iPhone X grabs 35% of industry profits in Q4 2017

[79wjd]

22 minutes ago, wasab said:

Essential phone, $400 bucks. I really have no idea why apple flagships can't be priced like this. 

 

 

Ahh yes, this is exactly what I want from a phone:

Quote

It all starts with just general app instability. Apps crash — a lot. More than I've experienced on any other phone. They freeze, stutter, lock up and force close. Sometimes you tap an app to open it, and nothing happens for multiple seconds. When an app calls up another one through a share action, it takes the same egregious delay. Sometimes apps open and switch just fine, but then randomly slow down to a crawl with inordinately long splash screens or loading animations. And it isn't tied to just one app, it's all apps.

The app issues seem to come as a result of general system instability that I haven't seen in a high-end phone in years. Touch response is very slow, making everything simply feel sluggish as you tap and scroll around every day. The phone will often struggle to open or close the camera and can fail to save photos if you close the camera too quickly. I've had the entire phone go unresponsive for several minutes and require a force reboot (hold the power button for ~15 seconds) multiple times.

 

Let's expand on that camera point. Because Essential does deserve some praise for dramatically improving both the performance of the camera app and the overall quality of its photo output since I first looked at the phone. But you have to understand just how downright horrible the camera was at the start ... there was nowhere to go but up. Still, a few months and several updates later I'm actually able to take some good photos with the Essential Phone, and that's great to see. Here are some examples of what it's capable of:

Those are some good photos. Not fantastic or industry-leading, but good. But what you didn't see is the frustration and piles of bad shots required to get that handful of good ones. The camera app is slow and unstable and lacks basic features like viewfinder grid lines or any sort of customization or "pro" mode. HDR mode doesn't really seem to do anything but take photos slower, and toggling it on still inexplicably turns the flash to "auto" mode. The slow performance directly contributes to missing shots, and the fundamentals of a small sensor with no OIS mean you get grainy and blurry low-light shots regularly. The Essential Phone's camera is still so far from the competition.

Am I nitpicking on this performance and stability point? A little bit, but it's for good reason. Essential has a phone here that was originally on sale for $699.

 

Four or five years ago, Android phones were slow and unstable like this. But not today.

 

The fundamentals are all there. Truth be told, they were there from Day 1. But four months after I first reviewed the Essential Phone, there remains a severe lack of execution. You just can't get away with selling a high-end phone of any sort that has performance this bad, stability this unpredictable and core functionality that's just downright broken. It's exemplified by the camera, but apparent throughout the software experience that Essential is just behind the curve. The company has taken big strides in just the last couple of months, and behind the scenes has surely learned lots of lessons about optimizing an operating system. But as it turns out, this software is really hard to get right. Just as I wrote in my initial review, Essential still seems like it's one big step away.

The camera is mediocre and the software is still terrible and unstable. 

 

And you know what the best part is, they tried to sell that piece of shit for $700 until they found out no one would buy it. 

[wasab]

5 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

Ahh yes, this is exactly what I want from a phone:

The camera is mediocre and the software is still terrible and unstable. 

 

And you know what the best part is, they tried to sell that piece of shit for $700 until they found out no one would buy it. 

"The fox who couldn’t get the grapes too claimed they were sour. "

-abazigal

 

And honestly, i wont go back to android if software is bad and ios is so much better 

Edited April 21, 2018 by wasab
Not finish

[wasab]

11 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Do I care? You’re the one who lost time in the end. 

 

Apple is just going to get that iPhone X, take it apart, and put it together as a refurb and will sell it again. 

 

I’ve never had any issues with iOS being limited in any use case, but hopfully whatever voodoo magic you do on your phone can be done with that new clunker you got there  

 

I will give the phone to my family member.

 

it is for my own personal gratification for posting this. I do not care that you or anyone else cares.  

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, wasab said:

it is for my own personal gratification for posting this. I do not care that you or anyone else cares.  

Good luck with your new phone. Hopefully you won’t have to eat your words. 

[wasab]

6 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Good luck with your new phone. Hopefully you won’t have to eat your words. 

i have used a $100 android prepaid phone in the past and i would prefer even that to an ios device just because of the ability to root and do so much more. 

cant move files, cant download/install 3rd party, cant customize, cant download, cant system wide ad block, cant tether , pretty much cant do shit on ios. I am a multitasking power user, not someone who snaps photo all day for snap chat or need a logo for status symbol 

Edited April 21, 2018 by wasab
auto correct is stupid

[ARikozuM]

On 4/17/2018 at 10:41 PM, Ryan_Vickers said:

What are they spending it on?

