Essentially a sprint exclusive.

[Thomas L.]

This phone is such a good deal on eBay, and I can't deal with the locked/bloated devices that are generally offered by Sprint. How are you all feeling about the phone now that it's been updated?

[happyGuy]

I bought a used essential phone off ebay.  Clean esn as far as I could tell at the time of purchase.  I activated it on sprint via byod.  Then I did a request to uicc unlocked, and I gave my account info.... however they said it could not be done and to contact the previous owner.  I asked why it could not be unlocked and was told that they could not say why, but to contact the previous owner to request an unlock...

is this normal procedure by sprint?  I mean, i *DID* activate it on *MY* account, so from that point on I figured that *I* was the owner of the phone..  now I am not sure what to do or how to proceed 

 

 

[ingenium]

I bought a used essential phone off ebay.  Clean esn as far as I could tell at the time of purchase.  I activated it on sprint via byod.  Then I did a request to uicc unlocked, and I gave my account info.... however they said it could not be done and to contact the previous owner.  I asked why it could not be unlocked and was told that they could not say why, but to contact the previous owner to request an unlock...
is this normal procedure by sprint?  I mean, i *DID* activate it on *MY* account, so from that point on I figured that *I* was the owner of the phone..  now I am not sure what to do or how to proceed 
 
 

The unlock seems to have to be done with it on the line that it was originally tied to (likely on a lease). Even if the lease is paid off. I had an awful time getting mine unlocked so I could sell it. This may have been changed with the updates to their unlocking server though.

Keep working at it. They may also require it to be active on your line for 60 days before they'll unlock it. If all else fails, file an FCC complaint. That was the only way I got mine unlocked.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[happyGuy]

2 hours ago, ingenium said:

The unlock seems to have to be done with it on the line that it was originally tied to (likely on a lease). Even if the lease is paid off. I had an awful time getting mine unlocked so I could sell it. This may have been changed with the updates to their unlocking server though.

Keep working at it. They may also require it to be active on your line for 60 days before they'll unlock it. If all else fails, file an FCC complaint. That was the only way I got mine unlocked.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

I think you are on to something.  I got more info from a csr and was told that it was already unlocked, and after more research it seems as though if this device (or maybe all sprint devices?) was bought on an 18 month lease/finance the device will be shown on the original account for (seemingly) the entire length of the original 18 month lease/finance, regardless of whether it was paid off early and sold/activated on a new account... so for the initial 18 months, it appears the only one that can request an unlock is the original owner...  and in addition to this if a sprint device WAS unlocked by the original owner, it will RE-LOCK if you re-activate it on sprint.

 

Edited April 4, 2018 by happyGuy

[Grabber5.0]

I really want to try one of these out. I really liked it in the store. If any of you get bored, let me know. [emoji3]

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[iansltx]

Another 8.1 update came out yesterday. More modem fixes, BT 5.0, and some other stuff. Things do seem to be a bit better than I recall previously. Downtown you can hit either Sprint or Clearwire B41 and usually Clearwire is nigh useless anywhere near peak times, but tonight it was serviceable.

I'll post another update the next time I'm in a CLWR-B41 area for an extended period, but it seems like Essential is finally actually getting stuff fixed (though upload speeds are still crap on B41 with lowish signals, rather than falling back to B25 or whatnot).

[centermedic]

I agree. The phone is much better now. The camera app works flawlessly now and the signal does seem to be a bit stronger as the phone now holds on to a signal where it used to drop and I can pick up LTE where I was only getting 1 x before. However, it still has a death grip on B26.

[iansltx]

Guess I'll be going back to Pixel-land for my next phone: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-24/andy-rubin-s-phone-maker-essential-is-said-to-consider-sale

[Grabber5.0]

I really hate to see that. We need more choices, not fewer!

 

 

 

 

[swintec]

12 hours ago, Grabber5.0 said:

I really hate to see that. We need more choices, not fewer!

 

A digital camera with a POS cell phone embedded in it is not a viable choice. 

[Grabber5.0]

2 hours ago, swintec said:

A digital camera with a POS cell phone embedded in it is not a viable choice. 

LOL come on.   I'd like to think they would make improvements in their next model. 

[centermedic]

I am actually happy with the phone, especially after the last update. The camera app is no longer a hot mess, the camera takes beautiful pictures (although there are some major pixelation issues on full zoom), reception is pretty good were I travel and the bluetooth and wifi work flawlessly. The biggest plus? This phone remains buttery smooth even after 7+ months of heavy use. My two biggest complaints are the death-hold it has on 800 and this has got to be the most slippery phone I have ever owned. This phone is officially the second phone where I have cracked the screen in almost twenty years!

[Thomas L.]

I'm curious, does anyone know if the PH-1 has upload carrier aggregation on Band 41? Since Sprint is finally rolling it out, it'd be nice.

[Paynefanbro]

3 minutes ago, Thomas L. said:

I'm curious, does anyone know if the PH-1 has upload carrier aggregation on Band 41? Since Sprint is finally rolling it out, it'd be nice.

