A little hard to take seriously considering the author works for Canonical. Even so the author didn't seem very excited about it, it felt more like an acceptable phone and not that it's better than Android or iOS.
I tried to like mine (BQ E5). But for an almost-flagship Ubuntu phone, reception was terrible. Went back to the Nexus (now 5x), and I've had <i>zero</i> issues in the same places I used my E5.<p>Maybe once they've polished a bit, it may be worth going back.<p>Corollary: I'll throw anyone money who can make a good (usable) Debian phone. Still waiting :(
Problem I have: I need my banking app, my bank id app and instant-bank-money-transfer app that doesn't exist for Ubuntu Phone.<p>Without those apps, paying invoices takes too much time. I can't transfer money to my CC when I need it and I can't transfer money to my friends.<p>But worst of all, I can't login to 90% of all the governmental services that require bank id. They all exist for my Windows Phone though, which is an underdog enough for me.
What does "33 minutes talk time" on <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/phone/devices" rel="nofollow">http://www.ubuntu.com/phone/devices</a> mean?<p>Why does it show that on the lock screen?
I have been using the Aquaris 4.5 for probably ~300 days and I am still impressed how much Canonical has fucked up the Linux-powered smartphone idea. I could go on a long rant here, but there is one thing that pisses me off the most:<p>In order to gain access to the software repository (the "App Store") and receive updates for installed software, you have to have a registered ubuntu one account activated on the phone.<p>Excuse my language, but what the fucking hell?
I use ubuntu on my phone the other way around, using Linux Deploy I chroot an ubuntu or debian root image and connect to it with ssh or vnc on android. It came in quite handy when streaming mp3 through icecast through the wifi accesspoint on my phone for a dancewalk through town.
Hardware wise, I can't really find what I want with an ubuntu phone:
I like the spec and the price of the Aquaris E5, but the bezel is really huge. The Meizu mx4 lack of a SD slot and the Meizu 5Pro is too costly :(<p>I would miss whatsapp too... Not that I like the app, but it's commonly used within my group of friends.<p>Fix the two points above and you've go a buyer :)
At this point, I'd be fascinated by "alt-mobile" OS's that are simply the best of the bunch. That is, never mind about being comparable to iOS or Android, just simply the most user-friendly and reliable among the runner-ups. So is Ubuntu Mobile better than Firefox OS? Or Sailfish OS? Or even Windows Phone?
I'm wondering how people are doing with a Raspberry Pi phone.<p>See e.g. <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/piphone-home-made-raspberry-pi-smartphone/" rel="nofollow">https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/piphone-home-made-raspberry...</a>
I'm glad that Mozilla has finally given up on Firefox OS for phones. Maybe it's time for Canonical to do the same, and focus on improving Ubuntu.
The comparison of Android updates for non-Nexus devices versus this device is a little unfair.<p>This is pretty much the only Ubuntu phone with significant sales numbers. This is the result of a cooperation between Canonical and bq. This is pretty much the equivalent of a Nexus device for the Ubuntu phone platform.
Ok, but when will apps be able to run when the screen is off? It seems sort of rediculous that the only way to listen to, say, Spotify is to leave the screen on <i>and</i> the Spotify app in the foreground.