Negative thiccness. 

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, ARikozuM said:

Negative thiccness. 

THICC

[DrMacintosh]

4 minutes ago, wasab said:

i have used a $100 android prepaid phone in the past and i would prefer even that to an ios device just because of the ability to root and do so much more. 

cant move files, cant download/install 3rd party, cant customize, cant download, cant system wide ad block, cant tether , pretty much cant do shit on ios. I am a multitasking power user, not someone who snaps photo all day for snap chat or need a logo for status symbol 

Hey, whatever makes you happy. 

 

I could waste my time telling you how to do almost all of those things (all except system wide Adblock), but you clearly 

        • don’t want to learn 

        • already made up your mind

 

Thankfully I have Calculus to do. Otherwise I would feel obligated to enlighten you. 

[Blademaster91]

24 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

Ahh yes, this is exactly what I want from a phone:

The camera is mediocre and the software is still terrible and unstable. 

 

And you know what the best part is, they tried to sell that piece of shit for $700 until they found out no one would buy it. 

I guess people expect their phone to take DSLR grade pics? The iphone X only has a 12mp camera? In a $1,000 phone,seriously? Meanwhile Samsung had a 16MP camera in 2014 on the S5 (and yes i know image sensors aren't all about the MP but it's still a factor).

[ARikozuM]

Next iPhone:

Spoiler

Complete with alternator and a large-a$$ battery. Text-only model costs $899 and GUI model costs $999! Pre-order NOW!

[79wjd]

8 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

I guess people expect their phone to take DSLR grade pics? The iphone X only has a 12mp camera? In a $1,000 phone,seriously? Meanwhile Samsung had a 16MP camera in 2014 on the S5 (and yes i know image sensors aren't all about the MP but it's still a factor).

MP is a largely irrelevant number. My DSLR only has 16MP and it kicks the shit out of any smartphone camera you're going to find. The X trades blows with the S9/Pixel 2 in terms of picture quality, and all three far outclass the Essential PH1.

 

And no, I don't expect it to take DSLR quality pictures, that's why I have a DSLR....I do however expect it to take very good pictures and without having to fight with the camera app -- neither of which is possible on the Essential PH1.

 

Oh, and btw, the 6s, 6s+, SE, 7, 7+, 8, 8+, X, S7, S7+, Note 7, S8, S8+, Note 8, S9, S9+, Pixel, and Pixel 2 all have 12MP cameras as well.

[DrMacintosh]

6 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

And no, I don't expect it to take DSLR quality pictures, that's why I have a DSLR....I do however expect it to take very good pictures and without having to fight with the camera app -- neither of which is possible on the Essential PH1.

 

I always found that though funny. If smartphones could take DSLR quality photos that would mean actual DSLRs would be giant ripoffs. 

 

A tiny ass component that has like a few cm of volume to it ain’t gonna beat no DSLR

 

Smartphone cameras really are just point and shoot devices that just getting progressively better at doing that. 

 

(Also why do Android phones suck so much at filming in 4K? Even the Galaxy phones have a limit to how long they can record. That’s crazy!) 

[wasab]

20 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Hey, whatever makes you happy. 

 

I could waste my time telling you how to do almost all of those things (all except system wide Adblock), but you clearly 

        • don’t want to learn 

        • already made up your mind

 

Thankfully I have Calculus to do. Otherwise I would feel obligated to enlighten you. 

I have already used work around softwares for these and they are all subpar compare to those available on andoird. I guess you already have forgetten how document gave me that x loading symbol in my how to move files thread. No such BS when I use WebDAV on android. Apps side loaded from browsers are all poor quality. Many crashes. I am not even gonna bother with unsanctioned third party platforms.

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, wasab said:

I have already used work around softwares for these and they are every really subpar compare to those aviable on andoird. I guess you already have forgetten how document gave me that x loading symbol in my how to move files thread. No such BS when I use WebDAV on android.

Literally nothing you discribed requires any 3rd party software.....

 

for god sakes you don’t even know how to tether on an iPhone! 

[wasab]

5 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Literally nothing you discribed requires any 3rd party software.....

