Priv VS Pro1

[Rob. S. 1,661]

3 hours ago, dave.liao said:

One advantage of the Pro1 over the Priv? The Pro1 now officially has LineageOS support (17.1, as of this post), so that's a big advantage over the Priv, which hasn't had support from anyone since the end of 2017.

It'd be pretty awesome if someone would figure out how to crack a Priv to install LineageOS...

I guess not being able to crack the bootloader is the only "security" feature left on that phone with its outdated, unsafe, unsupported stock Android – a device that used to be marketed as "the world's most secure Android device"...

Security updates stopped just a few weeks after I bought mine. Anyway, as much as I liked the phone, I never liked the portrait-orientation keyboard...

[PokeParadox 62]

I also had/have a PRIV. I did enjoy it, but also have the battery dying on it with constant reboots/refusing to charge. I was keeping it around just to be another sync point for Resilio, but it's getting less and less useful due to the battery.

I have had my Pro1 a little over a month and it's taken a while to get used to the landscape keyboard again. I've installed Lineage OS 16 and recently playing around with Debian running as a chroot so I can do some little bits of coding. The battery life seems to be great and I don't bother disabling GPS/WiFi/Data/BT like I did with the PRIV. Of course I am working from home these days so it's not a 1:1 comparison.

It feels more useful with the landscape orientation than the PRIV ever did, although the PRIV was better suited to DS emulation have the keys below the vertically oriented screen. The phone doesn't appear to get as hot as the PRIV even running something heavier like Dolphin/Citra.

[EskeRahn 5,460]

43 minutes ago, PokeParadox said:

I've installed Lineage OS 16

Just curious. Any particular reason for not upgrading to 17.1 ?

[PokeParadox 62]

2 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

Just curious. Any particular reason for not upgrading to 17.1 ?

Laziness... Also isn't the clock broken currently, or something like that? I figure it's running stable enough as it is, maybe I'll update after a few more releases! :P

[claude0001 1,341]

On 12/2/2020 at 1:17 PM, EskeRahn said:

Just curious. Any particular reason for not upgrading to 17.1 ?

On 12/2/2020 at 1:20 PM, PokeParadox said:

Laziness... Also isn't the clock broken currently, or something like that? I figure it's running stable enough as it is, maybe I'll update after a few more releases! 😛

In case you are running a real chroot (not proot) or require root access for some other reason, beware that AddonSU is not available anymore starting from LOS 17.1. So in case you are presently using that (like me) you will have to switch to Magisk -- which seems to work ok but adds a new level of complexity to root management. Also, it needs to be re-installed at every OTA update as far as I know, which was not necessary for AddonSU on LOS 16.

I did not update my set-up yet for this reason alone.

Edited December 3, 2020 by claude0001

[Hook 3,020]

1 hour ago, claude0001 said:

In case you are running a real chroot (not proot) or require root access for some other reason, beware that AddonSU is not available anymore starting from LOS 17.1. So in case you are presently using that (like me) you will have to switch to Magisk -- which seems to work ok but adds a new level of complexity to root management. Also, it needs to be re-installed at every OTA update as far as I know, which was not necessary for AddonSU on LOS 16.

I did not update my set-up yet for this reason alone.

Actually, if you are not doing anything fancy with Magisk, you just flash the zip, just like addonsu.  I don't even open the manager, although it installs it.  Works just like addonsu for me (although I am on AICP and not Lineage right now).

I get the flashable zip from here: https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/releases/

[Rud 123]

@Kikka

Things my Priv does better in order of personal annoyance:

