EXPIRED: Essential PH-1 (Halo Gray) - $223.99

E

exlink

Supreme [H]ardness
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Nice deal! I ordered it lol! Its a good backup phone for that price and gets updated fairly fast. Been looking for something cheap but decent. I mean too much of a phone for that price. Almost ordered it last week for 329.99 but 279.99 is a steal for those specs.
 
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calikool said:
What service can you use with this phone. Never head of the brand.
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Bit a phone aficionado here-- I buy all the phones for our family. Recent phones I've purchased include the Nexus 6P, Pixel, Pixel XL, Samsung S8 and S8+ as well as a few Motos, and most recently the Essential Phone.

The Essential Phone is compatible with all 4 carriers in the US. The build quality is superior to that of the S8 and the phone is ever so slightly smaller than the S8 with a similar screen size. The Essential phone basically has flagship specs and a ceramic and titanium build. The photos however that it takes are noticeably worse than that of the S8 or Pixels. I would probably rank it as Pixel> S8 > Nexus 6P > Essential > Mid Range Moto G in terms of camera quality. The essential phone is faster and less bloated than an S8. If the camera were better I would probably prefer it over the S8 but sadly the camera is a deal breaker for me.

Edit: Got it on prime day for $250 which is a crazy value and feel that its still a really great deal at $280 if you can live with the camera.
 
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GreenOrbs said:
Bit a phone aficionado here-- I buy all the phones for our family. Recent phones I've purchased include the Nexus 6P, Pixel, Pixel XL, Samsung S8 and S8+ as well as a few Motos, and most recently the Essential Phone.

The Essential Phone is compatible with all 4 carriers in the US. The build quality is superior to that of the S8 and the phone is ever so slightly smaller than the S8 with a similar screen size. The Essential phone basically has flagship specs and a ceramic and titanium build. The photos however that it takes are noticeably worse than that of the S8 or Pixels. I would probably rank it as Pixel> S8 > Nexus 6P > Essential > Mid Range Moto G in terms of camera quality. The essential phone is faster and less bloated than an S8. If the camera were better I would probably prefer it over the S8 but sadly the camera is a deal breaker for me.
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Yea Camera is not the best but I mean for less than half the price of brand new s8. I won't complain. Its backup phone for me but honestly I wouldn't mind using it if that was my budget. Its probably the best phone you can get for less than 300.
 
NKD said:
Yea Camera is not the best but I mean for less than half the price of brand new s8. I won't complain. Its backup phone for me but honestly I wouldn't mind using it if that was my budget. Its probably the best phone you can get for less than 300.
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For sure. $250 is the price of a Moto G6 which is a solidly midrange phone. This is 2017 flagship tier except for the camera.
 
From what I've read the camera has greatly improved since launch and continues to improve through updates. Many people now say that it is above average, but still not up to flagship standards. Apparently installing GCam (Google Pixel camera) significantly increases low light performance.

But keep in mind you're paying $280 for premium build quality (titanium and ceramic) that matches or surpasses many flagships, and contains 2017 flagship hardware that is still very powerful today. Not to mention it got Android P the same day as the Google Pixels. The phone has been constantly updated.
 
My only gripe with the essential phone was that there was some screen Jitter while scrolling. It was noticeable for me. I ended up switching carriers and getting an S8. But essential phone worked fine on Verizon. I didn't really notice any big performance issues between the two other than the screen jumping. Samsung has its own issues with this due to TouchWiz or Samsung Experience or whatever they call it now, but the essential phone was worse. That's not to discourage a potential buyer. For the money it is a great phone.
 
kirbyrj said:
I used it December 2017 through February 2018. Not sure if there was a software fix or not since then.
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The fix was in beta in February 2018... you ended up selling right before it came out. I can't speak for how good it is on Oreo 8.1 but can say that I haven't noticed anything too bad on Android pie 9.0 (Essential phone is now with a relative so I can't test any further). I think they've patched it mostly.

 
I may haft to give this phone a shot. For 279$ it's hard to beat... I like my 5t but the phone will not pair Bluetooth in my car stereo. I could sell my 5t for a decent $$$ and save some cash.
 
kirbyrj said:
I used it December 2017 through February 2018. Not sure if there was a software fix or not since then.
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I have seen bunch of user reviews that has stated it has been fixed with some OTAs updates. So I don't think that is an issue anymore.
 
Thanks for the heads up. Tried to price match with Amazon, but they refused and said I'd need to return and reorder. Thankfully the phone was scheduled for delivery today so Amazon cancelled the delivery and I reordered another one. Due for delivery on Wednesday now. Can't get a better phone for $223 IMO.

Updated the OP.
 
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Using one with Android P right now. Running great and teh camera is improved...not perfect, but improved

Fantastic price for it
 
At $223, I just bought another one. This one will be for my aunt who need to replace a positively ancient zenfone 2. Was going to give her my slightly used Nexus 6p but yeah... good price.
 
