Andy Rubin's First Smartphone Is Now Official

Co-founder of Android Andy Rubin has finally took off the wraps from the much anticipated Essential Phone. The Essential PH-1 comes with a unique design that sports a titanium and ceramic body that offers it a premium look, while still keeping the price tag at the somewhat reasonable point.

It is very similar to Xiaomi Mi Mix, featuring very thin bezels. The display is a 5.7-inch LTPS LCD edge-to-edge with rounded corners with Quad HD resolution (1,312 x 2,560 pixels) and 19:10 aspect ratio. The phone is powered by Snapdragon 835, 4 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage and a 3,040 mAh battery.

The camera department uses a dual rear setup with two 13 MP sensors (RGB + monochrome), while the front has an 8 MP sensor. One of the unique features of the phone are the two pins to the right of the rear camera. They are used for add-on accessories, similar to Motorola's Moto Mods. At the moment, only a 360° camera add-on is available, which comes with dual 12 MP sensors behind fisheye lenses (210°) and 4 mics for immersive video (3,840 x 1,920px @ 30fps). More accessories will be launched in the future.

The Essential Phone is priced at $699 and will start shipping within 30 days. It is available comes in four color options, including Black Moon, Stellar Grey, Pure White and Ocean Depths.

Essential Phone specifications

• 5.7-inch (2560 x 1312 QHD) with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 cover glass
• 2.45GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Octa core processor (Quad + 1.9GHz Quad)
• 4GB RAM, 128GB storage
• Android OS
• Fingerprint Sensor
• 13MP Dual RGB + Mono camera with image fusion technology, 13MP True Monochrome mode f/1.85 lens, Video recording at 4K 30fps, 1080p 60fps or 720p 120fps
• 8MP resolution with 16:9 aspect ratio f/2.20 fixed hyperfocal lens, Video recording at 4K 30fps, 1080p 60fps or 720p 120fps
• 4x microphones with noise cancellation and beam forming
• Dimensions: 141.5mm x 71.1mm x 7.8mm; Weight: 185 grams
• USB Type C, Bluetooth 5.0,WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac with MIMO, NFC, GPS and GLONASS
• 3,040 mAh battery with fast charging