After a solid month, I give up. I need to vent.

[ahunter 108]

On 2/24/2020 at 1:33 AM, fxyo1 said:

- The curved screen edges. Jesus god, this one design 'feature' is probably the main reason I am done with this phone. The accidental touches are CONSTANT. Forget using the phone one handed unless you can palm a basketball. Yes, it is possible to hold the phone without touching the screen but it is not intuitive and 9/10 times your natural hold will be an issue. They also make opening the phone's keyboard even more difficult.

I use a folio flip case and do not have as exacerbated issue with the curved screen. The case makes it much easier to hold and keyboard deployed in my default use position. Pushing with the back of my thumb nails is the best way to open.

On 2/24/2020 at 1:33 AM, fxyo1 said:

- Accidental touches. In addition to the touches from the curved screen edges I am CONSTANTLY hitting buttons with my cheek during calls. I have never had another phone with this issue. Its like it just randomly decides to activate the touchscreen. Speaker, Mute, whatever my cheek grazes. 

Never really experienced this, but I predominantly use the speakerphone for calls. I have noticed some strange sensitivity issues when trying to scroll on the phone. This could be fixed in a OTA update

On 2/24/2020 at 1:33 AM, fxyo1 said:

- Big and heavy. The price for the physical keyboard. I knew there would be some bulk from the keyboard but I saw the specs and did not expect it to be that big a problem. Sitting next to any other phone it is pretty dramatic. This compounds with the awkward way you have to hold it thanks to the curved edges; you really notice the heft. 

I have only ever owned QWERTY Keyboard phones and refuse to join the iBeige Revolution of Touch Screen Only. This is one of the thinest QWERTY phones I have owned. Heft come with the supreme functionality.

On 2/24/2020 at 1:33 AM, fxyo1 said:

- Accidentally button presses. The wake button is dead center along the right hand edge of the phone. So the natural place you'd hold the phone one handed, and a number of other instances (like getting leverage to open the keyboard) causes you to frequently hit the button.   

The way I have cut my case the power button is cover, I have to be quite forceful to activate it. As I have always used QWERTY phone I am in a habit of using phones with the keyboard deployed. Rather than how a touch screen only user would hold a phone. My folio case again has me gripping the phone without touching any buttons.

On 2/24/2020 at 1:33 AM, fxyo1 said:

- Software is clunky. Frequently had issues where the keyboard would stop working & had to reset the phone. When the phone is in landscape with the keyboard open, you could only wake the device with the keyboard sometimes. Other times, you had to reach behind for the sleep button, swipe open, resume your task. The stock camera app is grotesque. 

Agree but to be expected from a small niche market phone. I have installed work around's which make my phone perfectly functional and can't wait for the OTA updates, if the Corona Virus does not kill the whole of China first.

On 2/24/2020 at 1:33 AM, fxyo1 said:

- The UX for opening the keyboard is awful. Mechanically the design seems solid enough but the action itself is like opening a mouse trap. With one hand it is a difficult and perilous maneuver at best. Even with two hands you always have to be "holding on" or the phone is likely to jump away from you. 

Again my folio case must be making this easier for me. Pushing with the back of the thumb nails work best for me. I much prefer the tilt up of the screen much like my HTC Touch Pro 2 (Slide and Hinge Design). Small learning curve to get the muscle memory but feels perfectly natural now. Flat sliders like my Motorola Photon Q always made my wrists strain, while trying to tilt the screen towards me. Also great for viewing video or video calls without the use of a stand or leaning post.

On 2/24/2020 at 1:33 AM, fxyo1 said:

The above constantly pokes at you, slowly but surely making you miserable. Today, the phone fell from about 2 ft (box spring+mattress) to the floor. The edge of the screen cracked pretty good and with it, my patience for the phone. I tore it in half and threw it away. No, I don't typically do that to my phones. Yes, it was cathartic. 

I am sorry FXtec, I will still be looking at the Pro2 if it ever exists. But I no longer us the Pro1.

I am sure like with most companies that have been developing phones for years that improvements will come with a F(x)tec Pro2. For now we only have the Pro1 which is my daily driver. Hopefully they become like Motorola and HTC once was in the glory days of QWERTY.

I have been waiting since 2012 for the latest QWERTY phone, my poor Modified Motorola Photon Q mother board probably could not handle another phone carcass change.

