yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
True, but in a world where Apple, Samsung and Moto sell them by the millions... going from 5k to 8k is merely a drop in the bucket... haha
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mpetruzz:
There have been several software updates, more than I've had on other phones from the manufactures you listed. Several camera updates and a pretty good beta of Oreo.

Not to mentioned they have done several AMAs addressing questions etc.

What more do you want!!!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] NaterTots:
If the company doesn't sell enough phones and has to fold, it doesn't matter how many updates there have been before they folded.

It's the long term support that some users worry about. Whether the long term is from the manufacturer or developers.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
Precisely. My fear, and that is all that it is right now, is that this was a brilliant idea, poorly executed, and it won't lost long.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] JoRocker:
Those are just from posts... Realistically easily 10x as many people bought without saying anything. Not to mention their BB sales ads. I wouldn't be shocked by 40k sales just this month.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mpetruzz:
I choose to not worry about what might happen and am enjoying this great phone!!

---------- Post added at 11:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:06 PM ----------

I personally choose to not worry about what MIGHT happen and am enjoying a pretty damn good phone.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] JoRocker:
I don't know what you guys could complain about... They gave us an unexpected beta, they released an update last week for non beta users and 2 camera updates. Then you say they break promises? This company has done more for me in the 3 weeks I've owned this phone, than any other company I've ever had before. Some of you are just acting like brats, because they didn't release a beta update on time ffs...
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] NaterTots:
I'm not complaining yet.

Just hope that sales pick up and that they are able to make a phone next year.

But I'm being a realist on what happens to a company that has a lot of overhead and not a lot of income.

I own 2 Essentials so I'm doing my part
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] canned_polar_bear:
the company has a billion in funding, andy is back.... what's to worry about
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
Well, I don't think that anyone would be upset about a release of the beta if they hadn't come out and promised it last week and gotten people excited. Some of us do have issues with the current one, and so when they say they have a new one coming, you get excited, and then let down when they not only miss it, but don't even acknowledge it or give an update, that's all.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] elkay:
Not defending a missed date with no communication, but in the large scheme of things, this is still only a beta release that the average consumer would have no idea about or lack the knowledge or fortitude to install on the phone.

If we get to mid week with still no communication, then it might be more reasonable to have concerns.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Mez-Jr:
Regarding sales numbers, sometimes you can get an estimate on sales based on app installs. The camera app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.essential.klik lists 50k to 100k installs.

I'd been watching it for a while, and it has hockey sticked. Around when the 5k number came out it was under 5k installs.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mpetruzz:
I can't believe how butt hurt people are getting about this beta being a bit delayed. "they promised"....really!! I didn't see anywhere they PROMISED to have it out.

I'd rather have them wait an extra few days to make sure some of the bugs are worked out. If they released it with more bugs then people would be complaining that they released it knowing there were issues

I mean c'mon man, we're talking about a beta
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
If you had read everything, it wasn't about just the beta delay.

It was a series of things that MIGHT be a cause for concern, going forward...
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mpetruzz:
You said it MIGHT happen. Why not just enjoy the phone and stop worrying about things that will most likely never happen
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
I dunno... Sometimes my spidey-sense gets to tingling and I type my thoughts out loud...
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Barsky:
Uhm. that stuff isn't spider webbing :\
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
We shall see!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] chrispayne:
Factory Reset clears up Camera bugginess

Just an FYI. I have had an Essential since they were first available in Canada, loved the hardware, went through the camera issues, Google Camera install/workaround etc.

When the Beta came out I installed it almost as soon as it was available.

After that, the OS was smooth, however I suffered through the Google Camera issues, where I lost sound completely after using HDR mode, solved only by rebooting. I stopped using the Google camera app, but still the Essential Camera app never seems up to snuff. I thought it could be Beta release related, but no one seems to be complaining here.

Also, I recently had to take a couple snapshots with a friend's Galaxy S8 and that made me realize that something serious was wrong with my camera experience.

I fiddled around a bunch, but eventually bit the bullet and did a full factory reset/wipe.

Although annoying (only slightly with cloud backups) I am very satisfied with the results. The camera is back to performing closer too (although not quite as great) as other new phones which I have played with.

So, again, just an FYI, it seems there are issues that can continue to linger and interfere to do with the Google Camera install. I don't know that a full wipe was necessary, but it has cleared up my issues.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
So here is why this concerns me. In the big picture, its not a big deal.

