Essential Phone Price Is At Its Lowest, Without Family Offer

How low can you go? In the case of the Essential PH-1, the answer to that question seems to still be pending. Late October, one of this year's smartphone upstarts got a rather hefty $200 price cut, but Essential wasn't done yet. Now the bezel-less phone with a small notch has shaved off $50, at least for the time being. And at least if you're willing to buy it unlocked from Best Buy.

The downward trend Essential phone's price is rather perplexing. A pleasant surprise, definitely, but still mind-boggling. Feature-wise, it does deserve to stand head to head with, say, something like the LG V30 or the HTC U11 in terms of price. In order to give itself an edge, it is understandable that it had to cut down the figure a bit. But things are getting a bit ridiculous and almost suspicious.

To be clear, the lowest price the Essential PH-1 technically has is $299.99 under the Family & Friends offer. But that only applies to a second purchase if and only if you already bought an Essential phone before the company slashed prices last October 22nd. Otherwise, the regular price is $499.99.

Unless you buy it from Best Buy, who is selling it for $449.99. Curiously, it markets it as a $250 savings, noting the original price. This does raise questions about how long this arrangement will last. Of course, Essential already made it more or less final that it will permanently be selling the PH-1 for only $499. So if you're still planning on buying an unlocked model, now might be a good time to grab one.

VIA: Best Buy