The Essential Phone, launched in May this year, marked Andy Rubin’s return to the Android world, but it wasn’t received well by everyone. The average camera, lack of a headphone jack, and the lofty price tag didn’t really make it a customer favorite. However, the last of the listed issues is not much of a concern now for the phone is $100 off at Best Buy!!
For those of you who kind of need to jog their memory (Considering there are so many cells already dominating the market; iPhone X, LG V30, Galaxy S8 excreta), here is a quick review of what the smartphone looked like and the features it manifested.
Design
The Essential Phone; a remarkable feat of engineering in that it somehow manages to fit a 5.7-inch 2,560 x 1,312 display into a chassis that’s not much larger. Compared to the Google Pixel2, the cell can fit in the hand in the same fashion, yet here you could see much more screen.
The bezel reduction is something to talk about. You’ll find a rather small bezel “chin” on the bottom of the phone, but the screen nearly spills over the top of it, where you’ll find the selfie camera. This exploit is all the more impressive because the LCD display wraps around the front-facing camera instead of shoving it to the bottom like Xiaomi Mi Mix. Want to take awkward selfies; the Phone’s “Nostril camera” as Andy Rubin refers it, is your best take.
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Rather than the usual aluminum frame, what you see here is all titanium, which according to essential offers greater durability. This means, theoretically, it shouldn’t break or bend under circumstances wherein most phones do. On the phone’s outside, Essential covered it all up in ultra-glossy ceramic, which looks fantastic and feels cool to the touch, but is oh-so inviting to your fingerprints.
Around the phone’s edges, Essential has cleverly implemented a grippy material that doubles as its antenna pass-through. While you won’t find a 3.5mm headphone jack on this phone (Essential provides a USB-C to 3.5mm converter in the box), the usual assortment of volume rocker, power button and USB-C charging port make their appearance here. The tactile buttons are simple to find and have a nice click to them.
The phone is devoid of any markings or company logo, which is the Essential’s way of showing, it’s the user’s phone not the company’s phone!
Interface
The PH-1 runs a stock version of Android Nougat 7.1.1 and is said to be introducing Android Oreo to its users by the end of 2017. Essential Phone has a Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, a 5.71″ 2560×1312 LCD, and a 3,040mAh battery. As mentioned earlier, it’s currently running Android 7.1.1, with an Oreo update expected soon.
Performance and Specs
Handling the workload is what leads to the making of a legendary smartphone. The Essential has the guts to do exactly that. A mix of gaming during the commute, music listening, e-mail checking and the odd camer a opportunity, everything on the go. Despite its small size, the PH-1 puts up performance that we’re accustomed to only seeing with bigger phones.
However, what it won’t be able to handle is Google Daydream since the phone doesn’t come with the requisite OLED screen technology and while it almost meets the 2K mark, it falls just short at 2,560 x 1,312.
While that sums up pretty much what the Essential holds in it pocket, being a brand not out there for smartphones, the Essential Phone is a magnanimous step taken by the company. And now since the price isn’t that much of a pain, you might just consider getting yourself one, for it ain’t that bad of a deal.