However, when you start a niche brand and target a niche audience, if you want this to get off the ground, you need to be transparent to your audience. You have to go the extra mile.

Yes, they have done several updates, but the reality is that despite several camera updates, it is still one of the worst quality cameras on the market. So putting out 4 releases, and having the product still be noticeably less than you promised it would be out the door, and worse than the competition, really doesn't impress me much...

Second, if you want to leverage the name of Andy Rubin and how he is the father of Android and all that... Most consumers don't know who he is and wouldn't care if they did. Enthusiasts and fanboys do. And so when you take to reddit and say the new version will be out next week, and you clearly miss that mark and don't even communicate that... it sends a poor message.

If this was Samsung nobody would even notice. But it isn't. This is a company that promises to be different, and they need to go above and beyond what other companies do, as a startup, in order to insure a following and stay in business.

Just saying...
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] elkay:
True words. I'm still not sweating it too bad anyway, yet. We'll find out more with today's AMA. I'm wondering if they're simply going to push a final build instead of second beta since the first beta was generally solid with only niche quirks. They still should have communicated that last week, but I'm not showing up on their front porch with torches and pitch forks (yet).
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
Agreed. It's not a huge deal yet, just one of those things that when you are trying to break into a crowded and rough market, you need to up your game and go the extra mile if you want to lure in enough people to get this thing off the ground.

Yeah, they raised a billion dollars, but if they don't deliver and bring in enough sales, that will dry up pretty quickly in today's world.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] combat goofwing:
How can I join in today's ama I'm on reditt ,just never used it so not sure how to join the ama
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] TheDethEgineer:
https://www.reddit.com/r/essential/comments/7jf8rx/biweekly_ama_with_essential_team_dec_13_from/

That is the link to the AMA thread, just create an account and write your questions
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] JoRocker:
For those upset about not receiving a Beta 2 update, or curious when the next one will be released, here is an answer from Essential during today's AMA.. .

"Hi There, we had an Oreo Beta 2 candidate build ready on Monday we had planned on releasing this week. However, we encountered a few regressions we caught last minute that requires us to spin another candidate. Good news is this gave us the opportunity to push in a few more fixes and if all goes well with testing Beta 2 will drop early next week. We apologize for the delay.

Also note: Beta 1 users will be able to OTA to Beta 2!

-Marcus"

31
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] DiamondDave98:
Glad to know that they're actively working out bugs/issues prior to release. Overall I'm happy with Essential's first offering of a premium device.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Jonathanlc2005:
how do i go back to nougat till the new beta arrives
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] NaterTots:
I'm looking forward to having it as an OTA.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
I really hope that they finally fix the camera... I just went out and installed some parts to my motorcycle, and in a very well lit room I was taking pics. I come back in the house and look at them, and they look like crap. They are a bit blurry, they are not clear and sharp like they should be. Basically the quality is like that of a 6 year old flip phone. Nowhere near the quality of most phones I have used.

It seems that unless you have ideal conditions and hold the phone absolutely still, the quality just isn't very good. Shame really...
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Shadow Samurai:
I've done the exact same thing. Installing parts on my Nissan and BMW. Pictures came out perfectly fine. Much better than my OnePlus one I upgraded from. Do you have one of the first batch PH-1? Maybe the camera hardware is slightly different. I've got the pure white. May just be you have higher expectations since mine were pretty low, upgrading from a 4 year old phone.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Shadow Samurai:
Taken with PH-1
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Shadow Samurai:
Literally no light with flash.

Of course these photos look better and are sharper on my phone since I'm sure the forums compress the file
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Shadow Samurai:
Home screen wallpaper is from a photo I took with the camera.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
I mean, you guys tell me... It's only 3 weeks old, the white model.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] anandlal:
No idea. I didn't want to take the risk. So I went back to stock first.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Shadow Samurai:
People still play that?? Lol
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] treIII:
WiFi calling is working for me in TMobile. Phone app settings calls WiFi calling preferred
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] italiangi:
That's were they move it. Thank you
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Mania626:
I can't seem to find the download link on the website.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] superior888:
Have you read the op? Its right there...

edit: Just register your email.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] elkay:
This is actually a good thing. A lot of the UI (i.e. "run" button when trying to catch a Pokemon) was at least partially under the top bar and very hard to tap. I had been looking for a way to put it back how it was with the black bar up top.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tomanlam:
how's the battery life guys?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Mania626:
Did that already but I don't see any download link, maybe because I'm doing it from my phone?

