Selling my Pro1

[VaZso 1,998]

10 minutes ago, Hook said:

I think the others above have been making this point, but while I understand this thinking (I also remember JFK), I think smartphones have hit the same CPU plateau computers hit in the mid 2000s.  Succeeding generations of chips get faster on the benchmarks, but in real life, performance isn't getting that much better and, in fact, battery consumption may be getting worse for what little performance benefit you get.  I don't think there is a lot that an 835 SD CPU and 6 Gb won't be able to handle for some time to come.  For the same reason, I don't even care if I have the latest version of Android.  You aren't getting major innovations between versions.  My going on 6 Year old Samsung tablet does fine performance wise running on Android 7 via Lineage OS and even gets the latest security patches.

Also I feel SailFish OS (or some others) will run well on this phone after a while and it is a native operating system which may mean better performance if optimized well.
Also it may have a long-term LineageOS support if community will exists around this phone.

So it may happen to have also some improvements by time and not necessarily obsolete operating system. 🙂

[Rob. S. 1,660]

There are many reasons imaginable which could justify a higher price than the processor alone might. I mentioned it somewhere else already – these days, a Fairphone 3 got added to the handsets of my household. That's a Snapdragon 632 device and thus, in 2020, a middling performer. Still it is 450€ ($500), whereas I got my similar-performing Moto Z3 Play for 250 € last year. It's the "fair" thing, the 5-year support for hardware and software including security updates, the repairability, which justify the price for those who bought it. I find it easy to justify the Pro1's price premium over other Snapdragon 835 devices with its keyboard alone, even if the CPU is just second best. What amounts to much more of a premium for me, though, is that I wouldn't even need a Snapdragon 835 – I'm more than happy with my Moto Z3, performance-wise. I don't need a high-end handset, and I never did. But if that's what it takes to get hold of a phone with a real keyboard, then so be it... (I wasn't as enthusiastic about the 800 € PRIV, by the way, which I was using for some time before I went into Moto Z territory – back then, I only bought it when I could get a used one for less then half of the original price...)

I agree with @Hook, by the way, where he says that smartphones seem to have hit the same CPU plateau computers hit in the mid 2000s. I guess, like computers, today's smartphones stay "good enough" for much longer than they used to. Which is one of the reasons why manufacturers invent so many gimmicks nowadays to make people buy new ones. "Good" and "fast" isn't enough – most people's phones are that already...

Edited January 5, 2020 by Rob. S.

[GeekOnTheHill 27]

25 minutes ago, Hook said:

I think the others above have been making this point, but while I understand this thinking (I also remember JFK), I think smartphones have hit the same CPU plateau computers hit in the mid 2000s.  Succeeding generations of chips get faster on the benchmarks, but in real life, performance isn't getting that much better and, in fact, battery consumption may be getting worse for what little performance benefit you get.  I don't think there is a lot that an 835 SD CPU and 6 Gb won't be able to handle for some time to come.  For the same reason, I don't even care if I have the latest version of Android.  You aren't getting major innovations between versions.  My going on 6 Year old Samsung tablet does fine performance wise running on Android 7 via Lineage OS and even gets the latest security patches.

I like LineageOS and installed several builds of it on the V20 I used for navigation, but none of them did everything I needed it to do. 17 ran the nav and mapping programs fine, but not the BT. 16 had problems with the GPS. And none of them worked the fingerprint scanner.

I could have hacked them, I suppose; but I was actually looking for a solution more than a hobby at the moment. So I wound up flashing stock Nougat back onto it, taking the OTA to Oreo, and removing as much AT&T and LG crapware as I could with ADB short of rooting the phone again.

If I replace the first V20, it will probably become a hobby platform. It's still a capable phone save for the tired GPS. The problem is the demands I'm placing on it, not the phone itself.

Richard

Edited January 5, 2020 by GeekOnTheHill

[VaZso 1,998]

9 minutes ago, Rob. S. said:

I guess, like computers, today's smartphones stay "good enough" for much longer than they used to.

Yes, and this is where a special device with its own community comes in.
...at least it is what I hope.

So if a usual device abandoned then the user cannot do anything.

...but Pro1 has open (or openable) bootloader, a keyboard which makes it special, a decent hardware and hopefully durable design, so I am currently absolutely not worry about it.

[GeekOnTheHill 27]

12 minutes ago, Rob. S. said:

There are many reasons imaginable which could justify a higher price than the processor alone might. I mentioned it somewhere else already – these days, a Fairphone 3 got added to the handsets of my household. That's a Snapdragon 632 device and thus, in 2020, a middling performer. Still it is 450€ ($500), whereas I got my similar-performing Moto Z3 Play for 250 € last year. It's the "fair" thing, the 5-year support for hardware and software including security updates, the repairability, which justify the price for those who bought it. I find it easy to justify the Pro1's price premium over other Snapdragon 835 devices with its keyboard alone, even if the CPU is just second best. What amounts to much more of a premium for me, though, is that I wouldn't even need a Snapdragon 835 – I'm more than happy with my Moto Z3, performance-wise. I don't need a high-end handset, and I never did. But if that's what it takes to get hold of a phone with a real keyboard, then so be it...(I wasn't as enthusiastic about the 800 € PRIV, by the way, which I was using for some time before I went into Moto Z territory – back then, I only bought it when I could get a used one for less then half of the original price...)

I agree with @Hook, by the way, where he says that smartphones seem to have hit the same CPU plateau computers hit in the mid 2000s. I guess, like computers, today's smartphones stay "good enough" for much longer than they used to. Which is one of the reasons why manufacturers invent so many gimmicks nowadays to make people buy new ones. "Good" and "fast" isn't enough – most people's phones are that already...

Total agree on the gimmickry, especially as touching upon cameras. Three-quarters of the page on most manufacturers' model pages are devoted to the camera. I could give a rat's ass about the camera. I'm interested in the guts.

Richard