5 Things you might have missed about the Essential Phone

After tons of teasers and rumours, Android co-creator, Andy Rubin officially took the wraps off his one of a kind Essential Phone on May 30. Rubin seems to be devoted to his phone, which he thinks will bring the change, and grow into an ‘essential’ companion for its users. Rubin aspires to set new standards in the high-end smartphone category where biggies like iPhone 7 Plus and Galaxy S8 are co-existing to serve both Android and iOS consumers.

The best part about the Essential Phone is that Rubin has tried to keep it clutter-free and leveraged the control to its users to choose what they want on their phones. Although we didn’t get to use the phone yet, but the company has revealed almost every critical detail about its hardware and software.

Since the smartphone has already made its presence felt in the tech world, everyone will be keeping a close eye on the developments. While most of us know the device features in and out, there are still some facts that you might have missed about the Essential Phone. Let’s begin with the first one.

Yes, you heard it right! Not just bezels, there are no logos on the phone too. If you take a close look at the ‘Phone’, as Essential calls it, then you must have noticed it. This is something that is rare on any smartphone, especially when it carries along a $699 price tag. Seems like Essential wants to stand out and let the phone’s features do the talking.

Not to forget, there is no antennae bands on the back panel as well. You will find them on the sides, which actually goes well with the look and feel of the phone.

The two magnetic alignment pins on the back are designed to clip the mods on the phone. It has a 60GHz Radio Frequency ID (RF) chip embedded inside, which transmits the electromagnetic waves to the receiver. This gives you kind of a wireless USB 3.0 functionality on the Essential Phone.

Unlike most other phones that use aluminium, glass or polycarbonate etc., the Essential Phone is made out of aerospace grade titanium. Having a titanium rim not just makes the phone rigid and sturdy but it also cuts down some load off the body. For those who don’t know, titanium and ceramic are certainly among the toughest materials used in smartphones today.

The company claims that it has dropped the phone on solid concrete surface and it still came out unscarred. It also shared a picture comparing aluminium phones and the Essential phone after bumping the corners on solid concrete.

The Essential Phone has dual 13MP f/1.85 rear cameras, with a primary colour sensor and a monochrome sensor. Again, if you’ve noticed closely, there are no camera bump on the phone like the iPhone 7 Plus. The phone is 7.8mm thin and packs tons of functionalities without intervening the svelte design.

Moreover, Essential claims that it can capture 200 percent more light than traditional phone cameras, enhancing the low-light photography experience. There's an 8MP camera on the front, which can record up to 4K videos.

There’s no microSD card slot, restricting you to stick with the inbuilt 128GB of storage on the phone. While some are calling it a drawback, it’s nothing new with phones these days. iPhone is a perfect example to justify the missing microSD slot. Even the Pixel and OnePlus phones restrict microSD support, which makes sense if you want no compromise with the performance on your Android device.

However, you may get to see attachable mod in future to provide a solution to storage worries.