The Essential Phone - Yay or Nay?

[mxmarcus]

Few questions:
1 Will it support Google Daydeam?
2. Does it come with headset like iPhone?

Just curious

 

[Law2138]

So is this basically a Pixel with a signature front facing camera, dual cameras, reduced bezel and mod compatible?

Near stock Android
Minimal IP rating
Internal storage only

I'm curious as to what kind of modules will make this device stand out from the pack.

 

[Bl00dRunzC0ld]

But but but Andy Rubin!

Who founded Danger and Android. I'm willing to take a chance, look at how well Pete Lau and Carl Pei did with OnePlus.

 

[anon(9072051)]

Internal storage only

I'm curious as to what kind of modules will make this device stand out from the pack.

Rubin implied last night that an external storage add-on could be possible using the magnetic pins on the back of the phone. May have just been a quick example, but since he also said that he'd have to come up with the first five or six add-ons in order to encourage other developers, it could be something he's working on, too.

 

[Stanley Kubrick]

so when you make a phone call where does the sound come from? Where is the top speaker?

 

[anon(9072051)]

so when you make a phone call where does the sound come from? Where is the top speaker?

There seems to be a thin grille or gap at the very top middle of the phone's face.

 

[LuxuryTouringZone]

Nay! The front camera placement is ridiculous and it's missing too many "essential" features.

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Few questions:
1 Will it support Google Daydeam?
2. Does it come with headset like iPhone?

Just curious

Likely no for Daydream since it uses an IPS panel.

 

[Ry]

Essential. Just the essentials.

 

[ZayMoney]

Nay! The front camera placement is ridiculous and it's missing too many "essential" features.

i mean who really uses wireless charging? headphone jack is subjective. i never ever use it because i have bluetooth headphones and my car is bluetooth enabled. bluetooth has gotten so good that you cant even tell the difference in music quality between that and the 3.5 jack. water resistance is also subjective. i dont ever drop my phone in the water so i dont worry about it. i have seen first hand some of these water resistant phones get dropped in water and it ruins it so it doesnt guarantee your phone will be ok. i also have seen some iphone 6's get dropped and water and still work. it just all depends

 

[anon(9072051)]

i mean who really uses wireless charging?

Me. Every friggin day. But evidently so does Andy Rubin. The E phone has its own brand of wireless charging via its "unique Click cordless connector." Question is, how much are they gonna charge for the separate dock?

 

[ShamelessMT]

So is this basically a Pixel with a signature front facing camera, dual cameras, reduced bezel and mod compatible?

Near stock Android
Minimal IP rating
Internal storage only

The difference is also the cohesive design language and better materials. The Pixel is ugly, particularly the partial glass back. Personally, I refuse to have a phone in a case and the ugliness of the Pixel's back has kept me from purchasing it, as petty as that might be.

I've reserved one of each the black and white. We'll see which is available first...

 

[anon(10092459)]

The difference is also the cohesive design language and better materials. The Pixel is ugly, particularly the partial glass back. Personally, I refuse to have a phone in a case and the ugliness of the Pixel's back has kept me from purchasing it, as petty as that might be.

I've reserved one of each the black and white. We'll see which is available first...

Are you saying that widow's peak front facing camera isn't ugly? I mean, I get the whole Pixel back glass thing, but what do you look at the most..? The screen, right?

 

[ulnek]

Is it coming to Verizon? I would consider it if it was.

yes, it's going to work on verizon. that's why i'm looking at it too

 

[ulnek]

if it matches or surpasses the s8 on camera performance and battery life is good then i'm going for this phone. s8 would have been my phone had it been flat and not with that annoying edge screen.

 

[ShamelessMT]

Are you saying that widow's peak front facing camera isn't ugly? I mean, I get the whole Pixel back glass thing, but what do you look at the most..? The screen, right?

I don't have that much issue with that. It's a little weird, but the reasoning makes sense. It's primary usage is for the notification bar, which I rarely look at anyway. I imagine any full screen app will turn that strip off, since it's outside the 16:9 portion of the screen, so it will typically just be a black glass strip with a dot in the middle. I don't think it will be all that noticeable in actual day to day use.

 

[SZQnl]

Um, have you seen the LG G6?

Yeah, I was quite impressed with the LG G6 when it launched. My old LG G2 is still my favourite phone due to its compactness. No other phone has come close to that.

This Essential phone is almost a whole cm shorter than the G6 with the same display size. I currently have the Xiaomi Mi 5, great phone for the money. The G6 didn't make sense as it's not much of an upgrade. Actually, the Essential phone is shorter than the Mi 5 with its 5.15" display!

The Essential phone is on my list but will wait for in-hand reviews first before considering it. Too many uknowns at the moment. I said it was expensive in my last post and it is but actually I didn't take into account the standard 128GB storage. That's worth a bit.

 

[buzzard75]

Yeah, I was quite impressed with the LG G6 when it launched. My old LG G2 is still my favourite phone due to its compactness. No other phone has come close to that.

This Essential phone is almost a whole cm shorter than the G6 with the same display size. I currently have the Xiaomi Mi 5, great phone for the money. The G6 didn't make sense as it's not much of an upgrade. Actually, the Essential phone is shorter than the Mi 5 with its 5.15" display!

The Essential phone is on my list but will wait for in-hand reviews first before considering it. Too many uknowns at the moment. I said it was expensive in my last post and it is but actually I didn't take into account the standard 128GB storage. That's worth a bit.

So the display is 5.71" at 19:10 when the full screen is in use. I wonder how big it will be when they cut off that little sliver and how it compares to other phones. It's shorter and narrower with a larger display than an iPhone 7 Plus, an LG G6, and Pixel XL. Cut off that little sliver and I imagine the display will be approximately the same size as some of those. I did go ahead and reserve one before any real reviews have been released. I was told in an email response that I could cancel my reservation or refuse payment when the device was available if I decided I didn't want it. As for the price, given the specs compared to the GS8 and GS8+, the current Android flagship leader, it's in the right ballpark. And that's to say nothing of the use of titanium which isn't cheap or the use of ceramic for the back that has to be manufactured using special techniques to get the correct thickness and other dimensions.

Other than hardware improvements and upgrades, I think it will be a while yet before we see anything truly innovative from a features and form factor front that will change the landscape of mobile telephony devices.

 

[scottysize]

I will be either looking at the teal version of this or an iPhone 8. I'll wait a few months and see which one I have to have. I'll get one of them.

 

[ChuckG73]

The only issue I see for me is it's not waterproof and it will not be a big enough seller for LifeProof to design a case. Also a case would interfere with the port on the back.