. I don't buy that one bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. It may not be "broken" but the quality is definitely "sub-par" IMO.
To the OP. If you can live without having quality GPS performance and willing to spend a few hours with ATT warranty department if Samsung releases a phone with a fix (if it is hardware) then I say get it now. That's my current plan. But I've never had much trouble with AT&T's warranty department.
Despite the GPS issues, the Captivate is still my favorite Android phone. One the few I've even liked.
Hey guys! I got my Samsung Infuse 4g today (finally!) And I must say, I'm quite impressed. I previously owned a Captivate until I bricked it flashing incorrect bootloaders, and I must say this phone is a HUGE improvement. I just wanted to put my 2 cents out there for those of you who are "on the fence" about buying this phone.
-It is NOT "too big" for most hands. I find it very easy to type with one hand, even.
-The battery life is great! Even on stock! I mean, it's no Tilt2 but so far I've been using it for about 12 hours and still have 76% battery life left!
-The GPS works great (thank god... I'm looking at you, Cappy. v_v) I haven't had a chance to test it while driving yet, but meh, I have a TomTom. I would only ever use it if I absolutely had to.
- It doesn't have that "dialer lag" my old Cappy suffered. Not sure if this was phone specific but it used to take FOREVER to pull up the dialer.
- 4G is fast, but not really fast. It's almost as if AT&T was like, "welcome to AT&T, where you can have it your way but don't get crazy!" (reference ;p) It is fast though. I got 3542kbps down and 1290 kbps up in Toledo Ohio with 4 bars.
-Lastly, I would like to say that my only gripe so far has been that I had to call AT&T because my data wasn't showing up, and they said I technically "can't" get my unlimited data grandfathered, but an "engineer" would contact me within a week about still having unlimited, so I'm stuck on 2GB, but I forced the tech guy to write down that I DID HAVE unlimited smartphone internet for 3 years. I got his name and everything. This is an AT&T specific issue, however. The phone itself is fantastic.
Hopefully this review will help some of you out there leave your iPhone 4's for the true phone with bigger GB's: the Samsung Infuse 4G! I know I didn't cover too many bases here, but it was, in fact, a small review. Keep that in mind.
I had the same exact issue when I came over to the infuse (1 week ago). Called up ATT and the guy told me the same thing, I asked for a manager and he said, he was one, and that it couldn't be done because it's no longer available, after about 15 minutes of me telling him what a jaggoff he was, I hung up on him, called up 611 and they put it back on the unlimited plan (so I thought), when I checked online it said 2GB plan. I called again and they did it, and I confirmed on the web account that I still have the unlimited. So I guess the moral of the story is don't take no for an answer... also if they told you to wait a week, they are probably hoping you'll forget about it and won't call back. Call today and demand it changed to the unlimited plan, otherwise make it known to the user that if they upgrade they will lose the plan.... they will change it.
I did same thing. Seconded. Bug the **** out of them and tell them you are gonna change carriers.....they'll put unlimited back on.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
Thank you guys so much. I will be sure to give them a piece of my mind tomorrow. It really frustrates me that they're doing this. I for one love AT&T and feel that they have been nothing but good to me, but this is ridiculous.
lol @ 12 hours w/ 70 some % left... People must not even use the damn thing.
Guess I'm in my own category of heavy users I guess. Few hours of Google+'ing, three hours of Zynga Poker or Holdem Live = dead phone.
Haha that was with juicedefender ultimate... and my data hasn't been working all day. I've been on Wifi and that was just to install my "main apps" and get my google account situated and stuff. I guess I should have said that before putting it in my review :X
Just a follow up, AT&T did in fact switch me from 2GB to unlimited this morning, so in less than 24 hours my trouble ticket was resolved. AT&T kept a customer... for now
Thanks for the review. I will be receiving mine in the mail tomorrow and will be a royal pain in the butt if they take me off the unlimited plan. I jumped on that bandwidthwagon as soon as they released it and ill be damned if they are going to take me off tomorrow when I activate it. They will loose a customer as quick as they say no. I am looking forward to trying all the different ROMs already developed. Coming from a craptivate, im already foaming at the mouth for CM7 to release something stable.
Thanks again for the review, you calmed my nerves about it being too much like a crappy.
Be sure to check the price after the GS2 comes out, you might be able to get a refund for the difference if the price drops.
Sent from my LG-P925 using XDA App
I thought the infuse didn't have real 4g. At least that's what I've read somewhere
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
Mr.Brosnan said:
I thought the infuse didn't have real 4g. At least that's what I've read somewhere
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4G is just a ridiculously overloaded term. What you probably mean by "real" 4G is LTE, which Verizon currently has in some areas and AT&T will begin to roll out "soon." What AT&T is currently calling 4G is usually referred to as HSPA+ or HSDPA, and it is essentially a retrofitted 3G with about thrice as much optimum throughput. Results obviously vary by area, network congestion, signal quality, and myriad other issues.
Umm, yeah actually. That's the details I was referring to. So then it is true, that the Samsung Infuse 4G only has the HSPA+ Side of 4G?
Muse the Infuse
Got my $19 upgrade Infuse last night, installed Infused ROM and I must say I really like this phone. GPS was a little slow but working well now and I just installed screen protector, no meathooks have been on this fabulous screen! Any more complaints about this great machine and I am gonna start jerking knots!
Hmmm, that's unfortunate that AT&T gave you grief.
