
Essential Products – Andy Rubin’s new hardware company - henrikgs
https://www.essential.com/
======
hbbio
Ok, a new phone made by the creator of Android which claims to be extremely
well built.

However, since most phones now tend to reach the "good enough" level, my main
question is about software and left unanswered. What version/flavour of
Android does it run? How will updates be planned? For how many years will
updates be provided? What's the size of the security team at Essential?

Providing an up-to-date Android with updates for at least 4 years like Apple
does is key to me, as vulnerabilities come and go and the only reasonable way
to be secure is to get security patches asap.

~~~
asafira
I used to think the same about being "good enough", but unfortunately my nexus
5x still struggles to give me a day of battery life, despite the fact that I
only check e-mail and chat on it.

It's slowness is a little annoying, but definitely good enough.

~~~
mrinterweb
I don't have battery problems with my 5x. If I'm not using mine much, it will
last two days on a charge. Sounds to me like you may want to consider
replacing your battery. A $5-10 new battery and ~15 minutes of your time, may
be worth it.

~~~
devopsproject
If he has a bad cell signal, replacing the battery won't make any difference.
He needs to look at his stats.

------
raesene6
I like the idea of tougher phones, but to me it misses the mark to talk about
the titanium phone case surviving corner drop tests, it's the glass that's the
problem.

The number of people I've seen wandering around with cracked phone screens
from drops is quite high, and is the reason I put a case which covers the
front on every phone I buy.

So having no phone case here just means you get the usual after market screen
protectors and risk of cracked glass that most other phones suffer from.

~~~
nerdponx
For what it's worth, my Rhino Shield "crash guard" case [0] has saved several
iPhones from multiple waist-high drops onto concrete. Shock transfer into the
screen simply does not seem to be an issue.

It doesn't cover the front, it just extends a few mm in front of the screen to
prevent "flat front" impact. It's still susceptible to smashing the screen on
a corner, but how often does someone really drop their phone screen-first on
the corner of a stair?

0: [https://rhinoshield.io/](https://rhinoshield.io/)

~~~
fauigerzigerk
_> [...] my Rhino Shield "crash guard" case [0] has saved several iPhones
[...]_

How do you know that?

~~~
nerdponx
Because I have owned several, and none of them have broken despite several
impacts on hard ground. Meanwhile the iPhones of my friends and family have
not been so lucky in other cases (that aren't massive Otterbox cases). Small
sample size, but relatively controlled experiment.

~~~
k-mcgrady
I think a lot of luck is involved. I have regularly dropped iPhone's from
chest height to concrete and the only time I had any screen damage was when
there happened to be a tiny stone where the phone landed. Not that cases can't
make a difference but iPhones are pretty durable nowadays.

------
al2o3cr
"We want to make a device that plays well with others, so here's our new
proprietary expansion port!"

Even better, it uses 60GHz wireless to get data across the fraction-of-an-inch
gap between the phone and the accessory. That should be a fun one for battery
life.

------
Jdam
> Your phone is your personal property. It’s a public expression of who you
> are and what you stand for.

Just no. It's just a tool that I use to communicate.

~~~
joatmon-snoo
> Just no. It's just a tool that I use to communicate.

And your treatment of your smartphone as such is a public expression of who
you are and what you stand for ;)

~~~
freehunter
Yeah, going out of your way to make sure everyone knows that your phone is
just a communications tool is a louder expression of your personality than a
bright pink Hello Kitty case IMO.

~~~
MisterBastahrd
That's totally why I have a phone with a simple black case. It's not because I
went with the most pragmatic case in a color that matched the phone, but
because I secretly want to be a special ops ninja, but because of dress code
requirements, I'm only able to put my phone in a tuxedo.

------
settsu
> _\- Devices are your personal property. We won’t force you to have anything
> on them you don’t want to have._

Ok, so at first glance this is just a diplomatic, manifesto-ese way of saying
"no bloatware". However, there's probably a very pragmatic discussion about
what this really means and that just leads us back around to where we are now
with who defines "anything" (i.e., the phone app is on table for that
discussion...)

> _\- We will always play well with others. Closed ecosystems are divisive and
> outdated._

Closed ecosystems are also knowable, stable, and can produce very happy
customers.

