Essential

With the year almost over and all of 2017 premium racehorses in position, it’s time to take stock of what’s available to us so far. Just in time, too, since the holiday, and therefore shopping, season is upon us. Not everyone can be winners, and, let’s face it, we probably don’t want them to be. Sooner or later, choices have to be made. Picking out a new smartphone, especially when you’re playing for both teams, can be a pretty daunting quest. Since no one size fits all, and no smartphone can be perfect for everything and everyone, we’ve tried to present this year’s top models along different use cases and needs.

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Black Friday and Cyber Monday give us a seemingly unending list of deals to sift through, but as far as phones are concerned, there aren't always a lot of discounts that give us pause. Many phone discounts require an activation to go along with the device, and that's enough to sour some people on them. If you find yourself in that boat on this fateful Cyber Monday, then you might want to have a look at Amazon's new offer on the Essential Phone.

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There's another good reason to pick up an Essential Phone, with the company releasing its Android Oreo beta today. The new software has been pushed out via Essential's developer site, fulfilling its promise back in October to quickly move users to the latest version of Android.

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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.

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This week the folks at Essential appear to have given the Great White North a break on the pricing for their first Essential Phone. The pricing comes via Telus - which could mean that Telus is the one doing the chopping - and the final dollar amount is $650 Canadian Dollars - converted straight to USD today and the final price is right around $510 - which reminds me...

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Again, no one will refuse a discount, especially one that doesn’t seem to have strings attached. But when said discount amounts to more than half the original price tag, one can’t help but feel a bit suspicious. That may be the sentiment that some observers may be feeling with this latest Essential phone promo. After cutting the price down permanently to $500, Essential is offering the phone with another discount that brings the price down to $300. This time, however, there are some conditions to be made.

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No one is probably going to argue over a change that makes a premium product very much affordable. But depending on when the price cut takes place, it could, instead, raise concerns. The Essential PH-1, the first and so far only smartphone from Andy Rubin’s startup, is barely three months in the market. But as of today, the smartphone that was pitting itself against the likes of Samsung, Apple, and maybe even Google itself, is $200 cheaper. That means that the Essential phone is now almost half the price of this year’s top models.

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When you make big noise, make big claims, and use big names, you naturally paint a big target on your back as well, especially legal ones. Most big companies like Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Apple are lawsuit magnets and usually just brush them off usually. Smaller startups, however, might have a harder time, especially when the plaintiff has an equally big name behind it. That’s the situation that Essential, founded by Android creator Andy Rubin, has found itself in when it was sued by Keyssa, backed by iPod co-creator Tony Fadell, over the alleged theft of trade secrets.

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Essential's newest version of its Android smartphone has been released, with the hotly-anticipated Pure White Essential Phone finally arriving in stores. The smartphone initially went on sale in Sprint stores back in September, though despite initial suggestions by the company, only the Black Moon finish was offered. That, it turned out, was because making a white smartphone that stays white proved to be surprisingly tricky.

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The Essential PH-1, Andy Rubin's newest baby, was off to a rough start. Delayed and probably overhyped, the Nexus-like bezel-less phone with a notch didn't completely live up to expectations. But, fortunately, smartphones these days are almost like living things, growing and improving over time. As long as their manufacturers are willing to grow them, that is. And Essential does seem to be committed to doing just that. At least based on the Reddit AMA they just recently held.

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The Essential is probably one of the most talked about Android smartphones of 2017. And that's not all in a good way. Like any small startup trying to make its way through a congested smartphone market, Essential, co-founded and backed by Android godfather Andy Rubin, put the hype machine into full gear. Arriving more than a month later than promised, the Essential PH-1 delivered on some of its promises but flopped on others. One such example is its camera, which is now getting a software update that promises to dramatically improve its performance.

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There are a few words of advice regarding windows of opportunity, but seems that Essential, by Android godfather Andy Rubin, may have thrown all those out the window. And now they might be reaping what it sowed. Hyped, late, and imperfect, the Essential PH-1 smartphone may have sold only around 5,000 units, putting it well below most major OEMs and earning it a spot in the niche, and therefore very small, smartphone market.

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