All the Essential Phone news – The Verge

Essential Phone now available unlocked at Best Buy for $700

2017-09-22T17:16:19-04:00

Shortly after launching at Sprint, the Essential Phone has made its way to Best Buy - both online and in stores. A quick check of stock around New York City shows that the unlocked, black Essential Phone is already available at many locations, though supply might vary depending on where you are. The Android smartphone costs $699.99 and is compatible with all major US carriers including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint.

Essential has been working to improve the device through software updates over the last several weeks; reports indicate that the phone's software is running much smoother now. But the camera (and the camera app itself) rem …

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The Essential Phone will get a clip-on headphone jack

2017-09-14T16:18:56-04:00

A headphone jack might not have been essential enough to be part of the Essential Phone itself, but the company has confirmed it's working on a module that includes one. "We are actively developing a high end audio accessory to support a 3.5mm jack," the Essential team said during a Reddit AMA today.

Aside from the 360-degree camera, customers can next expect the charging dock to be released before future modules including the high-end audio device. In a follow-up remark, another Essential employee said "our head of architecture is in Asia right now getting our high-end audio accessory super dialed. He graciously called me at 3AM today so w …

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Essential Phone will be available at all Sprint stores September 14th

2017-09-13T15:05:24-04:00

The Essential Phone's reviews might be turning out more mixed than Andy Rubin and his team would've wanted, but now it's time for consumers around the US to see the Android smartphone up close. Sprint has announced that beginning tomorrow, September 14th, the Essential Phone will be available for purchase in all of its retail stores, online, and by phone.

So far, the Essential Phone's "launch" has mostly been the company shipping out orders to customers who've purchased it at Essential's website; the phone hasn't yet formally launched at retail. Aside from Sprint, Amazon and Best Buy plan to offer the device. I'm not sure Amazon actually kn …

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The Essential Phone earns one of iFixit’s worst repairability ratings

2017-09-05T10:57:58-04:00

Andy Rubin's Essential Phone has finally shipped to customers after half a summer's worth of delays, and that means the teardown experts of iFixit have now had a chance to rip apart the slick slab of titanium and ceramic. The verdict? iFixit gives the Essential Phone a 1 out of 10 on its "repairability" scale, placing it in the company of some of the website's worst offenders. That score pales in comparison to the iPhone 7 (7), Google Pixel XL (7), or even the Samsung Galaxy S8 (4). Or, in the words of the email that iFixit sent out promoting the teardown post, the phone is "a hot mess."

The Essential Phone was always meant to be a jewel of …

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The Essential Phone just started shipping to buyers

2017-08-25T17:06:53-04:00

After a slight delay and subsequent missed targets, the Essential Phone is finally, actually, really, officially shipping to customers. Andy Rubin's new company just tweeted that those who've been charged for the phone should be on the lookout for tracking information to arrive by email sometime today. "We appreciate everyone's patience," Essential added.

The $700 phone will be going it alone for now - Essential's 360-degree camera module isn't yet shipping - and is only available in the glossy black color for these early shipments. The white version is still marked as "coming soon," and the matte Essential Phone isn't even listed on the or …

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Andy Rubin’s Essential is now valued at over a billion dollars without shipping a single phone

2017-08-14T09:23:41-04:00

Essential, the new phone startup from Android founder Andy Rubin, is now a unicorn, according to reports from Bloomberg columnist Tim Culpan over the weekend. If you're not up to date on the parlance of Silicon Valley, a unicorn is a company that's valued at over $1 billion dollars, which is no small feat in today's market. This title is even more impressive, given that Essential has yet to ship a single device to consumers.

it's Impressive, given that Essential has yet to ship a single phone

According to Culpan, Foxconn's FIH Mobile filing for a $3 million investment in Essential for around 0.25 percent of the fledgling phone company reveal …

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Essential promises a new phone release date ‘in a week’

2017-08-09T11:14:07-04:00

It's been a few weeks since Essential CEO Andy Rubin told us that the Essential Phone would be coming "in a few weeks ," but today the company gave yet another (albeit slightly more specific) timeline, saying it would reveal the release date "in a week." That's nearly two months after the company initially said that the phone would begin shipping some time in June.

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nearly two months after its initial June ship date

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Essential president Niccolo De Masi also confirmed that the $699 Android device with an edge-to-edge display would be available via major US retailers Best Buy and Amazon. The Essential …

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Essential claims its dual-camera system will capture superior photographs

2017-07-27T15:49:47-04:00

Android co-founder Andy Rubin's Essential is poised to ship its flagship smartphone sometime in August, after a somewhat nebulous few weeks in which eager consumers and media organizations alike pestered the company about the unexplained shipping delay. Now, following Rubin's confirmation last week that the Essential Phone is indeed coming soon, the company has penned a blog post detailing some of the more technical aspects of the phone's dual-camera photography system.

The post, from Essential's imaging expert Yazhu Ling, is titled, "Getting everything in tune for the perfect picture." It explains how the team under Ling, who's worked on t …

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Andy Rubin’s Essential is staying quiet on the Essential Phone delay

2017-07-10T18:14:05-04:00

Essential, the smartphone maker from Android co-founder Andy Rubin, is staying mum on whether its titular gadget has been delayed. News organizations began pinging the company last week when it was clear Essential missed its 30-day shipping deadline set by Rubin himself at the Code Conference in late May. The company has not appeared to respond to any of these requests, including The Verge's, leaving pre-order buyers and other interested parties in the dark on the fate of the Android-powered handset.

A missed deadline is not that big of a deal, especially not for a company that didn't publicly exist until just 40 days ago (and from a startu …

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Andy Rubin’s Essential is looking into smart glasses with built-in camera

2017-06-01T19:17:42-04:00

Essential, the new hardware outfit from Android co-founder Andy Rubin, may branch out from phones and smart home accessories into Google Glass-like smart frames. An old patent filing, dug up by the folks at Patently Apple and granted prior to its big phone reveal this week, show a concept device shaped like a standard pair of eyeglasses, but with camera and display hardware built in.

Much like Snapchat's Spectacles, this theoretical Essential device would be used to capture eye-level photo and video with a built-in camera. However it would go further, more in the vein of Google's ill-fated Glass headset, by adding digital information and im …

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