MileHI38

Exactly^^^^^This is what I'm probably going to keep this phone.......also as a phone for my kids to watch netflix/youtube I think for this price a lot of guys on this forum might just pick it up for the reasons you stated above

That's my biggest question is if the RF issues that might plague some (not all essential phones) phones can be fixed with software?? Or is it a hardware issue or antenna placement?

I'm glad you said this.......set mine up yesterday/night and noticed the difference in RF signal quality vs V20 unfortunately. The weird thing is when I turn on wifi calling on the essential phone as soon as it connects to my wifi network the cell/radio signal goes to roaming while I'm on wifi calling? In LTE discovery it shows IWLAN and no longer shows my RF LTE signal....whereas the V20 never showed that, and always showed the signal strength in db...? Question is, do you guys think that it's solely a software issue that can be resolved to improve signal strength? Or is it a hardware/antenna placement issue that would cause the sub-par signal strength? Either way for $145 I'm not terribly disappointed and I'll still keep this phone as a backup or for my kids to play games or watch videos on. I'll continue to monitor the progress with updates like Oreo etc......but I'll probably go with a different phone for my daily here soon.

Epic no doubt!! The Sprint store I was at today was selling these things like hotcakes and they ran out of stock and had to order from the warehouse! Wait a minute I didn't get a free 360 camera?

Just got my phone today guys......curious is the latest build update NMI81C? ............. that's what mine is at and at Sept 5th security patch? I thought that latest update enabled scrolling with the fingerprint sensor that I've seen on some YT videos or has that particular update not hit the Essential phones that are bought from Sprint yet?? Thx

Just ordered the white Essential phone from Sprint today (they had none in stock, had to order from the warehouse) for $145 total! Thanks Swintec for letting us know about this deal! I asked how long it was going on for and they said it didn't have an end date in the computer system so??..........Maybe Essential just said to clear out inventory and get the phone in peoples hands for exposure at this point since they're definitely losing $$ on this phone.

Hmmmm.........lol hope it's not antennae gate with the Essential phone

WTH!!! Lol......are they basically giving this phone away!! with a total buyout of $145 So you can pay off the phone lease immediately without penalty?!

Not yet was waiting for payday, but should be ordering this week though! ^^^^^^The above quote with Best Buy? Can you explain what that deal means? They paid you with credit of $9.59 a month? Anyhow congrats on a smokin deal

Hopefully it's not a one hit wonder, but if it does I can see why with how badly things got started off to unfortunately. Hopefully the company has enough financial reserves and/or investors to give it another try next year and revamp their business model?? Only time will tell though..... That sux on the RF end hopefully things turn around RF wise! I don't necessarily have issues with my V20 RF but definitely don't want the Essential phone to be worse RF wise!! Still this phone is a kickass deal with the coupon code for $299!! Almost all is forgiven at that price point.

Yea it's pretty sad because I've been to some Sprint corporate brick and mortar stores recently since the price drop and even though they have the essential phone on display they all still had the price @ $699!! I told the employees that the price has been permanently dropped to $499 and they just look at me with the deer in the headlights look and shrug their shoulders? One store said they hadn't sold not 1 essential phone since they got it in I hope Andy Rubin does something different with marketing with the next Essential phone to avoid what happened with this botched launch

^^^^^^Thank You for answering that question for me!

I'm getting ready to order the Essential phone and was curious how the wifi calling quality is with this phone? Also if you buy the phone unlocked from Essential the wifi calling will still be pre-installed right? Since the unlocked version doesn't come with any carrier bloatware......Or do I have to buy the sprint version to get wifi calling..? Thx

Agreed! That's why I've been leaning towards the Moto Z2 Force because of the stellar RF performance that Motorola is know for! Not lying though I do like the Essential phone with it's new price drop especially in the white color it's tempting!

Any feedback guys on the RF performance of this phone? I was reading on the XDA Essential forum that people are having bad RF issues with the phone and not a specific carrier. Read people having issues with signal being weak on Verizon, Tmobile, and Sprint.........is this phone just a weak performer because of the construction? Thx