Andy Rubin's Essential Phone is running late

Back in May, when the Essential phone was unveiled, Android co-creator Andy Rubin said that the device would ship within the next 30-days. Well folks, 30 days have come and 30 days have gone without any units shipped. The phone is available for pre-orders from Sprint, which will have the U.S. exclusive of the handset. The unlocked version of the Android flavored model will work with each of the country's top four stateside carriers. The price? $699.  

The Essential phone features an edge-to-edge screen, and will ship with a brand new virtual assistant, thus far unnamed. The device comes with a Gorilla Glass 5 protected 5.71-inch screen carrying a 1312 x 2560 resolution, and an aspect ratio of 19:10. Under the hood is the Snapdragon 835 chipset carrying an octa-core 2.45GHz CPU and the Adreno 540 GPU. 4GB of RAM is inside along with 128GB of native storage. A rear-facing dual camera setup, both 13MP sensors (one RGB and the other in monochrome) is aboard as is an 8MP front-facing selfie shooter. A modular attachment turns the camera into a 360 degree panoramic shooter.

The 3040mAh battery keeps the lights on, and a fingerprint scanner is embedded under the home button. In other words, this has the makings of being a really powerful high-end Android model. Of course, making promises and failing to deliver on them is not the best way to start a new company selling another high-end handset in an overcrowded market. Will Essential be able to overcome this auspicious debut? Most likely the answer is a resounding yes. Andy Rubin certainly deserves at the least a couple of get out of jail free cards.

source: Android Authority