Essential Phone User Reviews

I purchased the PH-1 right after it first
Was introduced. I have ha two and the second one has issues that it has gone on for weeks and is not resolved. I am giving up and buying from a different manufacturer

I use it for 10 months and  I love it.  It's very sleek and attractive with 4gb/ 128gb storage which is pretty good and it's getting latest Android update Android 10 beta 3 2019... So what do I want in this price.

Great phone!!!! I have had the phone for a week and a half and had three updates already and has only Gottingen better. I would of got phone sooner but the battery being 3040 mah I didn't think it would last as long as it has. Great for games watching YouTube. Just an all around great phone. I hope the make a PH-2.

I love this phone. I usually don't take the time to review products but I felt the urge to with this.

The large 5.7" LCD screen is great and more than manageable due to the screen:body.

Without a case it's a pretty slippery slab so it's difficult to feel confident holding securely, therefore a case is recommended. The look and feel without one, however, is very high-end.

Performance is top-notch as it should be for having (at launch) the latest and greatest from Qualcomm.

The battery lasts a full day unless you're exceptionally heavy on video, audio or games. The included 27-watt charger juices it pretty quickly.

Stock Android is great, imo, and enables quick updates from Essential. That they have only one device to focus on undoubtedly helps.

The single speaker gets loud without distortion and has decent tone but it's easy to block when holding.

The camera is everyone's favorite thing to comment on with the PH-1 but the app experience is much improved from the countless updates and pictures taken look good.

At $700 it was a tough sell at launch, but now I'd say it's competitive at $400-$500, and a down right steal at $250, especially with a free accessory like the 360° camera or some headphones thrown in, if offered.

If you're interested in last year's phones for the price discounts I'd encourage giving the PH-1 some consideration. If not for the value, do it for the knowledge that you'll likely have the one and only offering from Essential after they close up shop. A collectors' item if you will.

When the inventor of Android decided to launch a new company Essential he had lofty goals of building modular products on an Android phone that promised to be the most stable Android phone available. That was mission accomplished but everything else was a complete disaster.
Unfortunately the team failed on so many counts, it is amazing the private equity backers didn't see all this going down at the design team level.
Making a phone is a really complicated business because the design philosophy like most technological products is based on Specifications and performance using engineers who have no mandate to produce products with ease of manufacturing in mind. Generations after generations of engineers are trained to build stuff knowing nobody is interested at looking at the innards of a phone. It is pure publish or perish mentality, A recurrent sickness since the dawn of the industrial age. That is why when you open a cell phone there are 43 screws, tape, flex modules, cables and so much crap in there, it is nothing but sinful. it is surprising how focused these companies are on making products that won't last two years. If you play this game at the onset as a start-up, you are surely going to get eaten alive by established players like Samsung, LG, Apple and their minions. Qualcomm and Foxconn who know who pays the bills will not send their newest products samples to an unproven upstart.
What Essential should have done is build a set of attachable modular products FIRST: Revolutionary in DESIGN and Functionality with pure modular philosophy in CONSTRUCTION: 360 camera, Home speaker,Complete Domotic system running stable on Android, give away all the patents as open source and get a partner that made a phone that didn't need to be cutting edge (that lasts barely six month) and cost $100MM to get it going to sell a dismal 150,000 units. Instead you would have a low price no problem phone with super long battery life but a whole suite of modules that made the whole process much better than the sums of its parts...
So now that we spoke about epic failure, here is a quick rundown on my experience.
I loved the phone as soon as I turned it on. Android on this phone rocks! At first it felt big, powerful but that soon felt old and heavy.The battery life is too short for a guy who gets up at 5AM and runs around until sunset.
The problem is the weight to width ratio and it made the typing really difficult with lots of typos for a 6' guy. A design flaw. As for women, not sure they will enjoy such a heavy phone.
GSM and LTE reception were perfect
The screen is gorgeous
Horrible camera and no amount of software patches will fix inherent faulty design, who needs 4K video without quadruple image stabilization? I call this barf video
The worst thing about this phone is its IP 54 rating. This thing cannot be anywhere near humid air let alone dust or water. In this day an age, a sealed phone that is not at least IP68 or IP69 is a HUGE design fault

This smartphone is iconic and amazing. I have owned almost every major Android phone ever made and this one has eclipsed them all. I am a power user and a developer, and essential has checked all the boxes to make me happy. I have even bought 2 for my wife and step daughter. They both agree that this phone has exceeded any other they have ever owned and they are average users. From having stock Android, fast updates, strong processor, good memory and plenty of built in storage the specs and function of this phone is phenomenal. The design and build are unmatched by any phone ever. This design should be carried on by essential with very little change until the the smartphone is replaced by biointegrated technology. The size, weight, fit and finish are exquisite. This phone is it

I had a lot of concerns about the phone before buying it. I was pleasantly surprised!! It has blown away my expectations and at an incredible price. The camera works really well (although I did add googles app as well). It's just so easy to hold compared to past phones I have had... super good build quality.. I do wish it had a headphone jack... With all the updates that it got, I have not had any issues so far... I will say it may get slightly worse reception in general than my last phone (MotoX Pure) but haven't had any issues... If you have TOTALWIRELESS, you may need to turn off the enhanced 4G feature. I couldn't place calls at first but as soon as I turned that off it worked great...

