Database Users

Pro's and Con's

This might be a hard forum to get an objective list of Pro's and Con's of the Epic 4G, but I am seriously thinking of getting this phone as it seems to be a beast. Any help is appreciated on what you think are the good poitns and maybe some cons with this phone as well. I am NOT in a 4G area yet, hopefuly by Feb they are estimating so that is not goign to be a benefit for me. I know the Transform came out for people not in the 4G area, but if i am going to get 4G soon then I would want a capable 4G phone. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advanced

Cons:
- The GPS is so bad (even with workarounds) that I can't rely on it. I use a garmin GPS when I need something reliable.
- The keyboard could be better....
- The slide mechanism is sloppy. The phone never feels solid when I hold it. I'm always nudging the screen over a little when I'm holding it. Pressing the power button slides it a little. I can wobble the screen when it's just sitting still. Build quality is low overall.
- Button 4 capacitive buttons are annoying at best.
- Phone has VERY little internal storage compared to some other phones out there. I fill it up so fast and always have to uninstall stuff.
- Battery drains very fast. My solution is just to keep a spare battery on me. They're pretty small and when I'm home, i can charge the spare in a separate wall charger. I never actually plug my phone in to charge it.
- No known date for Froyo... but Samsung has done a pretty okay job at fixing problems with the phone. Still no GPS fix... and that is pretty major.
- 3G download\upload speeds are slower than the EVO's (and other phones, I'm sure). Wifi range is also lower than some other phones I've used.
- Lacks the core developer support of some other phones like the EVO
Pros:
- Very sexy phone.
- It has a keyboard... which I almost require. I love having it as an option.
- The processor is the fastest out there so far (that I'm aware of). The GPU can also process 90 million triangles per second. The next best thing can process 41 million. UI is smoother than anything I've used thus far (I use Launcher Pro... so Touchwiz performance is irrelevant to me).
- The screen is gorgeous when you sit it side by side with any other phone
- The phone includes codecs for watching xvid, divx AVI movies, as well as 720\1080p MKV movies (if you can fit them on whatever SD card you have). This is one of my favorite features, as I watch a lot of movies on my phone
- Call quality (sound) is great
In spite of all the flaws, it's still my favorite phone EVER.

There are already a couple of threads like this, I suggest u read those, also engadget has a thorough review. Pc world named the epic #1 phone. I'm not in 4g area and still love this. My dad and sis have evos and those are nice phones too, but I personally prefer the epic bc of screen, keyboards (swype and hard keyboard), and built in support for many type of videos files so no converting needed like for evo.
Sent from my Epic 4G

I haven't had any gps issues, but I hear gps issues are very common, captivate I believe got a gps fix so hopefully epic gets one soon. i
Sent from my Epic 4G

CON:
-I can't connect it to my Mac, OSX does not recognize the phone
-Battery life is bad
-Dev community not as big as the Evo
PRO:
-Love everything about the phone.
-Screen
-Is very very fast
-Keyboard

Dev coomunity growing, and u should put ubuntu on that mac. Lol
Sent from my Epic 4G

JGeZau said:
-I can't connect it to my Mac, OSX does not recognize the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried using a different usb port? if its a desktop maybe a back port..Cause people were definitely able to connect it to their Macs.

Pros: everything!!! My Slider mechanism work great. No wobbles feels secure,sexy look and screen, gps works great for me inside and out. MobileAP,BatteryMod all all pros. This phone is fantastic to me no issues so far and i have not needed to replace it once.
Cons: Battery Life

Cons
- my biggest by far is the build quality of the slider mechanism. Its so wobbly that i opted for a case, which fixes it but now the phone is huge.
- battery in general. From the wonky battery display to the fact that i can't get it to charge up to 100% (98 is the highest i ever got it). I can easily get a full day out of it so i don't mind the battery life too much.
- phone is rather large
Pros
- beautiful screen
- the physical keyboard
- the raw speed of the proc. Opening and closing apps is really fast. In fact everything is really fast.
- the GPU. I've stated before i'm really anal about scroll speed. Not sure if it's a GPU or CPU thing but i love how silky smooth the UI is (Launcher Pro, altho i did use touchwiz for awhile and that was real smooth too).
- //edit i almost forgot. The camera is great. (video and still)
I don't use GPS so i'm not sure how much of an issue that is. All in all i really like the phone, but if the build quality was just a bit sturdier i'd absolutely love it. The battery stuff i can live with altho i think it would be nice if i didn't have to do airplane toggle and DRM kill everytime i turned my phone off and on.

I guess I'm lucky I don't have anyof those problem and since I did the skyfire flash fix the phone seems to even faster and now flash works

Best phone I've used kepping me from leaving sprint
sent from my epic 4g with no 4g

I keep seeing people with GPS issues, except me. My GPS works fine, no issues here.
Con is definitely battery life on 3G (battery drain) which is odd because other Sprint 3G phones i've ever had never JUST drained battery while on 3G, and failure to mount on my Mac no matter what USB port i try. Have resorted to using Websharing via WiFi to transfer files over. Keyboard slider could be tighter and more solid.
Screen is very nice (even on lowest brightness), speaker and ear piece volume is very solid.
Camera and camcorder, very solid as well, best camera i've used on a mobile so far.
Video codec support out-the-box is great (but mvideoplayer is the best). 5.1 surround sound via headphones is great too.

It took me a little while to get the epic figured out.
However with the latest update + disabling DRM + airplane mode I am pretty darn happy with it!
My dad has an evo and I've traded phones with him for 3 days this week. My 30th day is today and I am not going to be bringing it back. While his screen is bigger.......holding them side by side....the epic just destroys the colors and the black level which is a MAJOR THING for me.

JGeZau said:
CON:
-I can't connect it to my Mac, OSX does not recognize the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have my phone plugged into my roomie's mac right now. I recognizes it as mass storage, and I can interact with the phone via adb. I don't know much about OSX, but all I needed to do on my pc was update the SDK to get the galaxy drivers. I don't know what my roomie did to get this working with the mac. I'll ask him when he gets home and we'll write up a guide or something.
Sent from my Epic using XDA App.

