Newsletter 
The Essential PH-1 will get a 3.5mm port accessory in addition to getting the Android Oreo update soon, according to the company’s CEO Andy Rubin who answered questions during an AMA on Reddit earlier today. For those that own the Essential PH-1, also referred to simply as the Essential Phone, the update to Oreo may be of particular interest as many thought the phone would end up launching with Oreo out of the box, but that ended up not being the case when the phone was announced earlier this year.
According to Rubin, Essential will push the Oreo update to the device within the next two months. That’s a bit vague, sure, but maybe the silver lining is that “within the next two months” could mean next week or the week after despite the broad range of time. Rubin unfortunately didn’t elaborate any more on the subject so that’s all owners have to go off of for now. In regards to the audio jack accessory, this will reportedly be a high-end audio attachment for the phone that allows users to plug in headphones with a 3.5mm audio jack. The Essential PH-1 needs this for anyone who wants to plug in a standard pair of headphones as the phone doesn’t ship with a standard audio port. It was left out in light of keeping things to just the USB Type-C port like other OEMs have been doing.
When asked about the reason to leave the 3.5mm port out of the device’s list of specifications, Essential responded by saying that adding the jack meant they would have to make some trade-offs, such as reducing the battery by ten percent or taking away from the style of the full-screen display. Ultimately, Essential says it came down to keeping the device thin and stylish without compromising on the battery as these trade-offs weren’t something the company was ok with. By the sounds of the company’s enthusiasm for the attachment, though, consumers may have something to get pretty excited about with it. Essential is also working on other Click Connector accessories to look out for, with the charging dock said to be the one the company most likely launches first. Essential also says camera improvements are on the way too, and it hasn’t forgotten about the white model of the phone, mentioning that “it’s coming” and stating that retail units should begin shipping in the next few weeks. In regards to the camera improvements, it seems like Essential isn’t entirely happy with the computational photography software that it’s using for parts of the imaging, and is seeking to make adjustments to that until it’s where it needs to be in Essential’s eyes.