I had a Cappy that I upgraded from LG Incite that's an upgrade from HTC 8525. I had unlimited PDA data and they grandfathered it all the way to when I upgraded to the Infuse through my wife's phone and she got the Cappy and 2GB data. The 611 agent said they would do the 4G unlimited and only took a few minutes a 2 reboots of my phone.
Overall, I've had very good experiences with in person and call center AT&T staff. The lady who helped with my Cappy upgrade was just plain cute, smart and knowledgeable and worked the upgrade with no issues at all(btw, all the female staff in that store that day were rather hot, it's a Sign!!!). She wasn't pushy at all with any upsells and I was done with new Sammy happiness in under 20mins! Infuse upgrade was also easy as well.
I've been with AT&T for over 6 yrs and I've not had coverage or billing problems that couldn't be explained.
Truly your mileage may vary. Maybe we can start a thread of Top Notch AT&T Stores by zip code. Record your experiences and cite the agent's name and you're thoughts.
We know AT&T staff reads XDA so this would be direct feed back they can't censor like they do in their own forums.
There are a couple of places where you can get the true LTE. Chicago is one of the cities. You can check out the full map on AT&T website.
I have been with AT&T for 4 years already and have never had a problem. I started with old Samsung A707A. It was one of their phones that had 3G and wasn't a smartphone. Used for 2 years and got unlimited data plan when it just came out.
Used iphone 3GS for 2 years. Honostly, I really got tired of Apple telling me what to do. I don't say that my iPhone was bad. It was just limited to me. I believe if I payed my money for my phone, I can use how I want to, not how someone else expects me to use it.
Switch to Android OS having an Infuse was a great decison. Used it right now for 4 days.
Here is my experience:
*Battery life isn't that bad. My iphone was the same way. Plus, it is with the use of HSPA+ (raw 4G/3g+). iPhone while using 3G was eating through the battery like no other. I also for my paranoia bought a case with a battery in it (1700mA). Basically that extends my heavy data usage to 2 days.
*Rooted to use Titanium. I like the customization options.
*The size is NOT too big. It's super thin as well. Even with the case it's alright.
Haven't had any problems with the phone yet.
Using medium data with 4G got me through 7am to 7pm to 78% battery.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium
Hey guys,
Thank you for your feedback. I think I should clarify a couple things...
1) I live in Toledo, OH, which is a major test market. I might have LTE and not even know it... Does the Infuse even support LTE? I mean, I get better speeds than my friend who has an Atrix 4G, by about 700kbps each time down and 300kbps up. From my experience this phone is freaking fast.
2) I installed some data heavy apps, such as skype, (front facing camera FTW!) and beautiful widgets, and a bunch of games. I can still go through a typical day (8am-12am) with about 10% battery. I'm impressed. Then again, results may vary.
3) Lastly, has anybody tried just keeping the phone on EDGE all day? I mean, if you're using the infused rom and don't use data except for email and such, you could probably just switch it over to EDGE and save a TON of battery life. My cappy used to get about 1/3 extra battery life.
It's good to hear that most of you are also have good Infuse experiences!
I have been experimenting with widgets to toggle 2g-4g great idea. Screen of course is the biggest battery eater.
vmatt said:
I have been experimenting with widgets to toggle 2g-4g great idea. Screen of course is the biggest battery eater.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I use brightness level from curvefish and make my own brightness > It saves a little bit of battery.
SMaximus7 said:
after about 15 minutes of me telling him what a jaggoff he was, I hung up on him, called up 611 and they put it back on the unlimited plan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LoL
I love it when customer service reps and managers don't do their jobs correctly and I get to rip into them like you did to that guy for 15 minutes. Wish I could have been there on the phone to listen
ap3604 said:
LoL
I love it when customer service reps and managers don't do their jobs correctly and I get to rip into them like you did to that guy for 15 minutes. Wish I could have been there on the phone to listen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I was very persistent about speaking with a manager without ripping into the employee (I could tell she didn't know what she was doing) and I was polite about it, and they fixed my problem within 24 hours. Maybe putting reps in their place works, but it's important to remember that they aren't the ones who set up a crapton of frivolous data plans to confuse customers and reps alike.
Hey guys and gals, Please advise.
I've been a Sprint customer for 2 years my contract is up. Had an HTC hero which was an amazing phone considering it's age.
I bought 2 VM phones; the optimus V for the wife, and the Motorola Triumph for me. Owneed them both for 12 hours and I'm a bit concerned.
I've rooted them both and removed some bloat. I looked online and see nothing but praise for the optimus V and the MT looks like a lemon based on reviews! I noticed some lag on the touchscreen (I tried to ignore it but the killer is the GPS, the optimus found location in 5 seconds, and the MT was still searching after 5 minutes.
Should I return this thing? Is it a software problem or hardware? Will a custom ROM help?
Please tell me if i should exchange it for the optimus.
Had the same feeling back in August when I purchased the phone. Do yourself a favor and install CM7. You will notice an insane difference; it’s more like owning an entirely different phone. That thing they call an operating system that’s installed out of the box is an insult to both the user and the phones hardware which is actually very good. It took me a few weeks to get the guts to install the Rom but it came to either that or throw the thing in the Delaware. Now a days you could not rip the device from my cold dead hands. I use the TG reloaded build and if you’re not familiar with Roms CM7 is for the most part the closest thing you can get to striate up Google's Gingerbread with a few tweaks and no Virgin Bloatware. Anyhow with the correct software the Triumph is a beast and runs circles around some of my friends higher end phones using their stock Roms. Also, the processor used on the Triumph is used in other devices as a 1.4g processors, including a few tablets so don’t be afraid to crank it up a notch or two. Also the TG Reloaded edition uses a 64 MHz minimum frequency when idle compared to the 246 MHz minimum used in the stock Rom, literally doubles the battery life.