Cons:
* Lots of little workarounds are needed to solve some common issues - hopefully future updates will fix all of these issues, but there is no guarantee.
* Keyboard has some layout quirks that I find annoying (smiley button instead of an "@" button, comma on the wrong side of the space bar, etc.)
* Super AMOLED screen is overkill and sucks juice like a mofo.
* I haven't been impacted by this yet, but yes the phone has less storage than others. I have about 30 apps installed and still have room for more so I don't know how much a phone really needs, but yes the Epic has less storage.
* People seem to have trouble hearing me on the speakerphone. I need to test this a bit to find out why.
* Not specific to the Epic, but I find claims of its camera quality to be greatly exaggerated. I have a digital SLR, a Canon pocket camera and my Epic... the Epic is nowhere near either of the other two in picture quality, and in fact is only marginally better than my Samsung SGH-A707 from like 6 years ago. The sensors on phones are just too small. I still have to carry around a real camera.
* The build is a bit plasticky, and judging from the experience of others, the QC is a little inconsistent.
* GPS can take a long time to lock. Once it's locked, though, it stays locked. It's not unusable like some people make it out to be.
Pros:
* It's fast.
* The screen is beautiful, even if it does suck juice. It's better than the iPhone's retina display, IMO. It's almost jarring how beautiful it is, and the fact that there's absolutely no contrast rolloff at extreme angles.
* The keyboard feels great, even if its layout is a bit wonky. Also, it has a real number row, which some other keyboard phones lack.
* My hinge mechanism, at least, is very tight, and it opens and closes with a satisfying "clunk".
* Front facing camera.
* Battery life - for me this is actually a pro! You need to tweak some things, but it's easily possible to get 48 hours out of the Epic battery. Other people have posted screenshots of that here, and I've done it too. It won't be that way out of the box, but that's just one of the things about this phone - you gotta learn some tricks to milk it.
* Call quality is really good, for me. Compared to my old HTC Fuze, it was like talking on a land line the first time I made a call on my Epic.
* I like TouchWiz. It's possible to use LauncherPro or even stock (once you install LauncherPro, you have the option to use the stock interface), but I found LP to be kind of buggy and stutter-prone, and I felt pretty lost with stock. TouchWiz is pretty unobtrusive except that it just organizes things a little better.
That's about all I can think of...

Cons:
1) poor GPS on all Epics
a) accuracy reporting bug
b) poor SNR meaning less likely to get lock than other Smartphones
c) AGPS cache bugs
2) worse battery life than Evo, without root or half a dozen user interventions to toggle airplane and remove drm
3) decent but not top of the line speaker phone and speaker
4) less than average reception (tested with two other sprint phones at fringe of reception in outer banks and with airave walkaway tests)
5) bulk
Pros:
1) Beautiful, if a bit over-saturated, screen
2) processor Speedy as heck
3) GPU
4) 4G speeds - 4G speeds -- SWEET 4G speeds
5) although I am using keyboard less than I expected, there is at least once a day when it would be a complete PITA not to have it.

I disagree with most of the claims of bad battery life. While the 3g browsing times are a bit disappointing, I contend that it was on par with what the EVO delivered (I had both phones). I have no problem getting through a full day on medium usage with my phone.
I agree with the reception issues. I also agree that the GPS isnt as accurate as other smart phones.
I dont have any problems connecting to my mac though. Not sure why others are...
I agree with all the pros here.

The only time I have ever had a problem with GPS was when it was piss pouring rain outside and it took ~1 minute to lock - otherwise it takes about 15 seconds or so to lock a set of birds. No great, but its definitely livable. The only other issue I run into is battery life - but thats not a complaint. I ask my phone to do everything but wipe my arse for me, and would if it wouldn't smell bad afterword.... I just keep a charge in my car and at home and work and charge it when it gets around 50%.
A couple of things that do irritate me are Music and Camera apps (native ones) won't open if the battery does get low...and damn it I want to take pictures every time I do let it get low...irony...
My slider is flawless and tight, sometimes to tight since I have some hand issues and can't work it with my right hand well. Swype is also pretty sweet when I remember I have it and I don't have to tap.
All in all, I loooove the phone and its the best thing I have ever purchased. Still glad I paid $600 for it. I can't even use my wife's hero any more its just way too small.

MIX as primary device since November. Thoughts.

Coming from an LG G Flex 2 (hailed a failure amongst devs for the device, but mine ran stable and smoothly all the time just by following the stickies here; IMO original G Flex showed so much potential ). Running global 6.12.8, with some xposed tweaks. I haven't touched a thing since I got that setup. I run the device continuously, with no reboots, and its respectably stable at any given moment. Let me know I'm missing out on anything huge by letting the weeklies go by.
The screen size upgrade was much appreciated - I have big hands, I can Swype reasonably fast using the thumb of the hand I'm holding the phone with. Heft and size plus added reach make two hand usage more comfortable, nonetheless.
Screen itself is absolutely stunning (and tbh, I've never really qualitatively observed any quality problems with 1080p on mobile devices); colors are brilliant.
TLDR: The display is enjoyable to look at
No need for a stylus here. I once rocked an iPad mini as a full fledged phone using GV voice (when it was so simple), and had a stylus for that. Carried that for a while during undergrad. Never cared for styluses since.
Phone camera does what phone cameras do. I'm no expert in cameras (well kinda - Optics PhD student), so I choose not to count too much on the numbers/specs provided. I get good shots that contain all of the information necessary in a phone camera image.
I cheated a bit. I use Nova Launcher. Have settings locked down to a science since LG launcher fail in the original Flex.
No complaints. Everything is quick and fluid. I also have a neat trick that enables knock ON/OFF, so the phone behaves itself and gets locked (one way or another).
The softkeys and accessibility button provide more than enough shortcuts to do whatever you need to do is. Fingerprint sensor is right where it should be, and recognizes my fingers at any given time.
I have a Google voice number, so I switched my default dialer and incoming call receiver to Hangouts dialer. NO COMPLAINTS. I used the regular phone app to make calls plenty before I realized I wasn't actually dialing out through GV (MIUI issue, afaik). VOIP sounds better through the phone's screenspeaker than does a traditional voice call. My carrier tallies my data usage to a ridiculously low number every month, so I don't think VOIP phone causes trouble.
Battery life is a must for me. I'm OCD perfect with battery management of my devices, but I need to know I can take my phone to work every day a and use it for lots of real stuff and/or leisure. 8-9 hours of work a day sets me back to the realm of ~65% battery life. I could come home and play nintendo DS on 400% speed for hours on that kind of juice. 4400 mAh was a major selling point for me, and that's paid off.
Speaker quality is surprisingly good for what the speakers look like sitting there at the bottom.
Once you've rooted and used Lucky Patcher to block ads, you've got one smooth, slick, stone to carry around that will not fail you; cavemen would be very jealous.
Concerns:
Dropping. The case provided makes for a really nice grip. I have never once almost dropped the phone. It's slid out of my pocket once, but short fall = no damage.
Features I miss:
IR blaster. I love them. They make owning entertainment centers even lazier.
Not much else.

