Database Users

Just got my second slide, its got a different qwerty!

My camera took super blurry pics so tmo sent me a new phone. The top row on the keyboard has smaller numbers and the zero has a slash thru it. Its very helpful. Also this phone doesn't have the creaky back, but it does have a little gap on the right bottom corner :/
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App

I really dislike that the numbers are the same size as the letters on the top row. Sounds like a good move.

Have you tried to root it?

I've read that the new Slides, the kind the OP got, are susceptible to the root method we have, because HTC fixed the recovery exploit or something.

Havnt got to root it yet, looks like I'll be sending this one back too. I can't hear anything when making a call unless speaker phone is on.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App

Does anyone have pics of this new keyboard?

slughappy1 said:
I've read that the new Slides, the kind the OP got, are susceptible to the root method we have, because HTC fixed the recovery exploit or something.
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I rooted mine just fine. And help a few in the IRC channel root theirs as well. Please don't spread bad rumors.

got mine 2 weeks ago and the zero has the line though it as well. No problem rooting it or flashing.

My bad. I could have sworn that I read that some where. Maybe I just dreamed it?

Second production run Slides (new keyboard) ARE rootable and run the same recovery as first production run Slides.
/end rumor

Anyway to trade my phone in for the new one cause this keyboard sux so bad
~ SykosouL~ d-_-b

Paticakeman said:
My camera took super blurry pics so tmo sent me a new phone. The top row on the keyboard has smaller numbers and the zero has a slash thru it. Its very helpful. Also this phone doesn't have the creaky back, but it does have a little gap on the right bottom corner :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your points, in order:
My camera on the Slide takes pretty decent pictures. Of course, this is relative, based on my prior 2 x G1s (total crap) and 2 x MyTouch 1.2s (still crap, same lens assembly I think). Having seen some incredible photos a few phones back from my VX-8000, plus an adjustment ring for macros, this was a serious disappointment. (Speaking of which, it had better sounding, stereo speakers, too. Jeez.)
I guess I have the original keyboard, because my zero has no slash. I should note that we ALL have different keyboards than the mockups, where those numbers (and the FN keys) were shown as red. Why they made this choice is beyond me. All the alternate mappings should be a different color, and offset, like they were on the G1. And not slanted either, because it looks toy-like.
The G1s squeaked and cracked sometimes, too. I think it's inherent in the slider designs, and will become evident after more use. But you might get lucky.
As for the gap in the corner, I'm assuming you can tell it has one because the keyboard backlight leaks through the crack? I've got the same problem with mine, but on the left side. I thought about using some of that black putty-type material that's used for sealing outer wall holes in houses, where wires might come in... they used to sell it at Radio Shack. That would be pliable and could be smeared/jammed in there, and would match color. Might still have some around here, it lasts forever.

SykosouL said:
Anyway to trade my phone in for the new one cause this keyboard sux so bad
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Click to collapse
My experience with TMO has been that they'll honor the one-year warranty by cross-shipping, with a credit card as surety. But I have four lines. That said, I had to return two G1s because of faulty trackballs. Supposedly they will give you refurbished equipment, though they always looked new to me.
If you're still within your remorse period (I believe it's 14 days, in the US at least) you should be able to return it and get another Slide or any other phone, if I'm not mistaken. YMMV with prepaid plans.

What country was yours made in?

I'm wondering if anyone has a note 3 that was made in Korea. You can check by looking at the label under the battery on the back of the phone.
I'm thinking the ones made in Korea would be a little better built than the Chinese made phones. Mine is made in China.

I just checked mine and it says cell from Korea/Manufactured in Vietnam.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Cool I guess I need to get my hands on a Korean one

It has been pretty solid but not perfect. There just a couple small bugs that I've either noticed myself or read about in other threads on here. Mostly real minor stuff which is to be a little expected with new software and hardware I guess but I also read the international versions have received two updates already. Not 100% sure of the truth to that first hand but I read it here on XDA and no one really seemed to dispute it. If true I'd love to know when we'll be seeing at least on of em lol. It was said they improved wifi, reception with the antenna I believe and also battery a bit.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

I'm more concerned with build quality. I have uneven back lighting on side of the screen. At first I thought it would be fine but I use my phone more at night when I'm off work and it's starting to annoy me. I'm pretty sure it's the edge lighting and it looks uneven because the screen isn't set in right. My battery life and stuff has been really good though.