> _\- Premium materials and true craftsmanship shouldn’t be just for the few._

So for a few more? There's a reason mass-production is an economic success.

> _\- Devices shouldn’t become outdated every year. They should evolve with
> you._

"Outdated" is an extremely subjective concept. Hardware that evolves? Do tell.

> _\- Technology should assist you so that you can get on with enjoying your
> life._

Should it?

> _\- Simple is always better._

Now you're just being lazy.

I'm a huge fan of big picture, think-outside-the-box vision-casting.

But this just comes across as so tone deaf from the very start and ultimately
so vapid that it's easy to see how these SV figureheads have earned such a
reputation for utter lack of self-awareness.

Please, if you have become this level of successful, you need someone in your
inner circle who specifically is tasked with keeping you grounded.

~~~
bobsam
> Closed ecosystems are also knowable, stable, and can produce very happy
> customers

... until they don't. Then you are screwed.

> Now you're just being lazy

Now you are just arguing for the sake of the argument.

~~~
settsu
> _... until they don 't. Then you are screwed._

His point works well in a world where Android isn't competing with Apple
which, while far from perfect, does not suffer nearly as badly from the looong
tail of terrible quality apps.

The third-party Android app markets are neat but, pirated content aside, they
largely serve only niches.

> _Now you are just arguing for the sake of the argument._

No, it's point unto itself: Simple is not always better. (Obviously.)

------
shubhamjain
It doesn't seem premium Android phones have something spectacular to
differentiate. Sure, you can spice up the camera, make the body more glossy,
and add a beautiful screen. But the software is just another commodity that
would be available for 1/3rd the price. That's why Google Pixel would always
feel exorbitant even when the price is almost close to Apple iPhone. Seeing
Essential's price tag, I have the same visceral feeling: "$750 for an Android
Phone...? What?".

Here's where Apple eats the larger pie: the exclusivity of its experience that
can only came at a price. In the past, the naive me used to think why Apple
doesn't try to dent Microsoft's 95% desktop market with its excellent OS. Now
I understand why that'd never happen: you can't be premium in people's eyes
unless you create a brand of exclusiveness.

~~~
nailer
I just want a phone that:

\- Lasts a full day

\- Looks nice

That's all.

Currently I can buy various 8mm phones with various bad-to-OK cases.

Give me a beautiful 16mm phone and software updates and I'll give you my 700
bucks.

~~~
JustSomeNobody
> \- Lasts a full day

Many phones do this. Both my iPhone 6 and my iPhone 6s do this and more
(usually two days). The issue here is that your use case is likely different
than mine. It isn't enough to just say, "full day" without specifying full day
doing what.

~~~
prodmerc
12 hours with the screen and WiFi or 3g always on. That would be amazing, and
it doesn't sound that unachievable. I don't need ultraquadHD resolutions, even
720p is enough.

~~~
richardboegli
Have a look at this:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14448309](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14448309)

------
niho
There are very good reasons that aluminum is the best option for a mobile
phone, rather than titanium. The most important is environmental. Aluminum is
more abundant than titanium, it is easier and friendlier to extract/process.
It can be recycled (very important!) and it is cheaper. Aluminum also has much
better technical qualities. It is much lighter weight and easier to machine.
It is softer, which means the casing will absorb most of the force from an
impact when you drop your phone. And as others have pointed out; your screen
or battery will break long before the structural casing. I have personally
never been bothered with scratches on the casing of my iPhone. I'm much more
worried about the overall environmental impact of the device.

~~~
jjoonathan
Of the 8 reasons you listed why Al is allegedly superior, 7 are reasons that
it's actually the lower-grade product and the 8th (drop resistance) is simply
incorrect. To a first approximation, overall acceleration doesn't kill glass
or batteries, it's the uneven application of force that kills them. I'd
imagine that increasing the rigidity of the frame improves drop resistance a
great deal.

~~~
niho
Are you trying to argue that being cheaper, lighter weight and recyclable
makes aluminum a worse choice for a mass produced mobile device? Are you
insane?

