The Pro1, almost a year later

[Doktor Oswaldo 904]

I have quite the opposite experience with my phone. I got used to the most of the stuff that bugged me. I am quite happy with the phone.
Yes if the keyboard isn't a big thing for you, you will not be able to overlook the shortcomings. But after nearly a year, I am quite used to have a keyboard again.
I use it all the time as soon as I have to write more than 4 or 5 words.

Yes you pay a lot for a phone which is thick heavy, has a shitty fingerprint reader and some bugs!
But you get a keyboard phone which is really durable (trust me on that, I have lost it through a car window while it was rolling over and it is still fine!) and fast.
Sure I hope for a pro2 which does eliminate some of the problems of the phone. But even in the current state, it is the best phone I had since the n900!

[claude0001 1,341]

2 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

I doubt that ANYONE would disagree in principle [...]

Not sure about that. Some claim that a hardware keyboard is superior to an on-screen one in all circumstances, and that having it will boost your productivity "automatically". Also the Fxtec advertising insinuates that a little bit (ok, that's probably just what marketing does).

I believe that, at least for some, this is wishful thinking, based on fond memories of devices like the N900 that had software optimised for landscape and keyboard control. That is however not the case for the Pro1: Android software tends to be tightly optimised for portrait and single-hand touch-control. Also generally-favorable reviews on the Pro1 have acknowledged that, at the end of the day, the testers did use the slider much less than initially anticipated for exactly those reasons.

So I do believe that one should carefully (and critically!) evaluate whether one really has a use case for the keyboard before buying, and that there is no reason to downplay that warning. In the end, disappointed customers are harmful to the project.

1 hour ago, Doktor Oswaldo said:

[...] even in the current state, it is the best phone I had since the n900!

I still feel like I am betraying my N900 by now carrying the pro1 with me. But objectively, yes, we can agree on that. ☺️

Edited October 28, 2020 by claude0001

[VaZso 1,998]

1 hour ago, claude0001 said:

I tend to disagree on that. I find that my N900 took much better pictures, at least in daylight conditions. Of course, the N900 had a quite good camera for its time, but as so many years have passed, I expected more from an expensive 2019 phone.

After frustrating weeks spent with the default camera app, I now installed OpenCamera. The more fine-grained control of the device it offers (via the camera2-API) seems to help a bit -- still, the camera is my greatest disappointment with the Pro1.

The camera of Pro1 can make way much better photos than the camera of N900 (and even better than the camera of my Moto G6).

...but that is true the stock camera don't have the best outputs and still OpenCamera is not the best.
However, if you install Google Camera (Gcam) application, then it will produce perfect photos.

[claude0001 1,341]

32 minutes ago, VaZso said:

[...] if you install Google Camera (Gcam) application, then it will produce perfect photos [...]

Thanks for the suggestion. But as I'm on LineageOS (without microG and such) this is not an option, even technically.

You are probably right that the camera is not bad optics-wise. I have made a decent picture every now and then. My impression is that the camera is simply not working reliably, at least with the default software: Too many pictures came out with imperfect focus or bad exposure. I'll give OpenCamera a chance for now, it seems to behave better ...

The thing is, with my N900 I never messed with the camera settings much, let alone install alternative apps. It just took pictures that came out nice most of the time ...

Edited October 28, 2020 by claude0001

[EskeRahn 5,460]

1 hour ago, claude0001 said:

So I do believe that one should carefully (and critically!) evaluate whether one really has a use case for the keyboard before buying, and that there is no reason to downplay that warning. In the end, disappointed customers are harmful to the project.

Oh I certainly agree on that to an extent where it is close to being tautology.
I mean this should go for ANYTHING we buy in my book. Do we need it? If so, is the benefits worth the price? Else do not buy! An individual assessment.

It is very much a matter of what you want to use the device for. If you primarily do stuff tapping and swiping in the apps you use, you are unlikely to gain anything/much. If you on the other hand enters a lot of text, it is a different matter.... Also SOME apps/games can benefit from hardware keys, also for non-textual input.

I'm certainly not claiming that the Pro1 is a generally ideal device. But it is by far superior to any available alternatives available for MY usage pattern.