Mines from China, and its build quality is better than my note 2 from Korea. Peeps are making a big deal out of nothing.

Observations comparing two Moto X's

I have two black Moto X's, model XT1058 from Rogers Canada.
Both work great but I have noticed some subtle variations between them:
-Screen color temp, one has more yellow to the whites, one has a little more blue to it.(I believe its standard to have some variance in color)
-Vibe motors - one has a stronger(but also louder) vibe motor.
-side buttons are a little bit tighter on one compared to the other, neither rattle though.
-One seems to have a better front glass coating them the other - that is the coating that resists finger prints works better on one of them.
-One has Hynix ram, the other has Elpida (perhaps the most interesting difference, could possibly be a small speed advantage with one of them)
The phones were assembled 5 days apart, both made in China.
So nothing really crazy between them but Motorola could probably tighten up tolerances just a little to give a more consistent experience.
Both are sim and bootloader unlocked.

Made in china you say?

I thought parts made in China and assembled in US.
Sent from my XT1053 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

My Moto X, which is from Fido, has an "assembled in China" writing on the back. I thought that was weird when I saw that because I thought they were made in Texas.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

The one ordered through Moto maker are assembled in the us, but the black / white are in china
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app

Only the US phones are assembled in the USA. And overall from what I have seen the China made phones are actually assembled to a higher standard.

My black one says designed and assembled in the USA on the back

The china assembled phones are only made in black and white. No motomaker outside of the US (or developer editions). All of the Moto X's sold in the US are assembled in the US, the color doesn't matter.
Anyway, this thread really wasn't about US vs China assembled phones.
I'd just like to see Motorola build the phones to even higher quality standard, regardless of where they are manufactured.
And I'd like to run some bench marking on the phones to see if one brand of ram might offer a slight speed advantage(unlikely but you never know).

I bought this phone brand new unopened off of swappa and the vibe motor feels very 'loose'. I don't know how else to describe it but I feel like every time it vibrates, it's loosening off. It just feels and sounds like it wasn't assembled the right way.
Edit: I hate nitpicking but does anyone else on the back of the Moto X have some subtle humps on the left side where the power button is? It's coming from what's inside the phone and it makes a little hump on the back.
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

DroidOnRoids said:
Edit: I hate nitpicking but does anyone else on the back of the Moto X have some subtle humps on the left side where the power button is? It's coming from what's inside the phone and it makes a little hump on the back.
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't notice this on mine.
Sent from my XT1053 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Hynix and Elpida are both major memory manufacturers, and there's really very little difference between them. Retail graphics cards use different memory chips even though they are based off the same GPU; for 3 different GTX 660 cards you may see Samsung chips on one card, SK Hynix on another and Elpida on yet another. Unless there are memory overclocks, they all perform the same way. Given the low-power chips in a phone, this isn't something noteworthy.
However it is intriguing that they would assemble it in China. Maybe Moto is only assembling American Moto X in Texas, and making all other Moto X devices in China?

WARNING!!! Fake vs Real Note 4

Warning!! I just came across this at work when my co-worker asked me to set up his phone. I realized something was wrong when I saw the screen and size of this note 4. I decided to show it off for those who is considering picking up one from ebay or Craigslist. See the comparison from a real note 4 and see for yourself. There's no real difference w/ the software but the hardware might be a concern since the battery(charger) is not Original it might blow-up or melt. The fake one is really flaky and has weird random vibration and I would not recommend using it at ALL!!

The problem is, that the real ones are not consistent. I've had two carrier bought note4 from Canada and neither had "Galaxy Note 4" on the back cover. Everything else was spot on thou. I think the hover feature is still unique to the original Note though. (I mean that the screen is active when hovering, not actually having to touch it)

This isn't a sprint note 4. Could have been rooted with custom software.

maddog497 said:
The problem is, that the real ones are not consistent. I've had two carrier bought note4 from Canada and neither had "Galaxy Note 4" on the back cover. Everything else was spot on thou. I think the hover feature is still unique to the original Note though. (I mean that the screen is active when hovering, not actually having to touch it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The material are way dif plus as you can see the internal from the battery is WAY dif....
dschachm said:
This isn't a sprint note 4. Could have been rooted with custom software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, It's a custom rom from the international version (as you can see from the photo). But in recovery it's not in English it's in Chinese.