 

for god sakes you don’t even know how to tether on an iPhone! 

I am talking about the tethering with sims that carriers do not allow tethering. You can say it’s not apples fault but I can care less. It only matters that I can tether on android despite carrier restriction while iOS can’t.

 

if you want to convince me of iOS versatility , just give me an app from the App Store that allows me to torrent. You will have me convince. I will overlook the gazzillion other issues I have with iOS.

[DrMacintosh]

3 minutes ago, wasab said:

just give me an app from the App Store that allows me to torrent.

There are none. 

 

Also I find the idea of torrenting on a phone laughable. Torrenting takes hours, something a phone of any kind is not designed to be doing. 

 

If you need to torrent a file there are systems running full operating systems that will do that for you. 

[wasab]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

There are none. 

 

Also I find the idea of torrenting on a phone laughable. Torrenting takes hours, something a phone of any kind is not designed to be doing. 

 

If you need to torrent a file there are systems running full operating systems that will do that for you. 

In short, iOS can’t do shit. I rest my case.

[DrMacintosh]

4 minutes ago, wasab said:

In short, iOS can’t do shit. I rest my case.

I guess torrenting is shit then, by your own admission of course. 

 

 

 

[wasab]

3 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

I guess torrenting is shit then, by your own admission of course. 

 

 

 

You know what I meant but you are now just arguing for the sake of it by this point.

 

I rested my case so see ya and have a good day.

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, wasab said:

You know what I meant but you are now just arguing for the sake of it by this point.

 

I rested my case so see ya and have a good day.

Hope you get all those movies you’ve been wanting to watch downloaded onto your new “phone”  

[abazigal]

4 hours ago, wasab said:

Essential phone, $400 bucks. I really have no idea why apple flagships can't be priced like this. 

 

 

Apple invests in designing their own processors, updating their own software and offering a myriad of services (maps, Siri, iMessage) for free. Services which they do not monetise, unlike Google, but cost money to run nonetheless. Then there are intangibles like their aftercare support and ongoing software updates. 

 

All these cost money and are factored into the initial price tag. 

 

The essential phone didn’t start out at $400. They had to discount it heavily because it was extremely buggy out of the gate and it wasn’t selling well at all. When a phone is sold that  cheaply, how much incentive do you think they will have in supporting it? And how long do you think such a company will be around if they can’t make a profit?

 

 

[abazigal]

2 hours ago, wasab said:

In short, iOS can’t do shit. I rest my case.

iOS does what I need it to do well enough.  

[abazigal]

4 hours ago, wasab said:

"The fox who couldn’t get the grapes too claimed they were sour. "

-abazigal

 

And honestly, i wont go back to android if software is bad and ios is so much better 

In this context, the grapes referred to the lack of people queueing up for android smartphones, since the poster I was replying to was laughing at Apple users for doing so. 

 

Iphones are popular and often sell out at launch day and people evidently deem it worthwhile to spend a good chunk of their time waiting in line for one. I guess I fail to see the humour in this. How many brands would kill for this sort of sales and popularity?

[D13H4RD]

4 hours ago, Blademaster91 said:

I guess people expect their phone to take DSLR grade pics? The iphone X only has a 12mp camera? In a $1,000 phone,seriously? Meanwhile Samsung had a 16MP camera in 2014 on the S5 (and yes i know image sensors aren't all about the MP but it's still a factor).

My 12MP Note8 would like to have a word. 

 

Yes, the resolution is lower but the overall quality is significantly better than the Galaxy S5, which was honestly pretty crap at anything other than direct sun. 

 

On a side note, why does every single thingy about Apple (even irrelevant shit) always turn into yet another bickering contest between different colored dicks? It only serves to make me even prouder that I use every platform and have no real preference whatsoever. 

[wasab]

9 hours ago, abazigal said:

 how much incentive do you think they will have in supporting it? And how long do you think such a company will be around if they can’t make a profit?

 

 

They will be supported to for at least 2 years so same as google pixel 2 and they will be around for quite a while thanks to backers and investors from amazon, google, and other corporate giants.

 

Sure they need resources to maintain these services and so do android. Oem  pays for R&D of Qualcomm chips too, it is in the price. And no, Apple benefits handsomely from services like iTunes

 

Doesn’t matter if it fulfills your needs. Android fits the needs of causal users and tech savvy power users alike.

 

ios can only appeal to the former.