Got my X3 Today, shipping back tomorrow - Why YOU should stick to your 950 (XL)

Marcin Dabrowsky

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Hey guys and gals. I want to tell you a little about my experience with this new overpriced, half baked disgrace. Ok, I exagerrate, but just slightly so... This is my experience and you may or may not agree, but hopefully some will take a small thing away from this post.

I bought it 4 days ago from HP.COM, paid the $40 shipping fee for overnight lightning speed shipping and got it this morning! Ahmm, $890 shipped to my door OMG!

First, the box... It is entirely too big and simply obnoxious. The presentation is awful. It felt as if though they reused old boxes from a larger device like a printer, made some cardboard cut-outs to for the phone and accessories and threw the cables and the supporting documentation underneath in no particular order. The phone was on the left, with its cables and documentation underneath. The charger had 'protective' wrapping that seemed like it was melted into the charger with a heat gun and took some work to get off.

The middle of the flat screen tv box had a decently packed dock, and underneath, in the pocket below, a bunch of oversized cables and bent paperwork. I think it was thrown in there by monkeys.

The right side hid a nice flap, with a pocket equally as large as the other, and once opened, revealed... emptiness. Nothing there except dead empty space mocking you.

I turned the phone on and waited for it to boot up. Before I did anything else, I updated the software to redstone 2. (Apparently AU will be available on the 13th). Once updated, I did a hard reset and began from scratch. I played with the phone and coming from a 950XL it instantly felt familiar.

For the positives:

1. The screen is incredible. The colors, sharpness, and overall quality, to me, seemed just a tad bit nicer than the 950 XL's screen. The screen does no exhibit that weird greenish/bluish hue when tilted at an angle away or toward your eyes, and it did not exhibit that annoying white letters turning brown when scrolling against a black background. The phone was 'as fast' as the 950 XL. Not any faster or slower.

2. Speakers sound nice, but stereo isn't quite balanced properly, with the bottom speaker louder than the top... just felt awkward.

3. Once upgraded to insider stable, fingerprint works great. Not instant like an iPhone or Nexus 6, but completely acceptible, and very accurate... but read the 2nd part to this below in my negatives.

Negatives:

1. Camera - regardless of what others may tell you, the picture quality is not on par with the 950 or XL. Detail is nowhere near, and dark scenes look plain bad.

2. Build quality - the bottom plastic speaker grill may have looked great in promotional videos, but in reality, it looks like it was an after thought. It does not sit flush, isn't perfectly straight across, and looks as plasticky as it feels. Worst part of all, when you run your fingers between the silver grill and the screen, you can feel the sharp edges making it feel 'cheap'. This, in my view, is unacceptable for a $800 device.

3. Fingerprint doesn't work (but we knew that), so I did an insider trick and got the most recent insider public release installed. This made the fingerprint work quite well (read above in positives) but sadly, the update killed my camera app. It made it sluggish to pan around and restarted the phone as soon as you snapped a pic; front or back cam.

4. Slippage - in my many years with just about every single flagship from all the Android boys, Blackberries, as well as Windows phones, I've dropped my phones, without lying probably 5-7 times.

I managed to drop this within the first few hours, being very careful. It just slipped right out of my hands and hit my wood floor. The body took the hit very well and showed NO marks whatsoever. If you get this phone, get a non-slip case.

5. Screen protection. GET A PROTECTOR. I applied a skinomi type wet apply self healing screen protector (because of curves) but only after 2 hours of use. Guess what? I wore my business work shirt, the type I wear on a daily basis, and put the phone in my front shirt pocket for about 2 hours prior to applying the protector. What did I find when I went to apply the screen protector? 3 scratches. I don't mean micro scratches, I mean scratches as if though i scraped sand on it. The coating is TERRIBLE and will not protect your screen from daily use, not even light daily use.

I will stop here, as I dont want to depress you any more and I already packed it up and am applying for a refund (minus my $40 crazy must have now fee).

These are my final findings:

If you have a 950/XL, KEEP IT. There is absolutely NO reason to 'upgrade' to this thing. If you don't have one and are thinking about which phone to get, buy a 950/XL NOW, since they're $499 and offer a free dock. When you weigh the price, build quality, removable battery, performance and general OS stability and usability, it is a no brainer choice.

Personally, my ride with the 950 series is over as of next week as I will be buying the iPhone 7 Plus on day one. That doesn't mean that I hate Windows, in fact I think the 950 is FINALLY usable after the AU update and a great phone at a great price, however, I must move on as I always do, but will be getting the surface phone IF it ever surfaces, lol.

