Essential PH-1

Cleisthenes · 23 Oct 2017 at 10:44

Big news for the Essential Phone: https://9to5google.com/2017/10/22/essential-phone-price-cut-499/
Price drop by $200 making it essentially a $499 flagship with a slightly naff camera.

Much better pricing.

kona786 · 23 Oct 2017 at 10:49

Indeed.

Now work some magic onto the camera.

V_R · 23 Oct 2017 at 12:29

FFS, I wish this phone had a better camera....

Nexus18 · 23 Oct 2017 at 12:37

V_R said:
FFS, I wish this phone had a better camera....

+1

Would much rather have this over the pixel 2 and gs8.

EDIT:

Quick google and checking reddit, seems this phone has its own issues too..... wifi/cellular call drops etc. :/

sesevans · 23 Oct 2017 at 15:24

If I were an early buyer of the Essential phone I would be very upset. Yes I know that I would get a credit on purchases of other Essential devices but that is not what I would have paid for.

Bottom line: there is nothing particularly special about the Essential phone so it has had to bite the bullet and just be a price-cutter. This is a huge climb-down as it clearly is saying it has not gained any traction with users. Competing with the Chinese cut-throat merchants is a sure road to going out of business.

And if they turn into just a smart home accessories company, good luck with that strategy in competing with Google and Amazon.

Earth[Tera].bin · 23 Oct 2017 at 17:45

Well as someone who had owned a PH-1 I can say that it has a whole lot going for it, but you do wonder how they could get the camera so wrong. They had some pretty heavy financial backers so hopefully they release a new phone next year, and one with a decent camera.

Earth[Tera].bin · 30 Oct 2017 at 10:22

Nice gesture from Essential , $200 voucher for early adopters. Trying to retain that user base for future releases maybe.

michty_me · 30 Oct 2017 at 23:01

I'm still swithering between this and the pixel 2.

jubei · 31 Oct 2017 at 07:20

michty_me said:
I'm still swithering between this and the pixel 2.

Well one is available... Lol

michty_me · 31 Oct 2017 at 08:25

jubei said:
Well one is available... Lol

True. Still no word on a UK release date?

Earth[Tera].bin · 31 Oct 2017 at 10:11

Amazon will ship you the phone from the states, but you'll have to pay custom fees up front. Unlocked and works fine on UK 4G networks.

biron_w · 31 Oct 2017 at 10:15

michty_me said:
True. Still no word on a UK release date?

Q4 apparently. That's all we've been told.

michty_me · 31 Oct 2017 at 10:45

Earth[Tera].bin said:
Amazon will ship you the phone from the states, but you'll have to pay custom fees up front. Unlocked and works fine on UK 4G networks.

Hmm Not sure if I would go for that due to warranty issues.

biron_w said:
Q4 apparently. That's all we've been told.

That's all I've seen too.

Em3bbs · 27 Aug 2018 at 18:33

Picked up a new one of these cheap while in the US (about $300 including tax) and I wanted to test a few things with Android Pie. It's a real shame they didn't launch the device at the current prices and with a more polished firmware as it really is pretty good now. It looks like all of the bugs have been ironed out since launch, and the much maligned camera seems fine compared to my S9.

Pros:
- *Much* better signal than my S9, which would cut out in my house. I know 'bars' aren't a measurement but on the Essential PH-1 I'm in the top half of the scale where the S9 would be 1/2 bars or less and stuck on wifi calling most of the time.
- Feels really premium
- Nice screen, even compared to the S9
- I prefer the aspect ratio to the S9
- Has Pie

- Amazing price (current price on Amazon.com is $309 before tax but it has dropped to $280 a few times including when I got mine).
- Battery life seems a lot better than my S9 so far, although that isn't difficult!

Cons:
- No headphone socket which I find a real pain. There was supposed to be an accessory released to remedy this but I'm not sure whether it will re released now. At least, unlike my old U11, you can use a standard USB C adapter with both power and headphones as the DAC isn't in the converter, so not a complete show stopper.
- No wireless charging. I have a couple of wireless charging mats for the S9 and it would be nice if I could use these.
- Uncertain support in the future.

All in all I'm pretty impressed!

kona786 · 27 Aug 2018 at 19:04

How could they possibly launch that phone at $300 and stay afloat.

michty_me · 27 Aug 2018 at 19:14

Does the screen have a curve around the edges like the Samsung's and pixel XL2?

CorrectHorseBattery · 27 Aug 2018 at 19:33

What is LTE band support like? Assuming no WiFi Calling, VoLTE?

beh · 28 Aug 2018 at 20:26

Aye, it went very cheap on Amazon US recently (~£213). An impulse purchase to some extent although was due to replace my Nexus 5x in the next few months. Should get mine delivered towards the end of this week.

Em3bbs · 29 Aug 2018 at 19:04

michty_me said:
Does the screen have a curve around the edges like the Samsung's and pixel XL2?

No, which I probably would have added to the 'Pros'! I had to get a case for my S9 to stop my fingers touching the screen and to be able to use it properly, and the curved screen also distorts text/images on the side of the screen. Curved screens really are form over function if you ask me - I don't want to have a phone case, it feels like I'm keeping the phone nice for the next owner rather than using it in it's full glory myself.

michty_me · 29 Aug 2018 at 20:25

Em3bbs said:
No, which I probably would have added to the 'Pros'! I had to get a case for my S9 to stop my fingers touching the screen and to be able to use it properly, and the curved screen also distorts text/images on the side of the screen. Curved screens really are form over function if you ask me - I don't want to have a phone case, it feels like I'm keeping the phone nice for the next owner rather than using it in it's full glory myself.

Good! Hate these daft screens. No idea why most manufacturers went that way with curves. Personally I prefer a flat screen.

Essential PH-1

Mobster