The Essential PH-1 smartphone, launched by the Essential startup created by Android co-founder Andy Rubin, is now available for pre-order.
For now, it is only available in the United States but it will probably not wait very long before seeing it land in France.
This high-end device is positioning itself as a competitor of the Apple iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S8. It costs $ 699 alone or $ 749 with its 360 ° camera and runs on Android.
Here's all you need to know about the Essential Phone.
The Essential works as a modular terminal that can be clipped to accessories.
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Essential
It has two magnetic connectors to which clips can be attached like the camera 360 ° which captures everything that surrounds the user. The other accessory available for now is the wireless dock to recharge the phone also to clip on the back of the smartphone.
It has an edge-to-edge screen and rounded corners.
Essential
The screen is so large that it extends from one edge to the other wrapping the camera selfie. In addition, for aesthetics, the corners are rounded. This large screen looks like the Galaxy S8 which also has thin borders. The Essential is equipped with a quad-HD screen, four times 720 pixels, which gives it a very good resolution.
This smartphone has a front camera of 8 megapixels ...
Essential
... and back two 13 megapixel cameras.
There are two cameras on the back of the Essential, one that captures in color and the other in black and white. The camera can use both cameras at the same time, which makes it possible to take better photos in reduced lighting.
It weighs 185 grams, more than the iPhone 7 or the Galaxy S8.
Essential
It is a relatively small smartphone: it is smaller than the Galaxy S8 in size but weighs heavier than the latter, which could be due to the use of ceramics as hardware. Here are the measurements and comparison with other high-end smartphones:
Essential PH-1: 141.5 x 71.1 x 7.8 mm, 185g
IPhone 7: 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm, 138g
IPhone 7 Plus: 158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm, 188g
Samsung Galaxy S8: 148.9 x 68.1 x 8 mm, 155g
Samsung Galaxy S8 +: 159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1 mm, 173g
The main materials used are titanium and ceramics.
The titanium used for the edges and the ceramic for the back of the smartphone make the Essential a phone believed to be strong and resistant, unlike most other smartphones made of aluminum. The glass screen is, for its part, well breakable, so it could break if you drop it.
The fingerprint sensor is located on the back of the smartphone.
Essential
It charges with a USB-C port.
Essential
The USB-C port recharges faster than if you recharge the Essential on the dock. It is not known whether he has a good autonomy. In addition, there is no headphone / headphone port but an adapter to the USB-C port that allows to connect its headphones or headset.
It is fast and powerful.
The Qualcomm processor, the latest from Snapdragon, makes it a fast and powerful smartphone with 4GB of RAM. It also has 128 GB of storage.
It comes in four colors and does not show a logo.
The ceramic back to a mirror finish. Essential
The Essential startup, in addition to its smartphone, planned to release a smart loudspeaker later in the year to compete with Amazon's Echo, Google Home and HomePod from Apple.