glumreaper

Thank you, I found your analysis helpful as well.

Thanks for your helpful analysis. May I ask, what do you think of the camera on the Pro1?

Thanks again for another comprehensive analysis. I think my requirements are similar to yours. I wouldn't mind trying an alternative OS, but I won't have time to fiddle and learn and solve the ongoing challenges that might present. I'd likely just stick with stock Android or a similar robust rom. I'm tending towards the thought that I'll probably skip the Pro1 and just pick up a decent 'slab' phone - probably something from the latest Sony range (having a reasonable camera with a physical two-stage shutter button is a must for me, so that part of the reviews of the Pro1 worries me).

Thanks for the detailed thoughts. I'm still lurking the forum trying to decide whether to get one once they reach retail availability, and it's good to see thoughtful feedback, positive or negative. Right now I don't know if I still want a Pro1. My phone is an important communication tool and my de facto primary computing device. Virtual keyboards suck so I do want a physical keyboard, but not at the expense of the rest of the device's functionality. I'd rather have a good phone and put up with a virtual keyboard, than have a keyboard on a bad phone. I await with interest what happens in

I'm guessing the same thing that happened to delivering in July. Or 'Summer'. Or 'within a couple of weeks of payment'. Or early November. Or mid November. Or by the end of November. Or early December. Or "definitely by the 20th of December".

It's hard to say really. Some people have. The poll "have you got your Pro1" had 19 people respond that they had. The thread "what's the highest serial number in the wild" found #158 to be the highest. The total number of pre-orders is not known but the most consistent and reasoned estimates on here put it somewhere between two and three thousand. It's unknown how great an impact cancellations have had on this number. It seems that the allocation of hardware to the 'queue' is impossible to predict. This is down to the different numbers of QWERTY/Z orders, and due to at least one

At a guess, the situation here has changed. The original idea was that preorders would include a 'case'. This was dropped at some point (for understandable reasons, but with no customer communication, of course) and switched to a pouch. They've said that preorder customers will still get a case sent when they become available. So it sounds like the pouch is a different thing and may come as standard with all phones. It's likely that the pouch is cheaper to produce so it's not unreasonable to add in. Did you get the boxed FXtec branded Earphones with your order? They were supposed to be a

To me this is the ideal: get keyboard phones popular and mainstream again. I'd love for the Pro1 to do really well and convince other manufacturers to also bring back the side-sliding hardware keyboard form factor. However, I've come to realise that I don't really want to buy the Pro1. It's got too many niggles right now, and I don't really trust FXtec. However, I'm willing to get one and support them because it's the only option at the moment in this form factor.

We should encourage FXtec to send a unit to iFixit!

Good reply, @Gigadoc2! I think you've identified some of the key points there. It's foolhardy to dismiss the Android Authority review on the basis of populism, and even more so on some snobbish grounds about the author. I also don't understand why hardware keyboards seem to be such a niche interest. I think AA are completely wrong that autocorrect and swype have 'resolved' virtual keyboard typing. I've used Swype (now gboard) for probably nearly ten years and it's better than pecking away at intangible keys, but it's still a slow and error-prone method of text entry. I find autocorrect/p

Nice. What keyboard did you go for? Any thoughts on modding the case to make it rigid when open? I'm just interested as I've thought about doing similar.

@EskeRahn did some superb analysis of different potential cases for the Pro1. I'll see if I can find where I stashed the link.

It's a nice idea, but it'll never happen. I mean FXtec will never give that kind of information. Their campaign for months now has been to give just enough intimation to create a "hold on everyone, they're nearly here" kind of feeling, while the actual delivery dates have been slipping for months, suggesting that behind the scenes there's frantic pedalling going on.

It's been a wild ride as ever. Complaints, guesses, speculation, official vagueness. Agreements, disagreements. People riding around on a high horse with no discernible reason nor logic. And of course an astounding interlude involving some online retailers. Fun times. What there hasn't been, is any further concrete delivery estimate from FXtec for those still waiting. I mean, yes, there's been an official message saying "end of Jan". But we've heard lots of messages like that and so far most have them have failed to be true.

Wow. Just wow.

I get it, and I'd have been really annoyed. Waiting and waiting and wondering and hoping for the phone you preordered. For months. And then it turns out you (or anyone) could just buy it from a shop and have it reliably shipped within days. I would be seriously annoyed. I feel like FX could've communicated this out as an option to people. Yes, it could've lead to cancelled preorders while people bought from the stores instead. But it kinda looks like that's happened anyway.

For balance, it would be good to also talk about (and particularly great to hear from an insider about) all the good things Google do with the data. All the analytics, tuning of services, and useful generalised application of the data.

Excuse my ignorance, but what's the impact of certification (or lack thereof?) Is it just Google Pay that uses it? Would also be what banking apps check?

Already did. I'm sure they're not coming before Christmas.

Thank you for that comprehensive and well-written account. I really do sympathise with the FXtec support team. It sounds like they're also suffering from poor communication. Hopefully some clarity will be provided soon.

That's a worrying message from support. What particularly strikes me if "the information our management has given us". I read between those lines as the support team are also feeling frustrated at a lack of clear information from the top.

I'm still lurking these forums because I'm genuinely interested in the Pro1 and I do want it to succeed. But seeing the same game playing out of the vague words of the last official communications being picked apart, and guesses being made and re-made... I can't tell you how much better I feel having cancelled. Seriously, I remember the wonderings of the last few months and I'm very relieved to no longer feel like that. I can be 100% certain about whether or not I'll be getting a Pro1 this year, and that feels strangely ok.

Since you ask. For me it came down to two aspects: I need a phone. It's an important tool for me to communicate among several different channels. Moreover without much time or opportunity to get my laptop out, my phone is my de facto primary computing device. I've been using a ropey old phone since June when I placed my Pro1 order, thinking "it only has to last a month". As you say, we may well be near the finish, but as another commenter put it - this marathon has been getting longer and longer. Given that we haven't been told that the second batch has left China yet, and given that the

Tone deaf is well put. This bullish readiness to send an angry response has arisen before. It's a little galling given how many other questions in the forum go ignored.

It's not about wanting or not wanting to believe anyone, although everyone would do well to remember the golden rule: you shouldn't believe anything you read on the internet unless you know and trust the source, or unless you can verify it independently. The point was that I don't have the in-depth knowledge of Android that some on this forum clearly do, and that to verify the statements made about Adups, I would have to do some research myself. While doing this research I had a realisation of how absurd the situation was... 😆