Yes, give the CM7 TG-Reloaded ROM a try. The Motorola Triumph is based on Huawei Ideos X6 reference design, which is sold as different variants world-wide. The hardware is very capable, but either the Motorola people or those responsible for getting it to work on VM were very sloppy, so all the bugs in stock ROM. Most have been addressed in CM7, but still some remain.
As for the better battery life, the 61 mhz low freq helps only a little, other factors include less junk running in the background, battery-optimized interactive governor, and wakelock bugs in the stock kernel that prevent phone from entering deep sleep mode (common, but hard to track problem on a lot of Android phones).
I love my MT running miui [email protected] there's a agps fix somewhere on this site. I personal don't have any issues with this phone
Sent from my Motorola Triumph using Tapatalk
Thanks for the replies.
I agree that CM7 makes this phone waaaayyy smoother than stock. I still get an occasional lag on the touchscreen and the 4 "buttons" on the bottom are sometimes unresponsive; but this thing is awesome. The only reason the Optimus V is more popular is because it's cheaper. The MT is sexy :^)
The thing I miss from my HTC Hero was the ease of wireless tethering. I didn't really use it much, but it was nice to know I could run any piece of hardware without any mods.
Does the CM7 TG reloaded ROM have an OC kernel built in or do I need to flash one?
Bruce777 said:
Thanks for the replies.
I agree that CM7 makes this phone waaaayyy smoother than stock. I still get an occasional lag on the touchscreen and the 4 "buttons" on the bottom are sometimes unresponsive; but this thing is awesome. The only reason the Optimus V is more popular is because it's cheaper. The MT is sexy :^)
The thing I miss from my HTC Hero was the ease of wireless tethering. I didn't really use it much, but it was nice to know I could run any piece of hardware without any mods.
Does the CM7 TG reloaded ROM have an OC kernel built in or do I need to flash one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may be close to fixing the touchscreen issue, it bugs me too. CM7 allows built-in wireless tethering, and you can add it to be a quick toggle in the notification bar, along with other options. OC kernel is built-in, check out the first post on the ROM thread to read up about all the features.
Whyzor said:
I may be close to fixing the touchscreen issue, it bugs me too. CM7 allows built-in wireless tethering, and you can add it to be a quick toggle in the notification bar, along with other options. OC kernel is built-in, check out the first post on the ROM thread to read up about all the features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Needless to say I NO longer have buyers remorse!
Yes, I saw the wireless tethering options...I tried multiple time to initialize it, but my laptop would not connect. Any threads you could send me to? (yes I did look in the ROM thread :^)
thanks
Bruce777 said:
Needless to say I NO longer have buyers remorse!
Yes, I saw the wireless tethering options...I tried multiple time to initialize it, but my laptop would not connect. Any threads you could send me to? (yes I did look in the ROM thread :^)
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first few times I tried to connect it may take a long time for the client (PC) to recognize and go through to the internet, give it a few minutes & try to refresh a webpage. It works for me & others.
Bruce777 said:
Needless to say I NO longer have buyers remorse!
Yes, I saw the wireless tethering options...I tried multiple time to initialize it, but my laptop would not connect. Any threads you could send me to? (yes I did look in the ROM thread :^)
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wireless tethering worked fine for me when I tested it (only tried it to make sure it worked). I didn't have to do anything special to make it work.
Whyzor said:
The first few times I tried to connect it may take a long time for the client (PC) to recognize and go through to the internet, give it a few minutes & try to refresh a webpage. It works for me & others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was really excited when you said the CM7 native wifi tether worked...but I couldn't get it to
I even factory reset and wiped everything to make sure it was a fresh attempt. Still nothing. Both my PC and Hp touchpad can find the signal but neither connect/keep the connection. After attempting the connection (and saying it's connected for around 3 seconds) the touchpad will no longer reads the wifi signal.
Any threads on this for me to research? I looked to no avail.
Bruce777 said:
I was really excited when you said the CM7 native wifi tether worked...but I couldn't get it to
I even factory reset and wiped everything to make sure it was a fresh attempt. Still nothing. Both my PC and Hp touchpad can find the signal but neither connect/keep the connection. After attempting the connection (and saying it's connected for around 3 seconds) the touchpad will no longer reads the wifi signal.
Any threads on this for me to research? I looked to no avail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nevermind, I just tried wireless tether for root users, after about 10 attempts with the native app, and it works! Better to be lucky than good.
Now...has anyone had any luck getting Sprint visual voicemail to work on this thing? :^) Mine half works , I can compose messages to myself but any calls wont actually work.
thanks again for the replies people. We SHOULDN'T be in 'low activity" section
Bruce777 said:
Nevermind, I just tried wireless tether for root users, after about 10 attempts with the native app, and it works! Better to be lucky than good.
Now...has anyone had any luck getting Sprint visual voicemail to work on this thing? :^) Mine half works , I can compose messages to myself but any calls wont actually work.
thanks again for the replies people. We SHOULDN'T be in 'low activity" section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VM doesn't support 3rd party Voicemails so getting a visual one may not work... You can ask VM about it and see if they can let you but it may just be a network thing with them...
And the MT is in a low activity section because no one is here there all at android forums...
