Essential Phone
The Essential Phone (officially Phone or PH-1) is a discontinued Android smartphone designed by Android co-founder Andy Rubin, and manufactured, developed and marketed by Essential Products. The phone was announced on May 30, 2017 and released on August 17, 2017.
| Developer | Essential Products |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Essential Products |
| Slogan | Free Yourself |
| Compatible networks | UMTS/HSPA+: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz CDMA EV-DO Rev. A: 0, 1, 10 LTE-FDD: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 17, 20, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 66 LTE-TDD: 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 TD-SCDMA: 34, 39 |
| Availability by region | August 25, 2017 Late 2017 April 27, 2018 |
| Successor | Essential PH-2 (Cancelled) |
| Type | Smartphone |
| Form factor | Slate |
| Dimensions | 141.5 mm (5.57 in) H 71.1 mm (2.80 in) W 7.8 mm (0.31 in) D |
| Mass | 185 g (6.5 oz) |
| Operating system | Original: Android 7.1.1 "Nougat" Current: Android 10 |
| System-on-chip | Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 |
| CPU | Octa-core (4x2.32 GHz & 4x1.9 GHz) Kryo 280 |
| GPU | Adreno 540 |
| Memory | 4 GB RAM |
| Storage | 128 GB UFS 2.1 |
| Battery | 3,040 mAh, not user-replaceable |
| Display | 5.71 inches (14.5 cm) 2560 x 1312 QHD, 500 cd/m² brightness, 19.5:10 aspect ratio |
| Rear camera | 13 MP dual RGB + monochrome cameras each with f/1.85 lens, hybrid autofocus combining contrast, phase detect and IR laser, video at 4K 30fps, 1080p 60fps or 720p 120fps |
| Front camera | 8 MP resolution with 16:9 aspect ratio, f/2.2 fixed hyperfocal lens, video at 4K 30fps, 1080p 60fps or 720p 120fps |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5 LE Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac with MIMO NFC, GPS and GLONASS USB-C |
| Other | Titanium body Ceramic back Corning Gorilla Glass 5 cover glass Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner Modular pogo pins that transmit power for accessories connected over Wireless USB |
| Website | essential |
| References | |
The Essential Phone has a titanium and ceramic body, an edge-to-edge display protected by Gorilla Glass 5, and two rear cameras, one of which is dedicated to black-and-white photography. Accompanying the phone is a 360-degree camera that can be attached to the top of the device. It was notably also the first mainstream smartphone to feature a "notch" (the cut-out at the top of the display to accommodate a front-facing camera), which would eventually become a trend in the industry. On December 28, 2018, Essential announced to media outlets that they would discontinue the Essential PH-1.
On February 12, 2020, the company announced they will be winding down with no further updates to the PH-1.