Essential has a body made of ceramic and titanium, a 5.7-inch display, and a dual 13-megapixel photo sensor. Price: $699
All according to script. Andy Rubin, as anticipated in recent days, presented his first smartphone. Essential, this is the name chosen by the creator of Android, is a real top of the range and features confirm in part the rumors circulated earlier, starting with the large edge-to-edge display and the materials used.
The mobile device launched by one of the founders of Android, which until a few years ago was still the head of the Google operating system, has a body made of titanium and ceramic. But it is its 5.71-inch display that at first glance arouses interest. The screen, in fact, occupies almost the entire front panel, interrupting only to bring out the front camera. Another innovative element is located on the back, where there are two small holes that will serve to attach other accessories produced by Essential, such as the 360-degree Ultra HD camera also made by Andy Rubin's company.
Features Essential
Now let's move inside. Essential's smartphone will run on the Snapdragon 835, one of Qualcomm's latest high-performance processors. No surprises on the memory front. The device of the former Google employee will, in fact, 4GB of RAM and will integrate a storage space of 128 GB. Let's now move on to take a look at the camera compartment. Essential's first jewel will mount a dual 13-megapixel rear sensor, where one of the two cameras will be exclusively monochrome. The sensor placed on the front panel, on the other hand, will be 8 megapixels and will be able to record videos in 4K.
360-degree camera
As mentioned, one of the innovative aspects is the 360-degree camera, which can be added to the smartphone thanks to magnetic pins placed on the back. The camera has a resolution of 3840×1920 megapixels and is capable of recording 30 frames per second. The holes will also serve to connect Essential's smartphone to the Phone Dock, a charging station. As for the fingerprint reader, the sensor is located on the rear panel. And like the iPhone 7, the device does not integrate the 3.55 mm audio jack (users will still have the option to use an adapter), and has a USB type C port.
And we close with the operating system. Rubin's smartphone will run Android 7.1.1 and will be optimized to be connected with Home, Essential's smart home that runs on an operating system called Ambient OS.
Price and release date
The phone will launch in 4 different colors (Black Moon, Stellar Grey, Pure White and Ocean Depths) and will cost $699 base, dollars that become $749 if the package also includes the 360-degree camera. There is no information on when the device will get into the hands of users. At the moment, the smartphone can only be ordered in the United States.