Just got the phone yesterday and incredibly impressed. My Note 4 was about 6 months past its actual usability date, and this phone is a revelation!
Unlike many, I am coming from an older phone which maybe makes this experience different.
Look and Feel: I did extensive in store testing of the various flagships, including the LGV30, Pixel 2 XL. Note 4 and IphoneX. A lot of people seem to equate "all glass" with premium feel, but I think this phone feels dramatically better than any other phone. I love the solid weight, the uneven bezels look fantastic, while still also looking bezel-less. Essential>Current Flagships>>>Note 4
Screen: Aspect ratio: First of all I am not a ginormous fan of the stretched aspect ratios. But of all the phones, I think the 19:10 AR that Essential uses is the best. The 5.7" display equates to about a 5.5" 16.9 display (important for many apps and videos) which is a great size, only .2 inches less than my Note 4, as well as only .2 inches less than the Note 8 with the 18.5 to 9 display which is almost 1/2" taller. 16:9>=19:10>2:1>>18.5:1
Display quality: The display looks absolutely fantastic in both default mode AND sRGB. It is bright detailed without being technicolor. It is way better in my view than the Pixel 2 XL screen or the LG V30 screen. The Note 8 screen is better though. The Note 4 OLED is not in the same world.
Note 4>Essential>Pixel2/V30>>>Note 4
Responsiveness: Way faster than my Note 4. I know it had issues initially, but those seem to be fixed. From my testing it is on par with the Pixel and ahead of V30 and Note 8
Essential=Pixel2>LG V30>=Note 8
Speaker: Kinda crappy. Not horrible. About the same as my Note 4, but well behind the Pixel, Note 8 and LG V30 Pixel>V30>Note 8>Essential=Note 4
Headphone jack or lack thereof: OK big thumbs down for the lack of a headphone jack. That said the dongle works great with my Hyper X headphones and sounds terrific. I know LGv30 is better because of the DAC, but I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sound with the dongle, and less annoyed with the whole dongle thing that I thought I would be
Launcher: Super plain but fine. The lightly skinned Pixel 2 skin is far better, and I actually like the V30s implementation. Hate the Note 8 skin and just all the crap and baggage their skin has. I am pretty clueless on other launchers to use. For me:
Pixel 2>Essential=V30>Note 4>Note 8
Camera The big one I guess. I am not a photo enthusiast and will admit that sometimes when someone posts comparative pics of other pictures from other cameras to lament how bad it is I see usually nothing to only a minute difference. But coming from the Note 4 the camera is AWESOME. It is way faster (yes I know, slow compared to other flagships) and takes pretty amazing photos with point and click compared to Note 4. I know it's not the best, but still a gigantic upgrade for me, and I took a bunch of pictures that all looked great to me. The Note 4 pictures always sucked. Super soft focus and washed out. Essential>>>>>Note 4 Not knowledgeable enough to rate others.
So in short I find this phone absolutely amazing. It is SO much better than the Note 4, it is unreal. And I have never felt a more premium feeling phone.
At $425 from Amazon, with payments to boot it is an amazing deal. I also like supporting a company as passionate and involved as the Essential team and suspect it will only continue to get better and the PH-2 if they keep the construction and look and feel is likely to be spectacular. Not many reviews from the perspective of coming from a really old phone.
Unlike many, I am coming from an older phone which maybe makes this experience different.
Look and Feel: I did extensive in store testing of the various flagships, including the LGV30, Pixel 2 XL. Note 4 and IphoneX. A lot of people seem to equate "all glass" with premium feel, but I think this phone feels dramatically better than any other phone. I love the solid weight, the uneven bezels look fantastic, while still also looking bezel-less. Essential>Current Flagships>>>Note 4
Screen: Aspect ratio: First of all I am not a ginormous fan of the stretched aspect ratios. But of all the phones, I think the 19:10 AR that Essential uses is the best. The 5.7" display equates to about a 5.5" 16.9 display (important for many apps and videos) which is a great size, only .2 inches less than my Note 4, as well as only .2 inches less than the Note 8 with the 18.5 to 9 display which is almost 1/2" taller. 16:9>=19:10>2:1>>18.5:1
Display quality: The display looks absolutely fantastic in both default mode AND sRGB. It is bright detailed without being technicolor. It is way better in my view than the Pixel 2 XL screen or the LG V30 screen. The Note 8 screen is better though. The Note 4 OLED is not in the same world.
Note 4>Essential>Pixel2/V30>>>Note 4
Responsiveness: Way faster than my Note 4. I know it had issues initially, but those seem to be fixed. From my testing it is on par with the Pixel and ahead of V30 and Note 8
Essential=Pixel2>LG V30>=Note 8
Speaker: Kinda crappy. Not horrible. About the same as my Note 4, but well behind the Pixel, Note 8 and LG V30 Pixel>V30>Note 8>Essential=Note 4
Headphone jack or lack thereof: OK big thumbs down for the lack of a headphone jack. That said the dongle works great with my Hyper X headphones and sounds terrific. I know LGv30 is better because of the DAC, but I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sound with the dongle, and less annoyed with the whole dongle thing that I thought I would be
Launcher: Super plain but fine. The lightly skinned Pixel 2 skin is far better, and I actually like the V30s implementation. Hate the Note 8 skin and just all the crap and baggage their skin has. I am pretty clueless on other launchers to use. For me:
Pixel 2>Essential=V30>Note 4>Note 8
Camera The big one I guess. I am not a photo enthusiast and will admit that sometimes when someone posts comparative pics of other pictures from other cameras to lament how bad it is I see usually nothing to only a minute difference. But coming from the Note 4 the camera is AWESOME. It is way faster (yes I know, slow compared to other flagships) and takes pretty amazing photos with point and click compared to Note 4. I know it's not the best, but still a gigantic upgrade for me, and I took a bunch of pictures that all looked great to me. The Note 4 pictures always sucked. Super soft focus and washed out. Essential>>>>>Note 4 Not knowledgeable enough to rate others.
So in short I find this phone absolutely amazing. It is SO much better than the Note 4, it is unreal. And I have never felt a more premium feeling phone.
At $425 from Amazon, with payments to boot it is an amazing deal. I also like supporting a company as passionate and involved as the Essential team and suspect it will only continue to get better and the PH-2 if they keep the construction and look and feel is likely to be spectacular. Not many reviews from the perspective of coming from a really old phone.
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