The curved screen actually helps decrease the perceived thickness of the device but does have it's draw backs. Nothing an adjustment of holding habits does not fix.

I am super happy with my Pro1 and look forward to being able to offer help to others or suggestions to the software developers on improvement.

GREAT PRODUCT F(x)tec, This is definitely a tweakers phone and appeases every part of my soul, from having to modify my own case to the software tweaks. 

I am exploring the Non-Root Stock Options at the moment and phone works flawlessly for me.

[berlinux 6]

@ahunter Which folio flip case do you use?
Could you maybe post photos of it as well as link?
Thanks!

[ahunter 108]

1 hour ago, berlinux said:

@ahunter Which folio flip case do you use?
Could you maybe post photos of it as well as link?
Thanks!

 

It is a case designed for P20 Pro, random one I bought at a mobile phone shop. @EskeRahn has a great link to his website, with many case experiments and solutions.

Edited March 2, 2020 by ahunter

[puppymang 6]

i cant deny that im also frustrated with the device namely because i, too, was excited when i received it and then after a day of fiddling with it it became painfully obvious that the software was severely unrefined and that the curved edge made it hard to use.

• the curved edge is absolutely horrible. when chen revealed this "feature" i was extremely disappointed. i cant comprehend how people actually like this design choice as all i experienced was consciously trying to avoid touching the edge because it just makes you open stuff on accident.
• the keyboard layout is poor mainly because the F key and the way the selectors work are really annoying. this is something i can live with but all the special characters are tedious to use. I also ran into the issue of being unable to type ? and / until i realized that you have to not select any keyboard layouts and let it be completely default.
• media playback is extremely unreliable. watching stuff on youtube or using mx player (s/w decoder) causes the device to crash if fast forward. this doesnt happen all the time but often enough to be annoying (saw someone mention they got a replacement and that solved it for them)
• audio is buggy. cant really play some games. audio cracks constantly as if i was listening to radio with interference
• the build quality doesnt really give me a whole lot of confidence. sure its sleek and sturdy but i can see that flex cable when i open the device and all im reminded of is how my moto keyboard mod's flex cable started tearing until it snapped and how the cable appears to be the same thing here. i used a droid 4 for years and never had issues with the sliding mechanism or the keyboard itself.

with that said i intend to keep the device and wait for the software to mature. i waited patiently since i placed my order in feb 2019 until it finally showed up at the door in jan 2020 (almost a year!). for now it just sits until the day its actually daily-worthy because there aren't many alternatives to keyboard devices that work with verizon.

[FlyingAntero 812]

57 minutes ago, puppymang said:

i cant deny that im also frustrated with the device namely because i, too, was excited when i received it and then after a day of fiddling with it it became painfully obvious that the software was severely unrefined and that the curved edge made it hard to use.

• the curved edge is absolutely horrible. when chen revealed this "feature" i was extremely disappointed. i cant comprehend how people actually like this design choice as all i experienced was consciously trying to avoid touching the edge because it just makes you open stuff on accident.
• the keyboard layout is poor mainly because the F key and the way the selectors work are really annoying. this is something i can live with but all the special characters are tedious to use. I also ran into the issue of being unable to type ? and / until i realized that you have to not select any keyboard layouts and let it be completely default.
• media playback is extremely unreliable. watching stuff on youtube or using mx player (s/w decoder) causes the device to crash if fast forward. this doesnt happen all the time but often enough to be annoying (saw someone mention they got a replacement and that solved it for them)
• audio is buggy. cant really play some games. audio cracks constantly as if i was listening to radio with interference
• the build quality doesnt really give me a whole lot of confidence. sure its sleek and sturdy but i can see that flex cable when i open the device and all im reminded of is how my moto keyboard mod's flex cable started tearing until it snapped and how the cable appears to be the same thing here. i used a droid 4 for years and never had issues with the sliding mechanism or the keyboard itself.

with that said i intend to keep the device and wait for the software to mature. i waited patiently since i placed my order in feb 2019 until it finally showed up at the door in jan 2020 (almost a year!). for now it just sits until the day its actually daily-worthy because there aren't many alternatives to keyboard devices that work with verizon.

