Is there a new model on the way? Where are FxTec heading?

[cdoublejj 0]

Three years ago reviews said it had an outdated processor which I shrugged off as I don't hammer my phone that hard BUT, it's now three years later and cpu would be getting old. Also the pentile smoked display was said to be just ok. They keyboard wasn't perfect with an oddly large caps lock and the occasional double press/register.

 

So in 2023 with it telling me they are out of stock and an 800 USD price tag the last time I looked, is there a new model on the horizon? A version two perhaps?

Edited July 22, 2023 by EskeRahn
Broadened the title, to better match the replies

[guest274734 2]

3 hours ago, cdoublejj said:

So in 2023 with it telling me they are out of stock and an 800 USD price tag the last time I looked, is there a new model on the horizon? A version two perhaps?

They are currently broke (so much so that they havent been able to pay the shipping fee for a single pro 1x for a few weeks, maybe months, now), so I seriously doubt they are even imagining a new model at this point.

[claude0001 1,343]

Nope. The Pro1-X project is dead in the water, with most ordered (and paid) devices not even delivered to customers yet.

Reportedly, the phones have actually been manufactured. But for almost a year, F(x)tec have been unable to pay for continued shipping. They seemingly are also unable to refund disappointed customers cancelling their orders. At least one of their other products (linxdot) seems to be haunted by similar troubles, suggesting the company is nearly broke.

I actually expect them to announce end-of-business in one of the next IGG updates. 

[cdoublejj 0]

So basically for those that have them already it is what is it's just a matter of updating lineage os and keeping them going. 

 

I guess I wouldn't be too cold for having been looking at the astro slide 5g as I look at the fxtec pro1x

 

Though the astro lacks lineage os of you wish to degoogle your phone 

[Hook 3,031]

As you can see from the latest update, Planet Computers are having their own problems...

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/astro-slide-5g-transformer/x/17980121#/updates/all

 

[EvilDNA127 39]

New Model?  There isn't even an old model yet! 🤣

 

I kid, but yeah, as Hook points out, it seems like no niche products are coming out of China right now.

[cdoublejj 0]

Damn it .....come on frame work........ *Gambles harder on niche products*

 

I'm stuck between the two, I hear touch screen isn't real whoopy on this and keyboard is okay. The slide 5g has an above average keyboard but, the space bar kind of sucks. At least this one has lineage I guess.

[claude0001 1,343]

3 hours ago, cdoublejj said:

So basically for those that have them already it is what is it's just a matter of updating lineage os and keeping them going.

Unfortunately, there are flaws with the devices that cannot be fixed by the LineageOS folks.

The most prominent is the the mobile connectivity issue, preventing many devices to effectively work as mobile phones. Then there is the dreaded "battery depletion" bug which results in a bricked device for Average Joe. There are more - less disabling - issues that will never be fixed with F(x)tec being effectively broke, like the "right loudspeaker fail at high battery charge bug" and others...

I had genuinely believed the Pro1-X (QX1050) could be a viable successor to my Pro1 (QX1000). It cannot.

Edited July 19, 2023 by claude0001

[jakfish 133]

Anecdotally, it would appear that non-Chinese entrepreneurs are much more likely to be SOL than folks from Hong Kong or mainland China. I've purchased kit from GPD and OneNetbook and have 100% shipping/receiving success, and well within the timeframe of a crowd-funded project.

Being off-site, as in residing in another country, appears not be a great idea for entrepreneurship, and the fact that Planet Computer--already with two projects funded and shipped--couldn't overcome the difficulties does not bode for future projects anywhere but in HK/China. 

 

[Hook 3,031]

3 hours ago, jakfish said:

Anecdotally, it would appear that non-Chinese entrepreneurs are much more likely to be SOL than folks from Hong Kong or mainland China. I've purchased kit from GPD and OneNetbook and have 100% shipping/receiving success, and well within the timeframe of a crowd-funded project.

Being off-site, as in residing in another country, appears not be a great idea for entrepreneurship, and the fact that Planet Computer--already with two projects funded and shipped--couldn't overcome the difficulties does not bode for future projects anywhere but in HK/China. 

 

for most of the pro 1 design and production, Chen was able to spend a lot  of time in China over-seeing things.  That seems to be a requirement.

[jakfish 133]

Certainly for the Planet Gemini and Cosmo, both of which I purchased, PC always discussed in their updates about their China trips and stays. I didn't back the Astro so I'm not certain they kept up their traveling. It's so hard to tell what is just bad luck--Covid--and simple self-made folly.

[jakfish 133]

I've been brooding about this since angst is telling me that given PC and fx woes, this may be the end of any new physical kb phone production. I was startled to read that PC only had 3000 Astros to produce. PC's buggy hardware, poor Linux development, and spotty customer service made me shy away from backing the Astro, but I was stupidly certain that others would not be so wary. I'm no entrepreneur, but 3000 strikes me as a why-bother number. And I don't know the ultimate production figures of the pro1x, but it appears to be on the edge of well-we-tried.

Production outside of China, while more manageable in a home country, probably isn't feasible, cost-wise, so China itself, with local entrepreneurs, would seem the remaining option.

If so, I would buy. I don't share the fear of Huawei phones, not because they're safe, but because I don't think any phone is safe, so I don't bank or anything else financial on my Pixel 4a. As for other matters of privacy, I put nothing in writing that I wouldn't already say to somebody and if someone wants to steal my fiction writing, have at it, please finish it for me 🙂

It's also surprising that Chinese/HK business folks haven't already come up with their own knock-offs, unless they're gauging the market as even less than it is.

Edited July 21, 2023 by jakfish
typos

[Tsunero 215]

Doubt it, company is near bankrupt, it's even a miracle they were able to go a few years considering the OG Pro1s shipped extremely slowly. (and I believe there are some people who haven't received theirs even now...)

[Rob. S. 1,663]

10 hours ago, Tsunero said:

Doubt it, company is near bankrupt, it's even a miracle they were able to go a few years considering the OG Pro1s shipped extremely slowly. (and I believe there are some people who haven't received theirs even now...)

Yes, me 😉 – they still hope to ship it (order changed to Pro1X), though, and in the meantime I did receive the Pro1X I ordered a year later...

Edited July 22, 2023 by Rob. S.

[Rob. S. 1,663]

On 7/20/2023 at 10:48 PM, jakfish said:

Anecdotally, it would appear that non-Chinese entrepreneurs are much more likely to be SOL than folks from Hong Kong or mainland China

I find it remarkable how well Fairphone (Netherlands) is doing, though, with their manufacturing also being in China, plus them seemingly even taking care to secure proper salaries and working conditions in that Chinese factory. Perhaps Fxtec could learn a bit from them. (I'd even pay more for a "fair" Pro1/Pro1X than the original ones did cost, by the way, even if it would still just have mid-range specs, just like many people are willing to pay significantly more for a Fairphone than they'd have to pay for a regular phone of similar specs.)  

Edited July 22, 2023 by Rob. S.