Pro1 and Pro1 X design change to use Snapdragon 662, no new devices before August 2021

[matf-kabouik 414]

The good news is we now have more time to convince them about improved layouts. :> I must admit I was secretly hoping the March production batches would be delayed, so that we could at least get some feedback on the layouts suggestions that were sent, and a chance for Nordic and Azerty backers to see what they purchased before delivery.

[lawliett 77]

I'm confused about how the change in SoC will affect people who chose to get pre-loaded LineageOS or Ubuntu. Since there's no lineageos support currently for 662 since all the work was done for 835, does that mean that everyone will get stock android 11 in August when the phone ships? Or will Fxtec have official support for lineageos prior to shipping the phones and I'll be able to flash the phone from android to lineageos as soon as I get it in August?

[DillonM 10]

agree that these are all question I want to have answered as well

[_DW_ 628]

14 hours ago, claude0001 said:

Without being an expert, I get that their partner manufacturing the PCB relies on an upstream supplier who cannot deliver the 835 anymore, but there is a licence for the 662 instead.

Other PCP manufacturers could still purchase the 835 (from their different upstreams). However Fxtec cannot switch, as they do not own the PCB blueprints. Any new PCB supplier would have to re-design the board from scratch according to Fxtec specs, which they cannot afford.

Yes I suspect this would be the case.  Also one blueprint for the PCB won't necessarily switch anyway to another suppliers manufacturing process.

[Rob. S. 1,664]

12 hours ago, matf said:

I must admit I was secretly hoping the [...] batches would be delayed

If that's why you came here, you came to the right place! 😉 

[_DW_ 628]

14 hours ago, Rob. S. said:

There are some small advantages. The perhaps most obvious were already mentioned by Fxtec, even lower battery consumption and support for newer, substantially better cameras (one of which will be be in the phone, too). And there are others, like better hardware video decoding (I think there are two more hardware-supported formats, one of them being H.265).

New decode codecs:

• Codec AVC
• Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit)

Also supports hardware encode for:

• Codec h264
• Codec JPEG

* But they can be accelerated on the GPU anyway and I suspect they added the hardware support to make up for the lower performance GPU and CPU.

 

 

[jlavi 112]

I recently had to stop using my N900 because important SMSes from bank and police were shown blank. I bought an entry level Android phone. Using the touchscreen to type on a small screen sucks. Almost anything with a physical keyboard would be better.

Perhaps you can now guess what my vote was.

Edited February 12, 2021 by jlavi

[denmaarten 8]

please someone make a list and better or worse column

Did they change the delivery date for everyone now... AGAIN???

I got an email.
everyone gets an 1X.

No explanation more..

when? how? why? how can you trust them.??????

[Hook 3,043]

As always, the answers aren't here in a user forum, but I'm pretty confident that FxTec is going to do everything needed to transition the ports to the new SOC requirements.  I think the Devs, who partially jumped into this because of their own interest in having a good keyboard phone available, will too.  Maybe a few new prototypes will be passed around.  I am sure this will get done given 7+ months to do it.

However, if you want an answer, you will have to email FxTec.

[Hook 3,043]

I trust FxTec completely.  It's IdeaLTE I don't trust.  😅

[PsyDucky 20]

Not that i dont trust Fx, Im still not sure i trust that date all things considering.
That is when they intend to get it out the door, just not sure that will happen.

 

[Bob 6]

Everything before Christmas is a miracle afaik.

[Bob 6]

I don't think 662 will ever have alternative OSes support on par with 835.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

1 hour ago, denmaarten said:

Did they change the delivery date for everyone now... AGAIN???

Sadly it is not 'just' a delay, they simply can not get the CPU they already had confirmed orders for, so they were cheated, and had to redesign for a different Qualcomm CPU. There is a larger thread on this, and I will merge your thred into it..

[DieBruine 397]

And I'm sure 835 will never get Android 11 🙃. We'll be lucky if we ever get 10. LoS is ok, but the kernel is still 9.
These are clearly the tradeoffs for the 'new and improved'  Pro1x. And, if they make any effort to continue backing by XDA, LoS support for a 662 Pro1 would be the least of my worries 😌.