Notice the fake also says ERGENCY CALLS ONLY when no card is in it. This is typical Chinglish.

Solarenemy68 said:
Notice the fake also says ERGENCY CALLS ONLY when no card is in it. This is typical Chinglish.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just scrolling, and EM in the beginning is not on field when clicked for a pic. It is spelled right. Don't underestimate the cloning industry, they've grown a lot.

make sure your buddy contacts whoever he bought it from on ebay - if they falsely advertised it as a genuine note4 then he should be covered by ebay's protection. He should also leave negative feedback.

Essential Phone in 2019?

Hey guys,
Just browsing this forum as I'm contemplating getting a used Essential phone after switching to Android from Apple on an LG G7 and being frustrated by its slow updates. I notice the Essential phone can easily be had for under $200 on eBay. Originally I've been trying to get a Pixel 2 or 1 but the not sure about the 1 quality and the 2 goes for too much even at auction.
Anyway, I like that this phone still gets updates quickly and in general looks very nice. But reviews for it always trash the camera. Just curious if updates improved the camera or if the GCam ports for the phone are stable and work well (the G7 ports are problematic).
Thanks for your input.

I just ordered one off ebay for $160 from yywireless (great support, 30 day warranty!) and I'm awaiting arrival. I can let you know how it performs in 2019 compared to my previous LG G6 and iPhone 6S Plus if you'd like! I have a very good feeling about this phone.

VCan25 said:
Hey guys,
Just browsing this forum as I'm contemplating getting a used Essential phone after switching to Android from Apple on an LG G7 and being frustrated by its slow updates. I notice the Essential phone can easily be had for under $200 on eBay. Originally I've been trying to get a Pixel 2 or 1 but the not sure about the 1 quality and the 2 goes for too much even at auction.
Anyway, I like that this phone still gets updates quickly and in general looks very nice. But reviews for it always trash the camera. Just curious if updates improved the camera or if the GCam ports for the phone are stable and work well (the G7 ports are problematic).
Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using Gcam can get better performance compare to stock
But my recommendation is doing some researches about signal reception before buying this phone.

chanh2018 said:
Using Gcam can get better performance compare to stock
But my recommendation is doing some researches about signal reception before buying this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that insight. I actually had a pixel 3 briefly but reception was the reason I had to change to another brand. I should have that in mind for this phone too.

VCan25 said:
Thanks for that insight. I actually had a pixel 3 briefly but reception was the reason I had to change to another brand. I should have that in mind for this phone too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't speak for the US, but I have the essential phone in austria and I have LTE with full reception (symbol) -> even in the subway. In germany there were a few spots on the countryside where I only had Edge...and currently I am on vacation in australia (sunshine coast) and with Vodafone i get LTE everywhere -> with nearly always full reception.
So if you get any issues it's because of the carrier and not because of the phone.
btw - I'm rocking AOSiP Custom Rom...maybe it has a different Baseband...

I also just got this phone in 2019. All is good.
Reception seems just fine in my neck of the woods. United States, California, Los Angeles area. T-Mobile. LTE+ in the status bar.
Phone is a refurb via Amazon. No issues so far.
Essential PH-1, /e/ 0.5-n ROM, microG (NoGapps), XDA Legacy

Got this phone together with the 360 cam off Craigslist, with a cracked screen. After a DIY screen replacement, my total cost came to a whopping US$150, which is way more than reasonable. Absolutely love the phone. I never chase the latest tech (don't see the point), and for my needs in 2019 this phone does everything and then some. I hate huge phones, and by today's standards this device is very small given the screen size, which is a big deal for me. Can't complain about anything other than the lack of the 3.5mm jack, but I can live without it. Running full stock ROM (latest update, rooted). As for the camera, Gcam ports are definitely better than stock, and in my experience they work great apart from a broken slo-mo, but even the stock cam with the latest system update is OK for me in most shooting conditions. Overall, a great phone, and highly recommended.

