Experience so far with Pro1X

[doubleddav 34]

Hi All,

Thought I'd post my experience so far with the Pro1X on stock firmware. Want to see if others are finding it similar, and also give people an idea of what to expect when they get theirs.

The Good

• GPS signal
• Stock ROM relatively clean and vanilla
• Camera is pretty good
• Keyboad (obviously, that's why we all got one) love having a hard keyboard again. On screen keyboard is good too
• Screen is bright
• Glass screen feels really nice. Very smooth and scratch resistant
• Performace is fine, I don't push my phone very hard, but haven't had any issues
• WiFi is fine. Some have reported issues, I seem to be OK. I do notice it switches (according to the indicator) from WiFi 5 to 6 and back again. I have version 6 at home so not sure if this is accurate or not
• Boot times are quick
• Build quality feels very good

The Bad

• Battery life not great, a shame
• Abismal mobile data connection, the phone is effectively a PDA with WiFi (hopefully will get fixed though)
• Speakers crackal sometimes and sound stops/starts intermittently from one speaker. When it works properly through sound is not too bad
• Phone can get a bit warm at times, maybe because of the metal chassis
• Fingerprint reader stops working after half a day. Needs a reboot to fix

That's been my experience so far. How's everyone else finding it?

[Aramon 6]

Thank you for the thread 👍

[cash 18]

Both wifi and cellular are unusable for me. Very poor connectivity. That's a deal-breaker. But I am hopeful the issues with be resolved.

I had issues of false triggering of the fingerprint reader when using in portrait, which refreshed pages or did other strange things. Another deal-breaker.

The rest of the good, I agree with.

The rest of the bad, I did not experience. I believe the speaker crackle is a known issue. Give the forum a search.

[arkenoi 1]

Top reasons why you should NEVER buy Fxtec Pro1x (long story short, I am back at Unihertz Titan)

1. It looks like eye candy at first glance, but it is ergonomically AWFUL. The guys behind it have ZERO clue about how to do and test the mechanical UX, so:

   1. The fingerprint sensor is placed in the wrongest possible location: on edge in a place you grip it by accident when you just pick it up from a pocket or from a table. Supplement this with the software defaults -- 10 attempts and you are locked out forever until the system reboot.

   2. The keyboard is decent and APPEARS like it was modeled after the Nokia n950, BUT. You can open n950 or e7 (if you did not have a chance to lay your hands on a development prototype) with one smooth sliding motion. For Pro1x, you need to pry it with your nails, and don't miss what the proper side is! Srsly, Fxtec?

   3. If you accidentally activate the camera, you cannot simply close it. Before you master this procedure, you will take a few unwanted pictures just by trying to quit the camera app.

   4. The camera protrusion does not allow you to place the phone firmly on the table! I had to glue small pieces of rubber to make it possible. It would not be a problem for a regular phone, but it is a basic operation mode for a horizontal qwerty slider.

2. Thanks for the AMOLED, kb button mechanics and Qualcomm chip (old and cheap, but still better than Mediatek), but the rest of the hardware is crap. The camera does not match even today's Chinese midrange phones. The battery life is mediocre at best, and the hinge quality is a silly imitation attempt to Nokia's swan song of qwerty sliders; it does noticeably wobble, so it feels pretty cheap, too. I could understand no 5G/WiFi6 (which I value for energy effectiveness, not the speed), but no wireless charger?

3. Something is severely wrong with cellular connectivity in particular. It drops out of the network and loses calls and data connection for no apparent reason.

4. It is extremely fragile and faulty. After two months, I got a crack on the screen glass, I did not drop or put mechanical pressure on it -- just from the internal tension. It was small and tolerable, but one more month later, the charging port died, and it was the end of the story for me and Fxtec (no wireless charging, remember?)

5. The Indiegogo campaign was on the edge of a scam, all the promises were broken, the communication was full of shit, and to add insult to injury, those who did not fund were able to buy the phone up to 3x cheaper from Expansys with no prepayments and no delays. Also, my second phone (the first one I got from Expansys, of course, because I never got my perk delivered) is stuck in EU customs because Fxtec could not handle shipping and customs properly. If it ever gets released (which I doubt), I'd happily sell it to the highest bidder.

