While Essential might not be doing too hot in sales, the company is rivaling Google for the crown when it comes to updates. Just an hour after Google, the startup is already rolling out two new updates for Essential Phone owners.
One of the biggest deal breakers with the Essential Phone at launch was its poor camera performance. Over the phone’s lifecycle, though, Essential has made it a point to improve that in updates. Today, yet another update is rolling out.
The third Android P Developer Preview started rolling out to Pixel devices today with the final APIs, SDK, and Play Store publishing. Now, not even a day later, Essential has announced that this build of Android P will be making its way to the Phone with a handful of bug fixes.
The Essential PH-1 was one of the devices I really wanted to love last year, but it fell flat at launch leading to massive price cuts and a lot of updates to try and fix the issues. Now, it’s a pretty solid device.
Lately, the company’s outlook has taken a turn for the worse with reports of the company being in trouble and considering sale. Despite that, though, Essential is sticking to its guns when it comes to updates.
Essential, a company created by the co-founder of Android, Andy Rubin, wanted to create not only a phone but also an ecosystem that would best any smartphone manufacturer out there. Unfortunately, likely due to poor sales, a report has emerged that states the second-generation Essential Phone has been canceled and the company might be up for sale.
Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone wasn’t the hit many hoped it would be, but it brought a lot of good things to the table. One of those good things, however, definitely wasn’t the camera. At launch, the camera was pretty bad, but Essential has made it much better through updates, and now another update is working on capture speed.
The “notch” is a controversial topic for the Android world. Some absolutely hate it, others don’t, but we’re all clear on one thing — it’s not something we necessarily want to have on our phones. At MWC 2018 this past week, Vivo showed off a device that managed to avoid a notch, but still offer the sensors one would typically hold. As it turns out, Essential was actually the first company who was working on that same idea, though…
The Essential Phone’s camera has seen a lot of updates since its debut, and aside from improving the quality, it’s added a lot of features as well. Now, in the latest update, Essential has added two new features.
The Essential Phone is one of the best looking phones on the market today, and now it’s launching three stunning new limited edition color variants.
When the Essential Phone was launched, we got a look at three different color options: black, white, and teal. At long last, it appears as though Essential will be launching the ‘Ocean Depth’ variant on February 15…
This morning, news broke that Andy Rubin, founder of Essential, would be taking a personal leave of absence from the company following a report about misconduct while at Google. Despite this news, Essential went ahead with its bi-weekly Reddit AMA and announced several new updates coming to the Phone and future development…
Andy Rubin, most notably known for being the co-creator of Android, made headlines back in 2013 when he left the mobile OS project as well as when he left Google entirely in 2014. While most have believed he left to start other ventures such as Essential, according to a report from The Information, Rubin departed from the search giant shortly after an internal investigation found evidence of him maintaining an “inappropriate relationship” with a female employee who worked for him…
Even though Oreo has barely taken a hold in the latest distribution numbers, that doesn’t mean companies aren’t working hard to upgrade flagships to the newest version of Android. Earlier this month, Samsung announced that users could beta test Oreo on the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Now, Essential is doing the same by providing an early beta build of Oreo for its handset…
In the world of Google, it was huge news when Andy Rubin, the co-founder of Android, announced that his new startup was going to be releasing a near-stock Android smartphone. While in our review we found its hardware to be fantastic, the poor camera performance really made it hard to recommend the $700 smartphone to most consumers. Essential seems to have heard these complaints and has lowered the Phone’s price tag down to $499 permanently…
One of Essential’s big bets with the Essential Phone and its upcoming products are modular accessories that work through a new wireless connector. A Silicon Valley company is now alleging (via Reuters) that the Andy Rubin startup stole trade secrets related to the connector without proper compensation.
While the Essential Phone began shipping to those who pre-ordered directly last month, Andy Rubin’s new device only arrived at Sprint in mid-September. As the exclusive US partner, the Essential Phone has “very prominent” placement at the carrier locations. However, despite this advertising, one research firm estimates that only 5,000 Essential Phones have been sold by Sprint.
The Essential Phone is all about keeping true to the company’s name by shipping with only the essentials. This means that the version of Android that ships with the handset is more stock than the build that runs on the Google Pixels.
Do you think Essential should have added more features to the Phone?
Nine times out of ten, new smartphone startups fail, and there’s a reason for that. Making it in this industry is incredibly difficult, especially when you’re aiming for the higher price points. Essential has pulled out all the stops with its very first product, the Essential Phone, and thanks to that it’s playing directly against phones like the Pixel, Galaxy Note 8, LG G6 and V30, as well as the iPhone.
How does it hold up? That’s a mixed bag. There are a lot of good things about the Essential Phone, but also a lot of bad. So, let’s take a closer look.
Starting a new company from the ground up is anything but easy, and Andy Rubin has quickly been learning that with Essential. A recent customer service error revealed personal customer info to other buyers, Verizon compatibility is still shaky, and the dual-cameras leave a lot to be desired. However, despite these woes, the Essential Phone is now arriving on buyers’ doorsteps.
[Update] 4:31 pm 8/30: Andy Rubin has posted a blog post to explain that the incident was not a phishing scam but was, in fact, a customer service error. The company has apologized to the customers who were affected and have provided them with a year-long subscription to LifeLock.
If you placed an order for the Essential Phone, you might want to check your email. Someone is currently emailing customers asking for further verification before their order is shipped. If you did receive this email, do not respond and delete it…
When the initial Essential Phone reviews were published, there was a consensus that the handset’s weakest point was the camera. Once we got our hands on the phone, we had to agree with others were saying, especially with the camera’s low-light performance.
Do you still plan to purchase the Essential Phone despite its poor camera performance?
At the time of this article being published, Andy Rubin announced the Essential Phone exactly 87 days ago. Those 87 days have been far from perfect for Essential following shipment delays and executives jumping ship, but at long last, the company’s very first device, the Essential Phone, is shipping out to buyers.
We’ve now had the chance to go hands-on with two of this fall’s latest flagship smartphones: the Essential Phone and Samsung Galaxy Note 8. While one comes from a brand new company backed by Andy Rubin, the other is a part of a long-existing line of smartphones that have a loyal audience. Let’s see how the two compare…