• Physical keyboard alt and shift had a lock (meaning I pressed shift, took my finger off it and then the next letter I would press would be a capital letter, same for numbers), on the Pro1 I have to use one of the 2 shifts or fn keys and keep them pressed while pressing another button, and also alternate between them, depending where the letter or symbol I want on the keyboard is, as it's wide
• Pro1 sometimes gets stuck on silent but reboot fixes that and it didn't happen that often
• Much better loudspeaker/camera microphone: the Pro1 loudspeaker microphone is borderline unusable in calls and unusable in videos, not sure if this is software or hardware
• The shifted keyboard layout on the Pro1 still throws me off, as I upgraded from a Nokia E7-00 to a Priv then to the Pro1 I have muscle memory from my E7-00 when I type on the Pro1 and it's hard to change that, for me
• I also miss the touchpad on the Priv
• The 2k screen on the Priv was sharper but the fact that you couldn't set drawing>smallest width in developer options didn't let me fully enjoy the awesome ppi. on my Pro1 I set drawing>smallest width to 550dp and most apps and websites have a layout like on a small laptop
• Screen green tint between about 30% and 80% screen brightness is also a nuisance on the Pro1, but I just learned to avoid that brightness range as, so far, the battery is a beast

Things my Pro1 does better in order of personal preference:

• Directional arrows: I don't have to double-tap the touchpad to use on screen arrows like on the Priv, this saves time, improves precision and allows me to use shift+arrow to select text
• Form factor: much more usable while consuming media as it doesn't need a stand / the keyboard can be used for typing while in landscape
• Stereo speakers that are really loud and quality
• More powerful hardware
• Updated software: side by side app mode is really useful for productivity
• Rootable and bootloader open, even if I didn't get around to work on taking advantage of any of those features

All in all I don't regret getting the Pro1 at all. As I wouldn't get a phone without a physical keyboard, this was the best option for an upgrade and really is an awesome device. I have experienced about 5 reboots max on the Pro1 in an over 2 month period. I am on stock android with all the updates.

Congrats to BB for the priv too. It was my daily driver from 2016 to 2 months ago and still holds up like a champ. The only issue it has is battery time. Mine holds up for about 2-3 hours of video.

Things I recommend you do on the Pro1:

1. Hide navigation bar with XDA Navigation Gestures and status bar globally from ADB on PC with command line
2. Install Pie Control to replace navigation bar
3. Don't hide navigation bar from ADB and use the app from point 1. If you do it from ADB the pie control app from point 2 won't be triggered as the trigger area will be off screen
4. Set drawing>smallest width to 550dp in developer options so you would get the most out of your screen real-estate
5. Enjoy side by side with your new and improved screen after doing points 1 to 4 🙂

The 4 points above are meant to let you use the whole screen always and avoid AMOLED screen burn-in.

P.S.: Prepare to wait a while for your Pro1 to ship. It took 9 months for me but from my point of view it was worth it. Maybe if you buy the ProX it will ship way sooner, if you do this look for links to the promotional cheaper indiegogo bundles and get the 8gb RAM version. Also, some of the Pro1 issues mentioned above might be fixed on the ProX.

Edited December 6, 2020 by Rud

[Rud 123]

On 12/2/2020 at 2:07 AM, Rob. S. said:

I guess not being able to crack the bootloader is the only "security" feature left on that phone with its outdated, unsafe, unsupported stock Android – a device that used to be marketed as "the world's most secure Android device"...

Security updates stopped just a few weeks after I bought mine. Anyway, as much as I liked the phone, I never liked the portrait-orientation keyboard...

I have Malwarebytes pro installed on both my Priv and the Pro1. Works great: scans apk when downloading and before installing, passively checks for malware, doesn't use resources much, except for on demand scan.

It actually cleaned my Priv once of a dodgy app that was constantly pushing full-screen ads while I was doing stuff in other apps on my phone, and that I wasn't able to uninstall normally. I ran an on demand scan in Malwarebytes, it saw the source of the issue and cleaned it all up with one click.

Not sponsored. :)))

Edited December 6, 2020 by Rud

[Rud 123]

I just now saw @Kikka posted this on the 20'th of February.

Wish I noticed this before writing that novel above, but since I ordered mine on the 19'th of February to replace my Priv, I'll just enjoy the coincidence. :)))

[EskeRahn 5,460]

1 hour ago, Rud said:

I just now saw @Kikka posted this on the 20'th of February.

Wish I noticed this before writing that novel above, but since I ordered mine on the 19'th of February to replace my Priv, I'll just enjoy the coincidence. :)))

But it is still very relevant as I bet that quite a number of (potential) pro1 owners have (had) a Priv too. I for one bought the Priv back then as the least bad available keyboard slider - despite its keyboard being in the wrong direction.