The Essential Phone is official:

I'm gonna fire off an email to Andy Rubin saying if they have some Essential Phones just laying around my wife and I could put them to better use than gathering dust in a warehouse or closet someplace. :D
 
Will the company even be around long enough to provide the 8.0 update? What about a 9.0 update? I'm guessing these will be $300 through overstock warehouses on ebay in 6 months
 
Phone just dropped to $499 WOW

Ok, for that price, and the software improvements they are releasing monthly, especially the stuff coming in November and December supposed to really iron out the bugs, this is looking like quite the buy. Heck, you can buy both the Black Essential phone AND the White Essential phone, for almost the same price as just ONE Pixel 2 XL 128GB. I'd take 2 Essential phones over one 2 XL any day.
 
As much as I can't stand that top camera notch in the screen, with that price drop, the PH-1 really is quite the value proposition over the Pixel 2 lineup for people who like the "stock Android" experience.

Both have no microSD slot, 128 GB of internal UFS NAND, a sealed battery and no headphone jack, though the PH-1 is slated to get a clip-on DAC with jack later.

The PH-1 is even confirmed to have a USB 3.0 controller in an iFixit teardown, so there's no concerns about its USB-C port being gimped speed-wise.

And as for software, well, let this sink in for a moment: Essential's offering is more stock than Google's. Ever since the latter displaced the Nexus in favor of the new Pixel brand, they've jacked up prices and set themselves apart with closed-source additions that don't get backported to AOSP - which is largely what the other OEMs do. They just update a lot faster.

What remains to be seen is if the PH-1 ever gets a significant dev scene on XDA-developers or not. I don't know if the bootloader's locked or unlockable, but if it's the latter, then it doesn't really matter if the OEM drops the ball on updates so long as there's at least one maintainer in the world updating with every new AOSP commit.
 
Let me know when it hits $349 and then I'll laugh even harder. :D
 
At $499 I look at the 128GB Essential phone as the next gen true successor to the Nexus 6P, and I am going to buy it this week. The Pixel 2 XL @ $950 is nearly double the price, and absolutely insanely overpriced for what you get compared to the Essential. They share nearly the same hardware, except the water resistance, and the 2 XL being larger of course with bigger battery. But the build quality on the Essential is supposed to be like best ever for Android phones.

And I dare say the Essential OS is AOSP, and seems almost more pure Android than where Google is taking these Pixel phones, if you get my understanding. The Pixel line sort of forked off a little different, than where the Nexus phones were going, and Essential is more back to that version of pure Android.
 
They're all insanely overpriced if you get down to the nitty gritty but that's another thread altogether. If it's what you're looking for then by all means, toss that cash their way 'cause that company ain't gonna last.

And yes I'm aware that Andy Rubin said flat out they know this first phone is going to be nothing more than a loss-leader for future products and they're OK with that happening, they've pretty much banked the future of the company on it being a failure overall so, as long as they keep dropping the price they're on track for whatever level of success are using as a measuring stick I suppose.
 
Anybody that bought an Essential PH-1 before October 22 is eligible for a $200 Friends & Family coupon which is good for another phone or accessories from Essential.

If you can get your hands on one of those coupons it would bring the price down to $300.

Screw job for the early adopters but isn't that always the case.
 
Anyone [H]ere bought or used an Essential, yet? After returning a phone I was really psyched up for (Pixel 2 XL), I'm usually a little cautious about buying another right away.
 
I have not but from reviews Essential brings back memories of OnePlus One where you get a lot of phone for the money.

Except in this case Essential has an awesome build but questionable software. OnePlus One had great software but questionable build. Both have less than stellar cameras.

Since the software makes or breaks a phone for me, I really have a hard time taking a leap on Essential based on issues that users report about stuttering, lack of ability to make a phone call, camera being slow and sub par results, etc.

Seems like they have assembled a good team and have financing so it may be good to wait for their next phone after they learn from the mistakes with the PH -1.

I would be interested in hearing from users here as well as to what their experiences have been.
 
I am going to wait for root and custom ROM's. They said the source images will be released soon. XDA developers said they are ready to get this phone going. I would bet a good ROM on this phone would make it much smoother and ncier.

Plus Essential themselves do AMA's twice a month, and last week said some big updates coming in November and December, with Novembers being about fixing the lag issues, they said is a Qualcomm issue they're both working on together, and that it will be fixed, and this phone will be as smooth as a Pixel 2 when they are done in the next month or two at the most, and this was said October 18th. And December they release the Oreo beta, with extra features, and performance upgrades.
 
Maybe people should buy one at $499, get the discount code, buy a second one at $299, then after they receive the $499 one find something to dislike about it and return the one they paid $499 for, that would make it about right. ;)
 
Tiberian said:
Maybe people should buy one at $499, get the discount code, buy a second one at $299, then after they receive the $499 one find something to dislike about it and return the one they paid $499 for, that would make it about right. ;)
Click to expand...