Triumph has a few hardware issues that won't go away, like GPS and touch response puking randomly.
Also while CM7 does bring extra functionality, it is less stable than stock.
Optimus V is basically the only solid prepaid phone on VM.
Hopefully Sprint learned their lesson to not rebrand POS phones and instead, use existing phones that have proven themselves. We will likely see much better phones by end of 2012 based on what was said at CES '12, so just hang tight.
wonshikee said:
Triumph has a few hardware issues that won't go away, like GPS and touch response puking randomly.
Also while CM7 does bring extra functionality, it is less stable than stock.
Optimus V is basically the only solid prepaid phone on VM.
Hopefully Sprint learned their lesson to not rebrand POS phones and instead, use existing phones that have proven themselves. We will likely see much better phones by end of 2012 based on what was said at CES '12, so just hang tight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea... by the end of 2012, well its the beginning right now and if they don't start getting newer phones, I may have to switch to another company... I heard Straight Talk is getting the LG Optimus 2X so that may be incentive enough for me. VM needs to get a dual core and not just keep bringing in more and more phones that have 600mhz or 800mhz processors with 3 inch screens...
marc12868 said:
Yea... by the end of 2012, well its the beginning right now and if they don't start getting newer phones, I may have to switch to another company... I heard Straight Talk is getting the LG Optimus 2X so that may be incentive enough for me. VM needs to get a dual core and not just keep bringing in more and more phones that have 600mhz or 800mhz processors with 3 inch screens...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that phone looks really promising, but ST is expensive - paying $25 on VM vs $45 for ST, unless you need the higher end plan on VM anyway.
If you're willing to go high end, you can grab a Nexus/GS2 and use it on tmobile's prepaid instead, it's what I'm doing current with TMO's $30/mo plan.
wonshikee said:
Yeah that phone looks really promising, but ST is expensive - paying $25 on VM vs $45 for ST, unless you need the higher end plan on VM anyway.
If you're willing to go high end, you can grab a Nexus/GS2 and use it on tmobile's prepaid instead, it's what I'm doing current with TMO's $30/mo plan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So with TMO's prepaid you can use any TMO phone then?
marc12868 said:
So with TMO's prepaid you can use any TMO phone then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I've heard. If you buy a used/unlocked TMO phone, you can get the TMO activation kit for something like $7 ( it's just a SIM ) and put it in your phone and your good.
This is what I'm thinking about doing myself. I get ok coverage with VM on my LGOV, but not great.
My wife has a TMO Exhibit2-4g and it's a great phone and the service is good as well. She's on the $50/month plan, I'll opt for the $30 I think.
dwcasey said:
That's what I've heard. If you buy a used/unlocked TMO phone, you can get the TMO activation kit for something like $7 ( it's just a SIM ) and put it in your phone and your good.
This is what I'm thinking about doing myself. I get ok coverage with VM on my LGOV, but not great.
My wife has a TMO Exhibit2-4g and it's a great phone and the service is good as well. She's on the $50/month plan, I'll opt for the $30 I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I did some looking and youbcan use any t-mo phone. I'm thinking Akita switching over too. $30 for 5gb of 4g and unlimited texting is good deal. I don't even talk on the phone for minutes to matter lol. Vm service is just starting to annoy me :/
i had both of these phones! i liked the V better. but the MT was newer and bigger so went to that. but still have the V.
I just wondered if anyone had the Verizon version, what it was like? Did they overdue it with bkoatware and has anyone tried to root it yet?
I do. No root.
kieso said:
I just wondered if anyone had the Verizon version, what it was like? Did they overdue it with bkoatware and has anyone tried to root it yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's pretty much the same bloatware as any Verizon released Samsung device. There is no root yet.
No root same Bloat as all vzw and Samsung device except now Facebook is not able to be uninistalled it's a system app now
OK thanks for the info. Is anyone having any issues with it? I was trying to wait for the nexus 6 but I got a glimpse of the edge and it really got my attention so I'm going to verizon tomorrow to get one if its in stock.
If you're wanting something to root I would honestly steer you towards the Nexus. It doesn't look like a root for our version will be coming out anytime soon, if at all. I love it like it is for sure though and it is a tough battle if you just want a solid phone.
kieso said:
OK thanks for the info. Is anyone having any issues with it? I was trying to wait for the nexus 6 but I got a glimpse of the edge and it really got my attention so I'm going to verizon tomorrow to get one if its in stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the phone at launch and haven't had any issues with it so far. I had a nexus 6 that I purchased from T-Mobile and was using it on Verizon for a while. I returned it within the return window. Battery life was horrendous, random app crashes, it took a couple of minutes to pick up signal, no multitasking, and no simultaneous voice and data. I'm sure the simultaneous voice and data will be on the Verizon edition since they can push Advanced Calling 1.0 to it. I'm in no way trying to say that you should get the Edge over the Nexus. Just sharing my experience with both phones.
slimc84 said:
I got the phone at launch and haven't had any issues with it so far. I had a nexus 6 that I purchased from T-Mobile and was using it on Verizon for a while. I returned it within the return window. Battery life was horrendous, random app crashes, it took a couple of minutes to pick up signal, no multitasking, and no simultaneous voice and data. I'm sure the simultaneous voice and data will be on the Verizon edition since they can push Advanced Calling 1.0 to it. I'm in no way trying to say that you should get the Edge over the Nexus. Just sharing my experience with both phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, advanced calling does have simultaneous voice/data with advanced calling built in. sucky thing is that if you don't elect for the advanced calling 1.0, you can't use the simultaneous voice/data, despite having that feature on the note 4. i've been through hell recently because advanced calling doesn't work with verizon's caller id app, but in order to have simultaneous voice/data, you HAVE to have the advanced/HD calling. went round and round with tech support about this for an entire day, only to have to factory reset and i'm still in the process of getting things backed up/restored AGAIN. barely had the phone for 4 days, at one point i couldn't even dial out because so many people had messed with my account and reset network settings... but anyways. lesson learned-- the HD calling is free. take advantage of it, and utilize a third party caller id app. (recommendations welcome, btw)
Don't forget the Dev edition is coming as well, if you're buying off contract.