I will also be getting the new MacBook Pro when that comes out and selling my Surface Book, on which I wrote this tonight (the surface book, by the way, is the most solid piece of computing equipment I have ever used, and right up there with a macbook pro in terms of build quality).

Hope some of you can take some things away from this, and if you have questions, I will gladly answer them.

Thanks for reading!
 

Kevin Rush

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Re: Marcin Debrowsky,
Four paragraphs about the box/packaging? Oh, how very horrible!
.

Thank you, very much, for your very detailed thoughts about the actual device, based on 4 days experience and the honest apple bias slant. Very good to know.
(Now we need to hear from others, with longer experience and without the apple goal.)
Best Wishes
 

Marcin Dabrowsky

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Re: Marcin Debrowsky,
Four paragraphs about the box/packaging? Oh, how very horrible!
.

Thank you, very much, for your very detailed thoughts about the actual device, based on 4 days experience. Very good to know.
(Now we need to hear from others, with longer experience.)
Best Wishes

3 paragraphs ;) I know I spent too long on the boxing, but in reality, it IS the first thing we look at and open in our excitement for the device itself. I know, I know, don't judge a book by its cover... but in reality most do, hence the proverb!
 

etphoto

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Good choice in the not over priced IPhone 7. Their packaging is much better. Makes the phone run better in the long run.

Twitter: @PhotographyET
 

Marcin Dabrowsky

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Good choice in the not over priced IPhone 7. Their packaging is much better. Makes the phone run better in the long run.

Twitter: @PhotographyET

I don't mean to make this into an Apple vs Windows vs Android war. I enjoy technology! I think each has its pro's and cons. I simply gave my and mine only thoughts on it. I never understood why the moment someone brings up another manufacturer or OS in any forum, it others get defensive and criticizing. I am fortunate enough to be able to get whatever tech I feel like playing with and I am not a ****** of any particular device or OS.

I love BlackBerry's BB10 most, but sadly it's on its death bed, so instead of moaning, I move on. I love the windows's live tile system. I am not saying the iphone isn't overpriced. It may very well be, but I feel that Apple's OS and hardware is top notch. Is it overpriced? YUP! Is it (to me) worth it? YUP!

I bought the Surface Book, because I think it's a magnificent piece of tech. I think Windows 10 works excellent on it.
I also happen to believe ios works great on phones and MacOS great on their machines! I used to love Android, and I think that android phone manufacturers make some great hardware (V10, Nexus 6P, Priv even) but I do NOT like the android OS. I don't like Google's spy and invasive practices and privacy weaknesses.

Please don't make this into an APPLE vs Windows vs whatever you like thread, as that was not my intention. I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. Simply expressing my findings :)
 

RumoredNow

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Please don't make this into an APPLE vs Windows vs whatever you like thread, as that was not my intention. I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. Simply expressing my findings :)

Yeah, that's the way I read it.

Thanks for writing up your thoughts on your play time with this device.
 

Bigfireq

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It's just a bit odd to go on about something that has zero to do with the phone experience. Nevertheless, thank you for writing up your experiences. It could be that you got a lemon, but it is pertinent to hear about the build quality issues.
 

etphoto

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I don't mean to make this into an Apple vs Windows vs Android war. I enjoy technology! I think each has its pro's and cons. I simply gave my and mine only thoughts on it. I never understood why the moment someone brings up another manufacturer or OS in any forum, it others get defensive and criticizing. I am fortunate enough to be able to get whatever tech I feel like playing with and I am not a ****** of any particular device or OS.

I love BlackBerry's BB10 most, but sadly it's on its death bed, so instead of moaning, I move on. I love the windows's live tile system. I am not saying the iphone isn't overpriced. It may very well be, but I feel that Apple's OS and hardware is top notch. Is it overpriced? YUP! Is it (to me) worth it? YUP!

I bought the Surface Book, because I think it's a magnificent piece of tech. I think Windows 10 works excellent on it.
I also happen to believe ios works great on phones and MacOS great on their machines! I used to love Android, and I think that android phone manufacturers make some great hardware (V10, Nexus 6P, Priv even) but I do NOT like the android OS. I don't like Google's spy and invasive practices and privacy weaknesses.

Please don't make this into an APPLE vs Windows vs whatever you like thread, as that was not my intention. I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. Simply expressing my findings :)

I too wasn't intending to high jack the thread into a Window vs Apple debate (I normally don't even read those threads). I was pointing out some of the hypocrisy in your review. The very first sentence in your review you indict the X3 in being over priced and then a few paragraphs later you are running out to get the IPhone 7. Didn't you know the price of the X3 when you purchased it? Then, only ONE day you're returning it? lol That is like a food critic getting up from the table and then writing a lengthy review on a 5-course meal after only eating the salad.

