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Essential Phone

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essential phone

After hinting at a new device, Andy Rubin’s start-up, Essential, announced the Essential PH-1 (Phone). Unlike other OEMs, Essential is all about keeping only the essential aspects of a smartphone. This means almost-stock Android, no pre-install bloatware, and quality materials such as titanium and ceramic to make up the handset.

Learn More About the Essential Phone

Full hardware specifications for Essential’s Phone:

Essential Phone Specification
Android version Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Screen size 5.7-inch LCD
Resolution  2560×1312 pixels
PPI 505 ppi
Primary camera Dual 13MP cameras (color + monochrome), f/1.85, phase-detect + laser auto focus
Front camera  8MP, f/2.2
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 2.45GHz octa-core Kyro 280 CPU, Adreno 540 GPU
Storage 128GB
Expandable storage up to N/A
RAM 4GB
Battery 3,040mAh (nonremovable)
Ports USB Type-C
Weight 185 g
Dimensions 141.5 x 71.1 x 7.8 mm
Other features Rear-facing fingerprint sensor, modular accessories
Color options Black Moon, Pure White, Stellar Grey, Ocean Depths
Carrier availability Sprint, Unlocked
Base price off-contract ~$699
In-box accessories USB-C to 3.5 mm headphone adapter, USB-C charging/data transfer cable, fast charging wall adapter

Essential Phone in ‘Halo Gray’ lands on Amazon for $449 w/ Alexa built-in, pre-orders open now

While Essential hasn’t sold a ton of units with its first device, the PH-1, it’s still trying to make itself known. The most recent attempt was adding some stunning new colors. Yesterday’s reveal of those new colors brought a higher price tag along with them, but now you can get one of them cheaper through Amazon.


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Essential Phone gets another camera update w/ app shortcuts, stability fixes & optimizations

The Essential Phone has improved a lot since its debut, and become much more appealing thanks to a massive price cut. However, its Achilles Heel is still its camera, especially the camera app itself. Over the past few months, the company has released several updates to improve this camera, and now, another is rolling out.
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Re-Review: A few months later, the Essential Phone finally nails down the essentials

Earlier this year I reviewed the Essential Phone, the first product to come from Andy Rubin’s startup of the same name. At the time, it was a $700 device trying to compete directly with the rest of Android’s flagships in one of the most memorable years in quite some time. There were a lot of great phones in 2017, and the Essential Phone simply fell through the cracks.


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Essential’s AMA sheds light on second generation Phone, Portrait mode & Oreo beta updates, more

Essential Phone

This morning, news broke that Andy Rubin, founder of Essential, would be taking a personal leave of absence from the company following a report about misconduct while at Google. Despite this news, Essential went ahead with its bi-weekly Reddit AMA and announced several new updates coming to the Phone and future development…


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Essential VP talks Android Oreo updates, camera improvements, and working at Google in interview

The Essential Phone is one of the more impressive devices to come from a startup in recent memory, and a big reason for that is the talent behind it. Andy Rubin’s company is full of capable team members, and one of those is VP Rebecca Zavin. Recently, she answered some questions about the company and its products in an interview.


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Android 8.0 Oreo is now available in beta for the Essential Phone

Essential Phone July patch

Even though Oreo has barely taken a hold in the latest distribution numbers, that doesn’t mean companies aren’t working hard to upgrade flagships to the newest version of Android. Earlier this month, Samsung announced that users could beta test Oreo on the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Now, Essential is doing the same by providing an early beta build of Oreo for its handset…


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Latest Essential Phone update adds fingerprint gestures, improved touch response, and more

I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve spent with the Essential Phone, but one of the big problems I have had with it has been the lack of features in the software. All the little touches on the Pixel are what makes the experience lively, and Essential has lacked that. In its latest update, though, that’s being fixed a bit.


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In midst of Pixel 2 XL issues, Essential Phone gets a permanent price cut to $499

In the world of Google, it was huge news when Andy Rubin, the co-founder of Android, announced that his new startup was going to be releasing a near-stock Android smartphone. While in our review we found its hardware to be fantastic, the poor camera performance really made it hard to recommend the $700 smartphone to most consumers. Essential seems to have heard these complaints and has lowered the Phone’s price tag down to $499 permanently…


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Essential Phone to pick up Oreo, fingerprint gestures, Night Mode, lag fixes and more in coming OTAs

While it’s far from perfect, I’ve been enjoying my time with the Essential Phone over the past several weeks quite a bit. Despite the stock Android build, though, the experience hasn’t been perfect, and Essential has been working hard to fix it. In its latest Reddit AMA today, the company answered quite a few burning questions from fans, so let’s take a look at some of the highlights.


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