Thanks for your impressions. I ordered mine from Light in the Box two weeks ago, and am (im)patiently awaiting.
Quick question on MIUI; I started with Samsung phones, then had a Nexus 6, so full Android all the way. Do you feel like there's a learning curve, getting around MIUI? I love tech, but don't like change too much; I'd love to get this phone working as close to AOSP as possible.

jeromekobriger said:
Thanks for your impressions. I ordered mine from Light in the Box two weeks ago, and am (im)patiently awaiting.
Quick question on MIUI; I started with Samsung phones, then had a Nexus 6, so full Android all the way. Do you feel like there's a learning curve, getting around MIUI? I love tech, but don't like change too much; I'd love to get this phone working as close to AOSP as possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kinda why I opted for a Launcher I was familiar with (it's MIUI themed though, so I get points for trying). I've never found there to be more of a different learning curve from one Android device to another. You figure out what your device can and can't do, you set up your shortcuts, gestures, other personal accessibility options, and then you use it. When you find something about it you don't like, you fix it.
I could give you an enormous list of XPosed tweaks and small things here and there that I've changed, but that might not do you any good because it's personalized to me.

Good to know, thanks. I haven't played around with MIUI yet, so wasn't sure just how different it might be. Xposed on the other hand; that was my bread and butter on my Note 3 and Nexus. That'll go a long ways.
Thanks!

No calls on Verizon.
I have date and text working, no voice calls going thru. Have updated the apn as per the site here. What am I missing. Would appreciate any help.
Thank you.
bigcc32 said:
Coming from an LG G Flex 2 (hailed a failure amongst devs for the device, but mine ran stable and smoothly all the time just by following the stickies here; IMO original G Flex showed so much potential ). Running global 6.12.8, with some xposed tweaks. I haven't touched a thing since I got that setup. I run the device continuously, with no reboots, and its respectably stable at any given moment. Let me know I'm missing out on anything huge by letting the weeklies go by.
The screen size upgrade was much appreciated - I have big hands, I can Swype reasonably fast using the thumb of the hand I'm holding the phone with. Heft and size plus added reach make two hand usage more comfortable, nonetheless.
Screen itself is absolutely stunning (and tbh, I've never really qualitatively observed any quality problems with 1080p on mobile devices); colors are brilliant.
TLDR: The display is enjoyable to look at
No need for a stylus here. I once rocked an iPad mini as a full fledged phone using GV voice (when it was so simple), and had a stylus for that. Carried that for a while during undergrad. Never cared for styluses since.
Phone camera does what phone cameras do. I'm no expert in cameras (well kinda - Optics PhD student), so I choose not to count too much on the numbers/specs provided. I get good shots that contain all of the information necessary in a phone camera image.
I cheated a bit. I use Nova Launcher. Have settings locked down to a science since LG launcher fail in the original Flex.
No complaints. Everything is quick and fluid. I also have a neat trick that enables knock ON/OFF, so the phone behaves itself and gets locked (one way or another).
The softkeys and accessibility button provide more than enough shortcuts to do whatever you need to do is. Fingerprint sensor is right where it should be, and recognizes my fingers at any given time.
I have a Google voice number, so I switched my default dialer and incoming call receiver to Hangouts dialer. NO COMPLAINTS. I used the regular phone app to make calls plenty before I realized I wasn't actually dialing out through GV (MIUI issue, afaik). VOIP sounds better through the phone's screenspeaker than does a traditional voice call. My carrier tallies my data usage to a ridiculously low number every month, so I don't think VOIP phone causes trouble.
Battery life is a must for me. I'm OCD perfect with battery management of my devices, but I need to know I can take my phone to work every day a and use it for lots of real stuff and/or leisure. 8-9 hours of work a day sets me back to the realm of ~65% battery life. I could come home and play nintendo DS on 400% speed for hours on that kind of juice. 4400 mAh was a major selling point for me, and that's paid off.
Speaker quality is surprisingly good for what the speakers look like sitting there at the bottom.
Once you've rooted and used Lucky Patcher to block ads, you've got one smooth, slick, stone to carry around that will not fail you; cavemen would be very jealous.
Concerns:
Dropping. The case provided makes for a really nice grip. I have never once almost dropped the phone. It's slid out of my pocket once, but short fall = no damage.
Features I miss:
IR blaster. I love them. They make owning entertainment centers even lazier.
Not much else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Pointmanipo said:
I have date and text working, no voice calls going thru. Have updated the apn as per the site here. What am I missing. Would appreciate any help.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I've never messed with CDMA networks (Verizon is still considered CDMA, right?); my cell service has always been GSM based.
I use Hangouts to handle all of my phone calls now, mainly because I did have a few issues getting Google Voice to play nice with MIUI, so I'm probably not the right person to ask. I'd suggest making a new thread - increasing your chances of getting the answer you're looking for (it is a legitimate issue, so it's worthy of a new thread).

bigcc32 said:
Unfortunately I've never messed with CDMA networks (Verizon is still considered CDMA, right?); my cell service has always been GSM based.
I use Hangouts to handle all of my phone calls now, mainly because I did have a few issues getting Google Voice to play nice with MIUI, so I'm probably not the right person to ask. I'd suggest making a new thread - increasing your chances of getting the answer you're looking for (it is a legitimate issue, so it's worthy of a new thread).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes thank you for your reply.

