Essential phone

vofzxy

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https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/30/essential-phone-andy-rubin-android/

This is Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone
Android's creator is ready to crash the Samsung-Apple party.

After months of teases and speculation, Android creator Andy Rubin has unveiled the first smartphone by his new company, Essential. As expected, it's designed to be a no-compromise device with top-of-the-line specs and sophisticated industrial design. Taking center stage is an edge-to-edge display that rises to the top of the phone, stopping only for the front-facing camera in the middle. The device is made of titanium and ceramic, which the company claims will trump most aluminium phones in the durability department. It's a sleek look complimented by a complete lack of logos.

Inside is the usual flagship Android components: A Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 3040mAh battery and 128GB of internal storage. More intriguing are the two holes on the back which can be used to attach Essential-made accessories. The most exciting is a tiny 360-degree camera, which can shoot a spherical UHD (3840x1920) image at 30 frames per second. There will also be a charging dock, should you prefer a cradle to the normal dangling cable. The general concept is similar to Motorola's Moto Mods, which brought modular customisation to the Moto Z line.

The Essential Phone's built-in camera is, at least on paper, promising too. Rubin's company has opted for a dual-camera setup similar to Huawei's P9 and P10, with a sensor dedicated to monochrome imaging. It can be used standalone for black and white photos, or combined with the color sensor for improved detail and low-light performance. The front-facing camera, meanwhile, is an 8-megapixel snapper capable of shooting 4K video.

Essential has said little about the software other than it will run Android Nougat 7.1.1 out of the box. Screenshots show a clean, stock-like experience, but we can't say definitively that there isn't any bloatware hiding in the app drawer. What we do know is that the phone is designed to work with Home, a smart home device that runs on a platform called Ambient OS. It has a large, circular display and a speaker, which can help you play music, look up information online, set timers and everything else we've come to expect from Echo-like assistants and hardware.

As The Verge reports, there's no 3.5mm headphone jack (yep, we're groaning too) on the phone. It'll ship with a dongle, however, so all of your regular buds and cans will work, provided you're ready to embrace the #donglelife. Instead, Essential is banking on USB-C and, like Apple, Bluetooth connectivity. The phone will come in four different colors — Black Moon, Stellar Grey, Pure White and Ocean Depths — and ship for $699, or $749 with a bundled 360-degree camera. You can pre-order today but there's no word on when the phone will ship or otherwise be on sale.
 

kennethtbh

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interested too but think the grey nicer. have to wait for it to be released. no 3.5mm jack is a bummer :/
 

Billy Law

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Look like Mi Mix design, probably won't be available in SG. Should have come with at least 3500mAh. Missing 3.5mm audio jack, no MicroSD card slot and no Dual SIM either. Too bad.
 
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garychengjw

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the lack of 3.5mm jack and assuming lack of certain bands in singapore.
wonder the os is near stock android? since it from grandfather of android. :s13:
 

iguoh

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It sure looks interesting. It also looks unlikely it will be available here anytime soon. If it has local warranty I would surely be interested. It's frustrating that most of the stock like Android phones like Pixel, Oneplus are not available locally, officially that is.

Sent from HUAWEI MHA-L29 using GAGT
 

Billy Law

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Can anyone please enlighten me on what so special about this phone that make it stand out from other flagship phones because most if not all of the features we have seen on other phones before.
 
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ahhian

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Why did they make it so small. With edge to edge, they should make it BIG :)
 

garychengjw

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i still don't find this phone any interesting to pick up.

1 - super exp
2 - is this stock android like PIXEL?
3- design wise - no wow factor. its like g6 + mi mix = love child . :s13:
4 - lack of headphone jack.
5- 4gb ram. even xiaomi 6 has 6gb ram and its cheaper.

with the the upcoming OP5 and Pixel 2, this phone might goes behind the scene.
 
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batboyz

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batboyz

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stock android like google pixel?
or there's layer of customization?

He just mentioned "stock" android, but obviously, e.g., something like the camera will be their own app, not Google camera. In terms of UI, I believe they won't implement a custom skin. It really depends how one define "stock" android though. Having said that, he explicitly mentioned no bloatwares, so most likely it will be aiming to be Pixel-like.
 
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