We finally have our first look at the Essential Phone

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Andy Rubin is somewhat of an icon in the Android community and he’s finally given us our first look at his new Essential Phone. If you don’t know who Rubin is, he’s the person responsible for the operating system on the device you may be reading this on right now. Rubin is the creator of Android and he left Google some time ago to pursue other interests. Now he’s back with his own phone which is, of course, running Android.

There’s been a lot of buzz in the inner Android circle about the Essential Phone and what Rubin may be doing. Rubin is well respected not only throughout the Android world but the mobile space in general. There is hope that Rubin’s Essential Phone might bring some innovation, life, and vigor back into the smartphone market. The Verge got the exclusive first peek at what Rubin has been working on and here are just some tidbits to start gnawing on.

The phone will cost $699USD and launch in the US first and will have “top-of-the-line specs.” Those specs haven’t been fully revealed but the verbiage used indicates it intends to compete with the Pixel and iPhone.

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  • Qualcomm 835
  • 4GB RAM
  • 128GB storage
  • 360-degree camera
  • 8MP front camera with 4K

The next thing you’ll see is the front display is pretty much edge-to-edge and even wraps around the camera at the top. This display reminds me of some of the display rumors surrounding the iPhone 8.

The Essential Phone will also have a dual-camera setup that is more like the Huawei P9 and P10 (according to The Verge). Instead of using the second lens for depth of field tricks, it will use it for better low-light performance.

Essential Phone
Essential Phone camera (courtesy The Verge)

The phone will also be free of branding, which is really a nice departure for a company. Samsung made an improvement in this by removing branding from the front of the Galaxy S8. The Essential Phone also has no 3.5mm headphone jack following in the steps of the iPhone. There will be a supplied dongle to use wired headphones but if you’re into the headphone jack, this isn’t your phone.

I’ll admit, the phone looks sexy. I’d have liked to see that fingerprint sensor embedded into the screen but I do know there have been issues making that tech work properly. It will be interesting to see what Rubin’s Essential Phone does in real-world action. It will also be interesting to see if Rubin will be able to compete with the Pixel, iPhone, and Samsung phones. While he does have an iconic status within tech circles, it’s the mass market whose money talks and ultimately, he’ll have to capture those wallets.

What do you think of this story? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.

[button link=”https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/30/15711170/essential-phone-announcement-price-android-andy-rubin” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: The Verge[/button]
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