Love mine as a daily driver too, have had it since January or so. Got a transparent tpu case for grip and off i went. I have everything working data wise and software wise, even got my Samsung gear s2 to sync up and run well.

Nicolfa said:
Love mine as a daily driver too, have had it since January or so. Got a transparent tpu case for grip and off i went. I have everything working data wise and software wise, even got my Samsung gear s2 to sync up and run well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many have reported that due to the case, the piezoelectric speaker doesnt work as intended giving a very low volume during calls, could you comment on your experience while making or receiving calls with ur tpu case on? is it that low? or perhaps you dont notice cos use earphones or bluetooth earphones??
Please if you could be detailed it would be much appreciated.

Calls and volume have been fine as long as your holding the headset like a phone and not at odd angles or other methods I've seen people do when talking on the a cell phone.

mp3elv said:
Many have reported that due to the case, the piezoelectric speaker doesnt work as intended giving a very low volume during calls, could you comment on your experience while making or receiving calls with ur tpu case on? is it that low? or perhaps you dont notice cos use earphones or bluetooth earphones??
Please if you could be detailed it would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, I use hangouts for all my voice calls, and it seems as though Hangouts has a significant volume boost over the standard phone app.

bigcc32 said:
Again, I use hangouts for all my voice calls, and it seems as though Hangouts has a significant volume boost over the standard phone app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do u use a case on your phone? a tempered glass? or just naked, it seems these addons affect the sound from the piezoelectric device

mp3elv said:
Many have reported that due to the case, the piezoelectric speaker doesnt work as intended giving a very low volume during calls, could you comment on your experience while making or receiving calls with ur tpu case on? is it that low? or perhaps you dont notice cos use earphones or bluetooth earphones??
Please if you could be detailed it would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mp3elv said:
do u use a case on your phone? a tempered glass? or just naked, it seems these addons affect the sound from the piezoelectric device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got a tempered glass screen protector on right now. I haven't noticed any degradation of call quality.

Had mine since november and absolutely LOVE it. I have treated it so carefully, and yet I managed to bring it out with me while partying saturday. Got drunk which I rarely do these days and smashed it in the pavement. I immediately ordered another one. It simply cannot get here soon enough.

I have been using my Mix as a daily driver for a month now running Epic ROM. Glass screen protector and case and no problem with quality of sound. Probably the best phone I have ever used(been using Nexus 6, OPO and OP2 before). When I will miss stock Android I will flash RR or Lineage OS. But for the time I like something different and EPIC Rom (MIUI ) is good for a change.

benziii said:
Had mine since november and absolutely LOVE it. I have treated it so carefully, and yet I managed to bring it out with me while partying saturday. Got drunk which I rarely do these days and smashed it in the pavement. I immediately ordered another one. It simply cannot get here soon enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear about that.
Are you getting a better price this time?
IDK what you paid previously,but, I'd imagine pricing is a little bit better than when it first became available.....
Sent from my Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 using XDA Labs

KOLIOSIS said:
Sorry to hear about that.
Are you getting a better price this time?
IDK what you paid previously,but, I'd imagine pricing is a little bit better than when it first became available.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Paid 780$ last time (4/128). This time around 620$ (6/256). Could probably look around for an even better offer, but I was still buzzed and freakin out hehe.

Got mine today (6/256);
I need to agree with 1 simple fact; pictures & videos are not able to do this device justice. I can safely say that this is THE most premium (excluding the likes of Vertu) device I held.
Amazing. (but slippery AF).
I just finished setting it up with my apps & will report usage after a while.
All in all, apps run super smooth.
The only issue I encountered till now, is the slow transfer speed via USB. I get 2x-3x higher speeds on the same PC with my other devices.
I need to isolate the issue - whether it's the cable, or the handset itself.
#EDIT 2017-05-05
- Still need to underline how slippery it is ;]
- call volume is quite low, even on the highest settings
- the USB cable is thin, so I am expecting needing to buy a replacement after a short time

It has rendered my laptop as useless, haven't turned it on since owning the mix just don't need it with this screen size.

Overall love

Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Microsoft Surface Duo, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Microsoft Surface Duo is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

There are some quirks, bugs, annoyances... But I effin love this device. Form factor, build quality, innovation, style all great in my opinion. Some functionality issues that could be deal breakers if not addressed immediately. Bluetooth connection instability tops my list. Smart watch will not stay connected.

I had canceled my order due to the grumbling on the device prior to roll out...only to get a email today that my phone is in town and will be delivered tomorrow or Monday?
It will be interesting to see after the newness of the phone wears off how many will keep or return them.
$1500 is a lot of money to put out for a phone and all the glitches people here and on YouTube have posted.
Basic things like terrible speaker quality, terrible video quality, lagging, launcher issues, awkwardness of not being able to text fast, issues with turning on 2nd screen when trying to take pictures.
I dont see MS stepping up anytime soon with fixes...
Time will tell!

Bandage said:
There are some quirks, bugs, annoyances... But I effin love this device. Form factor, build quality, innovation, style all great in my opinion. Some functionality issues that could be deal breakers if not addressed immediately. Bluetooth connection instability tops my list. Smart watch will not stay connected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This device is awesome. Been playing with it since it arrived yesterday. I'm not seeing too many bugs like others but I don't have a sim card in it yet so maybe that is the difference. Performed the update on first boot. Ill be trying an Asus portable gaming monitor by itself and on USB 3.1 Hub to see if external screens work in a few.
1 Annoyance is external drive needing FAT32. Not sure what that is about but I have a USBC Hub working on it with sdxc, samsung 7 touch drive and some peripherals. Seems to work fine aside from needing fat32 to read storage. Hopefully exfat or ntfs are coming. Copying Music to drive now so trying audio via USBC 3.1 to Headphone with a DAC chip in the 3.5 end.

