The man who created the Android operating system was back in the spotlight Tuesday with a new phone that is designed to compete with the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy.
After months of sneak peeks on Twitter, Andy Rubin and his new company, Essential, announced the Essential phone, which has been highly anticipated by his fans and smartphone aficionados. Also known as PH-1, the phone is an Android device on a 5.71-inch screen — a tiny bit bigger than the iPhone Plus.
Rubin wrote in a blog post that the Essential is a personal passion project that came from his frustrations with the state of technology, especially smartphones. As the founder of Android, Rubin said he felt personally liable for the rise of bloatware, closed ecosystems and quick smartphone expiration dates that make them look outdated.
“For all the good Android has done to help bring technology to nearly everyone it has also helped create this weird new world where people are forced to fight with the very technology that was supposed to simplify their lives,” wrote Rubin. “Was this what we had intended? Was this the best we could do?”
The phone starts at $699 and is without a specific launch date. Of the top four smartphone carriers, only Sprint confirmed the Essential Phone will work on its network.
Despite the sleek design and unique functionalities, experts remained skeptical of Essential’s ability to crack the saturated smartphone market dominated by Apple and Samsung, let alone make a profit.
“He’s coming from a very negative market position,” said analyst Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies. “Unless he got an amazing amount of marketing money, I don’t know if he can make any headway.”
Others pointed to Essential’s lack of mass market appeal beyond early technology adopters, diehard Android users and personal fans of Rubin.
“Do mass market consumers know who Andy Rubin is?” asked analyst Tuong Nguyen at Gartner. “I can’t go to my mom and say this is an Andy Rubin phone. “Can I convince her that she needs this phone?”
The Essential Phone is nearly bezel-less, meaning the screen covers almost the entire front side of the phone. It also comes with a magnetic connector in the back, which allows the phone to be wirelessly attached to its accessories rather than needing a USB cable. It can also attach to a 360-degree, fish-eye lens camera.
The phone comes equipped with a 13-megapixel camera on the rear and a 8-megapixel one on the front. And like the new iPhones, the Essential does not come with a headphone jack. It will come with a headphone jack dongle.
The Essential is supposed to be devoid of pre-packaged apps, which allows users free rein on maximizing its impressive 4GB RAM and 128 GB of storage. In line with its principle of simplicity and cleanliness, the Essential also has no logo on its exterior.
Essential also boasts its phone’s titanium and ceramic exterior will provide better drop protection than phones with just titanium exteriors, like the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy.
In addition to the smartphone announcement, Rubin and his team announced the Essential Home speaker, which will be compatible with the Essential Phone and looks to compete with Amazon Echo and Google Home. Essential is expected to release more information in the coming months.
Despite Rubin’s obscurity outside Silicon Valley, experts still believe if there is one person who can crack the current smartphone market, it would be Rubin, the man who made 2 billion Android phones possible.
“Innovators, they sometimes see more than we do,” Nguyen said.
