The very first Essential Phone 2 concept has surfaced online, it was designed by folks over at DBS DESIGNING, and this design has been shown off in a YouTube video. This video has a duration of a minute and a half, and it presents an imaginary smartphone which has been inspired by various rumors and leaks, even though it contradicts latest reports.
If you take a look at the video that is embedded down below, you will see a phone which sports a display camera hole, like the Honor View20 and Galaxy S10, but on this phone, that camera hole is centered at the top of the display, and not moved to a side. That camera hole is quite small, but it contradicts recent rumors / reports.
Several reports surfaced in the last couple of weeks, claiming that Essential plans to include an under-display camera in the Essential Phone 2, so that it’s not visible when you’re using the device. This technology is actually quite interesting, as the display would shut down a number of pixels when the front camera is activated, so that you can use it.
Many rumors suggest that this tech is nowhere near being ready, though, as the images taken with under-display cameras end up being really blurry and not up to standard. Well, if recent reports are accurate, Essential may have found a way to include it, and thinks that a current state of that technology is where it should be. Those are just rumors, though, so it remains to be seen what will happen in the end.
The phone shown in the leak down below looks really nice regardless of the camera hole, as its bezels are basically non-existent except for that, and that goes for the bottom bezel as well. That “chin” is there, but it’s almost non-existent. All the physical buttons are placed on the right side of this phone, and the power / lock button actually sports a different color than the volume rocker buttons.
The device even includes a 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom, along with a Type-C port, and a loudspeaker. Essential’s branding is present both on the left side of the device, and on its back, while you will notice three vertically-aligned cameras on the back of this phone. The back side of the device is curved a bit, and connectors for Essential’s modules are included on the back as well. The phone is pictured in a number of color variants in this video, including white, silver, gray, and black.
Once again, this is just a concept design, a third-party concept design. The real Essential Phone 2 will look different if it sees the light of day. It would be really interesting to see the under-display camera in the Essential Phone 2, as that would allow the company to almost completely remove bezels from the device.
The Essential PH-1 was announced back in May 2017, and it didn’t really sell all that well, so we did not see a sequel in 2018. Essential did say that it is working hard on a new product, presumably a new phone, so that device is expected to arrive sometime this year, hopefully in May, two years after the company’s very first handset.