I've had this phone for over a month now, running android 9 Pie... The only issues I have had was with my service but it's the service and not the phone. I am with Boost because it is the ONLY carrier that I can get signal even in the basement of the building I work in. But Boost and Sprint in general has pretty crappy service here in OKC and I am really considering trying a different service, some people with Cricket have said they get service in the same areas I do so I might try them. As far as the camera goes, I didn't and have never bought a phone for use as a camera. The fact that it even takes pictures is a bonus to me lol... It's unfortunate that this phone isn't more popular because it is a pretty amazing piece of hardware, especially considering I picked it up for 250 bucks.
 
Koncrete said:
I've had this phone for over a month now, running android 9 Pie... The only issues I have had was with my service but it's the service and not the phone. I am with Boost because it is the ONLY carrier that I can get signal even in the basement of the building I work in. But Boost and Sprint in general has pretty crappy service here in OKC and I am really considering trying a different service, some people with Cricket have said they get service in the same areas I do so I might try them. As far as the camera goes, I didn't and have never bought a phone for use as a camera. The fact that it even takes pictures is a bonus to me lol... It's unfortunate that this phone isn't more popular because it is a pretty amazing piece of hardware, especially considering I picked it up for 250 bucks.
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I've been seeing several comments on other tech blogs about this phone having signal issues too though, specifically on T-Mobile anyways for the ones I saw commenting about it. So this is something anyone buying it should test when they get the phone to make sure it's going to work for them if they're on the fringe of their coverage area or using it indoors a lot (where band 12 isn't available to compensate).
 
T4rd said:
I've been seeing several comments on other tech blogs about this phone having signal issues too though, specifically on T-Mobile anyways for the ones I saw commenting about it. So this is something anyone buying it should test when they get the phone to make sure it's going to work for them if they're on the fringe of their coverage area or using it indoors a lot (where band 12 isn't available to compensate).
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I've read about the T-Mobile issues but I can't comment since I've never used em and it doesn't seem to happen to every user just some so hit or miss? I have been calling other pay-as-you-go vendors trying to find one that will refund me if I am not happy with the service. So far no one will lol
 
Koncrete said:
I've read about the T-Mobile issues but I can't comment since I've never used em and it doesn't seem to happen to every user just some so hit or miss? I have been calling other pay-as-you-go vendors trying to find one that will refund me if I am not happy with the service. So far no one will lol
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I'll be using it on T-Mobile so I'll see how it works. If the reception is shit then I'll just return it to Amazon. Easy peasy.
 
Any owners have cheap ($10 or less) case recommendations? The more plain the better; just don't want anything that falls apart after a few weeks from normal use.
 
exlink said:
Any owners have cheap ($10 or less) case recommendations? The more plain the better; just don't want anything that falls apart after a few weeks from normal use.
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Trying this case because it's super slim, I don't care about the cutout. Older versions of it cracked to pieces. Reviews of the new version say it's much improved.

Halo Gray is now up to $309.99, still not bad at that price. I was able to finagle one @ $208+tax. Should be a great replacement for my N5X.
 
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exlink said:
Any owners have cheap ($10 or less) case recommendations? The more plain the better; just don't want anything that falls apart after a few weeks from normal use.
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https://www.amazon.com/Essential-TU...87&sr=1-4&keywords=tudia+essential+phone+case

I have an accidental drop test review on this already... 2 days after putting it in that case I decided to juggle the phone and introduce it to a concrete slab... I have that case and the skinomi screen protector... Not a single scratch or anything on the phone but you can definitely see on the case where it tried to break concrete

Link to my review on XDA

https://forum.xda-developers.com/es...ia-tpu-bumper-cover-skinomi-techskin-t3822951
 
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Koncrete said:
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-TU...87&sr=1-4&keywords=tudia+essential+phone+case

I have an accidental drop test review on this already... 2 days after putting it in that case I decided to juggle the phone and introduce it to a concrete slab... I have that case and the skinomi screen protector... Not a single scratch or anything on the phone but you can definitely see on the case where it tried to break concrete

Link to my review on XDA

https://forum.xda-developers.com/es...ia-tpu-bumper-cover-skinomi-techskin-t3822951
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Username checks out...


decided to juggle the phone and introduce it to a concrete slab
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Sounds about right. I've dropped my phone and instead of catching it in mid-air, I'd spiked it to the floor...
 
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If you have trouble getting the PH-1 to do calls on Verizon, switch your band to Global. Spent 2 1/2 hours at a VZW store doing everything but throwing this thing against the wall to get it to do anything except access the internet and send text messages, but the second I set the wireless band to Global everything worked peachy.
 
Wish I hadn’t hesitated on the $224 deal on this. Now it’s $310. Still not a bad deal... Use it with the 1 yr of free sprint service if you’d really want to have a cheap phone with service.
 
Destruya said:
If you have trouble getting the PH-1 to do calls on Verizon, switch your band to Global. Spent 2 1/2 hours at a VZW store doing everything but throwing this thing against the wall to get it to do anything except access the internet and send text messages, but the second I set the wireless band to Global everything worked peachy.
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I had to enable HD voice on my account before I could make phone calls on VZW. After that, no problems with the phone.
 
Just got mine. So far so good. Very nice value. Went from a s9+ just to give this a try. I wouldn't have paid $700, but for this price it's a no brainer.
 
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