Essential Phone 2!

[Morty2264]

Android Authority had a video posted on Facebook today about upcoming and exciting phones of 2018 - and the next phone from Essential was on the list! According to the video, the phone may be getting a reconstruction to make it "able to compete" with smartphones in 2018.

What do you all hope for in the next Essential Phone? I'm super excited to see what Essential does next!

 

[anon(10268214)]

Android Authority had a video posted on Facebook today about upcoming and exciting phones of 2018 - and the next phone from Essential was on the list! According to the video, the phone may be getting a reconstruction to make it "able to compete" with smartphones in 2018.

What do you all hope for in the next Essential Phone? I'm super excited to see what Essential does next!

They should lose the magnetic accessory attachment, add a real headphone jack that supports HD audio, and waterproof it. Lose the extra rear camera, unless it's going to be used for something useful. Lastly...a better loudspeaker and redesign the earpiece. Otherwise it's a solid design. And don't mess with the build quality!

 

[Morty2264]

They should lose the magnetic accessory attachment, add a real headphone jack that supports HD audio, and waterproof it. Lose the extra rear camera, unless it's going to be used for something useful. Lastly...a better loudspeaker and redesign the earpiece. Otherwise it's a solid design. And don't mess with the build quality!

I too would love to see a headphone jack and waterproofing. And YES, please don't mess with the build quality, Essential!

 

[philesk]

Android Authority had a video posted on Facebook today about upcoming and exciting phones of 2018 - and the next phone from Essential was on the list! According to the video, the phone may be getting a reconstruction to make it "able to compete" with smartphones in 2018.

What do you all hope for in the next Essential Phone? I'm super excited to see what Essential does next!

The Essential 2 must have a better camera which has OIC and camera software that really works. Collaborate with Zeiss, Leica, Cannon or Nikon to get the camera hardware and software right. Waterproof and wireless fast charging. Put the finger print reader under the screen and have face unlock that actually works. If they want to charge over $900 & compete with Apple and Samsung they probably need to use the SD855 SOC, 8mb & 256gb and keep the existing build quality.

 

[anon(10268214)]

In the spirit of 'Essential' I think they should concentrate on a really effective point and shoot strategy, and lose the bells and whistles. The 360 camera is not a core necessity. Ditto for the monochrome sensor. Do one thing very well. A collaborative effort with Sony would be my preference...they seem to have nailed point and shoot sensors (especially for low light) better than anyone.

 

[SactoKingsFan]

I'd just like an updated version of the current phone with better camera + OIS, wireless charging and redesigned earpiece with metal cover. Maybe a dual speaker setup with higher quality bottom firing speaker and earpiece also used as loudspeaker. Adding an alert slider like on iPhones and OnePlus would be nice. Don't really care about headphone jack unless it includes HiFi DAC. They can keep the monochrome sensor, magnetic pins and general design.

 

[Morty2264]

I'd just like an updated version of the current phone with better camera + OIS, wireless charging and redesigned earpiece with metal cover. Maybe a dual speaker setup with higher quality bottom firing speaker and earpiece also used as loudspeaker. Adding an alert slider like on iPhones and OnePlus would be nice. Don't really care about headphone jack unless it includes HiFi DAC. They can keep the monochrome sensor, magnetic pins and general design.

Yes, an alert slider would be awesome!

 

[vamp07]

Oh God, for those of you that insist you want a headphone jack get something like a note 8 or any of the current phones that cater to the “I just can’t move on” crowd. You’re living in the past and every year that goes by it will become more apparent.

 

[anon(10268214)]

Oh God, for those of you that insist you want a headphone jack get something like a note 8 or any of the current phones that cater to the “I just can’t move on” crowd. You’re living in the past and every year that goes by it will become more apparent.

I call it living in the present...and in reality. Go and find a suitable wired set of headphones for your USB-C port device and get back to us on that one. And by that I mean ones that don't hiss or sound as scratchy as a vinyl record, or where the controls actually work.

Until they fix the fragmented disaster called USB-C, the 3.5mm output jack remains the only viable option for a wired audio output (I agree a good DAC is also a must). It will be a shame if Essential doesn't figure that out because a lot of potential customers are already passing on Essential for that very reason.

 

[bhatech]

My wish list:

1. Main thing is get the software, performance, scrolling, freezing issues etc ironed out at launch and provide a flawless experience like many other phones out of the door.

2. Camera performance, especially speed of capture and lowlight picture improvements.

3. Others, not much. They pretty much nailed with the hardware. So may be water resistant rating, wireless charging etc is a plus.

For me they will have a perfect phone if they can figure out the software issues. Yeah I know someone will say I don't have any freezing, scrolling, performance issues. Well great, but for me they are evident and there have been million articles, posts where people had this experience. So even if it's some percent of people, essential themselves acknowledged performance issues.

So my main wish list for PH-2 is more on the software performance side plus camera. If they can nail it, honestly this can be top contender for best phones of 2018. Though not expecting them to sell much without the useless carrier support where unfortunately people still buy from.