------
sparkling
Who cares if the casing is scratch resistant titantium? That case is not the
limiting factor for hardware longevity, the non-removal non-user-servicable
battery is.

~~~
staeff
Agreed. This was the first thing I checked.

For me it's just another expensive android phone with expensive addons. Is the
"docking station" really nothing more than a quick charger?

Why do they call themselves essential?

------
samfisher83
They are selling the phone for 700 dollars.

700 dollars for a phone? You can get a s8, HTC, or LG for cheaper with the
promotions they are running and those companies have a track record for making
phones. They could have been like One plus one and produced a high end phone
~400 bucks. For 700 dollars this will have a hard time getting traction.

------
JepZ
Well, I like the 'no logo' and the open software features. The other stuff
looks more or less like a normal flagship smartphone nowadays (yes I like the
360° camera too, but it is not essential). The things that I am missing:

\- replaceable battery

\- SD card slot

\- wireless charging

Those three are all essential to the lifetime of the phone. Storage
requirements may change, batteries and power connectors may wear off.

I still use my 5 old Samsung S3 which has all those features (with updated
Software). While I am willing to pay for a newer model (better camera, faster
processor, etc.), I can't find a phone that promises an equal longevity.

------
MrBuddyCasino
This is the first phone since the iPhone that triggers an "I want that"
feeling. Why the negativity?

~~~
bobsam
Because in Android-land there are better phones for less money.

People are disappointed, they had probably expected another miracle from andy,
that's all.

------
Animats
First-world problem: what business to start when you have too much money and
no really good ideas.

\- Private space program? Everybody's done that.

\- Sports team? Not into sports enough.

\- Museum? Boring.

\- Supercar company? IC engines are so last-cen and electrics mean competing
with Elon.

\- Super high end phone? Yeah!

~~~
nojvek
I still think a robotics company for the masses is something waiting for a
billionare to indulge in.

Its 2017 and where is my "Rosie the maid" from jetsons? It should be here by
now. I hate doing house chores.

~~~
Animats
Consumer Reports says the Samsung Powerbot robot vacuum is finally good enough
to be useful. The Dyson robot vacuum is almost as good, they report. Previous
robot vacuums were just too weak at vacuuming to do a good job.

~~~
scott_karana
Sweet! Ideas for more: laundry, dishwashing, toilet scrubbing, lawnmowing,
gutter-cleaning, grocery shopping, and table un-cluttering. "All in one" would
eventually be ideal ;)

------
je_bailey
Interesting. So he's started a new company to focus on products that have
"play well with others" as a design concept.

I like the idea he's promoting with the phone where all the accessories either
magnetically connect or a wireless connection. I hate having to purchase the
same things over and over again.

~~~
wodenokoto
I found it ironic that they talk about how annoying dongles are, but still the
phone requires a dongle for headphones

------
philfrasty
„Why 360 changes everything“

Where does all the excitement for 360° videos come from? In its current
implementation it adds absolutely nothing for the viewer and strips away the
possibility for the creator to tell a story by choosing what the viewer sees.

Useful for VR yes, on a flat screen just no.

~~~
sangnoir
Most consumers don't want to "tell a story" but record memories. The auteurs
who wish to "tell a story" can crop the viewport to their hearts desire
without limiting choices for everyone else who isn't a tortured genius.

~~~
freehunter
So you've never posed for a photo? Waited until the giraffe was looking right
at you before you took a picture at the zoo? You're comfortable just snapping
a picture, any old picture, and calling it good enough? You just want a
picture of your kid, it doesn't matter if they're in focus, or looking at you,
or picking their nose. It'll go on the christmas card anyway, right?

You don't have to be a "tortured genius" to want to frame a picture and make
it look nice. Nearly everyone wants to take a picture where things are in
frame, in focus, and the setting is controlled.

360 photos can be achieved with normal cameras like they are today without a
fad attachment. No one is limiting your choice, let's not be hyperbolic.

~~~
sangnoir
> Nearly everyone wants to take a picture where things are in frame, in focus,
> and the setting is controlled.

Not everyone wants to _take_ a picture where things are in frame, in focus,
and the setting is controlled - but they _want a_ picture when the conditions
are right: this is why burst-mode-with-auto-best selection is a thing. When
I'm taking a picture, please don't make me think too hard, work tor hard, _or_
it or hope to get the timing exactly right. I don't have a clue why fidelity-
loss at point of capture is romanticized when you can do it in 'post'. It is
also not future-proof for no good reason, IMO. My argument is an extension of
why you would want to shoot and save pictures in RAW, rather than JPEG.

My personal holy grail would be a continuous, high-quality 360-degree video on
which I can go back in time and frame a specific area at a given time to put
on the Christmas card/push in the gallery. Bonus point would be opening the
framed-image in a gallery and being able to see the context around it
(360-video with sound).

------
ghthor
Seems like a great idea in a space that needs more competition. Apple has a
monopoly on designing complete user experiences using technology and I'm tired
of it. Can't wait to see where this takes us.