T&C said:
I had canceled my order due to the grumbling on the device prior to roll out...only to get a email today that my phone is in town and will be delivered tomorrow or Monday?
It will be interesting to see after the newness of the phone wears off how many will keep or return them.
$1500 is a lot of money to put out for a phone and all the glitches people here and on YouTube have posted.
Basic things like terrible speaker quality, terrible video quality, lagging, launcher issues, awkwardness of not being able to text fast, issues with turning on 2nd screen when trying to take pictures.
I dont see MS stepping up anytime soon with fixes...
Time will tell!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 2 cents.
I haven't had any of the bugs i've seen others have. I had one glitch on day one when trying to log into Super Cell to connect my clash of clans account. But it still actually worked, the screen just bounced around while i typed my recovery code. I think it was because COC was horizontal, and Supercell wanted to be vertical. It never happened again after that. There are weird things i'm figuring out that i thought were hiccups, but they're consistent and repeatable. So i think it's just how it works, more than an issue. I've had no launcher issues, so i don't know what you're referring to there. The speaker actually sounds decent to me, the real issue people have is the volume. It doesn't get very loud compared to other phones. It's plenty loud enough for the alarm to jolt me out of bed in the morning, but you're not going to be giving any presentations in a crowded room. Also, everyone knows the camera sucks. It's good enough to get you by, but you won't exactly be framing any of the pictures. And as far as not being able to type fast, that's just on MS Swiftkey. I use gboard and it has been flawless. Super fast and no mistakes or lag. And i'm actually really impressed, almost shocked, at how well the camera app works, as in knowing which screen to have on and which direction you're trying to take a picture, selfie vs normal.
It's only been a few days, but i absolutely love this thing! I'd spend the $1,400 again knowing now what i know.

I've had mine since the 10th, and am starting to love this device. The camera is the weakest link, but I'm hopeful for software improvements to emerge over time. As expected, the MS apps utilize the dual screens the best but again the software will come along in time once developers get a feel for it and additional, similar products hit the market. I guess for me it's pure early adopter... it's super cool but nowhere near full potential as of yet.

It's a game changer. Clearly many apps need to optimize to the screen format (Words With Friends, Instagram...) but being able to close the screen and have it be off of my mind is a massive productivity boost - more so when I open it up to get some work done. I replaced my Galaxy Tablet, which I have used for taking notes in client meetings with the Duo. I figured that, like the Galaxy, I would use Noteshelf for that. I am finding, however, that Evernote alone works great.
I wish that
1) You could close the book and NOT hang up a call,
2) That closing the book could auto-set Do-Not-Disturb
3) That the camera was better
4) That there was more battery - I will happily accept another couple of mm in thickness for more mAH and better optics for the camera.
Finally, I added the SopiGuard black leather skin and the bumper. Total game changer in terms of not having to handle the thing like a piece of glass art in a glass art gallery.

Brand New Pixel C, had some general questions

Hey Everyone,
I recently purchased a brand new sealed 64GB Pixel C for $275. I have ALWAYS wanted one but never really needed a tablet until recently. My kindle crapped out, and I have been listening to some audiobooks and I wanted a way to combine the 2. I also plan on maybe watching some movies from my Plex server, some Netflix, and that's probably it...oh and some comics as well....
I had some general questions for those of you who have had a Pixel C for some time.
1. I know there are some screen issues, and I believe based on the serial (i'll confirm when it arrives in two days) mine seems to be made in 2016 sometime, and even though I am in the US, it's a EU version.... Do the problems seem to be on all C's or just a specific run of them?
2. If you were me, and only wanted a tablet for ebooks/audio books and of course some media, but no apps that are super intensive, would you just upgrade from the 6.0 to the 8.0 that's official (or 7.0 if it's good?) , or install a custom rom. If the latter, any recommendations from personal experience?
3. Since it's 2020 and this tablet is coming up on almost 5 years....do you feel I overpaid? This is a completely irrelevant question, I just REALLY REALLY wanted one, I hate Samsung and wanted something with as close to a pure google experience like my Pixel phone. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I have seen them selling used in good shape in the upper 100's range, and most are 32GB.....
4. Anything else I should know that I don't see jumping out at me in the forums that you would pass along to a new C owner?
Thanks everyone in advance!
Hank

