Earlier this year, Android co-founder Andy Rubin has announced that he would embark on a new project, hence the birth of his company, Essential. Over the last couple of months, we have received a decent shower of rumors, along with a teaser or two suggesting that the Essential Phone will feature a near bezel-less display. That particular claim has been spot on as the Essential Phone has gone official just hours ago.
By the looks of it, the Essential Phone can well be a competitor to the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and the LG G6 with its beautiful front panel. Above the display, you’ll find extremely minimal bezels apart from the selfie camera sitting at the middle. The 19:10 aspect ratio display measures at a sizable 5.71-inches, in a near QHD resolution. The company took the initiative to have the Essential Phone made out of titanium and ceramic materials, making it extra hardy than the rest of the competition.
Essential seems to have went all out for the phone’s internals as well – a Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage and a 3,040mAh battery. The phone is to be charged via the USB Type-C port, but one possible caveat to some is that it does not have a 3.5 mm headphone jack. It will however, come with an adapter out of the box.
The camera department shows no lack of focus as well, featuring a 13MP + 13MP dual camera configuration. Like Huawei’s Leica camera smartphones, the Essential Phone has one RGB sensor and one monochrome sensor, with an aperture of F/1.85. The front facing camera is of 8 megapixels which is capable of 4K video as well.
Another specialty of the Essential Phone is that it is modular. The two metal pins at the back serve as connectors for the phone’s modular accessories. Essential has since unveiled a 360-degree camera, plus a charging dock.
The Essential Phone will be available in four color options – Back Moon, Stellar Grey, Pure White and Ocean Depths. The release date has not been revealed just yet but the price has been set at $699 (RM2,993.47). Sounds like a great success for a first attempt on a smartphone. What do you think?