~~~
ulfw
Wow what? A space that needs more competition? Android phones???

~~~
alexandersingh
The high-end smartphone market is dominated by Apple, with Samsung a very
distant second.

~~~
ulfw
And Essential is going to change that and get more market share than Samsung
or even Apple?

Please.

There are tons of great choices of Android high-end devices available from
Google itself, from LG, Xiaomi, Huawei, htc, even from OnePlus, you name it.
Good to have onemore choice with Essential now.

~~~
neivin
What we need is alternative to Android and iOS, not more shitty Android
phones.

There is a reason why iOS feels buttery smooth compared to any phone running
Android.

~~~
bobsam
If buttery smooth could sell phones windows phone would still be around.

With that said, have you used a modern Android recently?

------
fabrice_d
I find the Home product more interesting than the phone:
[https://www.essential.com/home](https://www.essential.com/home)

~~~
hbosch
I find the Home product to look essentially vapor-grade. The mock UI is awful,
no indication of size on the site, no indication of who their voice vendor
will be (Google? Amazon? home made?), no realistic roadmap... Just product
renders and optimistic statements.

I have a feeling the phone will be obscure in a year or two, and the Home will
be even less popular.

Of course, in an alternate future, some enterprising HNer will quote this
comment... I'm prepared for that.

------
apexalpha
What is it with these companies putting the latest SnapDragon CPUs in their
mobile devices?

No one cares about CPU performance. I've got a SD820 now in my Axon 7, and I
can tell you there is 0 difference with a SD625 in daily use.

Except that the SD625 is cheaper and has an incredible battery life.

The only company realising that people care about UX in stead of specs seems
to be Xiaomi. Consistently choosing SD625 and SD660 for their phones, because
it is clear that any CPU can pull a phone.

And let's be honest. No one cares about mobile VR.

I'll take SD625 and 5000mAh battery over SD835 and 6GB RAM any day.

~~~
piyush_soni
\- "And let's be honest. No one cares about a camera phone"

\- "And let's be honest. No one cares about having 2 GB RAM on a phone"

\- "And let's be honest. No one cares about <any new technology>"

New processors are not only 'faster' but also more energy efficient, which is
an equally (or more) important thing especially now when we've reached high
speeds even in basic (/cheap) smartphones. As long as they're not going
backwards, I don't see a reason why these companies should _not_ go with them.

~~~
apexalpha
I don't think that is a fair response.

1) Camera's had proven use and adoption before being mounted on mobile
computers. RAM has been ever increasing since the inception of it.

2) My comment should be seen in a timeframe. When I say no one needs 6GB RAM,
there is an implied 'in 2017' added to that. Otherwise every discussion about
hardware could be killed with you argument.

>As long as they're not going backwards, I don't see a reason why these
companies should not go with them.

The question is: which one do you choose to put in your phone now. Knowing
Android, knowing the other specs of the phone and knowing what kind of apps
people use.

In that case: I think the SD835 is overkill for 99% of people. That last 1%
being people who want the fastest simply _because_ it is the fastest, or who
play the most advanced mobile games / VR. Those people are a very small subset
of all smartphone users. 1% might be too much.

~~~
piyush_soni
As I said, I'd choose SD835 simply because it's more energy efficient even if
the speed improvement is insignificant (even though it is not), and for most
people more battery saving is a very welcome improvement. Moreover, it's not
just that. Here's what's new in SD835 _besides_ being 'faster' -

\- Around 25% less power consumption

\- Quick Charge 4 (up to 25% faster charging than Quick Charge 3)

\- Faster, more reliable and efficient Wireless (Gigabit LTE)

\- Bluetooth 5.0 support (significantly better than BLE 4.*)

\- Inbuilt Dual camera support and Electronic Image Stabilization version 3.0
for much better shake free videos.