Hank_Rearden said:
Hey Everyone,
I recently purchased a brand new sealed 64GB Pixel C for $275. I have ALWAYS wanted one but never really needed a tablet until recently. My kindle crapped out, and I have been listening to some audiobooks and I wanted a way to combine the 2. I also plan on maybe watching some movies from my Plex server, some Netflix, and that's probably it...oh and some comics as well....
I had some general questions for those of you who have had a Pixel C for some time.
1. I know there are some screen issues, and I believe based on the serial (i'll confirm when it arrives in two days) mine seems to be made in 2016 sometime, and even though I am in the US, it's a EU version.... Do the problems seem to be on all C's or just a specific run of them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not aware of better or worse serial numbers. I assume later is better? Mine has image retention / ghosting & a purple shift in white balance but I never got the half screen failure or other issues.
2. If you were me, and only wanted a tablet for ebooks/audio books and of course some media, but no apps that are super intensive, would you just upgrade from the 6.0 to the 8.0 that's official (or 7.0 if it's good?) , or install a custom rom. If the latter, any recommendations from personal experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend either Pixel Experience 10 or LineageOS 17 if you are at all comfortable with flashing. ROMs are little more work. But they offer the latest patches, some new features, some specific fixes for our aging hardware, and because you have to install TWRP first you have that safety net for when things go wrong. I also happen to really like Android 10 for what that's worth. You might have to use Magisk Hide to get some apps working, and you probably have to sideload Netflix from APKmirror but it should work just fine.
If you don't mind how it works out of the box, and you don't care for fiddling with it, and you aren't concerned with the screen lock bug, then stock is perfectly fine. Some people say 7 was better than 8 because of some video driver bug that broke a few Unity based games. I have zero idea if this was fixed in any of the ROMs.
3. Since it's 2020 and this tablet is coming up on almost 5 years....do you feel I overpaid? This is a completely irrelevant question, I just REALLY REALLY wanted one, I hate Samsung and wanted something with as close to a pure google experience like my Pixel phone. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I have seen them selling used in good shape in the upper 100's range, and most are 32GB.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am considering selling my Galaxy Tab S6, even though it is nicer in so many ways, because I just disagree with so many Samsung UX decisions. So I continue to use the Pixel C and I hope you like yours. I am a little envious you found a good condition 64GB one! There are countless little touches where the Pixel C does what I expect and my Samsung devices do not. Using an USB audio device? Pixel C can use it for music and also to make VoIP calls. Believe it or not many Samsungs cannot route 'phone' type audio over USB. Music only! Using a mouse? Open Chrome, right-click on a link. Notice that beautiful options menu that pops up? Try the same thing on a Samsung and notice it is just Android back function. Back to the Pixel C, try to middle-click on a link and notice it opens in a new tab in the background. Just like on desktop Chrome! Then, try with a Samsung and notice middle-click is the same as Android home function. Samsung just decided to break mousing and I hate it. Even things like display scaling work well on the Pixel C and badly on Samsung devices. Want everything to be very small? That's easy to do, and basically everything scales (except the nav bar, but there is a fix for that). On my Samsungs some parts of the UI scale and other parts don't. You end with comically unmatched icons and other elements like the notification shade. I really thought DeX could fix these issues for me and it didn't, but that is a different story. I like Samsung features but by golly they suck at the basics IMO.
4. Anything else I should know that I don't see jumping out at me in the forums that you would pass along to a new C owner?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not everything in Google-land is good. The Pixel C was never trouble free and still isn't with even the best ROMs. 3GB of RAM was too little for a 'productivity device' in 2015 and obviously still isn't enough (your use-case should be fine however). The storage speed is slow, it is prone to occassional jank (probably combination slow storage & low RAM), and if the battery isn't perfectly healthy you will experience bad CPU throttling (this is fixed in ROMs and in my case was a night and day difference). You are already aware of the screen problems. The headphone jack quality is not good, and the bluetooth range for headsets is about 5 ft (I am not joking, it's astonishingly bad!). There used to be many WiFi reception complaints but I think it was fixed long ago. Reception is on the weak end however. The touch screen is sensitive to interference and you can get ghost touches when using a low quality charger (YMMV on that one, my hardware might be faulty). Last thing that comes to mind is that occassionally, and seemingly randomly, your lock screen PIN will just... stop working. If you are on stock software with a locked bootloader then all you can do is factory reset!! This alone is a great reason to go with ROMs.
Thanks everyone in advance!
Hank
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck and welcome to the community!

locuturus said:
I am not aware of better or worse serial numbers. I assume later is better? Mine has image retention / ghosting & a purple shift in white balance but I never got the half screen failure or other issues.
I recommend either Pixel Experience 10 or LineageOS 17 if you are at all comfortable with flashing. ROMs are little more work. But they offer the latest patches, some new features, some specific fixes for our aging hardware, and because you have to install TWRP first you have that safety net for when things go wrong. I also happen to really like Android 10 for what that's worth. You might have to use Magisk Hide to get some apps working, and you probably have to sideload Netflix from APKmirror but it should work just fine.
If you don't mind how it works out of the box, and you don't care for fiddling with it, and you aren't concerned with the screen lock bug, then stock is perfectly fine. Some people say 7 was better than 8 because of some video driver bug that broke a few Unity based games. I have zero idea if this was fixed in any of the ROMs.
I am considering selling my Galaxy Tab S6, even though it is nicer in so many ways, because I just disagree with so many Samsung UX decisions. So I continue to use the Pixel C and I hope you like yours. I am a little envious you found a good condition 64GB one! There are countless little touches where the Pixel C does what I expect and my Samsung devices do not. Using an USB audio device? Pixel C can use it for music and also to make VoIP calls. Believe it or not many Samsungs cannot route 'phone' type audio over USB. Music only! Using a mouse? Open Chrome, right-click on a link. Notice that beautiful options menu that pops up? Try the same thing on a Samsung and notice it is just Android back function. Back to the Pixel C, try to middle-click on a link and notice it opens in a new tab in the background. Just like on desktop Chrome! Then, try with a Samsung and notice middle-click is the same as Android home function. Samsung just decided to break mousing and I hate it. Even things like display scaling work well on the Pixel C and badly on Samsung devices. Want everything to be very small? That's easy to do, and basically everything scales (except the nav bar, but there is a fix for that). On my Samsungs some parts of the UI scale and other parts don't. You end with comically unmatched icons and other elements like the notification shade. I really thought DeX could fix these issues for me and it didn't, but that is a different story. I like Samsung features but by golly they suck at the basics IMO.
Not everything in Google-land is good. The Pixel C was never trouble free and still isn't with even the best ROMs. 3GB of RAM was too little for a 'productivity device' in 2015 and obviously still isn't enough (your use-case should be fine however). The storage speed is slow, it is prone to occassional jank (probably combination slow storage & low RAM), and if the battery isn't perfectly healthy you will experience bad CPU throttling (this is fixed in ROMs and in my case was a night and day difference). You are already aware of the screen problems. The headphone jack quality is not good, and the bluetooth range for headsets is about 5 ft (I am not joking, it's astonishingly bad!). There used to be many WiFi reception complaints but I think it was fixed long ago. Reception is on the weak end however. The touch screen is sensitive to interference and you can get ghost touches when using a low quality charger (YMMV on that one, my hardware might be faulty). Last thing that comes to mind is that occassionally, and seemingly randomly, your lock screen PIN will just... stop working. If you are on stock software with a locked bootloader then all you can do is factory reset!! This alone is a great reason to go with ROMs.
Good luck and welcome to the community!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for the detailed response. I am glad I am not the only one who feels that way about the Samsung tablets. I ALMOST bought an S4, then I ALMOST bought an S5E, but just don't like the way they do Android. I checked my tracking and the tablet comes today! So I think what I will do is just upgrade to the most recent official, leave the device lock off for now as I don't plan on going anywhere with the C, and see how it goes. I have dabbled in ROMS in the past for a lot of phones I have had through the years, so I assume this is not too far different as far as the process. The Lineage ROM seems to be a little better for the C from reading some of the known issues, but I will take a look at them after I assess the performance of the C. I really don't want to have the unit hit 70% then completely crap the bed on the performance side....
The Bluetooth range is sad to hear considering i JUST ordered the Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones. They will be here either Friday or Saturday. If i need to hear something beyond the range of it sitting close to me I'll just use my phone.
I'll report how things are going once I receive it, and thanks again for the detailed response. It has put me at ease!
Cheers
Hank

