This thing has really grown on me...

[modifier]

But wow, it’s a lot of people returning their Essential Phone and /or bashing it.

That's pretty typical on the Internet. People who are happy with their stuff rarely hop online to praise it. They're too busy enjoying whatever they have. Forums get the bulk of complaints and advice.

Over on XDA people seem to be pretty happy with theirs in general, with plenty of them rooting and making their own improvements. The hack for full-screen whitelisting makes a huge improvement and actually tipped the scales for me on keeping it. If you do end up getting one, put that mod on your list. It doesn't require root either.

 

[anon(26204)]

That's pretty typical on the Internet. People who are happy with their stuff rarely hop online to praise it. They're too busy enjoying whatever they have. Forums get the bulk of complaints and advice.

Over on XDA people seem to be pretty happy with theirs in general, with plenty of them rooting and making their own improvements. The hack for full-screen whitelisting makes a huge improvement and actually tipped the scales for me on keeping it. If you do end up getting one, put that mod on your list. It doesn't require root either.

Ill definitely use that mod. Hopefully Best Buy ships mine today/tonight or tomorrow.

 

[pgood4]

Yeah, sometimes I think people are talking about a different phone than the one I have. Mine has been flawless from a build perspective and general usage. The touch sensitivity is a little lower than some other phones, but after a couple of days I'm used to it. I actually prefer it now since my S8 was way too sensitive and I always had stray touches that drove me nuts.

 

[anon(9918034)]

On day 2 with this phone and all I can say so far is wow. I agree the touch sensitivity is a bit low, but the more you use it the more you just naturally touch a little firmer.

My software experience has been flawless. This phone just gets things done faster and better. It has sprints LTE+ capabilities, and the updates come from essential not sprint. I had 2 out of the box and I am currently sitting on the September security update.

 

[modifier]

On day 2 with this phone and all I can say so far is wow. I agree the touch sensitivity is a bit low, but the more you use it the more you just naturally touch a little firmer.

Check the tips and tricks sticky at the top of this board. It describes how to increase touch sensitivity.

 

[Golfdriver97]

On day 2 with this phone and all I can say so far is wow. I agree the touch sensitivity is a bit low, but the more you use it the more you just naturally touch a little firmer.

My software experience has been flawless. This phone just gets things done faster and better. It has sprints LTE+ capabilities, and the updates come from essential not sprint. I had 2 out of the box and I am currently sitting on the September security update.

Sometimes a higher sensitivity isn't great. I have made many more unintentional clicks with my Note 5 than my Pixel.

 

[anon(9918034)]

Check the tips and tricks sticky at the top of this board. It describes how to increase touch sensitivity.

I did do that like 10 minutes, I just finished a round of piano tiles. I see no difference in sensitivity at all. The game played flawlessly and I never had one unregistered tap. Almost mastered a song for the first time with this phone.

 

[modifier]

Sometimes a higher sensitivity isn't great. I have made many more unintentional clicks with my Note 5 than my Pixel.

Great point. Many have complained about this phone not being sensitive enough but they're probably just used to their devices rather than this one being flawed in some way. To me it seems normal. It's slightly better for me on the 'high' setting but I think my typing is less accurate.

I did do that like 10 minutes, I just finished a round of piano tiles. I see no difference in sensitivity at all. The game played flawlessly and I never had one unregistered tap. Almost mastered a song for the first time with this phone.

Typing on the keyboard I can tell a slight difference. I'm undecided which I prefer. Stock never bothered me though. At a minimum I find this phone accurate overall, just as you describe.

 

[drhz]

I think palm rejection would help with the sensitive issue. I notice my palm skin hitting the phone as I hold it in one hand. Maybe I should loose weight but I think with bezels this small palm rejection would help.

 

[super_rigel]

I picked up the Essential phone today. I absolutely love it!

 

[Stevemaclive]

Loving my bloatware free, fast OS, awesome looking phone that I got for 50%off through Sprint. (P. S. camera works fine)

 

[The DragonTJH]

After agonizing over what phone to upgrade to I finally pulled the trigger on the Essential, I was really hoping the Pixel 2s would be available from Sprint, but that wasn't to be. I love the look and feel of the PH1, and after reading everything I could find about the camera fixes I decided to give it a shot. Worse case scenario, I return it and get the V30 I suppose.