The Essential PH-1 has the X16 LTE modem from Qualcomm which includes support for upload carrier aggregation but I'm not sure if it's enabled.

[notsrealinc]

1 hour ago, Paynefanbro said:

The Essential PH-1 has the X16 LTE modem from Qualcomm which includes support for upload carrier aggregation but I'm not sure if it's enabled.

It's not an option to enable/disable in the ##DATA# menu so I don't think it supports it.

Edited August 26, 2018 by notsrealinc

[Thomas L.]

Hey all,

I e-mailed about upload carrier aggregation and also Sprint VoLTE - I was very surprised by their response. They will be supporting upload carrier aggregation in a coming update, but are not planning on supporting VoLTE for Sprint at this time. The e-mail is below:
 

"Hi Thomas,

Thank you for reaching out.

I have reached out to our technical team and have been advised that we will support the new carrier aggregation in an upcoming release in the next few months.

I have also been advised we will not be adding Sprint's VoLTE, as of this time.

Thank you for your understanding and if you need anything more, do not hesitate to reach out. Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Cathy
Essential Customer Experience Team"

[swintec]

18 hours ago, Thomas L. said:

They will be supporting upload carrier aggregation in a coming update, but are not planning on supporting VoLTE for Sprint at this time.

Does VoLTE even need Essential help to get working?  I was under the assumption it was simply a sprint network / provisioning thing.  I mean, it already supports Voice call continuity and has for awhile.  Shouldnt be that big of a hurdle for full on VoLTE.

[lilotimz]

Essential phone does not support UL CA or 4x4 MIMO according to its FCC filing.

Having a modem that supports something doesn't matter if the RF front end doesn't.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[Thomas L.]

2 hours ago, lilotimz said:

Essential phone does not support UL CA or 4x4 MIMO according to its FCC filing.

Having a modem that supports something doesn't matter if the RF front end doesn't.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
 

Well since Essential themselves said their tech team says they'll support it, I'm hoping they'll refile - no one used upload CA in the US at the time of filing so it's my understanding they didn't have to file regarding it, just like they don't have to file test reports for all the non-US LTE bands the phone supports. In addition, Essential Phone includes TD-SCDMA specifically for China Mobile - China Mobile also has a requirement for 2XCA upload on band 38/41 I believe, so that's another reason to believe the hardware supports it. I'll try and find the Chinese FCC's filing for the phone. 

[ingenium]

Does VoLTE even need Essential help to get working?  I was under the assumption it was simply a sprint network / provisioning thing.  I mean, it already supports Voice call continuity and has for awhile.  Shouldnt be that big of a hurdle for full on VoLTE.

Technically no. The Android VoLTE framework allows for the VoLTE config to be added to the firmware, or it can be included with any app that's signed by the same certificate used to sign the SIM card. In other words, Sprint can publish an app on the play store (or maybe add it to the My Sprint app) and deploy it on every device running Marshmallow and up, assuming that it's FCC certified for VoLTE (nothing technical is preventing it). But I have a strong feeling that they won't do this for whatever reason. Google made it very easy for carriers to add their VoLTE config to devices without needing an OS update.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[ScipioUSA]

Hello everyone.

I just recently picked up a PH-1 off of Swappa, and I really like the device itself.  Nice feel to it, and I like that its not loaded with bloat.

But I also live in the sticks, and travel a fair bit for work.  From some of what I can find, this phone isnt known for having great luck with easily pulling a signal in.  Im more concerned with voice than data, but not sure if there is anything that I can do or not to to help me out with it.  I do use a TPU case on it, but Im trying to avoid putting the metal plate on the back that is useful for my car...  Would love to see if something else can be done via software, but dont know that it will happen (especially with their recent layoffs)

[iansltx]

November security patch is out. Thought I'd have to wait a few days for it but just got the update notification. It's almost as if Sprint doesn't care enough to hold the update back and is just rubber-stamping anything Essential sends them. Which...I'm not complaining.

[bill875]

Sprint held back the first Pie update for a little while and the security updates since, but not this one. I'm not sure why the change, but I like it.  Perhaps they only hold back updates if the modem is updated and needs re-certifying or something along those lines.

[ScipioUSA]

Yesterday evening I had a notification that I had an update to "Carrier Services" in the Google Play store.  Any idea what this might be for, given that Google doesnt exactly give great descriptions of these sort of things.  I figured it must be something vaguely Sprint related, but wanted to see if anyone here had any insights.

 

Thanks!

[drhz]

3 hours ago, ScipioUSA said:

Yesterday evening I had a notification that I had an update to "Carrier Services" in the Google Play store.  Any idea what this might be for, given that Google doesnt exactly give great descriptions of these sort of things.  I figured it must be something vaguely Sprint related, but wanted to see if anyone here had any insights.

 

Thanks!

Just guessing but I think it's about text messaging since Essential Phone runs Google's text app.