Code is only available to those who bought the Essential prior to the price drop on October 22
 
Not surprised if Black Friday sale will drop the price to $349. What I don't get if why people are laughing at the sell numbers; they're not even trying to sell or make money! They said that from the beginning. Whether that's just to get their brand out or they're going for something else altogether is beyond me.
 
CHANG3D said:
Not surprised if Black Friday sale will drop the price to $349. What I don't get if why people are laughing at the sell numbers; they're not even trying to sell or make money! They said that from the beginning. Whether that's just to get their brand out or they're going for something else altogether is beyond me.
Click to expand...

Andy Rubin may be struggling with his first phone but the dude knows how to use other people's money to do it.

I don't know if this is still the case as this article was from August before they even shipped a phone but he has been able to get some big time money from big time backers.

Andy Rubin’s Essential is now valued at over a billion dollars without shipping a single phone

It’s a unicorn now

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th...phone-valuation-billion-dollars-unicorn-value
 
radeon962 said:
Andy Rubin may be struggling with his first phone but the dude knows how to use other people's money to do it.

I don't know if this is still the case as this article was from August before they even shipped a phone but he has been able to get some big time money from big time backers.

Andy Rubin’s Essential is now valued at over a billion dollars without shipping a single phone

It’s a unicorn now

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th...phone-valuation-billion-dollars-unicorn-value
Click to expand...
Only in America! :whistle::rolleyes:
 
radeon962 said:
Andy Rubin may be struggling with his first phone but the dude knows how to use other people's money to do it.

I don't know if this is still the case as this article was from August before they even shipped a phone but he has been able to get some big time money from big time backers.

Andy Rubin’s Essential is now valued at over a billion dollars without shipping a single phone

It’s a unicorn now

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th...phone-valuation-billion-dollars-unicorn-value
Click to expand...

I don't think the huge amount of funding is entirely unwarranted. It's really, really hard to break into the smartphone market -- even Google isn't making Apple and Samsung sweat bullets yet. You need that kind of money both to make hardware worthy of competition and have a safety net while you iterate and try to build your brand.
 
Ok, so want a new phone coming from my current Nexus 6P, which I love, but battery issues, and the speakers have gotten bad, so need a new phone in the next month or so. I originally liked the Pixel 2 XL, but for $950 for the 128GB version, I find that outrageous, especially with the poor bad displays most are shipping with, and news today they are failing Quality Control tests from Google too now. I paid $499 for my 64GB Nexus 6P brand new from Google, to me the Pixel 2 XL is what a Nexus 8P could have been, and would have priced like $599 or so. Out of principle I won't give Google the cash for a Pixel. But let's not go there with this discussion.

- Essential @ $499 ( root and ROM's supposedly should start coming in November )

- OnePlus 5T @ ? $550 ? ( 6" display, fingerprint scanner on the rear, 18:9 aspect ratio. Officially announcement due soon )

I want a stock Android type OS, with good battery life, that will get me 6h Screen On time or more. I want a bright display, and smooth OS. I always root my phones, and maybe a custom ROM too. And I want the price under $600. So Essential or OnePlus 5T ?
 
You forgot that the OnePlus 5T comes with free spying and free diy support service. So if the screen is bad cause it's most likely the same POLED from LG, you can't return it.
 
Little worried buying one from Best Buy, scared it may be old original manufactured units, and the ones bought directly from Essential themselves would be newer manufactured phones, with fixes ?
 
Zorachus said:
Little worried buying one from Best Buy, scared it may be old original manufactured units, and the ones bought directly from Essential themselves would be newer manufactured phones, with fixes ?
Click to expand...

If you are buying new, I would buy direct from Essential. Sounds like they have taken care of customer issues pretty well for those that have had them. Best Buy is always questionable.
 
Zorachus said:
Ok, so want a new phone coming from my current Nexus 6P, which I love, but battery issues, and the speakers have gotten bad, so need a new phone in the next month or so. I originally liked the Pixel 2 XL, but for $950 for the 128GB version, I find that outrageous, especially with the poor bad displays most are shipping with, and news today they are failing Quality Control tests from Google too now. I paid $499 for my 64GB Nexus 6P brand new from Google, to me the Pixel 2 XL is what a Nexus 8P could have been, and would have priced like $599 or so. Out of principle I won't give Google the cash for a Pixel. But let's not go there with this discussion.