[Vladislav Mogilev 6]

How do I request a refund?

[claude0001 1,352]

@Hook  is probably right. Like for the original Pro1, Fxtec will provide pre-production devices to Lineage and UBPorts (maybe Sailfish, too?) community developers. They have the necessary connections in the community, so I am quite confident there will be at least unofficial ports of LineageOS and UbuntuTouch available by the time the Pro1-X hits the marked. Pro1-X will be supported by upstream (Android) much longer than the original Pro1. I have no worries that, in the long term, it will get a strong community of developers behind it.

In my own interest, I of course hope community support for the original Pro1 will not suffer from that. But probably it will be regarded as the "true" Pro1 for some time to come, so hopefully there will be enough community interest in it, too, so both devices can live side-by-side.

Edited February 12, 2021 by claude0001

[Hook 3,043]

2 hours ago, Vladislav Mogilev said:

How do I request a refund?

Send your request to their email.  info@fxtec.com

Edited February 12, 2021 by Hook

[RyuShai 0]

Do you think Fxtect would listen us, who support them. Dishonesty is key

[EskeRahn 5,471]

1 hour ago, RyuShai said:

Do you think Fxtect would listen us, who support them. Dishonesty is key

i'm not sure I understand you, who are you claiming to be dishonest, and why?

[Rud 123]

On 2/12/2021 at 3:52 PM, jlavi said:

I recently had to stop using my N900 because important SMSes from bank and police were shown blank. I bought an entry level Android phone. Using the touchscreen to type on a small screen sucks. Almost anything with a physical keyboard would be better.

Perhaps you can now guess what my vote was.

You can get a Blackberry Priv second hand pretty cheap to hold you over until your Pro1 arrives if you ordered one. In my country they are going for about 100eur.

Maybe even a Blackberry KeyTwo for a bit more newer android version, but those are more expensive.

Edited February 13, 2021 by Rud

[RyuShai 0]

2 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

i'm not sure I understand you, who are you claiming to be dishonest, and why?

i'm talking about fxtect, they knew issue from mid jannuary and still let perk available. Over 60 perk was called from mid jannuary, do you think dishonesty worth for this move ?

[ToniCipriani 194]

From what I've been reading about the SoCs, compute won't be affected as much, it's the GPU performance that will take the most hit.

And for reference... even the $100 Moto G fast uses a 665 which is a speed bumped version of this, lol. F(x)tec really got cheated out on this, but they are part to blame. They took the risk of using an older SoC, discontinuation and stock out should have been considered when planning the Pro1-X.

Edited February 13, 2021 by ToniCipriani

[Hook 3,043]

4 minutes ago, RyuShai said:

i'm talking about fxtect, they knew issue from mid jannuary and still let perk available. Over 60 perk was called from mid jannuary, do you think dishonesty worth for this move ?

I'd say they hit a major, unforseen supply chain disaster in mid January and scrambled to come up with a solution that allows them to move forward giving folks a still fantastic keyboard phone rather than walking away and saying "this is too much" as IGG would have allowed them.  And it will still be a great keyboard phone.  Thank you, FxTec.

 

[Rob. S. 1,664]

1 hour ago, ToniCipriani said:

should have been considered

Afterwards, everyone's wiser. Especially external commentators who didn't have to do the original considering in the first place. When Fxtec presented the Pro1, they explained very well why they chose the SD 835, and while some would have liked an even better SoC, it was never an option. Back then, they simply couldn't get a better SoC for the small quantities they were about to produce, let alone for an acceptable price. It's as simple as that, and the fact that it was "only" an 835 for the Pro1 and that it is "only" a 662 for future Pro1 X batches is part of the price we have to pay to get a phone with a hardware keyboard. That's reality, and it's the only reality we get to see, as much as I would have liked things to be different (especially about the exorbitant amount of time some people including myself have been kept waiting). But everything else is just wishful thinking.

Edited February 13, 2021 by Rob. S.