[EskeRahn 5,575]

@arkenoiSee replies to the same text here

[Rob. S. 1,667]

@arkenoi Unfortunately, much your negative review is unterstandable.

That said, many people used to be and still are absolutely happy with the very similar predecessor device, and so would I, if I wouldn't have abused it too much and, in trying to repair, while repairing the issue that needed repair, damaged it further in other parts, so I moved over to the Pro1X which does have its faults. 

But there is still hope the happiness will yet come with firmware updates.

Other parts of your review seem to be just bad luck, as in case of a cracked screen without cause, this hasn't been reported from anyone else yet for either of the two devices, and a lot has been reported over time.

And yet other parts seem to stem from false expectations. A $700 low-volume slider phone will never be able to fully compete with higher-end mass-market smartphones, hardware-wise. That's simply economically impossible. 

Regarding the keyboard, I guess @EskeRahn has said all that is to say on Reddit. Your negative experience seems to stem from a combination of unwillingless to contribute to the usability of your own device by learning and getting used to something plus the false expectation that a 2022 slider smartphone was just any "consumer device" that would have to cater to all your convenience and luxury whims. It is not. It is a specialty device for those who really, really want the keyboard—and are able and willing to compromise just a bit on a couple of other accounts.  

Edited March 17, 2023 by Rob. S.

[claude0001 1,401]

I own both an original Pro1 and a Pro1-X, so I'm in the lucky position to be able to compare the two devices side-by-side. Part of your criticism (which I partly share) applies to both phones, but some things are also regressions introduced with the Pro1-X only.

2 hours ago, arkenoi said:

The keyboard is decent and APPEARS like it was modeled after the Nokia n950, BUT. You can open n950 or e7 (if you did not have a chance to lay your hands on a development prototype) with one smooth sliding motion. For Pro1x, you need to pry it with your nails, and don't miss what the proper side is! Srsly, Fxtec?

I agree. In three years, I never dared trying to learn to open the Pro1 single-handedly, out of fear it would jump out of my hand in the process. I could never have afforded an N950 (😉) but even my N900's simple sliding keyboard mechanism was more practical from my point of view.

2 hours ago, arkenoi said:

The camera protrusion does not allow you to place the phone firmly on the table! I had to glue small pieces of rubber to make it possible. It would not be a problem for a regular phone, but it is a basic operation mode for a horizontal qwerty slider.

I fully agree that this is a really annoying downgrade from the Pro1. The latter actually had a sunken-in camera window, precisely to protect it when the phone is placed on a table.

2 hours ago, arkenoi said:

Thanks for the AMOLED, kb button mechanics and Qualcomm chip (old and cheap, but still better than Mediatek), but the rest of the hardware is crap. The camera does not match even today's Chinese midrange phones. The battery life is mediocre at best, and the hinge quality is a silly imitation attempt to Nokia's swan song of qwerty sliders; it does noticeably wobble, so it feels pretty cheap, too.

I agree with @Rob. S. that it might be unfair to generally expect quality and performance on par with big players from a small-volume manufacturer. That said, I do not feel that the hinge mechanisms feel cheap or wobbly, even with my three-year-old Pro1. Then again, I actually use the hw keyboard much less than I initially expected. Others might wear it down much faster ...  

I too was never happy with the Pro1's camera, neither with regard to optical quality, nor to firmware behaviour (autofocus). With the right third-party software (OpenCamera) it becomes acceptable at best. The Pro1-X was in fact expected to have a better camera sensor, but I must admit I have not played much with it yet, mainly because of this last point:

2 hours ago, arkenoi said:

Something is severely wrong with cellular connectivity in particular. It drops out of the network and loses calls and data connection for no apparent reason.

This is absolutely an issue of the Pro1-X only! With both devices placed side-by-side, the Pro1-X's mobile connectivity is abysmal compared to the Pro1's,  to the point where using the X as a phone is not practically possible for me. This is a much discussed issue with the device, and there is some hope that this will be improved with future firmware updates. I'm not holding my breath, though.

[EskeRahn 5,575]

5 minutes ago, Rob. S. said:

It is not. It is a specialty device for those who really, really want the keyboard—and are able and willing to compromise just a bit on a couple of other accounts.  

