Since the news broke that the XDA Developers portal was collaborating with F(x)tec to launch a mobile phone in mid-2020 , much expectation was generated around the arrival of this terminal on the market.
The F(x)tec Pro1X promised to be a revolutionary smartphone: QWERTY keyboard, the possibility to go from Android to Ubuntu Touch , LineageOS, support for HDMI through the USB-C port, among other groundbreaking features.
Well, after two endless years of delays , the F(x)tec Pro1X is finally reaching the XDA users who sponsored the crowdfunding for its development. And… what did they find? Well, one with a disappointing terminal.
F(x)tec Pro1X: XDA mobile ends up being a disappointment
The start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the processor crisis have most likely played a role in the innumerable delays in the arrival of the F(x)tec Pro1X. However, for Cristian Cawley, editor of the MakeUseOf media and one of XDA’s mobile sponsors, this does not justify the lack of promised functions and features that many users were excited about.
Time does not pass in vain: two years of delay are enough to make the characteristics of a mobile obsolete
In 2020, the features that the F(x)tec Pro1X was announced with were fantastic for the time. However, in full 2022 this mobile brings under the hood the low-end Snapdragon 662 chip from 2020 (although they had promised the Snapdragon 835) and a performance comparable to that of Sony’s flagship from 5 years ago (Xperia XZ1), according to tests of performance made in the PCMark benchmark.
Likewise, it should be mentioned that it does not have 5G or the best connectivity technologies (WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3) . And, although it does have NFC and a USB-C port, it does not come with what was promised. One of the most attractive things about the F(x)tec Pro1X was that it would offer OTG and HDMI compatibility via USB-C, although this never came to pass.
In addition, to all this we must add the lost time of the sponsors, who invested more than €600 and had to wait up to 2 years of delays to be able to see the fruit of their investment.
QWERTY keyboard in the middle of 2022?
Perhaps one of the features that has divided the criticism of the XDA mobile the most is the QWERTY keyboard. For many it is a novelty that makes the F(x)tec Pro1X special. Those who have tried it say that it is the best thing about this phone . It is very easy and convenient to use, and it allows you to enter a large amount of text in a short time. Now, it is impossible not to ask the question… How attractive is a physical keyboard in today’s market?
With Android as the only functional OS: Ubuntu Touch or Sailfish remained in promises
Finally, it should be mentioned that what ended up disappointing users is the impossibility of using Ubuntu Touch or Sailfish in a functional way . The XDA phone promised to offer support for Linux-based OS like the ones already mentioned. However, the F(X)Tec Pro1 arrived with Android 11 as the only functional operating system, since using an alternative basic functions such as telephony, networks and camera are lost.
And you… What do you think of the official XDA mobile?
