Android Oreo 8.1 - Full Release

[msr360]

It's official, Essential is rolling out the full release of Oreo 8.1!

https://twitter.com/essential/status/973605611542753280

 

[anon(9918034)]

Hopefully they put up the images today. That way I don't have to wait for Sprint to push the update.

 

[anon(10268214)]

Excellent news!

 

[msr360]

Hopefully they addressed the reception issues........

 

[anon(10268214)]

Hopefully they addressed the reception issues........

No reception issues here. Talk to your carrier or better yet, try a different one. Competition is good.

 

[mogelijk]

Hopefully they put up the images today. That way I don't have to wait for Sprint to push the update.

You might see if you can "request" the update. I'm on Sprint and checked for an update, and it is currently downloading -- though since I had the beta, it might be related to that. Still, it is worth the try to check for an update.

 

[anon(9918034)]

I just got a replacement for the one I cracked. The one I cracked has beta 8.1 and it pushed the update. My 7.1.1 didn't push the update yet. When I get home, I will sideload the beta then push the update to my new phone.

 

[KaneA]

Yay! Installing now!
I just pressed THE button and Bam! there it was.
coming from 8.1 beta. Didn't really have any of the main issues that a lot of people were having, besides some reception loss every now and then. Pretty damn smooth.
Probably gonna be even smoother with official!

 

[msr360]

No reception issues here. Talk to your carrier or better yet, try a different one. Competition is good.

It's a pretty well known and documented issue between reddit, xda and here. I have been doing comparisons between a Google Pixel 2 and Essential on T-Mobile seeing a range of -10 to -20 always better on the Pixel

 

[anon(10268214)]

It's a pretty well known and documented issue between reddit, xda and here. I have been doing comparisons between a Google Pixel 2 and Essential on T-Mobile seeing a range of -10 to -20 always better on the Pixel

Well known and documented by people who don't know any better perhaps, but not well understood.

I have seen the so called 'signal' issue on other devices as well. It is not unique to Essential. Some of it has to do with how Android erroneously displays signal quality in the notification tray. Some of it is about carriers pushing non-carrier devices to non-LTE bands during phone calls. Some of it is about the still patchy implementation of VoLTE. In a small number of cases it may be a hardware issue. But given that Essential is basically running stock Android on a mainstream Qualcomm SoC, I find it hard to accept any software issues related to signal (as you are implying) would be due to anything but carrier meddling.

And since Google, like Apple, enjoys full control of its devices and access to full services on all carriers, the Pixel is an unfair comparison to begin with. Not sure why you keep bringing it up unless you are here to push Google's product? Go ahead and visit the Pixel forums...you will see plenty of disgruntled customer comments there also. Lol.

 

[msr360]

I'm just speaking from my experiences so far, I have both phones and use them. I can not speak to other Android Phones since I do not have anything besides these. There are comparisons out there comparing Samsung and LG Phones as well. Some people have even went as far as reviewing the FCC documentation and noticed that the SARS is lower on the Essential Phone compared to other brands so they are limiting the signal strength which could be causing lower reception.

 

[Armeniandave]

Signal is absolutely lower in weaker signal areas on t-mobile. I had the essential and the pixel 2 XL and there was no contest. Ending up selling the essential only because of the signal problems. I think the next essential phone will be much better reception wise.

 

[SactoKingsFan]

Immersive mode works after update.

 

[SactoKingsFan]

There's some new stuff in developer options.

Touch sensitivity - adjust touch sensitivity level

Grip rejection - Disable this if you want to have the very edge of screen respond to touches instead of having an invisible dead zone.

 

[1901Madison]

Did they fix the awful haptic feedback?

 

[SactoKingsFan]

Did they fix the awful haptic feedback?

Haptic feedback hasn't changed.

 

[msp1518]

I wish I could download it, but I am in China and lately it is impossible to download any android updates, even with VPN access. I can go to the Playstore and download app updates without a problem. But Android itself is now impossible to get here. Flipping stinks to high heaven. I will have to wait until I fly to Thailand for vacation this summer to get the update or so it seems.

 

[Roosterman]

I have to say, I'm impressed with 8.1. It does seem to be a bit faster. Even the camera launch seems quicker. Only thing I've noticed that I don't recall before is music playback over Bluetooth. I've had some intermittant cutouts. Only last a split second.