The Essential Phone (PH-1) is a weird little blip on Android’s history. Gone, but not totally forgotten. However, one of the few remaining traces of the Essential brand has now been wiped from Twitter/X, as Nothing has its own plans for the branding.
When Essential shut down in 2020, the company’s online presence effectively hit pause. There was no real “conclusion,” only an abrupt end. On Twitter/X, Essential’s final post was for a PH-1 software update. Prior to that, however, the account had teased Essential’s “Gem” smartphone and documented Essential’s rather stellar reputation for software updates.
Top comment by Leeav Amar
I had the PH1 and the Pixel 2 at the same time and I preferred the PH1 to the PX2 overall. The PX2 had a better camera, but GCam was able to improve the PH1 camera quality to mitigate that issue. The OLED screen of the PX2 was mostly better than the LCD of the PH1, but the P2XL suffered from some of its own screen issues. The PH1 felt better in the hand, had a tiny notch for its time, and it had that cool camera attachment (though a bit gimmicky). The PH1 had the same SD835 & 4GB RAM as the PX2, so it was a no-brainer when it hit that $225 liquidation price after its release.
That’s since been purged.
While the Internet Archive still shows the old account (in the pre-“X” days), @Essential is now an account owned and operated by Nothing. The account now focuses on highlighting Nothing’s Essential Space. The only post on the account from the pre-Nothing days is a from a former Essential employee highlighting PH-1’s portrait mode feature.
We had first reported back in 2021 that Nothing had purchased the Essential brand which, as the company recently confirmed, was all about the branding. At one point, Carl Pei’s company was going to be called “Essential” before it pivoted to the Nothing name we know today.
More on Nothing:
- Nothing confirms it was almost called ‘Essential’ instead [Video]
- Nothing Phone (3) impressions: A week with the software, cameras, and battery life
- Nothing Headphone (1) Review: A stellar value, but not the sound I was expecting
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