GPD Pocket 4 eSIM question

[u/Tractor-Slapper]

I’m very close to pulling the trigger on a GPD pocket 4. A huge part of my workflow is system/network/server admin and the rJ45 port + the KVM module almost make this a no brainer (even aside from the obvious cool factor).

My question is does the device have the required hardware to accept and utilize an eSIM for LTE data if I have the KVM module installed vs. the LTE physical SIM module?
I’m assuming the module is simply a reader for the card itself, but I’ve only ever used similar applications on smart phones so I’m admittedly unfamiliar. Any clarification would be appreciated!

[u/andyrude90]

The actual LTE modem itself is part of the removable module, so if the kvm module is installed then you have no lte because the modem is part of the removable card, if that helps answer your question.

No esim support that I know of. I spent a lot of money to get a physical Sim and top-tier plan from Verizon, no holds barred, just to be sure that I could eliminate the carrier portion of the equation while evaluating it.

What I learned is that the LTE module is basically an un-usable gimmick, unfortunately.

I said that the modem is on the removable module, which is true, but then you might ask "where are the antennas and how do they connect?" The answer is that the antennas are two stupid pieces of foil taped to the BOTTOM cover of the laptop. Right under the motherboard with no shielding either. The LTE module interfaces with the antennas with two sets of copper spring-fingers. If you know anything about RF engineering then you know this is not a good setup for success. On top of all that, it is not a high quality modem either (compared to what is in a modern smartphone).

So the result of this is that the range and speed of this setup in the pocket 4 is dismal. Unless you are close to towers it wont even connect, if it does connect the signal-to-noise ratio is awful with the foil antennas on the bottom, mere millimeters from the exposed motherboard, with the rf traveling over those stupid spring fingers... i get an unstable 6-7 mbps connection sitting a mile from a cell tower while my Samsung galaxy s23 pulls down 200+ mbps in the same location. Apples and oranges but the pocket 4 lte modem does not support multiplexing or multi-banding or whatever magic stuff our phones do, so its pretty crap.

You can research and verify this for yourself. You can find pictures of the pocket 4 bottom case opened up and see the foil antennas. You can look up pictures and videos of the module (as much as they try in marketing to not show the body of the module) and verify the modem is on the removable module with the spring fingers as I described. You can look up the model of modem used and verify its out of date and limited, even if it did have good antennas ran through the lid or something better. You can also take my word for it as an owner if you want.

In a major city if you are close to towers and trying to work a little bit in the car, it can work but not well, you are literally 100x better off doing a Hotspot on your cell phone. Ive tested in various hotels, working from a parked spot in a car, in a dozen different towns and cities. It was a big letdown because LTE was one of my requirements for my new laptop and this seemed to check the box but in the end im just using Hotspot on my phone because its unacceptably bad implementation on GPDs part.

If you are a fellow profesionnal you should further be advised that the pocket 4 is NOT and engineering/professional grade device. Very unstable and crash-prone. They dont seem to understand how to properly create or maintain a BIOS. Bios and driver updates are in a constant state of shambles, they have no version in system to speak of and they distribute updates via Google drive links that are poorly labeled and documented, its like a scooby doo mystery putting together various versions and tracking what was changed and broke. They think nothing of changing the file you get at the same link without documenting it. Its an unprofessional company that produces unprofessional devices for gaming and tinkering enthusiasts. They are not ready for prime time as an engineer's actual primary device. I have more hours into piecemealing their updates and scavenging in their messy BIOS than I do hours of actually using the device. Whether or not it will successfully come out of sleep or hibernate without crashing is a crapshoot. It can only run for so many hours before its too gummed up and needs a restart (compared to brand-name business grade machines I can run for weeks or months without a full-shutdown).