---------- Post added at 12:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:57 PM ----------

Found it! Thanks
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] elkay:
Sideload successful.

WiFi calling is fine for me. Was turned on already pre-Oreo and just booted back up with it still turned on fine. I'm on a Sprint variant.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] pb1379:
Update went smooth as per instructions.

Findings so far:

• settings completely revamped, changes to status bar panel, too, amongst white panel now

• trusted devices working fine so far, no blank screen anymore

• battery stats in the status bar panel replaced with battery saver toggle

• can now have battery percentage displayed in status bar

• status bar indicators flow nicely over the front camera gap to its left

• night mode including schedule, sunset/-rise and intensity setting

• didn't notice any changes to the camera yet

• Bluetooth appears to be working fine for me

• battery appears to drain faster as mentioned in the ota description (hard to tell yet)

• finger print gesture to pull down notifications working fine

• got settings suggestion to enable wifi calling (T-Mobile) but don't know whether it works well, wifi calling never really worked for me on any phone...

... and probably a lot more I didn't spot yet ;)
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] OldManJax:
My LED doesn't light up when charging, so far that is all I have noticed.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] nrage23:
I was rooted. I removed my substratum themes and removed magisk completely through the magisk manager. I sideloaded the update and all is well so far.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] VennligFiende:
Same here. The whole process was very quick. All thing working.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] pb1379:
Why is media sharing disabled here...?

Well, without screenshots then, LOTS of Bluetooth options under the developer options, codec, bit rate, ... Not sure yet whether they're placeholders or effectively implemented.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, new USB options, USB Ethernet and midi.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] okgnew:
LED charging light works if you enable the setting shown in the attached image.

However, for some reason the toggle does not stick (I had to enable it 3 times).
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] treIII:
Hello
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] OldManJax:
Yep that fixed it for me, I just toggled it a few times and it started working for me. Thanks!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] superior888:
Can we root android O ?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] anandlal:
First issue I've found is that my WeMo app is broken. I can see the devices and the status of them, but cannot control any of the devices from the app. I need to use my tablet to control the devices.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
That's another thing, half the time it has the pics being sideways.... They look normal on my PC, not sure why they uploaded sideways... Another annoying bug... I mean, "undocumented feature"... haha
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Flapjack:
I have noticed the same thing with the stock camera software, even after the updates. The shutter lag is atrocious, it doesn't take a picture every time you press the button, you have to hold it absolutely and perfectly still, and writes to the memory (ie: the time it takes before it shows in the gallery) are very slow.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
Yeah, I will see if the second beta fixes it, if not, I will just sell this and get a OnePlus 5t and call it a day.

I took some more pics in bright side light and they all had a yellowish tinge. By todays standards, the camera sucks.

Keyboard lag makes it hard to type fast.

Great design, typical startup execution.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] JoRocker:
Go for it... I don't have any problems with my camera. Looks hell of a lot better than a "flip phone". Even your pics you posted weren't THAT bad... Although, mine are still much better than those pics. You must have a shaky hand, because I don't have these issues.... You need to do a FDR, because I read a post by someone with similar issues and he said a FDR fixed it. You might have skipped updates with beta, which is a big no-no.

Do what you want, but I think you're being a big of a drama queen. So please sell the phone and move on if that's what it takes.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
Stop being a fanboi... There is no drama. But the camera is important and the quality that it is taking pics at, is really poor. It is what is it. Replacing it is $500, that's a day's pay, not the end if the world...

If your works, great. So many people don't have it working as well as it should. Not a big deal dude.

---------- Post added at 09:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:19 PM ----------

You can tell the typical fanboi when they say, "Mine doesn't so it so you must he doing it wrong..."

I have likely been taking pictures since before you were born. The pics on my OP3, Pixel 2 XL, iPhone 8+ and many other phones took noticeably better pics than this one does. It's just a fact. Not a big deal, I knew the risk when I went with the startup over a major brand. If they can fix it, great, there are things I love about the phone.

But with 4 or 5 camera updates and the pics are still sub par, a point made by many others and pretty much every reviewer who has ever reviewed the phone, I don't think that I am making it up, am I?

The shutter speed and the camera lag is bad. So I snap the pic, I hear it make the shutter sound but apparently it's still taking the pic so when I move the camera it comes out blurry.

