Andy Rubin’s Essential startup took to Twitter to post a picture of a small army of Essential PH-1 units charging, along with an assurance that the company is working hard to ensure that the phones are the highest possible quality. The Tweet also includes a direct link to the reservation page on Essential’s website, where those interested can put down their $699 and be guaranteed a unit when they launch. For a limited time, a 360 camera add-on that takes advantage of the Essential PH-1’s modular capabilities is discounted to $50 from its usual $199, though Essential’s website does not indicate when that deal will end.
The photo is a bit on the blurry side, but shows off the design of the Essential PH-1 quite nicely. Having multiple phones in one shot, as well as having their charging cables plugged in, makes it easy to figure out the relative dimensions of the phone. While viewing such a picture is no substitute for holding an Essential PH-1 in your hand prior to buying one, it is arguably a step above the leaks and renders seen in the past few months, and certainly better than the brief glimpse of the device spotted in a Michelin commercial or a previous picture on Twitter that was mostly obscured by a hand.
As a reminder of what’s on offer, the Essential PH-1 is a glass and ceramic sandwich with a titanium frame that should help it survive drops just a little bit better than it otherwise would. The front glass panel is a sheet of Gorilla Glass 5. The phone packs a lot of power into its unique body. The 5.71-inch screen presents you with 2560 x 1312 pixels from edge to edge, and you’ll find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 underneath it, coupled with 4GB of RAM. Internal storage is an extremely roomy 128GB of blazing fast UFS 2.1 storage, but that space can’t be expanded with a MicroSD card. An 8-megapixel camera is on selfie duty up front, while the world’s thinnest dual camera setup takes care of more detailed shots. The two cameras inside it are 13-megapixel. The Essential PH-1 uses USB Type-C for charging and data transfer, there is no 3.5mm jack to speak of, and a 3,050mAh battery keeps the lights on.