Andy Rubin, the founder of Android, has officially unveiled the first phone from his company, Essential. This is what the phone looks like.
The Essential PH-1, sports a 5.7 inch edge-to-edge, Quad HD display with a 19:10 Aspect Ratio, 500 nits Brightness, 1:1000 Contrast Ratio, and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 cover glass. The device runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat, and is powered by a 10nm 64-bit octa core Qualcomm Snapdragon 834 processor, with an Adreno 540 GPU and 4GB of RAM. The device has 128GB of onboard storage in the form of a UFS 2.1 chip.
The Essential phone features a dual camera set up with a 13 megapixel RGB lens and another one for monochrome, with Hybrid AutoFocus, PDAF, IR Laser AutoFocus, amd is capable of recording 4K videos @ 30fps, FullHD @60 FPS and HD @120FPS. The selfie camera on the phone is an 8 megapixel fixed focus lens, with an f/2.20 aperture and 16:9 aspect ratio.
The Essential phone packs a 3040 mAh battery, which supports fast charging, and has a USB Type-C connector, and a fingerprint sensor on the back panel.
Speaking of which, there are 2 holes on the back panel, which can connect to Essential's mods. There are 2 mods available, a 360-degree camera, which can take images in 3840x1920 UHD @ 30 fps. The other mod is the Essential
Phone Dock, which is essentially (pun intended) a wireless charging cradle.
Essential PH-1 Technical Specifications
- Display: 5.7 inch edge-to-edge, 2560 x 1312 QHD, 19:10 Aspect Ratio, 500 nits Brightness, 1:1000 Contrast Ratio, CGS / LTPS, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 cover glass
- Operating System: Android 7.1.1 Nougat
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, Kryo 280 Octa-core (2.45GHz Quad + 1.9GHz Quad), 64 bit, 10nm processor
GPU: Adreno 540 710MHz - RAM: 4GB
- Storage: 128GB UFS 2.1
- Rear Camera: 13MP Dual RGB + Mono, image fusion technology, f/1.85 aperture, Hybrid Auto Focus, Phase Detect and IR Laser Assist Focus, Video at 4K 30fps, 1080p 60fps or 720p 120fps
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Front Camera: 8MP, 16:9 aspect ratio, f/2.20 fixed hyperfocal lens, Video at 4K 30fps, 1080p 60fps or 720p 120fps
- Battery: 3040mAh, Fast charging
- Audio: 4x microphones, noise cancellation, beam forming
- Connectivity: 2G, 3G, 4G LTE,Bluetooth 5.0 LE, WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac with MIMO, NFC, GPS, GLONASS, USB Type-C, Nano SIM card
- Sensors: Fingerprint Reader, Proximity, ambient light sensor, Environmental pressure sensor (barometer), Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Gyroscope
- Design: Titanium body + Ceramic back
- Model Name: Essential PH-1
- Dimensions: 141.5 x 71.1 x 7.8mm
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Weight: 185 grams
The Essential phone has been priced at $699 and at $749 for the phone + 360-degree camera. The device will start shipping in June, and will be available in four colours: Black Moon, Stellar Grey, Pure White and Ocean Depths.
Unfortunately there is no word yet about whether the phone will be available outside the U.S. But given the premium price tag, perhaps it is not something to worry about.