I think the "just a bit", is a bit of an understatement, but else completely agree.

[sequestris 710]

On 3/17/2023 at 9:15 AM, arkenoi said:

The keyboard is decent and APPEARS like it was modeled after the Nokia n950, BUT. You can open n950 or e7 (if you did not have a chance to lay your hands on a development prototype) with one smooth sliding motion. For Pro1x, you need to pry it with your nails, and don't miss what the proper side is! Srsly, Fxtec?

I agree. In three years, I never dared trying to learn to open the Pro1 single-handedly, out of fear it would jump out of my hand in the process. I could never have afforded an N950 (😉) but even my N900's simple sliding keyboard mechanism was more practical from my point of view.

 

How are you guys opening your phones? Aside from Day 1 I have never had a problem...
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cMvjas963yyQAj619

 

[Hook 3,205]

11 minutes ago, sequestris said:

How are you guys opening your phones? Aside from Day 1 I have never had a problem...
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cMvjas963yyQAj619

I agree.

 

[Rob. S. 1,667]

On 3/22/2023 at 3:40 PM, Hook said:

On 3/22/2023 at 3:26 PM, sequestris said:

How are you guys opening your phones? Aside from Day 1 I have never had a problem...
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cMvjas963yyQAj619

I agree.

 

So do I 😉

 

On 2/20/2021 at 1:31 PM, Rob. S. said:

OK, and now I also see why it's been given the epithet "the Clack"...

 

 

[Hook 3,205]

Okay, I have been using my Pro1x for two weeks and it is now officially replacing my Pro1 as my daily driver.  So I will  not only be answering the thread question, but I will also be comparing my Pro1x to my Pro 1.  They are both great pocket computers but the question was which would become my daily driver and which would be conscripted into the kind of experimentation I wouldn't feel comfortable doing with my main device.  I like the Pro1x so much, that is the one I would like to always have with me.

Also, for context (especially in terms of how I might not be like you), I live on the East Coast of the US, am 70, retired, and I don't get out much.  😄 Except to doctors (both me and Mrs. Hook).  I bought a new car in January of 2020, just before the pandemic hit.  I have 15k miles on it 3 years later.

Other than a few initial hiccups while working out settings, connectivity is great for me.  I can make calls, text, use mobile data, have no problems with wifi.  Signals are weaker than with my slab on Verizon, but that is also true with my Pro 1.  But all of this functionality is good over VoLTE with preferred network set to LTE only.  I don't know why this works so well for me when so many are having problems.  I feel even more guilty because, in fact, like my Pro1, I never intended to use this as a phone. That's what the Verizon slab is for.  😉

GPS is excellent so far, fast and accurate. Similar to my Pro 1

In comparing performance of my Pro1x to my Pro 1, for the things I do, I can detect no difference between a Pro1 with SD 835 and Lineage 20 and this Pro1x with SD 662 and stock Android 11. There is no lag on my Pro1x.  Mostly I do text manipulation of various sorts and internet browsing, so I certainly don't really challenge any processor.  I write,edit, use spreadsheets, do research, handle email, ssh to a Linux server,etc.  I've tried streaming videos and music.  But this is a work oriented device... no games or anything that would really challenge a cpu.

Camera seems fine, but I don't really care about it.  Cameras are not included as a critical factor in my buying a smartphone.  I use the cameras on this and my Pro 1 for visual note taking more than anything else. Open Camera makes the cameras on both better.

The keyboard is great, especially when I add  @Rob. S.'s mod of the FinQwerty US layout.  This is, of course, the biggest reason for my wanting these phones. The keyboard on the Pro 1 and the Pro1x are both wonderful, but the layout on the Pro1x is much better.  I prefer non-shifted Qwerty and to finally be able to type a question mark without the Fn key... I have waited sooooo long.  Backlight on the keys is a little better on the Pro1x.

The Pro1x feels like it has a better build quality than the Pro1.  It actually feels thinner, although I don't think it is, it is just tighter, lighter and more comfortable in the hand.  Having learned quickly how to open a Pro1, even one-handed (no, I don't do that often, but I can), opening the Pro1x provided no challenge even fresh out of the box.

