Essential, Andy Rubin’s latest venture into hardware and phone manufacturing, has been recently subject to lots and lots of controversies and lawsuits. However, they’re still pushing forward their own Essential phone, which -controversies aside – brings together a really solid device with outstanding build quality, flagship specifications, and a stock Android software experience. However, it forgoes some, well, essential things you would take for granted in similarly priced phones, like a headphone jack, water resistance rating, microSD card slot, and more. Plus, the average camera and the uncertain future update support for the phone can also be dealbreakers for some people. That, however, has not stopped the start-up from pricing the Essential PH-1 right there with the biggest flagships: the phone launched at a whopping $699, which puts it right there with other offerings like the Galaxy S8+ or the HTC U11.
Well, at least it used to cost that much. Amid legal controversies, the company has decided to drastically cut the price of the Essential Phone in the official Essential website. You’re now able to buy the Essential phone for a much more reasonable $499, down from the original $699 launch price. This means that the phone drops down from flagship price territory, now competing with cheaper offerings like the Moto X4 and the OnePlus 5. Other retailers like Amazon still show the bigger price tag, but it should only be a matter of time until they follow suit.
If you’re ready to let the headphone jack and the microSD card slot go, and you don’t mind putting a little more effort into your camera shots, the phone becomes a much more reasonable offering at $499, even with the missing features. You’re still getting the same universally praised titanium/ceramic build, as well as a bezel-less Quad HD display with a Snapdragon 835 processor and 4 GB of RAM powering everything under the hood. However, the constant controversies are still, for some people, a reason to steer completely clear of Essential.
If you’re interested in one of these devices, be sure to head over to the Essential website to buy it directly for $499. Those who already bought the device at the old $699 price tag won’t be left behind: Essential is also offering a $200 “friends & family” compensation code, which you can redeem on the website towards an Essential 360 Camera Mod or lower the price of another Essential phone — that means you could get the Essential for as little as $300.
Source: Essential
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