flew EWR-LAX (and back) last week in PE. here are some rambling thoughts. i was in row 20 (bulkhead) for both flights.

boarding in EWR monday morning was from 2L; deplaning in LAX was from 1L. on the return, both airports used 2L. i don't see any reason why 2L isn't preferable for all. both were daytime flights. sitting in 20B, the temperature seemed to be VERY cold. it was a cold morning boarding from 2L in EWR, and that cold seemed to linger for more than an hour into the flight. i've had similar experiences in the ABC side of the exit row of the sCO 752.

row 20 is aligned with the front of the engines, so it looks like the engines are like pac-man and eating anything interesting you see below you (i did not consume any alcohol on, or prior to. either flight).

the seat is great (no under-bulkhead cutout), but the placement of the IFE headphone jack and power ports is laughably poor. even a couple FA's weren't sure where the headphone jack was when a pax asked for help. when they realized where it was, they were surprised how silly the design was. unlike the IPTE J seat, where the jack/power are located is very dark - so even if you know where everything is, it's difficult to plug stuff in. there is 110v AC, and also USB power.

remember when the 77As received 10-across Y and people kept hitting the FA call button because of where it was placed? UA heard the early complaints, and then modified that design going forward. it's no longer a problem. they should do the same for the PE seat's power ports and headphone jacks, although this would likely be significantly more complex than the call button fix on the 77A. adding USB type-C power would also be a good idea, but that obviously won't happen for at least another decade. it's a boneheaded design.

as long as both pax aren't PoS, it's fairly easy to access the aisle from the window seat. no olympic gymnastic ability required (at least in the bulkhead row). only two vents above you for A/B and K/L seats.

there are lavs immediately ahead of the PE section, but there are also curtains so that PE gets cut off from those lavs. virtually everyone ignored the curtain, which surprised me. since the PE cabin is fairly small, IMO UA should eliminate this curtain and instead install one between PE and E+. i don't foresee that change inconveniencing polaris pax.

the bulkhead IFE screens are massive, and look beautiful. decent anti-glare as well. the GUI is a little cumbersome, especially when using the remote - but it's not terrible. unfortunately, there's no channel 9 (i had my hopes up for the 78J solely because the 77W got channel 9). the remote has a full QWERTY keyboard on the reverse, and has the same cord retraction issues as prior iterations. yes, you'll probably have to extend the remote out completely in order to stow it. maybe by the 22nd century they'll have that worked out.

the table tray is neat. it can be folded out halfway, fully folded out, and there's even an additional fold out on the top right of the tray. i'm not sure what that could be useful for, but it seems cool. the front of the armrest between seats does not have a cupholder, unlike the domestic F seat. there was a missed opportunity to slightly recess the aluminum in front of the shared armrest so that cups could be placed there without the worry of them sliding off. instead, i was too nervous to place my cup there even for the few seconds it would take to stow my tray table. i should have taken pictures of what i'm trying to describe, sorry!

i hadn't noticed this so much on the 787-8/9, but there is absolutely zero GPS reception to be had from inside the 78J. i have foreflight on my 2018 ipad pro, but couldn't get a signal at any point in the air or on the ground from my window seat.