The back of the Pro1 is very slick.  Since I don't like cases (or screen protectors), I put a matte black Samsung Note 10 skin on the back of my Pro1 (the camera placement and length is the same, I just had to trim the width).  This gave the back just enough texture to ensure a firm grip.  Luckily, the back of the Pro1X is nowhere near as slick, because matching that color is hard (I tried and failed) and the color looks so nice I don't want to cover it with anything.

The fingerprint sensor is in a little better position on the Pro1x than the Pro1, but I'm pretty sure I would still keep setting it off when I don't mean to so I don't use it.

Based on all the fiddling and testing I've done on it on some days while setting it up and testing coms, it seems to have reasonable battery life.  3200mAh is not a huge battery, but it gets me through the day.

Camera bump doesn't bother me at all.  The only reason I would ever use the Pro1x on a surface is to watch videos and it doesn't bother doing that. It's a thumb keyboard.  I'm going to hold the Pro1x in my hands and thumbtype.

I don't listen to music on it but I tested with both music and video and the speakers seem excellent.  No crackling here.

For now I am staying with the stock Android from July.  It's actually not bad, pretty vanilla, not as many annoying Google apps as one usually expects (still too many).  I'll stick with it for now, and if a new beta comes out I may test it (the current beta has already had a lot of testing), but I do plan to go to Lineage when it becomes available and not look back.

Upshot, I'm pretty happy with my Pro1x.  It works for what I need and, though the Pro1 is great, I slightly prefer my Pro1x.  However, it is wonderful to have both.

[MonCon 129]

@Hook👍

Edited April 6, 2023 by MonCon

[Name_not_avail 68]

16 hours ago, Hook said:

Other than a few initial hiccups while working out settings, connectivity is great for me.  I can make calls, text, use mobile data, have no problems with wifi.  Signals are weaker than with my slab on Verizon, but that is also true with my Pro 1.  But all of this functionality is good over VoLTE with preferred network set to LTE only.  I don't know why this works so well for me when so many are having problems.  I feel even more guilty because, in fact, like my Pro1, I never intended to use this as a phone. That's what the Verizon slab is for.  😉

GPS is excellent so far, fast and accurate. Similar to my Pro 1

@HookWhat batch is your 1x, and when did you receive it?

Both of mine came in the first release, last August.

Your connectivity experience is wildly at variance with mine. The GPS on both my 1x phones is so slow to get a fix as to be completely unusable.

Here's an idea, in the interests of science. I will mail you one of my 1x phones, and you can do a comparative test of it with your 1x. That way a lot of variables could be ruled out with respect to sim card, tower location, band use, etc. if you get crap connectivity related to your 1x, science will be advanced!

I'm willing to pay shipping from the West Coast to you on the East Coast, if you are willing to pay shipping back to me when your testing is complete.

I highly doubt you will steal my "phone", given my reading of your posts on this forum, but even if you do, I guess then I will have room for another pair of socks in that drawer. And I have two of these damn dust catchers at present anyway. One less is just space for one more pair of socks.

If you are in, then DM me.

[Hook 3,205]

2 hours ago, Name_not_avail said:

@HookWhat batch is your 1x, and when did you receive it?

Both of mine came in the first release, last August.

Your connectivity experience is wildly at variance with mine. The GPS on both my 1x phones is so slow to get a fix as to be completely unusable.

Here's an idea, in the interests of science. I will mail you one of my 1x phones, and you can do a comparative test of it with your 1x. That way a lot of variables could be ruled out with respect to sim card, tower location, band use, etc. if you get crap connectivity related to your 1x, science will be advanced!

I'm willing to pay shipping from the West Coast to you on the East Coast, if you are willing to pay shipping back to me when your testing is complete.

I highly doubt you will steal my "phone", given my reading of your posts on this forum, but even if you do, I guess then I will have room for another pair of socks in that drawer. And I have two of these damn dust catchers at present anyway. One less is just space for one more pair of socks.

If you are in, then DM me.

I received mine recently, but I believe it is from the same batch that has been sitting in the warehouse since July. I don't believe either hardware or firmware has been changed(it still has the June 2022 security update).  There is no indication there was a "later batch."