It doesn't do that on all the other phones. I didn't develop Parkinson's since last week. Lol

So lighten up, Francis. ?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] JoRocker:
*Fanboy* not fanboi... And no, I'm actually not. This phone was an impulse buy. I had an iPhone 7 before this and it's definitely not worse than the 7... I don't hold loyalties to a phone company. I tell it how it is...You are comparing to iPhone 8+ and pixel 2?? The 2 best camera phones on the market? Yeah.... That's fair...

I have noticed a difference, and if you're not willing to do a FDR then that's on you, because your photos weren't great, and I KNOW mine are better. So, it's either you, or your software. Simple as that....

P.S. If you are as old as you make yourself sound, then you shouldn't have anything to complain about. Comparing your photos to a flip phone is beyond ridiculous. They weren't good, but they weren't bad either. No worse than a flagship a couple years ago. If you think otherwise, than your old age is seriously inhibiting your memory.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Nick N:
Oreo Beta 2 via OTA is awesome. Can't wait!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
First of all...

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fanboi

Second, I can try the full wipe, but I can’t remember another phone making me wipe it to get the camera to work right...
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] JoRocker:
Hahahaha showing Urban dictionary as facts! Silly old fool
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
The point is, you can spell it either way, kid...

---------- Post added at 10:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 PM ----------

And the fact that this is so upsetting to you, proves my point. Better get to bed before your mom yells at you.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] JoRocker:
Point isn't even about the spelling period... The point is you're wrong and you're not even willing to try an already proven solution. The guy that tried it even said it fixed his camera, to his surprise. You clearly know everything, so fine, move on. I literally don't care, in fact I hope you do.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
I may try the reset tomorrow, it just seems like a weird fix... I see it helped some, but failed to help others...

---------- Post added at 10:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 PM ----------

Seems that if this was the fix, then nobody would have the issue.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mpetruzz:
Bro, you've been crying so much on these forums I'll buy you a different phone if it means not having to see your whiny posts haha!!

If you don't like the phone then just sell it and call it a day. Life's too short to spend time crying about a phone you may not like and others do.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
Kid, are we reading the same thread? The only one crying is you, because someone might have pointed out a flaw with YOUR TEAM. Grow up.

And no need to get an advance on your allowance to buy me a new phone. Like I said, it's one day of pay, not a huge deal.

Your shift starts soon, better get going, those burgers won't flip themselves!

Let the adults hash out the details here. If we need some comic relief, we will let you know.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mpetruzz:
Not sure how you came to a conclusion on my age or income level based on my comments....anyways...

If your such a baller then just buy a different phone and be done with it

While you may be having issues many others aren't. Anyone who bought this phone knew it was a startup and there were most likely going to be bugs etc. If you're not willing to hang on while they work things out then move on.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Flapjack:
How about instead of being an annoying ass, maybe try figuring out why some people's phones take blurry pics, have high shutter lag, etc. If you're not here to help out fellow XDA members, I suggest you put yourself in read-only mode and stop writing insulting posts. You called him whiny. What'd you expect him to do? Bake you a cake??
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mpetruzz:
I do like cake haha.

You're right though, this forum is to help each other out.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Flapjack:
Aww... ****. Now I want cake.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] SquireSCA:
Cake for everyone! haha

Yes, I can go buy another phone. But as I have stated, which you appear to be in agreement with, we all knew that buying a first release from a startup was likely to have issues. Am I screaming and yelling and cursing over the camera quality?

Nope. Is it an issue for me? Yup. Will I give them a chance to fix it? Yeah, I will see what Beta 2 looks like. If it doesn't fix it will I just go get something else? Yup. Is it a big deal? Not for me...

Simply saying that, isn't whining, it isn't mean and it isn't even over critical... So your snide comments towards me are really unwarranted.

Hence why I called you a fanboy. In my experience, regardless of the hobby or brand, there is always that guy that gets uppity if you point out a problem or say something bad about the product...

I see it ERRRYWHERE. Go to a Ducati forum and there will be a few folks talking about a leaky clutch slave cylinder... It doesn't happen to everyone and it doesn't even happen to the majority, but it is a known issue in that its not an isolated situation by any means... so someone jumping in with, "Mine doesn't leak so you must have jacked it up somehow, go get a Yamaha!", is met with equal disdain for the unhelpful douche that said person is being.

Or when someone makes a point of correcting grammar, when there is in fact two "internet" spellings for it, makes you also look kinda petty.

All that aside, where the F is my cake???