Everything we know about the Essential PH-1, the phone made by one of Android's founders

June 01, 2017

Everything we know about the Essential PH-1, the phone made by one of Android's founders

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Essential, Andy Rubin's new startup, has finally unveiled its first smartphone.

Why is this significant? Well, Rubin was one of the founders of the Android operating system before it was acquired by Google in 2005. You could say he's the father of Android, which is currently being used by two billion users worldwide.

So, it's interesting to see what he thinks an Android smartphone should look like and what it should do.

Behold the Essential PH-1 and all of its available details and specs:

It's made from materials that are unusual for smartphones.

Most premium flagship smartphones are dressed in aluminum. But the Essential PH-1's case has titanium edges and a ceramic back.

The titanium is scratch, dent, and bend-proof, according to Essential. Those are traits that aluminum phones can't boast. If Essential's claims hold up, you might not have to cover the PH-1 with a protective plastic case.

Essential didn't make any claims about the durability of the PH-1's ceramic back. Meanwhile, its display, like that of other smartphones, is made of breakable glass. The PH-1 uses Gorilla Glass 5, but it could still shatter if you drop it.

It's not a huge phone, but it's relatively heavy for its size.

Overall, the PH-1 is smaller and thinner than Samsung's Galaxy S8. But it weighs more than the jumbo-sized Galaxy S8+, and it's just a tad lighter than Apple's extra-large iPhone 7 Plus.

The PH-1's ceramic back could be weighing it down, given that titanium is a light metal.

Here's how the PH-1's measurements compare with those of its rivals from Apple and Samsung:

- Essential PH-1: 141.5 x 71.1 x 7.8 mm, 185g

- iPhone 7: 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm, 138g

- iPhone 7 Plus: 158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm, 188g

- Samsung Galaxy S8: 148.9 x 68.1 x 8 mm, 155g

- Samsung Galaxy S8+:159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1 mm, 173g

It has a "full display" with rounded corners.

By "full display," Essential means that the PH-1 has a large display that covers the nearly all of the phone's front. Like the Galaxy S8, the borders around the display are very narrow, which allows for both a larger screen and a relatively manageable phone size.

The display's corners are rounded, which is more of an aesthetic choice than a functional one.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider