What problems are you experiencing with the Essential Phone

[James Fowler1]

Yeah I don't play games in this phone. I simply was texting. Nothing that would tax the system. I've used htc phones the past four years. I try and support the little guys but the little guys are forcing me to get a pixel 2

 

[modifier]

I've had three PH-1s so far and have yet to see a hang, freeze or stutter on any of them. I'm on email, text and Firefox all day long for work.

If the common theme here is that hangs occur when typing, look into disabling any telemetry or data collection used by your keyboard.

 

[James Fowler1]

IDK what to tell you. I don't need three of these devices to prove the is an issue. I'm using the stock Android keyboard. I did what you suggested and I'll see if that helps. I'm an essential fan so I'm not looking for a reason to send the phone back. Last night before bed, I had the thing freeze on me for a good five seconds or so and nothing but doing a hard power down for any action out of the phone. Home button, back button, nothing worked.

 

[modifier]

Trust me, I understand. I'm not saying you don't have issues. I'm just saying that I haven't seen anything similar in three phones so far. You and I are running different apps and mine has a lot of Google stuff disabled and is managed by MDM, so it's not a 1:1 comparison — and I don't expect it to be. My point is mainly that a smooth experience does exist for some of us here even if others are seeing problems.

I wish I knew what was causing your hangs. It's frustrating to see other users with issues.

 

[Robbie317]

I've had mine a week now and I have not experienced any lag, freezing of apps or problems with the touchscreen at all. Only issue I've had is watching video on Facebook. For whatever reason the video will skip around while watching in portrait mode but if you turn the phone to landscape it doesn't do it anymore.. Switch back to portrait and it starts doing it again. But this is ONLY in Facebook. Doesn't happen in YouTube or Twitter or Chrome... But never had that issue on Facebook on the Pixel XL or Pixel 2 XL.. Only on this phone. Everything else has been buttery smooth and fast.

Like Modifier I don't discount you are having issues. I had major issues with my Pixel 2 XL.. But I do fully believe I flat out got a BAD device. The screen on that thing started to act up and just flat out freeze up and have no touch function at all after just 3 days of having it. I have a friend at work who got his Pixel 2 XL the same day I did and he hasn't had a single hiccup with his but he fully saw the problems I was having with mine that he almost returned his even without problems but decided to stick it out and his is still near perfect.

 

[James Fowler1]

Just now I'm literally scrolling pics on Facebook using chrome and it freezes. I hit home, nothing. I hit the power button, nothing. Finally it closes chrome because it crashes. Really? Perhaps I'll try a replacement from Amazon before I give up?

 

[DominionRoofs]

Just now I'm literally scrolling pics on Facebook using chrome and it freezes. I hit home, nothing. I hit the power button, nothing. Finally it closes chrome because it crashes. Really? Perhaps I'll try a replacement from Amazon before I give up?

Is this your first ever ph1? Sorry if I missed that. I would certainly exchange it if you have never had another one to compare it to.

BTW. I'm B. Fowler.
Maybe related down the line..lol

 

[modifier]

@James Fowler1 It might be worth trying a factory reset, then setting up new rather than from backup just to try and isolate any issues. Install apps one at a time to test. I'm not on social media so I personally can't say how well Facebook works. Try installing it first and nothing else other than the required updates from Essential and Google.

I have a hard time thinking there's something specific in the hardware that would cause one device to hang and another to work great, unless it's something odd like a shorted connection on something like the FPR or display digitizer. But, anything is possible. I wouldn't rule out getting a replacement. If the issues happen a second time then it's either the software or an app causing problems. My personal guess is it's an app or multiple apps since some people report major problems and others like myself are problem-free.

 

[James Fowler1]

I received a Launcher3 error yesterday and the problems got worse and worse to a point where I almost could not use the phone. I followed troubleshooting for that and it helped a little, but still had issues. Then with the phone freezing and failing to launch anything, I did the factory reset. I slowly added apps and after only 5 apps the problems began again today. The only app that I could see triggering it would have been the Yahoo mail app. Previous to that, I literally only loaded Google Voice, Signal, Outlook, and a weather app...all of which I used on my previous HTC One with no problems.

Yes, this is my first Essential and I'll try swapping it with Amazon for a replacement, see if it's just a lemon.

 

[modifier]

...all of which I used on my previous HTC One with no problems.

Are there any apps that you're using now that weren't on your HTC One? That might be the place to start.

 

[James Fowler1]

Nope. I'm familiar with the patch issue whereby you place your finger on the sensor and it causes the phone to lock up too...not doing that. I'm at a loss. I will send this back for another try.

 

[andrew_ackley]

Nope. I'm familiar with the patch issue whereby you place your finger on the sensor and it causes the phone to lock up too...not doing that. I'm at a loss. I will send this back for another try.

Just a heads up but I went and disabled the swipe down to open notification shade fps shortcut and mine hasn't done it since. Maybe its just freezing up when I bump it. You should turn that off and reboot. Fixed mine.

