The Essential phone – Android Creator Andy Rubin’s New Smartphone

Essential phone, A new product by Andy Rubin, is the latest entrant in the smartphone with the new operating system called “Ambient” which is an open source, just like Android.

Here are initial impressions after spending some hands-on time with the device – Its uniqueness is that the smartphone is not yet detached, dented or bend because the screen is a blend of titanium and ceramic which makes it stronger than those offered by Apple and Samsung. Titanium is harder, stronger and more resilient than Aluminium.

One of the most distinctive features of the Andy Rubin’s new Essential phone is the two magnetic pins on the back that can attach to accessories made both by Essential and third-party manufacturers. Essential plans to ship the first six accessories, starting with a 360-degree 4K video camera and an inductive charging dock.

The device shipped with a 64-bit octa core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, the best mobile processor currently available from Qualcomm, 4GB of RAM and 128 GB UFS 2.1 storage. Screen starts at the top of the 5.6 inch with QHD display panel and with an effective resolution of 2560 X 1312 pixels. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the front.

The device will include 360-degree camera that can be fixed by the user to enable a whole different kind of phone based photography. The front camera has an 8-megapixel sensor and is capable of recording 4k video, while the rear camera is 13-megapixel with a second monochrome sensor to help boost low-light shots.

The company supports HSPA+, GSM, CDMA, FV-DO, FDD- LTE, TDD-LTE, and SCDMA networks. Essential phone comes with a bluetooth 5.0 LE, WI-FI 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with MIMO, NFC, GPS with GLONASS and USB type -C, two accessory power pins, in terms of connectivity option. Andy Rubin’s Essential phone also comes with a fingerprint sensor at the back along with a proximity senson.

One thing to note is that the Essential phone will come with a dock. The dock will come with a magnetic connector that will charge the smartphone without the need of cabel. The smartphone comes with a 3040 mAh battery that supports fast charging.

Andy Rubin’s Essential phone doesn’t come cheap though, with the device costing $699 (or approx Rs. 45,202). The company will sell the Essential with a 360-degree camera that will cost $749 (or approx Rs. 48,437).