[internationaltraitor 84]

38 minutes ago, claude0001 said:

But as I'm on LineageOS

you might be able to find GCam in aurora store.  most likely you will.  but then again, why would we want google products...

https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/reports/com.google.android.GoogleCamera/latest

https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/reports/net.sourceforge.opencamera/latest

[claude0001 1,341]

5 minutes ago, internationaltraitor said:

you might be able to find GCam in aurora store.  most likely you will.  but then again, why would we want google products...

Even if it were in Aurora (seems not at first sight), it is said to require the Google Services or some surrogate, which I do not want to install. And the privacy aspects you showcase in your links come on top, indeed ...

[internationaltraitor 84]

yeah, i think its called Google Camera,, GCam is just a user abbreviated version of saying it.

[sequestris 710]

6 hours ago, claude0001 said:

I must say that @Wasmachineman_NL does have a valid point here.

I tend to disagree on that. I find that my N900 took much better pictures, at least in daylight conditions. Of course, the N900 had a quite good camera for its time, but as so many years have passed, I expected more from an expensive 2019 phone.

After frustrating weeks spent with the default camera app, I now installed OpenCamera. The more fine-grained control of the device it offers (via the camera2-API) seems to help a bit -- still, the camera is my greatest disappointment with the Pro1.

Do not get me wrong: I think the Pro1 is a great device overall -- especially when considering that it is Fxtec's first product. But it is obviously not perfect. Criticism can be a good thing when formulated in a constructive and polite way (as on this thread), and I believe Fxtec have shown that they are quite open to that.  

For me it's all about the software I guess. I switched over to Camera PX within a few days of getting the Pro1 and never looked back.
And for me, it's the best out of every phone I have ever had.

[Slion 1,201]

On 10/26/2020 at 3:11 PM, Hook said:

Apps that can do landscape do it with the keyboard out. Apps that can't don't and get used in portrait or split screen.

To avoid having to use split screen you may want to take a look at that force landscape option from FX Service:

 

[Hook 3,021]

1 hour ago, Slion said:

To avoid having to use split screen you may want to take a look at that force landscape option from FX Service:

 

Thanks, but I actually work split screen a lot and my real solution is to ban portrait only apps to my Moto G8 because, like everything else on that phone, including the phone itself, I don't use them very often.  😄 My serious work apps, where I am inputting a lot of text, don't seem to have any problems with landscape.  Email, text editing, outliner, browsing, spreadsheets, terminal/SSH, file manager... all fine.

 

[ermghoti 88]

No real update in my opinions. Curved screens are trash. The number row is crowded. It's physically too slick to safely handle, both the foolishly curved screen and the inexplicably frictionless back. Zero waterproofing. Other than that, they have worked great. I'm open to a better camera software, but the stock takes photos and videos well enough if I have time to tamper with the settings. Keyboard works fine, battery life is excellent. I've had no issue with build quality or calling characteristics on my first, drowned device or the replacement. Once in a blue moon it will refuse to send a text until it has been rebooted. It's a mid-range device, which was expected, we are paying a premium for a small production run of a ground-up new design.

[claude0001 1,341]

On 10/28/2020 at 1:55 PM, claude0001 said:

[...] I tend to disagree on that. I find that my N900 took much better pictures, at least in daylight conditions. [...]

 

On 10/28/2020 at 4:16 PM, claude0001 said:

[...] I'll give OpenCamera a chance for now, it seems to behave better [...]

Update: 10 days later, I can report that OpenCamera has mostly settled my issues with the Pro1 as an "always-carry-on" camera. The "focus locked" program of OpenCamera works very well with the Pro1's double-action shutter button, and allows me to take sharp pictures also of quick-motion scenes. If needed, OpenCamera offers many more possibilities of manual control (exposure lock, ISO sensitivity, ...), but I rarely have to use them in daylight conditions. I'm also under the impression that focusing is faster than with the built-in LineageOS app, though I am not sure if this makes sense as I thought focusing is done in hardware (or at least on the driver-level) ...

Anyway, while I am still not quite as confident a photographer with the Pro1 than I was with my trusted N900, I feel that this is just a matter of time now. 🙂