 

[anon(9918034)]

Loving my bloatware free, fast OS, awesome looking phone that I got for 50%off through Sprint. (P. S. camera works fine)

This is exactly what I keep trying to tell people. I'm getting ready to enter week 4 with this device and it's amazing. Camera works just fine for myself as well.

 

[anon(9918034)]

After agonizing over what phone to upgrade to I finally pulled the trigger on the Essential, I was really hoping the Pixel 2s would be available from Sprint, but that wasn't to be. I love the look and feel of the PH1, and after reading everything I could find about the camera fixes I decided to give it a shot. Worse case scenario, I return it and get the V30 I suppose.

You can't go wrong man, this phone also uses the LTE+ network for sprint. Which I consistently get 50-80mbps download in my area. Where as the regular LTE network frankly sucks. Better call quality as well with this device. I have no issues with the camera at all. It's the same sensor that the LG G6 uses with the added monochrome. I have achieved over 8 hours of sot with this device and I'm a moderate to heavy user. I would say there are a few annoyances, but lately I haven't had them at all. They are constantly updating this via essential services and resources apps on the play stay. They are consistent and have released the money security updates quickly. This phone just keeps getting better and better and better.

Firmware update work around for sprint. Insert another carriers sim card follow prompts to update firmware then put sprint sim card back in. Sprint still needs to approve the updates from essential before they push them out.

 

[The DragonTJH]

You can't go wrong man, this phone also uses the LTE+ network for sprint. Which I consistently get 50-80mbps download in my area. Where as the regular LTE network frankly sucks. Better call quality as well with this device. I have no issues with the camera at all. It's the same sensor that the LG G6 uses with the added monochrome. I have achieved over 8 hours of sot with this device and I'm a moderate to heavy user. I would say there are a few annoyances, but lately I haven't had them at all. They are constantly updating this via essential services and resources apps on the play stay. They are consistent and have released the money security updates quickly. This phone just keeps getting better and better and better.

Firmware update work around for sprint. Insert another carriers sim card follow prompts to update firmware then put sprint sim card back in. Sprint still needs to approve the updates from essential before they push them out.

I'll have to see if I can get my hands on a different SIM.

 

[The DragonTJH]

Well, my initial impression is pretty mixed. I need time to mess around with it more, but off the bat I love the feeling of the phone, so solid and high quality. Absolutely love the stock Android experience.
The camera was my main worry, and I must say the results of my first few test shots were not impressive. Again, I still need time to toy with it but there's my first reaction.

I'm 50/50 on keeping it based on my first impression.

 

[anon(9918034)]

Well, my initial impression is pretty mixed. I need time to mess around with it more, but off the bat I love the feeling of the phone, so solid and high quality. Absolutely love the stock Android experience.
The camera was my main worry, and I must say the results of my first few test shots were not impressive. Again, I still need time to toy with it but there's my first reaction.

I'm 50/50 on keeping it based on my first impression.

The update sprint has yet to push out contains camera fixes and other major bug fixes as well. I would say hang in there until sprint pushes the update and see how everything feels after that.

Again I love this phone, I have had nothing but good things. A few minor annoyances, but those come with ever device and software made. Even those minor things have gone away.

 

[digitalbreak]

Essential, as promised, has been busy shipping updates and Android Oreo is just a few weeks away which is also going to bring a lot of optimizations and camera modes (portrait mode etc.,). So, I will say it’s exciting times to be part of Essential!

 

[anon(9918034)]

Essential, as promised, has been busy shipping updates and Android Oreo is just a few weeks away which is also going to bring a lot of optimizations and camera modes (portrait mode etc.,). So, I will say it’s exciting times to be part of Essential!

Exactly, while it was a ruff start. Im glad that I stuck with it. Every update, this phone gets better and better.

 

[fernandez21]

Yeah, I'm already starting to miss my essential. Hope I get my refund soon so I can buy again. And a nice sale would be good too.