Thanks for the info. I just got it yesterday and so far I'm loving it. I love the multiwindows. It's much better since my S3. I'm sure root will come along sometime. I'd really like to have the mod for using the earpiece as an extra speaker
I picked mine up yesterday on edge.. Ended up adding another line and doing a SIM card swap in order to keep my unlimited data. Now I have an extra phone lol with one gigabyte of data on it. Basically sharing that with my tablet as well which stays coupled to me on my wifi tether. So far I am really liking it and do not seem to need to root. Being I am on an older unlimited plan the tether of course was wanting me to pay but there is an app for that lol wifi tether working strong. As of now no need for root but would always love the option hopefully someone will come along and take this device under their wing. I am having an issue with the CNN side ticker not updating itself just showing it as loading. Everything else seems to be working rock solid and I'm loving the camera. Definitely a different phone if you're looking for something different. I was tired of the same old same old was going to get a g3 but that is basically like my s3 with better specs of course but I opted to stay with Samsung. Brighter screen and I actually kind of like some of the TouchWiz options. Does not seem to be bogged down to bed with bloatware as this thing has three gigs of ram and a super fast processor seems to sale right on through everything. Now we just need someone to start some topics under the Verizon edge section.
Sent from my SM-N915V using XDA Free mobile app
Picked mine up the day they released it. The sales guy told me I was the first (and only one) to pick it up all day - which was a real shame, IMO.
I love this thing. This is my first venture into the phablet world and am enjoying it.
Just waiting for root....
I'm not trying to be a downer but as it seems nobody is working on note 4 vzw root as I have one of thoes as well I don't think we will get it anytime soon if ever would love it but no exploits have been found to bypass bootloader to achieve root
jolly_roger_hook said:
I'm not trying to be a downer but as it seems nobody is working on note 4 vzw root as I have one of thoes as well I don't think we will get it anytime soon if ever would love it but no exploits have been found to bypass bootloader to achieve root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm happy with it the way it is now but I know within a year I'll wanna root and try out different Roma if we get to that point. I'm also awfully tempted to buy the gear S
jolly_roger_hook said:
I'm not trying to be a downer but as it seems nobody is working on note 4 vzw root as I have one of thoes as well I don't think we will get it anytime soon if ever would love it but no exploits have been found to bypass bootloader to achieve root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check the AT&T Samsung Note 4 forums. There seems to be multiple people working on it. Also, just because developers are not posting in the forums, it does not mean that nobody is working on it.
slimc84 said:
Check the AT&T Samsung Note 4 forums. There seems to be multiple people working on it. Also, just because developers are not posting in the forums, it does not mean that nobody is working on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I said it seems not that nobody is
As many on XDA will tell you a Phone or ROM is only as good as it’s support team. As a developer who has offered various ROMs and android mods since 2009, I have extensive experience in troubleshooting and helping others do so. And in recent years, I very rarely go out of my way to lend an opinion or even review a device, however, I think the android community should be informed about the support that the Essential Phone offers before buying their product.
I was very excited to hear about Andy Rubin's project and immediately pre-ordered the PH-1 with the extended warranty. Despite delays, I had high hopes and had every intention of making it my daily driver. The day I received the phone I also received an email stating that it was not certified for usage on Verizon’s network. Verizon is the only network where I live. I tried my existing sim card and received awful reception. I wrote a quick review and stated “This may be a simple APN fix or could be a serious issue with the radios.” Since the phone was unusable, I boxed it up awaiting Verizon certification.
About a month went by before I finally got an email stating the PH-1 was certified for Verizon. I tried the phone and still received abysmal data reception. Despite 3-4 bars, the download speeds around 3 Mbps and uploads of 0.01 Mpbs or slower. Without wifi the phone cannot complete initial setup/login, Google Assistant cannot function, and in general does not work.
I spent 3 days troubleshooting this with APNs, data resets, Manufacturer's reset, custom bands, hidden menus, confirmed the IEMI via the web portal... you name it, I tried it. During this time, I noticed there are a few spots on the top of the screen that work poorly. So, I finally decided to contact Essential’s support; the options are limited to leaving a voicemail or email. I tried leaving a voicemail that no one returned.
After a week of waiting for a return call, I moved to the email support. I summarized all the steps I had tried. I received a follow up email the next day asking me to perform factory reset….. Something that I had clearly stated I had already done. So, I did another and responded that it did not work. It took over 1 week to receive a follow up asking if I had the My Verizon app installed. I cannot imagine how this would influence data speeds, but I played their game and gave it a try. Of course there was no improvement.
Their follow up ask me to reset the APNs, which is a much more logical option than their first and second response, but once again something I clearly stated I had previously done in my initial request for support. At this point, I took my phone to a Verizon and T-Mobile store and their representatives tried new sim cards, provisioned, and troubleshooted the phone. Both Verizon and T-Mobile, have said there is nothing wrong with the setup, the sim, the apps, and the phone’s hardware is defective.
