Essential Phone... Thoughts? [RESOLVED]

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Portreve
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Essential Phone... Thoughts? [RESOLVED]

Post by Portreve »

I was recently reading an article which talked about a brand of Android smart phone called Essential Phone. I mean, it sounds interesting, but it also sounds a little too good to be true. Has anyone ever heard of this company before? Does anyone own one of their devices?

Thanks in advance!
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by jimallyn »

Sounds good. Unlocked is always nice, and straight Android with no bloatware sounds good to me. Price is inline with what others are charging, too. Tempting.
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by catweazel »

$US500 <- for the barest essentials?
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by jimallyn »

Doesn't sound like bare essentials to me. And I would consider the absence of all the bloatware installed by Google and the carrier to be a feature.
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by catweazel »

jimallyn wrote: ⤴Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:54 am Doesn't sound like bare essentials to me. And I would consider the absence of all the bloatware installed by Google and the carrier to be a feature.
THere's no bloatware on my android phone. I guess mileage varies.
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

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catweazel wrote: ⤴Thu Sep 13, 2018 3:07 amTHere's no bloatware on my android phone.
Are you running LineageOS on it? Or did you root it and uninstall the bloatware? Or something else?
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

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If it works with the Telstra 4G network I'd buy one, but, currently, don't need one.
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by catweazel »

jimallyn wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 14, 2018 3:29 am
catweazel wrote: ⤴Thu Sep 13, 2018 3:07 amTHere's no bloatware on my android phone.
Are you running LineageOS on it? Or did you root it and uninstall the bloatware? Or something else?
None of the above. It's a stock Oppo, and it came with nothing installed. I had to add everything that I use regularly.
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by Moem »

Tethered to Google = Not for me. 8)
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

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Moem wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 14, 2018 4:41 amTethered to Google = Not for me. 8)
Yeah, it's about the same as being tethered to Apple or Microsoft. But if you have an Android phone, at least you can install LineageOS or other cleaned up version of Android on it.
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by Moem »

jimallyn wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 14, 2018 4:56 am
Moem wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 14, 2018 4:41 amTethered to Google = Not for me. 8)
Yeah, it's about the same as being tethered to Apple or Microsoft.
Exactly. That's not for me, either.
jimallyn wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 14, 2018 4:56 amBut if you have an Android phone, at least you can install LineageOS or other cleaned up version of Android on it.
It seems like a bit of a hassle, but if/when I need a new phone, and I can find no other option, I may very well go that route.
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by catweazel »

jimallyn wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 14, 2018 4:56 am But if you have an Android phone, at least you can install LineageOS or other cleaned up version of Android on it.
Only if there's a version of it for your phone.
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by Portreve »

I've used LineageOS on and off, but the problem for me is that (at least in running 8.x) I have issues with getting the camera to work reliably. Other than that, it's pretty nice.

The reason I started this thread was I wanted to try and determine how good a company they are, how trustworthy they are, etc.

Maybe some day in the future, Purism's platform will be viable for me. In every other respect, I really like what they are trying to do.

If Essential is a viable option, then I'll be deciding for my next phone most likely between them, Google, and Samsung.
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by jimallyn »

catweazel wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 14, 2018 5:08 amOnly if there's a version of it for your phone.
There is, but I haven't yet figured out how to do the install. I found instructions, but they assume that you have already installed a custom recovery on your phone. So I looked up how to do that, and they assume you have already rooted your phone. There are several ways to root the phone, but some of them, like KingRoot, install an ad server on the phone. You can uninstall the ad server, but that unroots the phone. I wish I could find someplace that has all the instructions in one place, and all in the appropriate order, but apparently that's too much to ask.
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by jimallyn »

Portreve wrote: ⤴Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:03 pmThe reason I started this thread was I wanted to try and determine how good a company they are, how trustworthy they are, etc.
It appears that nobody here knows anything about them. But I will be watching this thread, in case somebody pops in with the straight scoop. Purism has potential, but they are not quite there yet.
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by smurphos »

Essential is a start-up run by Andy Rubin an ex-Googler and one of the original Android designers.

The original phone release had a lot of hype but was beset by delays, buggy software etc. and the future of the company doesn't look great eg.

https://www.xda-developers.com/essentia ... essential/
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Re: Essential Phone... Thoughts?

Post by Portreve »

smurphos wrote: ⤴Sat Sep 15, 2018 2:49 am Essential is a start-up run by Andy Rubin an ex-Googler and one of the original Android designers.

The original phone release had a lot of hype but was beset by delays, buggy software etc. and the future of the company doesn't look great eg.

https://www.xda-developers.com/essentia ... essential/
Ah. This is precisely the sort of insight (good or bad) I was looking for. Thanks, smurphos!
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