\- Considerably smaller size so that phone makers can fit more 'stuff' inside.

\- And more ...

All of these features are quite important to me. Of course, we'll have to see
how these numbers turn up in real life, but to say it's an overkill for most
people is equivalent to saying any new phone with new features is an overkill.

------
whalesalad
The 360º camera feels like a gimmick. I dig the idea of having it, but it
gives me a gopro accessory vibe: pain in the ass to use and store (where do
you keep it when you're not using it??), it'll get lost, etc...

I like the idea of a titanium enclosure that is resistant to damage during
falls -- but that force needs to be absorbed somewhere. It's nice to know that
the outer enclosure of my phone is absorbing some of the impact of a fall. If
the Essential phone's titanium is not doing this – are the internal components
going to suffer more?

I'm interested in giving Android another shot but without the ability to go
into a store and play around with one, it's hard to throw $700+ on blind
faith. For example, the Pixel _looks_ incredible in photos. It resembles the
iPhone and offers an appearance of quality. Holding in your hand, however, it
feels like a plastic piece of crap. If I'd have gone on photos/videos alone,
I'd have been very disappointed.

Apple, for me, has been great due to the progressive enhancement and the
ability to go into a store and play around. Each phone release is familiar,
yet new and refreshing.

Every time the latest 'killer' Android device comes out, it will inevitably
introduce a handful of paradigm shifts in both the hardware and software. I
feel like you either need to be an early adopter willing to throw hundreds of
dollars at devices more frequently, or settle for Samsung bloatware.

------
gallerdude
I do think pricing is the biggest problem here. Android phones have been
flourishing recently because of cut prices (see: Moto G, OnePlus).

There's a LOT of good options for high end Android phones, and even if you
manage to take 2nd or 3rd place, you won't remotely get half or a third of the
profits.

They're getting too greedy too early. You have to earn the public's trust
before you jump in with a $700 device.

~~~
therealdrag0
On the other hand, wouldn't it be hard to raise the price after grounding it
low? What they're saying is "we're a luxury phone like iPhone."

~~~
gallerdude
I mean, yeah, it's infinitely easier to lower a price than raise it, but at
the same time if they announced it today with a killer price their marketing
would have a lot more momentum.

re: "we're a luxury phone like iPhone," this is a claim that they don't have
the brand to attempt. Sure, the co-creator of Android is _nice_ , but I doubt
anyone will be compelled by it. Building a top of the line brand takes years
of cultivation and careful adjustment. Essential has to prove itself before it
can just 'be luxury'.

------
dharma1
I think it looks really good. Not a huge fan of a proprietary expansion port,
but I guess there is no other way of future-proofing for certain accessories,
like sensors for inside-out VR/AR tracking.

I hope they get enough traction so that it'll be a viable business and these
won't be paperweights in 2-3 years time

~~~
remir
The expansion port will be open source, like Ambiant OS, according to Andy.

------
madmax108
>>> play well with others

...And right off the block, no headphone jack.

Why do companies insist on just blindly following Apple? Baah.

------
throwaway47861
Here are some angrily and hastily written observations:

\- No microSD card slot. Yes, 128GB internal storage -- and it being an UFS,
which is _fast_ \-- is a lot, but there are people who carry data on their
phones and require portability and speed. There's honestly no excuse not to
have a microSD these days.

\- Small battery; 3040 mAh, seriously, shouldn't the OEMs have learned by now?
Android is a battery eater, Google doesn't seem interested in making the OS
more efficient and keeps thinking of half-assed "solutions" like the Doze mode
which is basically "if it's the night and the phone hasn't moved in an hour,
please cripple its functions until the owner picks it up", heh. For Android
you'd best go for the absolute minimum of 3500 mAh or just admit you're after
a quick buck. If you're serious about an Android phone, better just put 4500
mAh or more in your device and then I'll take you seriously.

\- No 3.5mm audio jack. Yeah, keep dreaming, Andy Rubin. Parties with rich
friends who tell you "things they hear" are not a good indicator about market
needs. And you dare call your hardware "essential", lol.

\- Display is not AMOLED. Heard about actually having a black color on your
display? Guess not. Heard about dynamically turning off parts of the screen to
save power while not losing _any_ part of the image (because the turned off
part is black)? Guess you haven't heard of that either, nor energy efficiency
for that matter.

\- No word on planned maintenance period -- 1 year, 2, 4, how much? It's a
crucially important element nowadays, how can Android's creator be unaware of
that?

\- Cameras look good on paper but we all know it's the camera app which makes
the real difference. I bet it'll be some default vanilla app which won't make
a good use of at least 50% of the device's camera functions.

Overall -- overpriced pretty device. What else is new? The guy is pulling a
popularity card to get away with yet another mediocre device and entice naive
people to buy it because of his supposed prestige as Android's creator.

------
adim86
I am not impressed by the website at all. It is very well designed and in some
ways pretends to give you a lot of information but I find myself asking the
most basic of questions. What is Essential, does it do hardware, software or
both? Is it running a special Android or vanilla? What is the screen made of?
There is all this hype about how strong the phone is but I have never heard
anyone complain that aluminum is not strong enough for their purposes etc.

For a marketing site, I am just not impressed with the amount of important
information. Maybe the answers to all of this are in there, but it is so
poorly arranged that after checking in a bunch of places I expect it to be. I
have given up

