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The Essential Phone is effectively discontinued
An already rough year for smartphone startup Essential appears to be ending on a sour note. Droid Life spotted that the company's flagship Essential Phone, also known as the PH-1, is out of stock and won't be coming back. The company has confirmed the handset won't be restocked, effectively discontinuing the device. Essential says it will instead focus its energy on its next product.
AJ Dellinger12.28.2018
Essential will restore your headphone jack for $149
Did you say you would pay anything to put a headphone jack on a phone where it was painfully absent? Essential wants you to prove it. The startup has released its long-discussed magnetic headphone jack adapter (now called the Audio Adapter HD) for a staggering $149 -- nearly a third the cost of the Essential Phone at its standard price. It's more than just a plug, of course. There's a built-in ESS Sabre DAC and an "audiophile-grade" amp that, together, promise 24-bit/96kHz audio for your high-end headphones. Still, you have to be very, very committed to pristine sound to spend this much on a new accessory instead of making do with the included USB-C dongle.
Jon Fingas11.13.2018
Essential is working to fix its sluggish touchscreens
The Essential Phone launched last August, but five months later, there are still some issues with the phone that remain unfixed. One of those is the lagging touch latency. If you have a PH-1, though, know that Essential hasn't forgotten about the problem and it's not just brushing it aside. As 9to5Google reports, during a recent Reddit AMA, Essential engineers said that they have dedicated resources specifically aimed at improving touch latency. "There are trade offs we are testing internally and our goal is to provide something in the 8.1 release we just need to make sure by fixing the jitter issue that we are not creating another problem," they said. "Sorry this is taking so long, we just want to get it right given how vocal our audience is."
Mallory Locklear01.18.2018
Essential Phone sends 360-degree live video to Facebook and YouTube
Essential has been racing to improve the (frankly lackluster) camera software on its phone ever since launch, and now those upgrades are showering affection on the handset's signature 360 Camera attachment. Andy Rubin's outfit is delivering an update that adds streaming live 360-degree video to both Facebook Live and YouTube Live. In other words, that add-on just became much more useful -- you can broadcast your adventures in a VR-friendly format just by clipping a camera to your phone.
Jon Fingas12.08.2017
The best phones under $500
Phone makers are trying to outdo one another by racing to add new, advanced features to their flagships, but these tools are not equally useful. Who really needs Face ID, Animoji or eye-sensing authentication? Some of us just want a good, no-frills phone. Plus, not everyone can or wants to spend almost a thousand dollars on something we'll trade in after two years. For these people, there's a range of options from truly basic sub-$250 phones to more powerful mid-range devices that can be had for less than $500. The latter group is better described as aggressively priced flagships that can serve you almost as well as their costlier counterparts -- and there's now a decent selection to consider.
Cherlynn Low11.17.2017
Essential cuts the price of its phone to $499
It's no secret that the Essential Phone isn't a hot seller. Whether or not you believe the sales estimates, it's difficult to move large volumes of a $699 phone with limited carrier deals (in the US, only Sprint) and no brand recognition outside of smartphone enthusiasts. And Essential knows it -- Andy Rubin's outfit has dropped the price of the phone to $499 several weeks after its late August launch. If you're an early adopter who already has an Essential Phone, you'll get a $200 "friends and family" code that you can use at the official store to buy a 360-degree camera or get credit toward another phone.
Jon Fingas10.22.2017
Now Essential's Android phone will work on Verizon too
Despite being a retail exclusive at Sprint, the Essential PH-1 has arrived as an unlocked device. However, as mobile fans are unfortunately familiar with, certification with one particular network is always tricky. Tonight Essential announced that its flagship phone is compatible with the Verizon network, just a day after it went on sale in Sprint stores, so owners can drop a SIM in and go on all of the major US carriers. According to Andy Rubin, devices may need to reboot first, but that's it.
Richard Lawler09.15.2017
Essential Phone goes on sale in Sprint stores September 14th
Sprint stores opened up preorders for the Essential PH-1 last month. Given it's the exclusive carrier for the smartphone, Sprint is the only choice for those opting for contract deals instead of paying full price for an unlocked device. If you didn't buy early, don't worry: You can purchase the PH-1 from the carrier at its stores, online or by phone tomorrow.
David Lumb09.13.2017
Don't even try to repair the Essential Phone
The Essential PH-1 (aka Essential Phone) is designed to withstand dents and scratches, but what happens if something breaks on the inside? You can forget about fixing it yourself, apparently. The DIY repair crew at iFixit has torn down Essential's handset, and it's obvious that you're not meant to poke around inside. For one thing, iFixit had to freeze the phone (and break the LCD) just to get inside -- and even then, it still had to get past a mid-frame shield. The USB-C port is soldered on to motherboard, and the abundance of adhesives makes it likely that you'll break something if you somehow didn't wreck the screen going in.
Jon Fingas09.05.2017
Essential PH-1 review: A beautiful blank slate
Andy Rubin was disillusioned. He helped build the Android operating system. He watched as Google acquired the company, and he steered development on the mobile OS for years after that. And somewhere along the way, he grew a little weary of how the smartphone market worked. To hear him tell it, the mobile industry prioritized iteration over innovation, to the point where it centered itself around only two companies: Apple and Samsung. Convinced that Apple's premium phone business model would work for a startup, Rubin set about building his own phone, and here we are. That startup, Essential, offers its new PH-1 as a remedy to the industry's ills. It's a premium smartphone with an impeccable pedigree that embodies progress and choice and openness. That was the idea, anyway. Here's the thing about lofty goals though: You're almost never going to achieve them in one shot. And really, that's the Essential PH-1 in a nutshell. It's an exceptionally crafted device and a stunning first effort from a company that didn't exist 18 months ago. While the PH-1 stands as a testament to Rubin's vision, a few shortcomings keep it from being as truly great as promised.
Chris Velazco08.24.2017
Essential’s exclusivity deal with Sprint might not be so bad
Few Android phones have generated the enthusiasm that Essential's PH-1 has. If you haven't been keeping up, it's a very pretty, surprisingly clever smartphone from Andy Rubin, one of the men responsible for unleashing Android upon the world. On the flip side, few US wireless carriers have fared as poorly as Sprint. In terms of subscribers, it's in last place out of the Big Four. So, it was a surprise for these two companies come together to cook up an exclusivity deal of sorts: Sprint gets to be the exclusive US carrier for the PH-1, leaving Essential to sell unlocked models to everyone else.
Chris Velazco06.14.2017