 

[SactoKingsFan]

I doubt the headphone jack will be one of the top priorities. Using a better camera with OIS, not releasing the phone several months before it's ready and keeping the price well below the original $700 will sell a lot more phones than a headphone jack.

 

[anon(10268214)]

I doubt the headphone jack will be one of the top priorities. Using a better camera with OIS, not releasing the phone several months before it's ready and keeping the price well below the original $700 will sell a lot more phones than a headphone jack.

I'm not expecting it's going to happen by any means...that would amount to Essential admittimg they messed up. Supposedly there is an audio jack accessory in the works for the PH-1 anyway. Its just hard to justify USB-C with a dongle as 'moving forward' when it comes to a suitable wired audio solution. It's much more a case of one step forward, two steps back IMO.

 

[vamp07]

They want to be forward thinking? Don’t even give me a usb-c port. Be the first phone to go all in on wireless charging. Use the extra space to give me more battery. Obviously better camera and water resistance.

 

[anon(9918034)]

They want to be forward thinking? Don’t even give me a usb-c port. Be the first phone to go all in on wireless charging. Use the extra space to give me more battery. Obviously better camera and water resistance.

Can't remove the USB-C, it is vital to getting to the core functions on the phone. With out a direct input there is no way to run the programs required to debug the software and test the software and anything else that involves getting the software on the device.

 

[vamp07]

Can't remove the USB-C, it is vital to getting to the core functions on the phone. With out a direct input there is no way to run the programs required to debug the software and test the software and anything else that involves getting the software on the device.

No. It can be done wirelessly.

 

[anon(9918034)]

No. It can be done wirelessly.

Take a phone that won't boot into the software which controls the wireless capabilities and reset it with out the ability to run code via a wireless connection because it's broken. When you can do that you will have solved that problem. There is no way to mod a software on a phone via a wireless connection.

 

[vamp07]

Take a phone that won't boot into the software which controls the wireless capabilities and reset it with out the ability to run code via a wireless connection because it's broken. When you can do that you will have solved that problem. There is no way to mod a software on a phone via a wireless connection.

Try thinking out of the box.

 

[anon(9918034)]

Try thinking out of the box.

Considering there is no wireless capabilities programmed into the Android sdk, why don't you explain how to use the debigfing features of adb and fastboot with out having a wire connection keeping in mind that all your antenna's for wifi and Bluetooth are all baked into the software not yet installed.

 

[anon(10268214)]

Considering there is no wireless capabilities programmed into the Android sdk, why don't you explain how to use the debigfing features of adb and fastboot with out having a wire connection keeping in mind that all your antenna's for wifi and Bluetooth are all baked into the software not yet installed.

And let's not forget security considerations...

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Let me be honest here.

The Essential Phone 2017 started out as a bit of a mess. Missed deadlines, broken software and a camera that had potential but ruined by crap software. It had supremely exquisite hardware but its issues at launch made its price tag hard to swallow.

Things have changed a bit now after countless software updates and a new price tag. It's still not what I'd call supremely great but it's significantly better than it was.

Of course, sales numbers are pretty paltry, so I'd assume Rubin and Co. would like to do better this time around.

Here's what I want them to do for the Essential Phone 2018

• Keep the hardware. Essential almost nailed it when it comes to exquisite hardware. Yes, it's probably one of the least practical materials out there since it is a fingerprint magnet and pretty shatter-prone due to it being ceramic. But very few phones have a ceramic back and a titanium midframe, which makes it an exquisite piece of tech and makes it feel much more expensive than it is.
• Keep to the ethos of "Essential". Have little bloat and refrain from adding unnecessary hardware features.
• Improve the reliability of the software. Don't need further explanation partly because it's self-explanatory and partly because they're already doing so.
• If it doesn't work, ditch the dual-camera array and go for a single-camera setup with a big sensor and intelligent post-processing. The current setup has heaps of potential but if Essential can't realize it, leave it out of the second one and use a more traditional setup. Then maybe put it back on the third one if it can work out better.
• Commit to 3 years of updates and patches at least.
• Headphone jack maybe?

Oh God, for those of you that insist you want a headphone jack get something like a note 8 or any of the current phones that cater to the “I just can’t move on” crowd. You’re living in the past and every year that goes by it will become more apparent.

I don't know pal.

USB-C audio hasn't caught on much, if at all. Almost all USB-C buds suck in one way or the other (or even as a whole) and the dongles are an utter mess. I have tried a Motorola dongle, a Xiaomi one and some others. The Moto one only worked with the Moto Z and the Xiaomi one only worked with the Mi 6. They never worked with my Note8 or the Honor 8 Pro or even my ASUS gaming laptop. To date, only Google and Essential have dongles which work universally across all USB-C devices.

And while Bluetooth is much better than before, it still sucks when it comes to reliable connections, with my headphones frequently skipping audio at times. I initially thought it was a cheap headphones thing but my pricey 1000XM2s does the same at times too. Only the EarPods have been able to maintain audio connectivity even in high traffic areas, with only occasional skips.