~~~
giarc
The example picture of the waves rolling on the beach doesn't even look all
that high quality. Perhaps it is my crappy monitors at work, but it looks
pretty basic.

------
zmix
I want: \- 4 buttons on the finger's side, one jogwheel/microswitch at the
thumb. Buttons are configurable/contextual. Of course, also touch-screen

\- expandable flash

\- best mobile camera to date

\- Android (no bloat, unlocked, easily rootable)

\- no bezel

\- great battery

\- size of Xperia Compact Z3 but thinner

\- withstands rain and beach

\- upperclass CPU/GFX/RAM/Flash

~~~
jvzr
“Et cent balles et un mars,” as we delicately put it in France.

~~~
zmix
Hehe. As you get older you don't have time to wait for things to evolve, which
long time ago already have evolved. Technically it's possible, because we have
seen it. Now all should go into one device. What's so difficult about it? I
would have thought, that an engineer comes up with something better than the
marketing team.

------
Sephr
Looks great. I just wish they went with AMOLED. It'd be worth the increased
price.

------
intrasight
I get a blank screen except for the menu. What plugin is needed to view that
site?

~~~
TekMol
I get to see some content briefly before the site crashes Safari. This is on
an iPad2.

------
mstade
This is the first paragraph that shows up when seeing the site in mobile
safari:

> I know people are going to ask me a lot of questions about why I started
> this company. Why didn’t I just travel the world, ride my motorcycle, tinker
> with my robots, hang out at my bakery with friends and family. And to be
> honest I still do ask myself that sometimes…but not too often.

1\. Maybe I'm not geeky enough, but I don't know who you are

2\. I don't care who you are

3\. What are you selling? A phone?

4\. Oh screw this, I don't care enough to read past that pompous nonsense...

Oh well.

~~~
bobsam
> I don't know who you are

You might not know that he created Android, but surely you must know that he
created the sidekick??

Jokes aside, if you don't know who he is you probably don't need a smartphone.

~~~
Karzyn
>Jokes aside, if you don't know who he is you probably don't need a
smartphone.

Wow, how incredibly dismissive and insulting. There's estimated to be
something like 2 billion smartphone users globally. Sorry that some of us
aren't as cool/hip/in touch as you to know the name of one (admittedly
important) person involved in their development.

------
varelse
I really like the idea of a mobile phone that just _works_ with a suite of
consistent apps for photos, SMS, email, navigation, and whatever.

I really like maximizing local computation over cloud services.

And at first I thought this might be it. But alas, it appears to be just
another pretty and overpriced Android phone. I guess I will continue buying
last year's latest and greatest at a 50% discount or more once brand new shiny
disrupts it.

------
Markoff
no jack, no waterproofing, 3000mAh battery for 5.7", display disrupted by
camera, no brand and they ask 700$ for this?

------
maufl
"My software engineers wanted me to talk about our vision for making all
devices, even those we don't make ourselves, play well together." This sounds
really interesting to me, but I can't find anymore information about what that
means. Does anybody know?

~~~
rmah
It doesn't mean anything. It's marketing tripe.