I relayed this message to Essential Support and and their response was to #1 download the Verizon app #2 reset APNS #3 set the phone to global mode…… Not only had they told me to do this before, but if they bothered to read any of my emails they would have seen this has been tried, and both Verizon and T-Mobile have independently verified the software is fine, it is not user error, and the hardware is defective.
Over the last month, I have made no progress at all on the radio issue and it has been 4 days since Essential’s last lackluster communication.
Despite reminding their support staff several times, no has even tried to troubleshoot the other issue I am having with the screen involving poor touch sensitivity on the superior border. No one has offered me a new phone nor referred to my Essential Extended Care (which I do not want pay the deductible for a phone that never worked). When I asked to return, the phone they said it was 14 day window despite the phone not being certified on my network for the first month I had not the phone.
Over the years, I have owned Motorola Droid, Galaxy Nexus (toro + maguro), G2, G3, 1+1, 1+2, 1+3, LG G2, LG G3, LG G4, GS3, GS4, GS5, Sony Pollux, Nexus 4, Nexus n6p, among others, and I have had to call support for hardware issues. The Essential Phone is by a very wide margin has the worst support I have ever come across and Google’s has had the best.
In its prime, my custom ROM had well over 100,000 users and I tend to be the only one on the team who offered support, so I completely understand android support like very few on this planet. As of last month before the price break, Essential was estimated to have only sold 5,000 phones. Even with a bare bones staff fielding emails and not checking voicemail, their support volume per day is likely less than what I personally did for free for our community for free as part of a “hobby” for almost a decade.
To sum it all up: “Buyer Beware”
DHO said:
As many on XDA will tell you a Phone or ROM is only as good as it’s support team. As a developer who has offered various ROMs and android mods since 2009, I have extensive experience in troubleshooting and helping others do so. And in recent years, I very rarely go out of my way to lend an opinion or even review a device, however, I think the android community should be informed about the support that the Essential Phone offers before buying their product.
I was very excited to hear about Andy Rubin's project and immediately pre-ordered the PH-1 with the extended warranty. Despite delays, I had high hopes and had every intention of making it my daily driver. The day I received the phone I also received an email stating that it was not certified for usage on Verizon’s network. Verizon is the only network where I live. I tried my existing sim card and received awful reception. I wrote a quick review and stated “This may be a simple APN fix or could be a serious issue with the radios.” Since the phone was unusable, I boxed it up awaiting Verizon certification.
About a month went by before I finally got an email stating the PH-1 was certified for Verizon. I tried the phone and still received abysmal data reception. Despite 3-4 bars, the download speeds around 3 Mbps and uploads of 0.01 Mpbs or slower. Without wifi the phone cannot complete initial setup/login, Google Assistant cannot function, and in general does not work.
I spent 3 days troubleshooting this with APNs, data resets, Manufacturer's reset, custom bands, hidden menus, confirmed the IEMI via the web portal... you name it, I tried it. During this time, I noticed there are a few spots on the top of the screen that work poorly. So, I finally decided to contact Essential’s support; the options are limited to leaving a voicemail or email. I tried leaving a voicemail that no one returned.
After a week of waiting for a return call, I moved to the email support. I summarized all the steps I had tried. I received a follow up email the next day asking me to perform factory reset….. Something that I had clearly stated I had already done. So, I did another and responded that it did not work. It took over 1 week to receive a follow up asking if I had the My Verizon app installed. I cannot imagine how this would influence data speeds, but I played their game and gave it a try. Of course there was no improvement.
Their follow up ask me to reset the APNs, which is a much more logical option than their first and second response, but once again something I clearly stated I had previously done in my initial request for support. At this point, I took my phone to a Verizon and T-Mobile store and their representatives tried new sim cards, provisioned, and troubleshooted the phone. Both Verizon and T-Mobile, have said there is nothing wrong with the setup, the sim, the apps, and the phone’s hardware is defective.
I relayed this message to Essential Support and and their response was to #1 download the Verizon app #2 reset APNS #3 set the phone to global mode…… Not only had they told me to do this before, but if they bothered to read any of my emails they would have seen this has been tried, and both Verizon and T-Mobile have independently verified the software is fine, it is not user error, and the hardware is defective.
Over the last month, I have made no progress at all on the radio issue and it has been 4 days since Essential’s last lackluster communication.
Despite reminding their support staff several times, no has even tried to troubleshoot the other issue I am having with the screen involving poor touch sensitivity on the superior border. No one has offered me a new phone nor referred to my Essential Extended Care (which I do not want pay the deductible for a phone that never worked). When I asked to return, the phone they said it was 14 day window despite the phone not being certified on my network for the first month I had not the phone.
Over the years, I have owned Motorola Droid, Galaxy Nexus (toro + maguro), G2, G3, 1+1, 1+2, 1+3, LG G2, LG G3, LG G4, GS3, GS4, GS5, Sony Pollux, Nexus 4, Nexus n6p, among others, and I have had to call support for hardware issues. The Essential Phone is by a very wide margin has the worst support I have ever come across and Google’s has had the best.
In its prime, my custom ROM had well over 100,000 users and I tend to be the only one on the team who offered support, so I completely understand android support like very few on this planet. As of last month before the price break, Essential was estimated to have only sold 5,000 phones. Even with a bare bones staff fielding emails and not checking voicemail, their support volume per day is likely less than what I personally did for free for our community for free as part of a “hobby” for almost a decade.
