The Essential Phone PH-1 was spotted on public transit judging by the video below. The user who uploaded the video to YouTube goes by the account name of “DS” and states that the video was sent to them by a friend via Snapchat. Based on the bar in the middle of the video that has a message tied to it, it does appear to be Snapchat, and the front-facing camera cutout that can be seen at the top edge of the display does look to give away the fact that this is the Essential Phone PH-1.
While the phone itself has already been announced officially by Essential, it has yet to hit the market for sale, which is why it likely caught the attention of the user who captured the video. As of right now you can reserve a phone through the Essential website, but devices haven’t started shipping yet and there’s nowhere that the Essential Phone PH-1 can be purchased in stores physically, so that makes for a curious question of how this individual got their hands on one of the most highly anticipated phones of the year before the sales of it have opened up to consumers.
You don’t get a very clear picture of the phone’s screen but you can briefly catch a glimpse of the heads up notification for an app disappear during use, and it looks like WhatsApp is the application being used during the video as a means of chat. The Essential Phone PH-1 will cost consumers $699 when it launches, or right now for anyone that’s willing to place the pre-order and reserve a device, and it’ll initially be available in two different colors which includes a black and a white option. Eventually the phone will launch in two additional colors which will include a grey option and a green option, but there is no confirmed time frame for the release of these new colors. Also available along with the Essential Phone PH-1 is the 360 camera add-on, and at some point in the near future the Essential Home should be launching as well, though there is no date for release for this device either nor is there a word on cost.