A New Verizon version of the HP Elite X3 is coming in Mid-October

[nate0]

No nothing recently except I think in a podcast they brought it up again after that article. July is the only one I saw too. So it seems the last device to leave a Windows mobile phone OS legacy behind will be the X3. The idol 4s fell flat on its face out of the gate.

 

[PuckCowboy]

UPDATE from HP TODAY (10/6/2017):

I just reached out to Kevin, the HP rep listed on Verizon's HP Elite X3 page, about the recent articles stating the demise of the Elite X3 and I asked if this would affect the Verizon variant of the roll out. Here are his exact words:

"[FONT=&quot]Our plan was to launch an additional model of the X3 and decided recently to put that on hold. We are producing a Verizon version device and it should be available around 10/15. We did set a finite production quantity of it so we could secure parts based off the foretasted demand for the Verizon version device. That is not uncommon in the wireless phone business."[/FONT]

There you have it, a Verizon version is indeed being "produced" although it sounds like in a limited quantity. The question just remains, are you comfortable with only getting updates to this phone to about 2019. I for one am ok with it as I would hope MS gets their act together by then with their new industry defining mobile product. If not, then I will be forced to jump to Android. (I'm less of an iOS fan than Android, although I dislike both.)

 

[ocdtrekkie]

Good update, and about what I expected. It makes sense for HP to hold on significantly new hardware when Microsoft is in a wishy-washy place with mobile. I have no problem buying a phone with "only" updates until 2019... most of my Androids were updated significantly less than that. And the Elite x3 will certainly get updates from Microsoft longer than my 929 will.

 

[nate0]

UPDATE from HP TODAY (10/6/2017):

I just reached out to Kevin, the HP rep listed on Verizon's HP Elite X3 page, about the recent articles stating the demise of the Elite X3 and I asked if this would affect the Verizon variant of the roll out. Here are his exact words:

"[FONT="]Our plan was to launch an additional model of the X3 and decided recently to put that on hold. We are producing a Verizon version device and it should be available around 10/15. We did set a finite production quantity of it so we could secure parts based off the foretasted demand for the Verizon version device. That is not uncommon in the wireless phone business."[/FONT]

There you have it, a Verizon version is indeed being "produced" although it sounds like in a limited quantity. The question just remains, are you comfortable with only getting updates to this phone to about 2019. I for one am ok with it as I would hope MS gets their act together by then with their new industry defining mobile product. If not, then I will be forced to jump to Android. (I'm less of an iOS fan than Android, although I dislike both.)

All I want to know is where to buy it that day.

 

[tgp]

All I want to know is where to buy it that day.

I am a purchasing agent for my company. We buy from several different distributors. Two of them have the Verizon Elite X3 SKU'd up, but of course it is not yet available. I would have access to it as soon as it is available, and at the reseller price.

 

[nate0]

I am a purchasing agent for my company. We buy from several different distributors. Two of them have the Verizon Elite X3 SKU'd up, but of course it is not yet available. I would have access to it as soon as it is available, and at the reseller price.

Nice. So would I look for your site and order that way or is it something I need to sign up through you?

 

[PuckCowboy]

I am a purchasing agent for my company. We buy from several different distributors. Two of them have the Verizon Elite X3 SKU'd up, but of course it is not yet available. I would have access to it as soon as it is available, and at the reseller price.

Hi TGP,

Thank you so much for the info! Please do keep us posted once there is availability. If you are able to sell to us schlubs at the reseller price, you would be a hero to all on this thread (Assuming the Microsoft Store doesn't sell it in some kind of bundle for less than reseller price.)

Either way, any and all info you can keep us up-to-date with is truly appreciated!

 

[nate0]

I am thinking it won't hit the public sites at first and maybe for some time until the Business/Enterprise buyers get theirs first. That was how it was released back in 2016 when it went live. Then later after the summer months hit the public could buy it from Microsoft's store and so on so forth.

 

[tgp]

Nice. So would I look for your site and order that way or is it something I need to sign up through you?