The secret of my success with connectivity seems to be, locally, the ability to hold onto band 4, which probably has more to do with the choices T-Mobile has made in their implementation here where I live than anything to do with the phone itself. I have no idea if the fact that I use Ting Mobile, a T-Mobile MVNO, not T-Mobile, has any part in this.  Since my Pro 1, on T-Mobile, also holds onto Band 4, I suspect not.

From your post about travels up the West Coast in the connectivity thread, the West does not have as much coverage by Band 4 on T-Mobile. Instead they seem to be using lower frequency bands or the bands T-mobile has that the Pro1x doesn't.  I still think @claude0001's theory that somehow the Pro1x doesn't handle lower frequencies well is reasonable. 

I wish there were LTE coverage maps that actually mapped out band coverage.

 

 

[EskeRahn 5,575]

21 hours ago, Hook said:

I wish there were LTE coverage maps that actually mapped out band coverage.

I do not know if a similar thing exists publicly available in the US, But here in Denmark there is a public site "mastedatabasen.dk" where one can zoom in and see quite a bit of info on each cell-tower location.

ADD: https://www.cellmapper.net/ give some information along the highways , and several roads. That might help.

[EskeRahn 5,575]

22 hours ago, Name_not_avail said:

Here's an idea, in the interests of science. I will mail you one of my 1x phones, and you can do a comparative test of it with your 1x. That way a lot of variables could be ruled out with respect to sim card, tower location, band use, etc. if you get crap connectivity related to your 1x, science will be advanced!

Would be great if we could thus rule out or confirm, if it is the location or the specimen that is the culprit.

[Hook 3,205]

1 hour ago, EskeRahn said:

Would be great if we could thus rule out or confirm, if it is the location or the specimen that is the culprit.

Well, it could be a little more complicated than that.  If

 

2 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

ADD: https://www.cellmapper.net/ give some information along the highways , and several roads. That might help.

Thanks, this may be useful once I better figure out how it works.  It seems to confirm that where I am is blanketed by B4 but shows me a couple of nearby pockets that have very weak B4 and mostly B12.  All bands seem to be available from the towers, including 66 and 71, but in town, 4 seems strongest. I'll try to do some tests over the week-end.

[Hook 3,205]

2 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

Would be great if we could thus rule out or confirm, if it is the location or the specimen that is the culprit.

It would be nice if I pulled his phone out and it immediately grabbed Band 4 and just worked. 

But if that doesn't happen, there are other variables here,  Before drawing any conclusion about the phone being faulty we probably would at least need to try my sim in his phone and his sim in my phone and might even need to factory reset both to eliminate software differences.

[jakfish 155]

Trying to replicate @Hook 's nearby success, yesterday, I stuck my Pixel 4a sim card into the 1x, seemed to stick to Band 4 (which I had not done before), and I still couldn't reliably make/receive calls. Oh, boy...

[Hook 3,205]

1 hour ago, jakfish said:

Trying to replicate @Hook 's nearby success, yesterday, I stuck my Pixel 4a sim card into the 1x, seemed to stick to Band 4 (which I had not done before), and I still couldn't reliably make/receive calls. Oh, boy...

Yeah, this stuff is complicated.  Is your Pixel also on T-Mobile? Is it set up for 5G?

I'm entertaining the theory that my success is due to magic. 😉

[jakfish 155]

Nah, my 4a is 4G only. But it is on TMo. Now you've got me wondering if I should try a non-TMo sim 🙂

[AndytheNoob 39]

I was going to start another thread with my own experiences thus far with the Pro1X, but figured it's be better to share with one that already exists...

I have had the Pro1 for the past couple of years and I loved it, it had flaws and bits eventually stopped working (Minijack socket and USB-C socket) but overall I love the device. So this is more of a comparison than a top to bottom review. 

On the Pro1 the keyboard was awesome, GPS was great, having a minijack port as a sound engineer is mega handy, messages were perfect and, once the various modules were replaced; people could hear me when I spoke, and the indicator LED telling me when I have messages without having to activate the device is more helpful than I ever gave it credit for. (People mentioned it being bright and keeping them up at night: Either turn it upside down or make a flip open case. Problem solved.

I have never understood peoples troubles with opening it: Lift up one side and push inwards on the other, easy. It doesn't even clack unless I actually want it to... I.e.. When I open it like a wizard to show people how awesome it is.