Best phone I ever had. Love it both aesthetically and in term of features. I bought it 6 months ago for about 220 € by Amazon USA and I'm very satisfied. I use it with stock monthly updates and Gcam.
I live in Madrid, Spain and I've 80-100% LTE reception, even in the subway.

Im east coast US on cricket. i get decent signal.
as for camera... well... stick software is good enough fir most... me... i needed a little more fine tuning, but even without the fine tuning any of the latest gcam ports wotk great

While I definately like my PH-1, something to consider coming from the iPhone 6S AND LG G7 is that the vibration motor is EXTENSIVELY different and dare-i-say "bad". The strength is not too bad, but it definately is louder and significantly worse than your previous phones. If you do not desire good haptic feedback, I would say go for it! If it were not from a drop onto a concrete edge at the worst possible place and the very lack-luster vibration motor, I would definitely plan on keeping it until the battery got too weak. (I kinda miss OLED blacks though...)
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

I'm on Sprint and get very good reception, my previous phones had lots of problems getting even voice calls in my office, whereas on this one I can actually do video calls without issue. Phone is plenty fast for 2019 and the 128GB of storage is really nice after my previous two phones (Nexus 5x and a 2013 Moto X) being pressed for space all the time. I did have to break down and get a Tulia case for it, this phone is super slippery and I've cracked the screen 2x.

I just rebought one last week... This phone is goooooood...

Yeah it’s still a very good phone bought 2 sprint recently from eBay 70$ and 90$ with small crack. Easy free unlock. Great phone.

xarekusu said:
Yeah it’s still a very good phone bought 2 sprint recently from eBay 70$ and 90$ with small crack. Easy free unlock. Great phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
$70 is just crazy for this spec phone, even with a crack!

IronRoo said:
$70 is just crazy for this spec phone, even with a crack!
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Click to collapse
Got mine for 76 with a crack on the back front had a few scratches..but still I have a sd835 beast

IronRoo said:
$70 is just crazy for this spec phone, even with a crack!
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Click to collapse
I bought mine off CL with a cracked screen but otherwise in mint condition for $100 Canadian (US$75), including the 360 camera. Spent about the same on the replacement screen, so US$150 in total. Super happy with the phone after a couple of months.

kt-Froggy said:
I bought mine off CL with a cracked screen but otherwise in mint condition for $100 Canadian (US$75), including the 360 camera. Spent about the same on the replacement screen, so US$150 in total. Super happy with the phone after a couple of months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it easy to replace em? I watched a YouTube video it it scared me off even trying it...

Tech_Savvy said:
Is it easy to replace em? I watched a YouTube video it it scared me off even trying it...
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Click to collapse
Well... It depends. If you've never done a screen repair, I'd say this one may be a bit tricky - not the easiest for the first time. I replaced about a dozen screens on different phones (Sony, LG, Samsung, Apple), so it was no big deal. Took me about 30 minutes overall. For a video tutorial, I used the one from fixez.com for a reference. You need to know how to use a heat gun to remove the screen. Also, this phone has a very narrow bezel to mount the screen to the frame, so working with an adhesive may be challenging. Rounded corners don't cooperate well with an adhesive tape, but liquid glue would probably make things easier. The area under the earpiece slot is kinda difficult to work with, because it's extremely narrow, but you definitely need to put an adhesive there to seal the perimeter.
You can read my review of the replacement screen on Amazon, with some points on installing it. If you decide to do it, and have any specific questions, feel free to PM me, so as not to hijack this thread... Good luck!

Tech_Savvy said:
Is it easy to replace em? I watched a YouTube video it it scared me off even trying it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that must have been the one they froze which shattered, use a heat gun (gradually) is the go.

I've been using mine since March of 2017 on Stock non-rooted with GCAM and performance is excellent. I'm using Straight Talk here in the US and it works phenomenal (AT&T band). Pictures with GCAM are far superior than stock camera but, I will praise the stock camera for the monochrome photos in low-light as they are amazing. If you play any games this phone handles them pretty well even games like Fortnite, PUBG, and the new Elder Scrolls Blades play excellent.