Maybe you should try Lineage OS since community has done great progress with the software. Audio issues are fixed in the latest test10 build and official Lineage OS build should be just around the corner. F(x)tec can also use the fixes provided by community (like keyboard driver) in official firmware.

https://community.fxtec.com/topic/2509-lineageos-current-status-160-test-builds/

Change Log

test10

• Fix audio crackling (tdm).
• Update fingerprint mitigations (tdm).

test9

• Fix notification light (tdm).
• Fix WiFi signal strength (tdm).
• Add fingerprint mitigations (tdm).

test8

• Fix Bluetooth audio aka. a2dp (tdm).
• Add touchscreen margin aka. dead zone (tdm).
• Add settings UI for keyboard and touchscreen (tdm).

test7

• Added some missing audio libs (tdm).
• Set keyboard type to internal (tdm).
• Wake device on any keypress (tdm).
• Map FN+DEL to INS (tdm).

test6

• Update vendor blobs to 20200106 (tdm).
• Set keyboard parameters on boot (tdm).

test5

• Fixed keyboard backlight (mccreary).
• Fixed wake on keypress (mccreary).
• Do not sleep on closing keyboard slider (mccreary).
• Added keyboard mappings: FxTec -> LEFTMETA, SYM -> RIGHTALT (mccreary).
• Fixed permissions for com.qualcomm.location (tdm).

[tdm 2,322]

@puppymang the software fixes are slowly trickling into the stock ROM.  But things are moving rather slow for stock due to various reasons.  @FlyingAntero is correct, LineageOS is moving much faster and will surely provide a better experience for you at the moment.  In particular, there is a setting for edge margins on the screen and the audio crackling has been fixed.

 

 

[Adrienspawn 126]

I just want to say that I laugh every time I see the title of this thread. The struggle is real but we are the chosen, poised to inherit the physical keyboard and carry the torch into the new millenium of VR and smartwatches.

[rkjnsn 14]

It took me some getting used to the keyboard, since it is (a) bigger than I'm used to, and (b) has an extra column between A and Caps, so I would initially always hit \ when I meant A. I've mostly gotten used to those, and can now type pretty quickly on the keyboard.

The thing that I have not figured out a good solution for is opening the keyboard with the curved screen. It is extremely difficult to both lift up top (when landscape) of the screen (because the curved screen is slippery and significantly reduces the amount of area to grip) and push the bottom without triggering items on the screen.

[david 914]

2 minutes ago, rkjnsn said:

The thing that I have not figured out a good solution for is opening the keyboard with the curved screen. It is extremely difficult to both lift up top (when landscape) of the screen (because the curved screen is slippery and significantly reduces the amount of area to grip) and push the bottom without triggering items on the screen.

My preferred method is to try to slide my thumbs between the screen and the bottom half, leading with my thumbnails.  Nudging the two halves apart this way will lift up on the screen, while pushing it forward, which will cause it to pop open.  It also seems like it puts less stress on the hinge mechanism than trying to force it open by pushing down and forward.

[EskeRahn 5,350]

15 minutes ago, rkjnsn said:

It took me some getting used to the keyboard, since it is (a) bigger than I'm used to, and (b) has an extra column between A and Caps, so I would initially always hit \ when I meant A. I've mostly gotten used to those, and can now type pretty quickly on the keyboard.

The thing that I have not figured out a good solution for is opening the keyboard with the curved screen. It is extremely difficult to both lift up top (when landscape) of the screen (because the curved screen is slippery and significantly reduces the amount of area to grip) and push the bottom without triggering items on the screen.

As a last resort, if all other methods fails, I suggest a small piece of high friction tape.
see e.g. here for various suggestions on how to open.

[Melmanna 2]

THANK YOU to the community for helping with the following suggestions:

- Fingers touch edges - fixed with NullEdge app

- No setting to auto-capitalize letters, auto-space after a period ".", or auto-correct misspelled words and contractions when typing on the physical keyboard. - Fixed by using Swiftkey (Swype has better features, but no physical keyboard support --just another of many adaptations I would have to make for the "convenience" of using a physical keyboard).

- SnapDragon video camera crashing: use OpenCamera app

- I can't make a / or ? when I type. - Check to see that the physical keyboard language is "default" NOT English (https://community.fxtec.com/topic/2689-question-mark/)

- No protective case! Thank you to everyone who trialed different cases...I settled on hacking away at a clear TPU case for a P20 Pro to at least get the back covered.

Edited November 1, 2020 by Melmanna
Keeping the beneficial feedback for future users :)