------
Shelnutt2
Interested to see if Sprint and Verizon will support this on their networks.
The phone supports all the needed bands, it more a business decision on the
CDMA carrier side to certify it.

The rumors from a few months ago said Sprint was onboard, we'll see if that
panes out.

~~~
jbg_
What do you mean by "support"? Do they really get to tell you that you can't
use a device even though it supports the standard their network uses? (I'm
clueless of how things work with these carriers.)

~~~
kalleboo
AFAIK, Sprint and Verizon still require you to register your phone's serial
number to access the legacy CDMA network (or have they finally implemented
RUIM?). A SIM card should be fine for their LTE network though.

~~~
Shelnutt2
Verizon used RUIM, but it still has to be registered. Sprint is still using NV
based authentication.

Both carriers are more focused on getting to VoLTE than improving the CDMA
process at this point.

------
izacus
Ahh, so new Android phone shipping only to US where Apple is dominating the
high-end sales?

I see that going well.

~~~
Markoff
it's not like they would have lot of chances everywhere else where Xiaomi Mi
Mix with bigger battery and jack is just fine

------
p2t2p
This website doesn't work in Safari. Google Chrome is required. Back to IE6
age...

UPDATE: Nevermind, it started to work after couple refreshes.

UPDATE: Actually, 'home' section started to work, 'phone' section still
doesn't work in Safari.

------
linuxkerneldev
No mention of waterproofing, water resistance. That's the main thing I look
for.

------
theprop
I thought Rubin's other new product, Lighthouse, a security camera which uses
an AI backend to analyze video for anything "suspicious" and notify you on
your phone was much more interesting & promising.

------
shanwang
dare i say the phone looks underwhelming?

the home hub looks interesting, but it seems the main selling point is it can
work with other devices? so does it mean I can do things like asking Alexa to
stream my itunes library on chromecast?

------
paule89
Shipping to the US only...

~~~
NikolaNovak
Just saw that; aaaaaaanddd it all becomes irrelevant oh so quickly :-/

------
homero
All I want is the best processor, most ram, micro sd, replaceable battery and
root. Why can't anyone deliver this? I'm here cracking a v20 when I could be
happier.

~~~
nailer
Because more people want to consume DRM content than who want root.

Not saying this is good or bad, it just is.

~~~
homero
Drm mostly works on root now and root can still be a choice. Just made easier,
I had to use dirtycow on this phone.

------
bananicorn
There also seems to be a new smart home device in the making, just click on
the right icon in the header. Not sure if that's actually new or if I just
misclicked...

------
philip1209
Between generic brands and Apple, I don't think there is room for a third
competitor. Fitbit learned this the hard way trying to sit in-between.

Trying to make a brand that is more expensive than Apple will likely fail.
They have made gold devices before. Plus, most of luxury is perception - and
they stand no chance of having better brand marketing and recognition.

I don't think that the operating system is enough of a differentiator,
particularly when Google controls the software while promoting their own high-
end hardware.

------
souldoubt
Lovely site, but scroll lag janks so hard it's almost unusable!

Also hardware looks lovely. Any chance it runs something other than Android?

------
ed_blackburn
I'm drowning in a pretty website with no summary of what I am looking at.

~~~
Cthulhu_
It's literally the same concept as Apple's Mac Pro website, and there's a
picture of a phone you haven't seen before when you open it. How obvious does
it need to be?

~~~
majewsky
> a picture of a phone you haven't seen before

To be fair, all phones look _basically_ the same. Not saying that there aren't
differences, but most phones are difficult to tell apart at first glance.

------
kelvin0
We are the misfists, the craftsmen ... and uhh... Oh thats already been made.
Well dammit it worked once!

------
jlebrech
I like the 360 camera idea, but how could that not snap to a case for any
other phone?

------
auggierose
That site makes me sea sick.

------
thesanerguy
Andy has been able to get together a stellar team in such a short time

------
therealmarv
I bet this phone will not get fast Android updates ;)

------
philippnagel
Will the battery be easily replaceable?

------
aerique
But does it run SailfishOS?

------
thinkindie
is a 360 degrees camera really essential?

~~~
Cthulhu_
Nope, that's why it (seems to be) a separate, attachable accessory.

