Essential Phone: Everything you need to know

Why it matters to you

When the co-creator of Android backs a new phone, we need to sit up and pay attention.

Have you heard of Andy Rubin? He’s the co-creator of Android, the smartphone operating system that powers 2 billion devices around the world. Now, since leaving Google several years ago, he’s backing a new project to make a smartphone. It’s called the Essential Phone, and it unsurprisingly operates Android; but that’s probably the only unsurprising thing about it. Here’s all the essentials about the Essential.

The Essential Phone

The Xiaomi Mi Mix started the bezel-less screen trend rolling, before it was picked up by LG, Samsung, and others; but the Essential Phone may have the most impressive bezel-less screen we’ve seen on a smartphone yet. The screen extends almost to the bottom of the phone, where it does meet a thin bezel, and all the way to the top. Unusually, the selfie cam is in the center and the screen curves around it, making it a striking visual feature.

The display measures 5.7 inches and has a 2560 x 1312 pixel resolution, with a 19:10 aspect ratio. Samsung and LG have chosen the 18:9 aspect ratio for the Galaxy S8 and LG G6. We also know a Snapdragon 835 processor with 4GB of RAM powers the device, and 128GB internal storage is on hand for media. There are two camera lenses on the back, a 13-megapixel color lens and a second monochrome lens, repeating a setup we’ve seen, and loved, on the Huawei P9, P10, and Mate 9. It’s not clear whether it will create the blurred bokeh background effect, or only enhance low-light performance. The selfie camera has 8 megapixels and can record video at 4K resolution.

A fingerprint sensor is on the back, plus there is a power button and volume controls on the right hand side, and a 3040mAh battery with fast-charging keeps the phone powered up. Other specifications include Bluetooth 5.0, a USB Type-C port, and a wide range of international 4G LTE band support. The phone weighs less than 185 grams, and is 7.8mm thick.

Made of titanium and ceramic material, and Gorilla Glass 5 over the screen, the Essential Phone is supposed to be tough enough to survive a few falls, but we don’t know if it has water resistance to make it truly tough. Like some other major phone releases recently, the Essential Phone doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone socket, but an adapter dongle is expected to come in the box. Android Nougat 7.1.1 is installed as the operating system.

Essential accessories

The dongle joins a Moto Mod-style range of modular accessories for the Essential Phone, which attach using magnetic pins on the device’s back. There are two modules known at the moment: A 360-degree camera, and a dock that will charge the phone.

The “world’s smallest” 360-degree camera

The camera accessory, which Essential claims is the “world’s smallest,” attaches to magnets at the top of the phone’s body, allowing it to poke its head over the top of the phone. It weighs just 35 grams, and has two 12-megapixel lenses that can shoot 4K resolution, 30fps video and four microphones capture sound in 3D. Support for live streaming will be included, too.

Essential Home

Essential will also release a speaker with a voice assistant for the home — Essential Home — along the same lines as Amazon’s Echo and Google Home. The main difference is the Essential Home has a circular screen, showing exactly what it’s doing, along with other pertinent information.

Essential Home’s round “auto-display” can be activated with a tap, a glance, or a question. Just like Amazon’s Echo speakers, Microsoft’s Cortana Assistant, and Google Home, it lets you control music, set timers, and more. And when it ships later this year, it’ll work with smart home platforms like SmartThings, HomeKit, and Nest.

Essential Home runs a new piece of software called Ambient OS, which puts the emphasis on privacy rather than cloud operation, and offers greater user control. Here, it wants to make suggestions on actions, rather than learning your behavior and automatically carrying tasks out.

Release and price

The Essential Phone and its accessories will be sold in the United States initially. The release date hasn’t been officially announced, but we do know the phone will cost $700, and that you’ll need to reserve one through Essential’s own website for now. It states you’re taking a place in a queue, so you’ll need to act fast if you want one quickly. The 360-degree camera will cost $200 separately, but only $50 when purchased with the phone.

Any deals with carriers or retailers haven’t been announced at the time of writing, or how long it will be before the phone and its accessories will ship. We’ll keep you updated here, and further news is expected to come very soon.

Article originally published in April 2017. Andy Boxall contributed to this report. Updated on 05-30-2017 by Kyle Wiggers: Added information about Essential Home and 360-degree cam accessory.