Finally, you didn't hurt my feelings. I am very thick skinned. I have no allegiance toward HP and never even seen an X3 before so the sarcasm of my first message wasn't intended as a defense of the x3 or windows mobile.

Twitter: @PhotographyET
 
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Witness

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I will also be getting the new MacBook Pro when that comes out and selling my Surface Book, on which I wrote this tonight (the surface book, by the way, is the most solid piece of computing equipment I have ever used, and right up there with a macbook pro in terms of build quality).

Interesting experience - thanks for the review. I did find it curious that you are going from one OS to another completely. I was on an iPhone 6 for about 2yrs before I came back to the 950XL and during that time, I kept using my SP3. I switched (not completely by choice) OSes, but because MS has quite a bit of apps and cloud services that work on iOS (not the other way around), it allowed me the freedom of movement. That's the main reason why I invest in the MS platforms, even if I take other OSes for a spin. It's easy to come back and my data as well as experiences (apps, etc) are quite portable with MS. On the flip side, that's the main reason why I won't jump into Mac OS or Android completely - both those ecos make it difficult for you to escape.

Anyways, I did find it peculiar that you didn't like the X3 and as a result you abandoned your 950XL and Surface Book. If the 950XL/SB served you well, why would leave because a different device wasn't up to par?
 

Marcin Dabrowsky

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Interesting experience - thanks for the review. I did find it curious that you are going from one OS to another completely. I was on an iPhone 6 for about 2yrs before I came back to the 950XL and during that time, I kept using my SP3. I switched (not completely by choice) OSes, but because MS has quite a bit of apps and cloud services that work on iOS (not the other way around), it allowed me the freedom of movement. That's the main reason why I invest in the MS platforms, even if I take other OSes for a spin. It's easy to come back and my data as well as experiences (apps, etc) are quite portable with MS. On the flip side, that's the main reason why I won't jump into Mac OS or Android completely - both those ecos make it difficult for you to escape.

Anyways, I did find it peculiar that you didn't like the X3 and as a result you abandoned your 950XL and Surface Book. If the 950XL/SB served you well, why would leave because a different device wasn't up to par?

Oh, I am not abandoning or leaving Windows because of the X3. I love using the surface book, but I am getting bored with it. I am pretty deeply entranched in One Drive, so I will continue using MSFGT services. I like jumping to different OSes because it keeps things fresh for me. As far as abandoning the 950 XL, I've played with it for a year now and in the last 6 months, it's been a great device (not so much at launch when I got it day one or the months following). I have accounts on all four mobile nations sites (bb, win, andr, mac). I will be back for sure as soon as another interesting device pops up!

Perhaps I wrote my thoughts a bit too hastily there, and without enough information, but I just wanted to share some thoughts, and that's it :)

I did say that I think the 950 XL is a great device over the X3 and the better buy at this point :)
 

Ariel Takom

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Hurm. Seriously though. The Elite X3 was never marketed as a device with powerful camera, nor a phenomenal audio device. It's a phone that's targeted at people who want to use it for WORK. All the other features: camera, speaker, finger print sensors, are all just afterthoughts (if you wonder why finger print sensor is an afterthought? Remember when the X3 was announced? The prototype didn't have a fingerprint sensor at that time. It was implemented AFTER the unveiling).

Also, you never mentioned anything about using the phone along with it's accessories (dock and stuff). Some people do wonder how the x3 would perform in Continuum mode, since it has a beefier specs compared to the 950/XL.

And yet, all you did was describing stuff that's not the strong point of the phone, and most of the problem you pointed out would probably be fixed in a future software/firmware update.

P/S: I can't help but wonder, how is it that you're able to withstand the problematic 950/XL for so long, which had by far the worst performing phone during the first few months of it's launching, and yet you couldn't be bothered with the x3, whose problems you described as if it's worse than the 950/XL. smh
Worse still, you only owned it for 4 days. o_O
 

RumoredNow

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I didn't know there was one for webOS - kinda lost track of it after HP. Who has it now, LG?

Also, it isn't on par with the other MoNa sites, very empty-looking

LG still owns webOS, but Internals is doing their thing with the open source branch. Yeah, the Blog part is no more. I do see users in the forums though.
 

sinime

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Speaking of WebOs and headphone jacks (or the lack there of), I had forgotten that the Palm Pixi didn't have a 3.5mm headphone jack until Derrick Kessler mentioned it on Twitter yesterday.
 

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