Halo Gray Announced as Amazon Exclusive

[msr360]

So how is everyone phone holding up? Happy with the Halo Gray? for the peepz that went case less, how is the screen and back?

 

[SactoKingsFan]

I'm really liking the Halo Gray. I've mostly been going case free but have a Gray fitbag leather sleeve and IQ Shield screen protector. No scratches so far. Love how the ceramic has a slight soft touch feel and doesn't show fingerprints. Only use a case when I think I'll need it.

 

[msr360]

I'm really liking the Halo Gray. I've mostly been going case free but have a Gray fitbag leather sleeve and IQ Shield screen protector. No scratches so far. Love how the ceramic has a slight soft touch feel and doesn't show fingerprints. Only use a case when I think I'll need it.

That's not a bad idea, put a screen protector on only and go case less. How is the back of the phone? Any fine scratches at all?

 

[SactoKingsFan]

That's not a bad idea, put a screen protector on only and go case less. How is the back of the phone? Any fine scratches at all?

No micro scratches on the back. Pretty much always inside/ on top of the fitbag or in a case when I'm not using the phone. I'm sure I could create some scratches if I wanted to.

 

[msr360]

My biggest concern is all the comments I have read here, reddit and xda about micro scratches on the screen.

 

[Bratigan]

A week out under heavy use with no cover and absolutely no scratches or mars of any kind. I carry it in my jacket pocket and I'm a very active outdoor guy. Carry it in pants pocket also. I love the Halo Grey, Alexa, the whole damn phone. Its an amazing value compared to the competition. The 360 camera is awesome and tomorrow its picture taking time in the deep snow in 360. Hope I don't get it too wet.

 

[msr360]

A week out under heavy use with no cover and absolutely no scratches or mars of any kind. I carry it in my jacket pocket and I'm a very active outdoor guy. Carry it in pants pocket also. I love the Halo Grey, Alexa, the whole damn phone. Its an amazing value compared to the competition. The 360 camera is awesome and tomorrow its picture taking time in the deep snow in 360. Hope I don't get it too wet.

Share some of those pictures with the group.

 

[SactoKingsFan]

My biggest concern is all the comments I have read here, reddit and xda about micro scratches on the screen.

A screen protector would be a good idea since Gorilla Glass 5 will most likely eventually show micro scratches. Almost all the tempered glass for this phone have issues. There's self healing wet install screen protectors that feel almost as smooth as glass.

 

[msr360]

I tried out skinomi and not very happy with it. It is my first time applying a wet screen and back protectors, but I followed the video exactly. Going to try out phantomskinz instead.

 

[Bratigan]

Not sure if it will reveal as a 360 here. It does on Facebook and other places.

 

[SactoKingsFan]

Halo Gray is currently unavailable and under review on Amazon.

Item Under Review
This item is currently unavailable because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. (Thanks for the tip!)

We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

 

[msr360]

Halo Gray is currently unavailable and under review on Amazon.

I was reading that yesterday on Reddit how you can't buy it right now on Amazon. I haven't noticed any of the issues people are reporting besides poor reception.

 

[mogelijk]

I was reading that yesterday on Reddit how you can't buy it right now on Amazon. I haven't noticed any of the issues people are reporting besides poor reception.

The phone is once again available for sale on Amazon.

 

[msr360]

Yup I saw that. I wonder if I should be worried at all regarding it though.

 

[mogelijk]

Yup I saw that. I wonder if I should be worried at all regarding it though.

I doubt it. My guess is it had more to do with Amazon supply/shipping issues. For example, there were a couple of perorder customers here upset when people who ordered there phones after it became available got the phone before theirs even shipped. My guess is that Amazon messed something up in their inventory system, and had to fix it. It is also possible Amazon merely sold out, they will mark things "temporarily unavailable" when projected shipments are too low -- and that was fixed this morning by Essential sending more phones to Amazon.

 

[krishnansasikumar]

Has Essential resolved most of the initial issues with the phone including reception issues?

I'm enticed by the hardware, don't think there's anything quite so beautiful in the market. But don't have the patience to deal with software problems. Currently using Iphone 8 plus

 

[msr360]

Has Essential resolved most of the initial issues with the phone including reception issues?

I'm enticed by the hardware, don't think there's anything quite so beautiful in the market. But don't have the patience to deal with software problems. Currently using Iphone 8 plus

This is a hard one to answer. Everyone has different experiences which I think is crazy. I can only speak to my experiences so far in NYC using TMobile and see a decline in service between Manhattan and Queens. I use a Google Pixel 2 as my primary and the Essential as secondary. At any given time the Pixel is about -10 to -20 better in signal strength vs the Essential.

 

[SactoKingsFan]

Has Essential resolved most of the initial issues with the phone including reception issues?

I'm enticed by the hardware, don't think there's anything quite so beautiful in the market. But don't have the patience to deal with software problems. Currently using Iphone 8 plus

Seems to vary depending on location and carrier. Some have reported constant reception issues which might be defective phones. I've been using 8.1 Beta on AT&T mostly in Northern California (Davis and Sacramento) and some in Los Angeles without any issues. Signal strength is comparable to my other phones (OnePlus 3T, Nexus 6). Also no significant difference compared to iPhone SE and 7+.

 

[anon(10268214)]

I suspect most of the 'signal' issues people are experiencing are actually due to lack of provisioning by carriers.

In Canada the Essential does not have access to Telus VoLTE network even though they are the exclusive carrier of the device. My Essential picks up LTE+ bands but gets booted to 3G when on a call. All that tampering and throttling by carriers is sure to hamper performance at some point.

Try changing your default network setting from Global to 4G/LTE and toggle airplane mode on and off again. I guarantee you pick up at least one full bar of signal. You will also notice much more consistent signal and call quality.

Reception issues my a$$. Lol.

 

[philesk]

I just tried your truck of toggling airplane mode off then back on. I did pick up two more LTE bars which then fell back one bar which was still one bar stronger than before toggling. Nice suggestion. But why does it work?