It came and was exactly as described. Did the update and now it's charging. Updated some apps and it's moving pretty well. We shall see what happens when I get more stuff loaded on there, but I will say it's better than I expected. Such beautiful hardware.....

1. I know there are some screen issues, and I believe based on the serial (i'll confirm when it arrives in two days) mine seems to be made in 2016 sometime, and even though I am in the US, it's a EU version.... Do the problems seem to be on all C's or just a specific run of them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought an used Pixel C with its keyboard and a pouch and its screen seems still fine. A Youtube video pointed the issue for its cable in the middle behind the screen panel being pressed so I thought keyboard&pouch may have prevented it.
2. If you were me, and only wanted a tablet for ebooks/audio books and of course some media, but no apps that are super intensive, would you just upgrade from the 6.0 to the 8.0 that's official (or 7.0 if it's good?) , or install a custom rom. If the latter, any recommendations from personal experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was on stock 8..1 and now is LineageOS 17 based on Android 10. Stock 8.1 seemed to work fine. I preferred some Android 10's swiping features such as swiping from left or right to go back and swiping up to go to homescreen or other running apps to buttons and black bottom bar previous versions. Netflix HD still works.
On the other hand, unlocking bootloader caused additional 30 seconds to boot with caution message and weird beep noise in boot sequence. As you might know, even when locked in setting, in recovery mode, someone could physically connect your device to another and steal files in the device. Some error messages with security warning pops up in notification so the rom might not fully support Android security features. (I have little knowledge on this.)
When its brightness set close to lowest level, screen seemed to be turned off or brightness seems a bit unstable. (Being able to set close to the mininum is still good.) BTW some of gamepad buttons mapped incorrectly (not sure it was due to LineageOS).
3. Since it's 2020 and this tablet is coming up on almost 5 years....do you feel I overpaid? This is a completely irrelevant question, I just REALLY REALLY wanted one, I hate Samsung and wanted something with as close to a pure google experience like my Pixel phone. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I have seen them selling used in good shape in the upper 100's range, and most are 32GB.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's display ratio is better than 16:10 from other android tablets for e-books, pdf files, comics. Someone wrote its ratio fits for two pages side by side. Among Android tablets as far as I know, there are not many with 3:2 or 4:3. Nexus 9's screen could be great but it has only 2GB ram and other flaws. Xiaomi MiPad doesn't support Netflix HD. iPads would match the need but it seems you didn't want one. What I looked for was an Android tablet which is not Samsung or Huawei and supports Netflix HD. Of course, newer APs have advantages in power consumption, better game support, weight etc. Galaxy Tab S6 lite supports S-pen which is good for pdf notetaking. I tried to write in pdf files with Xodo PDF app and Bamboo Tip stylus and it wasn't so successful. Still, I like mine.
4. Anything else I should know that I don't see jumping out at me in the forums that you would pass along to a new C owner?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its PCB is on the left side so it gets hot when running intensive apps or charging. (The bottom of the display turned a bit yellowish. Because of keyboard attached?)
USB PD laptop chargers works but the left side feels hotter compared to charging with 5V 3A chargers.
With its keyboard is good to use on lap or as a stand but it would be pricey to buy a new one.

Impulse buy

I picked this device up as a impulse buy to replace my Note 8 and even though there was quite a lot of negative talk about this phone mostly for the software I have to say I don't regret my purchase in terms of why I bought it. I was considering the Z Fold 2, but couldn't justify wasting THAT much money for something I'd most likely break just using it (screen). Anyway, the Duo has been a great multitasking device so far. The only area I'm highly disappointed by is not so much the crappy potato camera, but the fact 1. it takes soooo long to deploy the camera ready to take one. 2. the gigantic f$%&ing delay when taking a picture vs when the camera shutter sound signifies it took a picture. I'm hoping that future updates resolve this phones issues although it sounds like there hasn't been much attention given other than this past January... At any rate, I've bought a few things to improve the usability of this phone. Magnetic usb-c cable for charging and data transfer (miss Qi charging...) and added screen protectors. Finally made some vinyl overlays for the outsides and used CF for grip although negated when the screens are folded open.

Looking forward to receiving mine next week to finally try dual screen. Will be interesting to see how it compares to the Note 10 I've been using for the last year or so, particularly for battery life. Also heard it doesn't support ARCore which will be disappointing as was key to one of the main uses I wanted this phone for.

Pretty cool
A lot better build than any of the Folds...

wez_p said:
Looking forward to receiving mine next week to finally try dual screen. Will be interesting to see how it compares to the Note 10 I've been using for the last year or so, particularly for battery life. Also heard it doesn't support ARCore which will be disappointing as was key to one of the main uses I wanted this phone for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, I think you'll be disappointed straight away. You'll have to forget most of what you expect a android phone, much less a phone to be and learn how to navigate Microsoft's version of Android and a duel screen (not all Microsoft's fault and the nature of duel screens). With that said if you get comfortable enough with how they want you to do things you may start to love it more than any single screen phone and not want to go back. While I feel pretty adjusted and comfortable with using it for what it is as I was intending. With that said I've run into a few situations where the Duo will just NOT replace a phone at least a flag ship like what I was used to with my Note 8. I don't know if this good or good enough, but I can take the Duo off the charger, go to work, have the bluetooth connected to my headset, playing video, screen at around 15% brightness, be browsing the net or social media at the same time the video is playing and after my 8 hr shift be at around 10-5% battery left. Or I can do a charge for about an hr and a half? and be at around 80 - 90%? Not sure what ARCore is. Let me know if you need any info or help, although in some ways still learning myself.