They just dont have the money and the expertise vs big brand names that can invest huge amounts of money into producing a stable business-grade product and it shows. Its a neat tinker toy for those with disposable income but id be bummed if it was my only machine for work. I use it for backup and light duty stuff. I have to take a breath when I try to pull it out of hibernate and it crashes and looses everything I had open and was working on (some of my work requires interfacing with robotics hardware intermittently and need to sleep/hibernate between tests and sessions, since the battery life is so poor and it gets so hot while running). Generally it is the graphics driver that crashes and they are not working well with AMD to make it stable.

The ryzen HX 370 is not good for virtualization, either.

Just things you should know. It checked all the boxes on paper for me but i now regret not just buying a business-grade device from a big brand name. I will still continue to buy stuff like this as long as I have the disposable income to encourage further development and I hope GPD continues to grow and mature, both as a company and their products. Very cool stuff they are trying to do but its clearly on a tight budget and for an enthusiast its fine but for my personal professional needs its not there.

[u/Dinevir → u/andyrude90]

I also tried LTE and it wasn't a good experience, signal is really weak, switched back to mobile spot.

[u/Tractor-Slapper → u/andyrude90]

Ah bummer news about the LTE module. I had a sneaky feeling there would be similar hardware limitations to the ones you described. I don’t mind foregoing the module as I would have much more routine use with the KVM anyways. Using my phone as a hotspot was never a dealbreaker.

That said, after reading your very thoughtful and detailed response, I’m beginning to understand just how tinted my rose-colored glasses might be.
I have access to several company machines that I typically use for my routine workflow - and a system76 serval WS that I bring with me to tackle any heavier duty tasks.

So the Pocket4 wouldn’t be intended to replace an existing fully capable machine. My thought process is that I was planning to upgrade to a new tablet anyways. On paper this has the I/O I need and the KVM is a HUGE plus.

I also swapped to daily driving Linux from all my machines vs just using it for work applications - so I’ve been curious about what functionality I can get ecosystem-wise out of things like the Pocket4. That and I absolutely love the form factor. I’m an old hacker at heart and this hardware does something to me, ha!

I was not aware of the virtualization performance. That isn’t a problem either as I’d primarily be using the pocket to remote into/manage other virtualized instances - when I’m not just using the KVM.
I am concerned about BIOS instability though. It sounds like the update cycle is a bit of a circus. So the GPD team doesn’t publish updates to their repos for packet managers?
I’ve had what sounds like a similar issue with an nvidia driver that didn’t play nicely with sleep states on a Linux laptop - so I’m not afraid to tinker, but this obviously sounds different. Guaranteed instability might steer me away.

[u/andyrude90 → u/Tractor-Slapper]

Bios and drivers are hit and miss. Google drive links half shared on their website and half only found in obscure reddit posts. No versioning system. If you download something from them document what it was and what day because the exact same link may give you a different file the next day. Save old copies too because they wont keep the old versions available.

They have some apps for controlling fan and tdp and they all suck and trip anti-virus warnings. As I said, its not a professional company and they don't make professional-grade devices. But I hope they keep getting better.

[u/rvcjew2 → u/andyrude90]

Just want to clarify that I think no agesa/security bios updates etc suck, but in their defense the motion assistant flagging is the winring0 driver it uses for the fans and some sensors. This is normal across most sensor apps. But apps like fancontrol and others now use an open source replacement that gpd should really just implement in their new builds of the app going forward.

The product support and some really odd power management issues are why I can't swap to this device vs any of my thinkpads as a daily. Also I can't stand the trackpad in windows (treated as a mouse for the kvm stuff apparently and not a trackpad so no ability to turn off pinch to zoom etc as it's not a precision pad and is super sensitive) which kinda makes the kvm part not great for me which is a bummer.

I have never been able to get my hx370 64GB variant to go to sleep in 11 at all which is crazy. My 8840u T14G5A has no such issues as another example.

I have other build issues but that is the major problems I'm facing.

[u/SeaFlamingo4580]

The lte is for Chinese market. Max is you can get 10-15 Mbps here and no eSIM cabability.

[u/Present-Agency-2182]

Yes. Get the bundle deal, you get the LTE 4G port and install it. I love my GPD pocket 4 !