To sum it all up: “Buyer Beware”
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man...
I really like this phone... It hit all the sweet spots for me as a device... And I'm in love with the battery life...
But to see @DHO blast Essential like this...
I have seen on other posts that the Essential team reads XDA... And I can only hope that seeing a respected developer complain in such an articulate way has some gravity with them to possibly step up their game...
The hardware (for me on AT&T) has been superb... And I have few if any complaints... But maybe it has to do with the CDMA portion of the device which I will never have to deal with
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
thanks for the detailed post. It's good to be prepared when it's required. Hope they change their support model and performance very soon.
cheers
rignfool said:
Man...
I really like this phone... It hit all the sweet spots for me as a device... And I'm in love with the battery life...
But to see @DHO blast Essential like this...
I have seen on other posts that the Essential team reads XDA... And I can only hope that seeing a respected developer complain in such an articulate way has some gravity with them to possibly step up their game...
The hardware (for me on AT&T) has been superb... And I have few if any complaints... But maybe it has to do with the CDMA portion of the device which I will never have to deal with
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rignfool Thanks.
With a little luck word will get out and they will step up their game.
I really hope this post doesn't put all future custom rom development in a death spiral before it even starts. :/
Damn that sucks... I've been using my phone on Sprint for several days and the reception has been outstanding, full bars of LTE+ almost everywhere, while the other phones in my family (Galaxy S7, Galaxy S6, 2 iPhone 7's) get three bars of LTE at most. Hope you get this sorted out, sucks that it happened in the first place.
---------- Post added at 06:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:52 PM ----------
12paq said:
I really hope this post doesn't put all future custom rom development in a death spiral before it even starts. :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very unlikely, cause @invisiblek has been going ham in terms of getting LOS/TWRP stable on this device.
DHO, sorry to hear you are having issues. I am a Verizon user in Houston. When I first got my PH-1, I couldn't get Verizon to stay connected. Constant drops, like non-stop and unusable.. I was ready to send it back. It was incredibly frustrating. Then I read a post here about resetting radio setting. I changed to Europe, then changed back to US. I set to LTE/CMDA, in the ping/radio section and also on the user network setting.. Who knows what else I changed and changed back. I was trying anything and everything I could. I am definitely a user, not a cellular techie. But Verizon started staying connected, even showing LTE+ most of the time.
Good luck. Maybe you have a defective phone? Seems you obviously know all about troubleshooting and have tried everything. If you can get it working on Verizon, I am confident you will like the PH-1.
Still issues with Verizon WiFi calling, Verizon voicemail and Verizon visual voicemail. But for me, I can live without the WiFi calling and have workaround for vm.
Frustrating situation, no doubt. All the best.
I second the defective phone scenario.. from my reading these forms the first batches with the foam earpiece had numerous issues. Lots of posts about connectivity issues that were resolved by replacement phones
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
12paq said:
I really hope this post doesn't put all future custom rom development in a death spiral before it even starts. :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was surprised, in my circle of devs. I am the only one to purchase the PH-1. Based on my feedback I know it has prevented a few people who were on the fence.
I'm sure once more source becomes available this phone will pick up support. It has TWRP before the Pixel2. And invisiblek is as good as it gets for device bring up. So there is hope
TheF|ipSide said:
Damn that sucks... I've been using my phone on Sprint for several days and the reception has been outstanding, full bars of LTE+ almost everywhere, while the other phones in my family (Galaxy S7, Galaxy S6, 2 iPhone 7's) get three bars of LTE at most. Hope you get this sorted out, sucks that it happened in the first place.
---------- Post added at 06:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:52 PM ----------
Very unlikely, cause @invisiblek has been going ham in terms of getting LOS/TWRP stable on this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
houstonironman said:
DHO, sorry to hear you are having issues. I am a Verizon user in Houston. When I first got my PH-1, I couldn't get Verizon to stay connected. Constant drops, like non-stop and unusable.. I was ready to send it back. It was incredibly frustrating. Then I read a post here about resetting radio setting. I changed to Europe, then changed back to US. I set to LTE/CMDA, in the ping/radio section and also on the user network setting.. Who knows what else I changed and changed back. I was trying anything and everything I could. I am definitely a user, not a cellular techie. But Verizon started staying connected, even showing LTE+ most of the time.
Good luck. Maybe you have a defective phone? Seems you obviously know all about troubleshooting and have tried everything. If you can get it working on Verizon, I am confident you will like the PH-1.
Still issues with Verizon WiFi calling, Verizon voicemail and Verizon visual voicemail. But for me, I can live without the WiFi calling and have workaround for vm.
Frustrating situation, no doubt. All the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried this. I have noticed some VERY interesting bugs in the USA band that are causing some sort of error resulting in the deactivation of the data. I wish I could grab a logcat (need SU). If their support was more .... receptive ... I would gladly report how to replicate RIL failures that result in complete deactivation of the radios. Unfortunately this is not the underplaying cause of my issue :/
stinger4321 said:
I second the defective phone scenario.. from my reading these forms the first batches with the foam earpiece had numerous issues. Lots of posts about connectivity issues that were resolved by replacement phones
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, I am hoping they will do the right thing and replace it.