I recently had a problem with my phone I could not get LTE to work. I contacted my mobile carrier T-Mobile and they said there is a possibility I had a bad sim card. I went to the T-Mobile store and they replace the SIM card and the problem remained.

I immediately became concerned and reached out to essential. I first called the technical support phone number and was asked to leave a message and since it was Sunday I did. I then figured I could follow up my voicemail with an email which I did.
Within a half an hour I had an email and a phone call from essential to different people. The first person who contacted me via the phone walk me through check my settings and immediately figured out what was wrong corrected the setting and everything works fine. When I was finished with the phone call I checked my email and they gave me the same information.

I am a former professional photographer and do not find the camera to be too awful it does the job for what it's intended this is not an SLR. I have other phones and yes the cameras maybe a little bit better but if you work at your photography with your essential it'll work just fine.

Based on the service that I've received and quality of the phone I think this is a winner and anybody who says different maybe being paid from other phone manufacturers not to rate this phone and fear of losing customers to essential.

What I am saying is there service is great their product is fantastic and I can't wait for the pH 2 I'll get one of them this is a perfect phone for a first try and they continuously update it how can you go wrong.

A great phone for the price
But it has 4 main problems:
1- Good Camera but not near the high-end phones
2- Only IP54 water resistance rating which is not enough compared to other phones
3- No SD card Slot but it's not a big deal because of the 128gb capacity
4- No Headphone Jack :'(
Everything else is great

I really don't know why people are so fussy about this phone's camera. I have not had one problem with the camera app the photos the phone produces have been the best I've ever seen. This is a phone camera, not a DSLR. No phone camera will ever be "professional" quality. The build is the best in the industry. Every phone attracts fingerprints. I'm not sure why people complain about this. I have a case on mine so it's not an issue. The look is unique enough but very classy. The screen is very bright and clear even on the dimmer side of the setting. Operation is very fast and smooth. Tons of storage and no bloat. Call quality and reception is excellent. I usually go about two days on a charge which is excellent and it charges very quickly. I only have one complaint and it is very minor, but the fingerprint scanner doesn't work when the phone is charging. There is probably a reason for that or maybe a setting I have not found yet. In conclusion, this phone is comparable to all the other flagships out there in terms of performance and build and even beats them in some categories. I highly recommend it...don't listen to all the nitpicky complaints. Most of them are imagined.

I love this phone I have had it for a little while now and you get used to it very quickly and don't want to go back. Some other people say the interface is "vanilla" but I personally like that this doesn't have some other ui built on the stock Android and even if you did these phones are easy to sideload to. The design is amazing and I feel too many people knocked it due to the camera reviews but seriously with all the updates it has came a long way and they just keep on improving it. Also who can beat the fact that these phones after Google's own phones are typically the fastest to receive updates. Highly recommend and where else are you going to get a 128/4 gb full screen phone thats basically QHD for 450???

I have had this phone for over a month now. I switched from iPhone to android just to try this phone after 7 years and I do not regret it even a little bit. Initially the price of the phone was outrageous specially considering the fact that the UI was just stock android (some really enjoy that though). At 499$, this is an exceptionally great phone. It is beautiful, well built and just a joy in hand.

I took the plunge on the Essential Phone after the price was lowered to $500. Ergonomically the phone is perfect. After accidentally opening and closing apps and "butt dialing" on my Galaxy S8 repeatedly on account of the waterfall screen, the annoying Bixby button, and the awkward placement of the fingerprint scanner, I was looking for a replacement. The Essential is a beautiful phone and is built like a tank. If it weren't for the bad press it received regarding the camera it would have been a big hit. In particular I love the ceramic back. Even though it is a fingerprint magnet, the prints wipe off easier than a glass back.....

Regarding the camera, the latest software updates have improved it greatly. It's still not in Apple/Samsung/Google territory but it is at least competent now. Actually it does very well in outdoor and bright light and one can even get some decent low light photos if one plays with the HDR settings. If you don't care about mobile photography or water resistance then the Essential is definitely worth a try, especially at the lower price point.

A 5.7 inch screen on a body smaller than the 5 inch pixel 2. Build quality that can be felt immediately. The ceramic and titanium truly feel premium and it's a unique feeling. Battery makes it through the day with above average use with no problem. The camera is behind flagship competitors, no doubt. My title alludes to users that won't tell the difference. It's still an incredibly high quality camera that takes great photos. Did you really think the photos from flagships a few years ago were so bad? Of course not, these photos are the same or better. Also, the unbranded USB-C port wall charger and braided USB-C to USB-C cable included are a nice premium touch.

Definitely not what I was expecting after seeing the horrible review by Phone Arena. And now that I own it, the only issue I have with it is the lack of memory expansion. This baby runs smooth and since I use Nova Launcher, the interface wasn't too much of an issue for me. Some of the updates since I got this phone, have made it even better..

I have had it for a few days now and I will say that if you like Samsung, LG or HTC user interfaces this is NOT the phone for you. I will say that if you are into something unique and "vanilla flavored" Android just maybe the Essential is for you. Build quality and materials used are second to none it feels like a heavy duty phone but it does have some short comings that may turn people away. LCD screen isn't going to have the high contrasts of a OLED screen but it is still an awesome screen. the bottom firing speaker isn't "Boom Sound" but it sounds pretty decent.

The camera has some issues, I believe that it has a lot to do with the software because the stock app vs the Google Camera app, the photo quality with GCam is a good bit better