------
jaboutboul
Ha! Yet another android phone.

------
whisdol
They seem to avoid mentioning the version of Android they are running - the
specs only say "Android".

I'd like to be exited about this, but this uncertainty combined with the fact
that their security personnel is a team of dogs[1] makes it quite hard for me.

[1][https://www.essential.com/about](https://www.essential.com/about)

~~~
ericflo
I thought you were being unimaginably rude until I went to the page and saw
that there were actual dogs listed.

~~~
jjoonathan
Wow. For a platform that struggles with security, listing a security team
entirely composed of dogs comes across as the equivalent of "I drive better
drunk!". One has to wonder whether it was intended as a joke or as a
dismissal, and in both cases it evidences an alarming attitude towards a very
serious problem.

EDIT: If there were humans on that team in addition to the dogs, I'd not be
nearly so upset.

~~~
yeukhon
Well professionally I'd like a human photo. If this were a shy photo, I would
hope for not a cute puppy photo, but a human animated icon. There is a bit I
called professional prsentation vs being cute, but this is a startup and it's
someone else's company.

~~~
pawadu
or you could just accept that this a cute way to present the office dog, and
get on with your life...

------
groundCode
Hope the product is better than the website....

~~~
ghthor
Website seemed quite functional for me on my galaxy 7. What were your gripes?

~~~
shirian
Did not work in Firefox for me, despite allowing all scripts to run. Plus, as
a subjective note, I perceived it overall too designy, i.e. more focus on the
"coolness" than the information itself.

~~~
majewsky
Huh? Works for me (FF 53 on Arch Linux). I have uMatrix set to allow only
first-party JS by default, but they play nice and serve all JS from the same
domain (essential.com)

I still find the website overdesigned, of course, but the technical execution
worked perfectly for me.

------
Numberwang
Boy do I miss the websites of the late 90s. How about you spend another second
or two thinking about how your content is structured.

------
m-j-fox
> Why didn’t I just travel the world, ride my motorcycle, tinker with my
> robots, hang out at my bakery with friends and family.

Was Andy a douche before he got rich or is that the price of success?

~~~
dang
Personal attacks will get you banned on HN, so please don't do this again. It
doesn't matter if the other person is rich or even if they deserve it; what
matters is that it poisons the community, and we don't want that.

~~~
m-j-fox
Dang, you have a lot of rules that you enforce but don't write down. Any
criticism could be called an attack and everyone is a person so you're being
arbitrary. My stance is that I'm doing some guy who refers to "my engineers"
like they're his royal subjects, the favor his copy editor should do him in
letting him know how aragance plays with the audience. I'm arbitrarily
enforcing our culture's unwritten sanction against humble bragging and general
douche baggery. Basically, what you do.

~~~
dang
Interpretation is always involved, but that doesn't make it arbitrary.
Everything we do as moderators follows from the principles of the
site—intellectual curiosity and civil, substantive discussion.

> _don 't write down_

It's impossible to write everything down, it would be boring to try, and the
reward for such foolishness would be even worse behavior. The commenters who
most poison internet forums are experts in adapting to rules so they're
technically not violating them.

> _I 'm arbitrarily enforcing our culture's unwritten sanction_

Sure, there are many such values and there are tradeoffs between them. In this
case the need to protect the commons takes precedence, because it's fragile
and worth protecting. There were other ways to make the substantive point
behind your comment.

------
gadders
Chrome 40, so all I see is menu headings. Anyone got a summary?

~~~
look_lookatme
Yeah the website is a total mess. First visual I see is a picture of Andy
Rubin (???). Anyway, AFAICT, it's an android phone made from titanium and has
some cool looking attachments.

Is there enough money in $750 Android phones like this? I would imagine this
is a commodified market.

~~~
Cthulhu_
It would be, but the titanium, full screen and accessory systems are USP's.

~~~
threeseed
Full screen has already been done by Samsung and Apple is likely to be
releasing a full screen iPhone 8/X/? around September. And most people use
cases so the titanium isn't that compelling. Accessories typically just use
Bluetooth to communicate so that isn't much of a USP either.

------
deprave
He dumped the pile of insecure garbage called Android on us and now he's
moving on to reinvent iOS. Got it.

------
ensiferum
Oh..just another craproid device