DHO said:
I have tried this. I have noticed some VERY interesting bugs in the USA band that are causing some sort of error resulting in the deactivation of the data. I wish I could grab a logcat (need SU). If their support was more .... receptive ... I would gladly report how to replicate RIL failures that result in complete deactivation of the radios. Unfortunately this is not the underplaying cause of my issue :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am surprised to hear you have not rooted yet with it being available.
Sure you probably tried already but take the sim out and factory reset. Put sim in and factory reset again. Make no other changes unless your trying to get volte to work. Info based on an already active Verizon sim account.
The support reps for some reason go by their tech cheat sheet all the time, instead of reading email fully and understanding that they are communicating to a tech savvy person. I had that before with other OEMs, where they would make go through troubleshooting which were already done previously. Another thing would be if support team knows that this is an average user who doesn't really play nice with technology, then yes, going through troubleshooting steps would be logical.
So, I am planning to buy this phone soon, do users on T-Mobile network have any cell/data issues?
@DHO I assume you've tried the latest stock build? I assume they had to push something once it was Verizon certified. Mine, along with a couple other devs I work with, are working just fine on Verizon.
T-Mobile
Charkatak said:
The support reps for some reason go by their tech cheat sheet all the time, instead of reading email fully and understanding that they are communicating to a tech savvy person. I had that before with other OEMs, where they would make go through troubleshooting which were already done previously. Another thing would be if support team knows that this is an average user who doesn't really play nice with technology, then yes, going through troubleshooting steps would be logical.
So, I am planning to buy this phone soon, do users on T-Mobile network have any cell/data issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on T-Mobile here in Los Angeles with no problems whatsoever compared to my previous S8+ and HTC U11 devices. I know others have reported reception issues on T-Mobile, but I personally am perfectly happy on T-Mobile here.
invisiblek said:
@DHO I assume you've tried the latest stock build? I assume they had to push something once it was Verizon certified. Mine, along with a couple other devs I work with, are working just fine on Verizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with this statement.
I'm on Verizon and I've had decent speeds.
I've been averaging between 35 - 45 Mb/s down and 7-10 up.
The lowest I've had it drop is 25 down and 2 up.
I can't say i've had any drop out issues either.
mrcooter said:
I am surprised to hear you have not rooted yet with it being available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want to give them a reason to say I voided the warranty. If they want proper logs, I would be happy to supply.
bill3508 said:
Sure you probably tried already but take the sim out and factory reset. Put sim in and factory reset again. Make no other changes unless your trying to get volte to work. Info based on an already active Verizon sim account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep tried everything. The Data speeds are insufficient to support voLTE. Even with the LTE+ icon I get 1G speeds,.. a few decibites a second. LOL
Charkatak said:
The support reps for some reason go by their tech cheat sheet all the time, instead of reading email fully and understanding that they are communicating to a tech savvy person. I had that before with other OEMs, where they would make go through troubleshooting which were already done previously. Another thing would be if support team knows that this is an average user who doesn't really play nice with technology, then yes, going through troubleshooting steps would be logical.
So, I am planning to buy this phone soon, do users on T-Mobile network have any cell/data issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both Verizon and T-mobile has identical issues for me.
I know their support is check list based. So I walked them through each step I tried..... around the 6th follow up email I eve wrote out a numbered list because they had circled back to asking the same questions they had previously.
invisiblek said:
@DHO I assume you've tried the latest stock build? I assume they had to push something once it was Verizon certified. Mine, along with a couple other devs I work with, are working just fine on Verizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I have tried on each release, including the one pushed over the last week. I have also tried a T-Mobile sim card and no difference than Verizon.
I know this phone is now "Certified" by Verizon but that is somewhat misleading. Because it is not an actual Verizon phone they block it from supporting WiFi calling and Visual Voicemail. You cannot even download and install Verizon's Visual Voicemail app from the Play store and built in Visual Voicemail in the Google Dialer does not work on Verizon. Also while a Verizon SIM is installed in the phone WiFi calling options completely disappear from settings. I think there is one person who said those two features are working for him but for the vast majority of us it does not work. I'm with DHO 100%. With the very poor customer support and the phone not functioning as well as most other phones there are far better options out there. I had connectivity issues with T-Mobile so bad I switched to Verizon and then found out the hard way they don't support those features on this phone. I ended up taking advantage of Verizon's 50% off the Pixel 2 XL with certain trade ins and ordered a Pixel 2 XL to use. I've ended up with a $700 Essential phone I cannot use. So I agree with DHO........BUYER BEWARE
That sounds more like Verizon douche baggery at work, more so than a problem with Essential's support.
Verizon is the one that decides who gets those features, not the phone manufacturer...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
JasonJoel said:
That sounds more like Verizon douche baggery at work, more so than a problem with Essential's support.
Verizon is the one that decides who gets those features, not the phone manufacturer...
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For WiFi calling, I think a little column A and a little column B here-.
their radio reception is just awful- that's it. if you get good signal, then you will not likely have issue. even if you go to relatively worse area, you won't notice it too much. but if you actually live or work at a place with weak signal, then your signal drops way too often compared to any other ****ty plastic old phones.
no real way to fix it unless there's some crazy baseband update that somehow drastically improves it. I think they just did not do enough field testing to see how weak signal reception the device can handle. and now, they merely provide lackluster response because they cannot do anything and they cannot really admit that they ****ed up the "essential" part of the essential ph-1. i personally like this phone only because of the price is competitive and LineageOS is now finally supported. I still have some return window thanks to Amazon's holiday return policy, but might have to wrap this up and send back to Amazon for being defective.
Because, I also get ****ty reception on T-Mobile.