The Essential Phone Review: Save Your Money!

The Essential Phone review presents a first impression of a bold new entrant in the smartphone market that sticks to a minimalist philosophy. The hardware design stands out with a titanium frame and a ceramic back, delivering a premium, almost industrial aesthetic that eschews branding. Marques Brownlee notes the device feels solid and substantial in the hand, though the ceramic back is a fingerprint magnet, which makes a skin or case a near necessity. He highlights the lack of water resistance and the absence of a headphone jack as notable tradeoffs in this otherwise clean package. The display is large and sharp with very slim bezels, and while it is not OLED, the visual experience is solid and acceptable for everyday use. Performance is smooth thanks to stock Android 7.1.1 with an 835 processor and 4 GB of RAM, but the camera experience is identified as the weakest link due to laggy app performance and underwhelming photo quality. Overall, the reviewer frames the Essential PH-1 as an ambitious but imperfect first effort that excels in software purity and build quality while underdelivering in camera performance and some value considerations. The bottom line emphasizes a strong start with room to improve, cautioning potential buyers to compare with more established phones at the same price point and to wait for future iterations that might refine these issues. The video ends by signaling optimism for a second generation that could offer additional distinguishing features and better overall value, especially if price and accessories evolve with the ecosystem.

Topics · technology · product_review · hardware · mobile-phones · consumer-electronics