We don't do e-commerce for general merchandise. And although we will likely be able to order the Verizon X3, certain items are sold only to approved vendors. However, we can order the existing X3, so I don't think that will be an issue. We also don't normally sell this item, so pricing is not yet determined. I would imagine though we'd sell it at MRP, plus shipping and sales tax if applicable. But this is ultimately up to our cost. We'll see what the status is when the device is live.

If you cannot get one after they are live, feel free to PM me and I'll see what I can do. None of us here are planning to get one, and we don't plan to stock them as we don't normally sell mobile phones. However, we are more than happy to order anything if it is already sold!

Unfortunately for the platform, most of us have moved to Android over the last couple years. We have one holdout, but he said just this morning that he almost ordered an iPhone until he heard about the "new" Microsoft launcher. Now he's considering the "Microsoft" Galaxy S8.

The move away from Windows phone is somewhat ironic for us, given that we're a Microsoft partner. We sell PC's, office network systems, a Dynamics ERP/SQL Server (my area of expertise), and we're huge into Skype for Business. We live and breathe Microsoft. My boss is a Microsoft MVP to whom Microsoft reaches out for input about Skype for Business. But yet Windows mobile is all but gone here. And at one time we had over 50% market share! :angel:

 

[nate0]

Ok thanks @tgp

Also tell your friend about the swelling iphone batteries too. https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/6/16437790/iphone-8-swollen-battery-issue-apple-investigating

 

[tgp]

Hi TGP,

Thank you so much for the info! Please do keep us posted once there is availability. If you are able to sell to us schlubs at the reseller price, you would be a hero to all on this thread (Assuming the Microsoft Store doesn't sell it in some kind of bundle for less than reseller price.)

Either way, any and all info you can keep us up-to-date with is truly appreciated!

I'll keep you updated. I can assure you however that we won't be able to sell them at cost! I mean, I would personally. But if I sell them, I would of course need to go through my company, and normal sales rules would apply. I'm guessing they would be as cheap or cheaper for you on the Microsoft, Verizon, or HP stores, or wherever they are sold. But if availability is a problem, I might be able to help.

Let's see how this spins out.

you would be a hero to all on this thread

I'll bet I'd be the first person in the history of Windows Central to be a hero here over a device without being a fan of said device!

 

[ocdtrekkie]

For what it's worth in terms of where people might be able to order if it's not on Microsoft Store, which the HP guy said it would be, I looked at the screenshots earlier in the thread and searched for the SKU. The following sites list it:

https://www.provantage.com/hp-1pk93aa-aba~7HEWD211.htm
ShopBLT.com: Hewlett Packard Elite X3 3-In-1 Snapdragon 820 5.96in 4gb 64gb W10 Wireless Bluetooth Vzn
https://www.connection.com/product/...wc-headset-6-qhd-mt-w10m/1pk93aa-aba/34584753

 

[ocdtrekkie]

1PK93AA#ABA is what you want to search for if you're looking for the thing online.

 

[PuckCowboy]

I'll keep you updated. I can assure you however that we won't be able to sell them at cost! I mean, I would personally. But if I sell them, I would of course need to go through my company, and normal sales rules would apply. I'm guessing they would be as cheap or cheaper for you on the Microsoft, Verizon, or HP stores, or wherever they are sold. But if availability is a problem, I might be able to help.

Let's see how this spins out.



I'll bet I'd be the first person in the history of Windows Central to be a hero here over a device without being a fan of said device!

Thanks TGP! As was stated by the HP rep, it should be available immediately from the Microsoft store, but if anything changes, I'll let ya know.

As for the "new" Microsoft launcher on Android, I assume you are referring to the Arrow launcher made by Microsoft? There are also a few Launchers that look like Windows 10 and have some Live Tiles that work "ok" for those that love the look and feel.