blackhawk said:
Pretty cool
A lot better build than any of the Folds...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I feel like I'd have wrecked the screen if I had a Fold. I'm not hard on devices, but I still expect it to hold up since I have to use touch so much to interact.
I've changed the outer protectors since this original post. Since I have the ability to make my own vinyl stuff I've been experimenting with a logo. The CF was too big and was peeling at the edges so I needed to adjust the size of the vinyl and cut a new one out. My laptop for comparison to cover the stock logo.

vipfreak said:
Thanks, I feel like I'd have wrecked the screen if I had a Fold. I'm not hard on devices, but I still expect it to hold up since I have to use touch so much to interact.
I've changed the outer protectors since this original post. Since I have the ability to make my own vinyl stuff I've been experimenting with a logo. The CF was too big and was peeling at the edges so I needed to adjust the size of the vinyl and cut a new one out. My laptop for comparison to cover the stock logo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, the Folds are designed to self destruct like a Mission Impossible tape... brute force not needed
This isn't intended as a phone per se but I really like the way it's hinged and its conservative but innovative solid design.
A sharp micro laptop... Gene Roddenberry would have loved it.
I'm very interested to hear what your experiences are like with it. It a cool hybrid

blackhawk said:
This isn't intended as a phone per se but I really like the way it's hinged and its conservative but innovative solid design.
A sharp micro laptop... Gene Roddenberry would have loved it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely agree. It's really nice hardware. Speaking of which I will watch re-runs of Star Trek TNG if it's on some times.
blackhawk said:
I'm very interested to hear what your experiences are like with it. It a cool hybrid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My primary use case is in "Nintendo DS" view where I have a screen for video playback on top and then I'm browsing the net, social media, or games on the bottom screen. This is where I think it shines the most. My second use case is like regular phone with one screen mostly for ease of typing like replying to a text message. A cool use case that I haven't done all that much is book view where I have youtube open playing a video and doing whatever on the other screen. This view is primarily nice if I have music playing off of youtube because usually if you try to multi task and youtube will stop the music and close the app entirely. With the Duo I don't have to worry about youtube taking up the screen since I have a secondary one. Something a single screen can't do. Why don't I pay youtube? I'm cheap and part Chinese. lol...

Hi,
Well, given the massive price drop from Microsoft, I decided to go for one that I bought from the MS Store directly.
Openend the package and powered up the device. Well, first thing is you will probably have to wait for 30 minutes for the successive updates to apply... Not really nice on a device that still is 800€ after 50% rebate, but OK.
Once powered up and ready to go, the first impression is amazing. The build quality is about the best you can get. The displays despite what reviewers write, are splendid. And the "Duo" panels are just amazing. App are installed super fast (not sure what memory they used, but here is it indeed pretty fast) ; GPS is super accurate ; communnication areoud and clear and so that is all good
But unfortunately, that only last for some time... And then the problems arise :
- no Led or outter display : you don't have a watch. You'll have to grab the device and open it just to know what time it is. You got a notification ? Same thing just to see what arrived. Even worse : you get a phone call ? You have to grab your phone, open it, see who's calling... and half the times, you'll miss the call because you weren't fast enough !
- the hinges ? Superb piece of craftmanship. Honestly. They feel super solid. They have the exact balance between being stiff enough to allow the displays not to move by themselves but still not to be too difficult to operate and unfold. But once your device is open and if you display, say a webpage, in "full screen" (so on both displays) then you'll just have a gap and so some parts of the page won't be legible... I thought MS would have worked on a seamless displaying of the pages when in "full screen", but no. They went the easy route ;
- the way the dual display are working is totally confusing. When I launch an app, it sometimes will display on the left panel, sometimes the right one. Why ? No idea. But that is OKAY. A little more problematic : let's say that I am using my web browser in full screen (on both displays). I get a notification that I got an e-mail. I go to recents and check the mail, then go to recents again to go back to browser... it works, but will go back to single display, not "full screen", so I have to drag the slider again to have full screen. Maybe I would be able to live with that. But on my device, one of the displays randomly decides to power off. I have to close the Surface Duo and reopen it to get the second display back. That really doesn't fill me with confidence in durability :-(
- and then there is the battery. It's melting like snow in hot summer day. I am used to 5kAh batteries that last almost a week-end given my usage. I know MS wants to mimick some of Apple's features, but why taking the worst and choose the same battery power ? Here, playing a simple game like "Cody Cross" and I will be out of juice within 2h30...
I will not talk about other small glitches, like the MS launcher, which in the Surface Edition is simply a joke ; the fact that some apps will not work in the Surface ; the incredibly poor camera (I don't care, I don't use it but did they even gave a look at the smartphone reviews where the stupid reviewers can take away 1 full star out of 5 for a smartphone just because it's camera is not stellar ?) ; the lack of accessories (proof that it simply hasn't sold)... and some other details.
But the ones I described earlier will probably get me to send the Surface Duo back to MS.
Will wait until September 22 to do that.
Let's see what they'll release on Surface Duo 2...
Because I really would like to love it and justify spending 800€ on a smartphone !
Regards

I bought mine Amazon $419 just to play and get to know - it is a fun device - I couldn't justify the Fold 3 which I had been using contemplating. If I trade this in for a Duo 2 and get US $250+ it's all good.
It fast charges really quickly. It can get to 40C and yes it drains battery terribly.
Even SwiftKey seems buggy - whole thing is more prototype than a finished product - they should be paying us!
But I think I'll wait for Android 12 at this point. 11 is a great already a year old. Also the I like to wait 4-6 months anyway for the any issues.

Hi,
If the Surface Duo was sold in France for 400€, I'd keep it too
But best brand new price I've found here is 800€ (for 256GB model) unfortunately.
This is why keeping it is a question for me :-(