- Essential @ $499 ( root and ROM's supposedly should start coming in November )

- OnePlus 5T @ ? $550 ? ( 6" display, fingerprint scanner on the rear, 18:9 aspect ratio. Officially announcement due soon )

I want a stock Android type OS, with good battery life, that will get me 6h Screen On time or more. I want a bright display, and smooth OS. I always root my phones, and maybe a custom ROM too. And I want the price under $600. So Essential or OnePlus 5T ?
Click to expand...
FWIW, a "OnePlus 5T" is available for pre-order from Oppomart.

https://www.oppomart.com/oneplus/op5t/oneplus-5t.html
 
I want to see what Razer/Nextbit has for us. And I would trust Razer/Nextbit on giving us support over OnePlus, mostly because Nextbit supported the Nextbit Robin very well. Essential being sort transparent on Reddit is good too. Too many bad service history from OnePlus and their historical lack of support make me not trust in OnePlus, unless the phone is free.
 
https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=8710&idPhone2=8858

Essential PH-1 = 141.5 x 71.1 x 7.8 mm
iPhone X = 143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7 mm

I think the best of both worlds if you could afford it, would be to own both the Essential phone, and the iPhone X. Size wise they couldn't be any closer, they are nearly identical in size within a millimeter or so. With 5.7" and 5.8" screens respectively. So would be cool to have two extremely similar full screen devices, but with both OS's to switch back and forth on.

The Essential phone is a great stock Android type phone for a budget price of $499, and the latest update this week, really smoothed out performance per real reviews, and people saying each update every two weeks have been really turning this phone around, to be a better performer than when it first launched. And Oreo is due in December with a dark mode settings too, and even more bug fixes, etc...
 
Time for the biweekly AMA. I am liking their open transparent discussion with public;

 
Was really pumped for this phone, and the $499 price drop, now $449, brought me into Worst Buy I mean Best Buy to get a hands on. And...it felt sort of cheap, the vibration motor was wonky, the screen washed out and dull, and it just seemed weird in the hand. The bezeless display looked strange, almost like someone cut the top part of the phone off, it didn't look bad, but not as bad ass cool as I was expecting.

And then the white elephant in the room. OnePlus 5T coming in two weeks, for supposedly a $499 price tag with a 6" display, huge battery, and their Oxygen OS is pretty damn good today, with amazing battery life. I'd still take a OnePlus 5 today over the Essential phone, and absolutely take a 5T over the PH-1.

The Essential doesn't even have root yet, and zero ROM's because they haven't released the source images yet. WTF ? Whereas a OnePlus phone has root almost right away, and good ROM's pretty quickly after release.
 
Zorachus said:
Ok, so want a new phone coming from my current Nexus 6P, which I love, but battery issues, and the speakers have gotten bad, so need a new phone in the next month or so. I originally liked the Pixel 2 XL, but for $950 for the 128GB version, I find that outrageous, especially with the poor bad displays most are shipping with, and news today they are failing Quality Control tests from Google too now. I paid $499 for my 64GB Nexus 6P brand new from Google, to me the Pixel 2 XL is what a Nexus 8P could have been, and would have priced like $599 or so. Out of principle I won't give Google the cash for a Pixel. But let's not go there with this discussion.

- Essential @ $499 ( root and ROM's supposedly should start coming in November )

- OnePlus 5T @ ? $550 ? ( 6" display, fingerprint scanner on the rear, 18:9 aspect ratio. Officially announcement due soon )

I want a stock Android type OS, with good battery life, that will get me 6h Screen On time or more. I want a bright display, and smooth OS. I always root my phones, and maybe a custom ROM too. And I want the price under $600. So Essential or OnePlus 5T ?
Click to expand...

I'd vote OnePlus 5T. I may be buying one, got my family off Verizon onto T-Mobile this weekend.
 
Honestly, while the price cut on the Essential PH-1 was a good move, the sudden arrival of the OnePlus 5T and the Razer Phone (even if that one's $700) have effectively put a big dent into the PH-1's value proposition, to say nothing of the more expensive flagships. Neither of them have unsightly camera cutouts in the screen, either.

Heck, it looks like OnePlus is bringing back the headphone jack with the 5T, which by itself is enough reason to consider it over certain flagships twice the price. Just gotta wait and see if they fixed those "jelly scrolling" issues, or the complaints about a substandard camera2 API implementation that I've heard about over on XDA-developers.
 
OnePlus 5T could be the real deal this year. I hope it has the large battery rumored.
 
The camera has been the Achilles Heel for OnePlus since the One. They have had good hardware but have never figured out the software/processing end.

Wonder if the 5T will finally be a breakthrough for them regarding the camera. I'm not going to hold my breath as the #HYPE is always there so I don't believe much of anything that they say.
 
Zorachus said:
This video got me really thinking about getting the Essential;
Click to expand...

I thought you just got done saying you were at BB and didn't like it. I had it in my cart for $399 with a $50 cricket wireless startup kit, but couldn't pull the trigger. Still rocking my Pixel 1 (non-XL).
 
radeon962 said:
The camera has been the Achilles Heel for OnePlus since the One. They have had good hardware but have never figured out the software/processing end.

Wonder if the 5T will finally be a breakthrough for them regarding the camera. I'm not going to hold my breath as the #HYPE is always there so I don't believe much of anything that they say.
Click to expand...
I think the only "breakthrough" will be the screen. Looks like most everything else will be the same as the 5.
 
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