Now... Onto the Pro1X after a month of it being my primary driver:

Good bits: 

* The keyboard feels great. I hadn't noticed until I went from one to the other but the keys on the old Pro1 have become less tactile and a bit more squidgy.

* Feels weightier and sturdier.

* USB-C port feels better straight off the bat.

* And here I run out.

Bad Bits:

* Call drop out, even when my signal indicator says I'm in an area of healthy signal people can't hear me and calls get dropped. It's really frustrating and strange, I can hear people fine, but the folks on other end can't hear me, I fade in and out every single time without fail. I've started simply not using it and calling people back when I get to a reliable phone.

* Apparently this is only me, but the GPS on this device is far inferior to my Pro1. When using it as a SatNav while driving I have missed multiple corners because it hasn't caught up. A problem I never had before.

* Indicator LED doesn't show when I have messages. 😞

* While writing messages on the physical keypad the on screen keyboard pops up for little bit before realising I'm actually typing elsewhere, then it buggers off again, not a deal breaker but makes my brow crease momentarily.

That's all I can think of for now, will update as things come to me.

I would simply go back to my Pro1 but I have 2 faulty USB-C modules that are away for repair and cannot use it till they come back.

Thanks all, take care

 

Edited June 2, 2023 by AndytheNoob

[david 929]

33 minutes ago, AndytheNoob said:

I would simply go back to my Pro1 but I have 2 faulty USB-C modules that are away for repair and cannot use it till they come back.

How are you having your USB-C modules repaired?  By whom?  And how did you get 2?

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences.  That GPS issue has me a little worried.  Given all the trouble with call quality and LTE issues, I've started to think I may need to carry a wifi hotspot all the time when away from home, and rely on wifi calling. 😞

 

David

[Hook 3,205]

32 minutes ago, AndytheNoob said:

I was going to start another thread with my own experiences thus far with the Pro1X, but figured it's be better to share with one that already exists...

I have had the Pro1 for the past couple of years and I loved it, it had flaws and bits eventually stopped working (Minijack socket and USB-C socket) but overall I love the device. So this is more of a comparison than a top to bottom review. 

The keyboard was awesome, GPS was great, having a minijack port as a sound engineer is mega handy, messages were perfect and, once the various modules were replaced; people could hear me when I spoke, and the indicator LED telling me when I have messages without having to activate the device is more helpful than I ever gave it credit for. (People mentioned it being bright and keeping them up at night: Either turn it upside down or make a flip open case. Problem solved.

I have never understood peoples troubles with opening it: Lift up one side and push inwards on the other, easy. It doesn't even clack unless I actually want it to... I.e.. When I open it like a wizard to show people how awesome it is.

Now... Onto the Pro1X after a month of it being my primary driver:

Good bits: 

* The keyboard feels great. I hadn't noticed until I went from one to the other but the keys on the old Pro1 have become less tactile and a bit more squidgy.

* Feels weightier and sturdier.

* USB-C port feels better straight off the bat.

* And here I run out.

Bad Bits:

* Call drop out, even when my signal indicator says I'm in an area of healthy signal people can't hear me and calls get dropped. It's really frustrating and strange, I can hear people fine, but the folks on other end can't hear me, I fade in and out every single time without fail. I've started simply not using it and calling people back when I get to a reliable phone.

* Apparently this is only me, but the GPS on this device is far inferior to my Pro1. When using it as a SatNav while driving I have missed multiple corners because it hasn't caught up. A problem I never had before.

* Indicator LED doesn't show when I have messages. 😞

* While writing messages on the physical keypad the on screen keyboard pops up for little bit before realising I'm actually typing elsewhere, then it buggers off again, not a deal breaker but makes my brow crease momentarily.

That's all I can think of for now, will update as things come to me.

I would simply go back to my Pro1 but I have 2 faulty USB-C modules that are away for repair and cannot use it till they come back.

Thanks all, take care

 

I'm on LOS 20 now and don't remember clearly the settings on stock... LOS has a control panel for notification lights under settings and they seem to work, though I just leave it on auto.  And stock should have some setting under Settings->System-> Language and Input for keeping the soft keyboard off when using the physical keyboard, but  maybe I'm misremembering and spoiled by LOS.