 

[James Fowler1]

Tried doing that just now, didn't work. Thanks for all the tips from everyone.

 

[Lynsie LeCompte]

So my phone has been completely frozen for over 25 minutes now. Its frozen on the home screen and I can literally do nothing with it. The touch screen doesn't work and none of the buttons work either. I have only had the phone a couple days. It has been super slow and a little glitched but now its just frozen and I'm so fed up I'm ready to return this phone!! Can anyone help me to get it unfrozen?

 

[Stinger4321]

So my phone has been completely frozen for over 25 minutes now. Its frozen on the home screen and I can literally do nothing with it. The touch screen doesn't work and none of the buttons work either. I have only had the phone a couple days. It has been super slow and a little glitched but now its just frozen and I'm so fed up I'm ready to return this phone!! Can anyone help me to get it unfrozen?

Just hold power button down until phone shuts down

 

[Stinger4321]

So far im happy with this phone.. only issue is scrolling. It seems blurry and jerky.. only issue so far.. everything is smooth. Camera is decent alot better than my nexus 6. First day of use.. 15hrs off charger 5hrs of screen time and battery at 50%

 

[alavanaway]

I got my Essential on Sept 17. On Oct 3, the sound completely cut out. I opened a ticket with Essential. We did a factory reset, ensured the DND wasn't activated or anything silly like that, and then we walked through a couple of steps, I forget what they were. Nothing. I can connect with bluetooth, pairing to headphones but if I try to send any sound, or record any audio, the program freezes, the settings locks up, and eventually the phone reboots, at least twice. Sometimes it will look like it has rebooted, but when I unlock it, all I see is the background and the back arrow. (Triangle facing left.) The circle and square don't even make an appearance. Shortly after that, it reboots again. Even making a phone call is impossible. It can't open any application that requires the speakers, and applications that use the microphone receive no input. (No 'Ok Google' for me. I miss 'Ok Google'. It put my wife's Siri voice to shame.)

On Nov 5, the software was updated and it beeped at me in the middle of the night. I had sound, I could make phone calls again. I called my dentist. I checked my messages. I rejoiced. Six hours later, the phone went silent. Since then, it has come on twice, beeped at me to indicate that it once again has sound, but then rebooted before I could unlock the device. When it restarted, it was silent again.

I have fallen in love with this phone. The weight, the class, the jealous looks I get from my students. (I teach middle school.) It's a status symbol, I admit it, and for the first time, I'm not embarrassed by having a cheap phone. I want this to be my forever phone. (Or at least until the next Essential surpasses it.)

Do apps crash? Sometimes. Does it seem especially sensitive to touch? Some days. Does it regularly forget my fingerprint forcing me to put it in again? Yeah. But... I work with my hands, (Woodshop.) my fingerprints might actually change from week to week with callouses etc. I don't care. It's fast, it's simple, and it's mine. I want this phone to work. I want to integrate it into my commute, my workout routine, my calendar, my life. For the first time, I really feel like there is a mobile device that will make my life better, not just distract me. And it can't hear me.

I feel like I'm trapped on the other side of the glass. My phone can neither hear me, nor can I hear it. And the worst part, after scanning this forum it appears I'm the only one having this problem. I wish I could find a solution here. But it just seems hopeless. I know it's not a perfect phone. I know it can't hear me. But I love this phone. I'd rather have no phone at all than give it up.

 

[cz9h3d]

I've had my phone for 10 days. Yesterday was my first $$%^%@#$ issue. My home and task switcher buttons stopped working, my notifications stopped working, and I could no longer download from the Play store. I've seen other people with the home/recents issue. I had to do a factory reset (which sucks) to get things working again.

Of course I'm still logging into individual apps. My Android Auto wasn't ready for my commute this morning - and then to top it off, my Orzero screen protector fell off on my commute with a nice "clink" in the cupholder! Argh!

I'm still hopeful/positive - just had a really bad 24 hours....

 

[SLang1913]

I got this phone from Sprint just a few days ago. It was set up fresh with no backups from my LG G5. In that time it's done some weird stuff. It doesn't always see my fingerprints for whatever reason and sometimes takes 5 tries or I end up just putting my PIN in, It froze up once while listening to music and reading an article online (had to force reset it)...something I could easily do with my G5, I cannot decline calls (not sure if I can answer them no one but telemarketers have called). All in all it's not looking great and I have until Dec 2 to decide if I'll keep it or not.

 

[raqball]

Mine went back the other day due to non responsive touch on the screen. A reboot would temporarily solve the issue but it was short lived before the issue reared it's ugly head again. On the fence as to if I will order another or not.

Liked most of what the phone had to offer but had a few concerns.

1. The touch screen issues
2. Even the white is a fingerprint magnet on the back. I had a dbrand skin on the back and that did help with the gooey print and smudge mess from showing but I did not dig the way it felt.
3. It's a very heavy phone. Compared to it, my Pixel 2 feels like a feather.