 

[PuckCowboy]

For what it's worth in terms of where people might be able to order if it's not on Microsoft Store, which the HP guy said it would be, I looked at the screenshots earlier in the thread and searched for the SKU. The following sites list it:

https://www.provantage.com/hp-1pk93aa-aba~7HEWD211.htm
ShopBLT.com: Hewlett Packard Elite X3 3-In-1 Snapdragon 820 5.96in 4gb 64gb W10 Wireless Bluetooth Vzn
https://www.connection.com/product/...wc-headset-6-qhd-mt-w10m/1pk93aa-aba/34584753

Thanks OCD Trekkie! I appreciate you posting those. Provantage is actually pretty good.. I've bought Laptops from them in the past. Will be interesting to see once the 15th / 16th rolls around. I'm planning on going this route unless I can't get my hands on one quickly. I just helped my girlfriend get a Pixel XL, which is actually a very nice phone (hardware wise) and the software is "ok" because it's clean Android and gets updates immediately. If things go south with the Verizon Elite X3, I'll probably "begrudgingly" go "kicking and screaming" with a Pixel 2 or 2 XL.

Thanks again!

 

[tgp]

1PK93AA#ABA is what you want to search for if you're looking for the thing online.

The distributors also have 1PK92AA#ABA SKU'd up. They're significantly cheaper than 1PK93AA#ABA, but I cannot find any difference. Do you happen to know what that is?

I would ask our sales reps from the distributors, but I'm pretty sure they won't know, at least not until the product is live.

 

[ocdtrekkie]

Maybe dock bundle versus no dock? Just speculating. A lot of sites like CDW-G have like 50 entries for the Elite x3, so God only knows how many configurations it's available in.

 

[nate0]

Remember when this came out? Hopefully the next iteration of Window 10 on a Mobile device (whatever it will be) gets some advertising like the X3 had initially. Was this ad all HP or do you think Microsoft had any influence on it? Maybe they could take some pointers from them too if they need...

http://cc.cnetcontent.com/vcs/hp/in...BB0F618DEA6B87CBB70667A7F28A218BBA3_video.mp4

 

[PuckCowboy]

Remember when this came out? Hopefully the next iteration of Window 10 on a Mobile device (whatever it will be) gets some advertising like the X3 had initially. Was this ad all HP or do you think Microsoft had any influence on it? Maybe they could take some pointers from them too if they need...

http://cc.cnetcontent.com/vcs/hp/in...BB0F618DEA6B87CBB70667A7F28A218BBA3_video.mp4

Haha, great find! (And great ad!) It actually got me all excited for the Elite X3 again. Truth be told though, I've been reading more about the new Microsoft Launcher on Android and it has me swaying a bit, if for anything because I'm starting to debate if it's wise to invest $600 - $700 into a phone OS that WILL indeed not be supported in less than two years while I wait for Microsoft's next attempt at mobile. Whereas if I did go for a Pixel 2, I would at least retain some level of the "resale" value if and when I do swap out the phone in the future, thus not taking as much as of a hit to the wallet. On the other hand, it's just money and I should just buy what I like

Ugh, decisions, decisions.

 

[nate0]

Haha, great find! (And great ad!) It actually got me all excited for the Elite X3 again. Truth be told though, I've been reading more about the new Microsoft Launcher on Android and it has me swaying a bit, if for anything because I'm starting to debate if it's wise to invest $600 - $700 into a phone OS that WILL indeed not be supported in less than two years while I wait for Microsoft's next attempt at mobile. Whereas if I did go for a Pixel 2, I would at least retain some level of the "resale" value if and when I do swap out the phone in the future, thus not taking as much as of a hit to the wallet. On the other hand, it's just money and I should just buy what I like

Ugh, decisions, decisions.

Tell me about it. From my standpoint I might be able to atleast come up with more than half that amount by selling all the current windows phones I have (1 950 XL left, 2 1520s left, 1 1320 left, and Lumia ICON-current device). Still I have to look at it too, from how many times I have went back and forth from Android to Windows 10 Mobile over the last 6 months. I have owned the OP5, S8+, LG G6 and each time went back to W10M. So I think I will be safe with an Elite X3 for as long as it hangs tough on W10M.