Product test

Essential PH-1: A first look at the Android founder's phone

17.10.2017

Translation: machine translated

The Essential PH-1 landed on my desk with a lot of advance praise. It's been a long time since I've been so excited about a phone. So I'm sharing my initial thoughts with you.

Black. The packaging of the Essential PH-1 doesn't give much away, but it looks extremely classy. There is only a picture of the phone on the front. No logo, no lettering, no slogan. There are maybe five lines of text on the back, describing what the box actually is and what you get for your money.

The inside of the packaging is similarly minimalist. Phone, dongle for headphone jack, charger, USB cable. That's it. Between the two compartments is a hidden envelope containing the SIM removal tool. And that's the first time I notice it: Essential has thought of everything. The SIM tool has a round hole in the centre, as you know it from every little pen key thing. Essential's logo is a square with a cut-out circle and this cut-out circle to the right of it. So Essential has simply printed a small circle next to the tool. Just watch the video above.

This attention to detail is evident in everything. Really everything. Everything is in black and silver. Even the cable and the dongle are not simply wrapped in plastic, but covered in some kind of fabric.

"Wow, Dominik," I can already hear you saying, "come to the phone. I'm not interested in cables."

Okay, then to the phone.

Sleek. Full stop.

There is a word in English called "sleek". Literally translated, it means "smooth", but as is so often the case, something gets lost in translation. Sleek is not just smooth, but slim, beautiful, elegant, pleasing and chic. And that's exactly what the Essential Phone is. The company led by Android founder Andy Rubin has not cut any corners, even though the phone is completely devoid of bells and whistles. Every square millimetre of the device seems well thought out and it makes an extremely good first impression.

The competition, both on the Android and Apple side, can take a leaf out of this book. I haven't seen anything like it for a long time. If ever at all.

The Essential PH-1 is a little heavy in the hand, but at 180 grams it is not bulky or too heavy. On the contrary, it feels like you're holding something that can perform. The edges are made of metal, the back is made of black mirrored plastic. You have the antenna strips in the edges and the LED light for notifications is seamlessly integrated into them.

The selfie camera juts into the picture. I wonder if that will bother me

But the main thing is the display. It's big. So big, in fact, that the selfie camera protrudes into the screen. I was critical of this idea. Very critical. I like my screens. But I don't like selfie cameras. I'm probably the only one who only uses the selfie camera for testing purposes. Okay, my most recent selfie is about three weeks old, I can't remember the one before that. According to me, I wouldn't have needed the construct like that.

But just that: well thought out. The Essential PH-1 gives you a really good feeling here too. Because nothing is usually displayed in the centre of the status bar at the top. This is simply unused screen space. Now there's the camera and the whole thing feels organic, logical and complete.

What the device lacks, however, is a headphone jack. There is a dongle so that your headphones can still be used, but just like Apple and unlike HTC, Essential doesn't give a good reason why the 3.5 millimetre jack has to go. I can still see why the connector can go, but only if a better alternative is provided. So far, the only one who has done this right is the crisis-ridden company HTC, which has probably supplied the best in-ear headphones ever with the HTC U 11.

video
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HTC U11 - The loud one with the camera... and the touch edges
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Of course, there are a lot of wireless headphones that connect to your phone via Bluetooth, that you can buy and everything. But I'm of the opinion that if a 100-year-old technology is to be sent to the eternal hunting grounds, then the onus is on the abolishers to provide a better alternative. Prove to us that we no longer need the old junk and can go laughing into a golden future. Instead, something we've all grown accustomed to all our lives is simply being taken away from us.

The back plate is made of plastic, with no logo and nothing. No CE seal. This could lead to problems, because nothing can be sold in Europe without CE. But: All parts are CE certified. Sure, they are usually all labelled, but if you destroy your Essential Phone and open it up, you will find CE seals. But the way the device is delivered, the back plate is completely logo-free. And that's very nice.

I would never have thought that I would like a phone that is so minimalist and pure, without logos and lettering, so much.

Why digitec can offer the Essential Phone

As a rule, we don't communicate how we got a phone and our pricing policy is our own business. But the Essential PH-1 is a special case, according to product management. The phone is not officially distributed in Switzerland. The phone is also not a normal grey import, but simply special.

We buy the phone as an American would buy it. So with VAT and everything. But since we wouldn't be allowed to sell the Essential PH-1 if we couldn't provide a warranty, we also cover it. In other words, if your Essential PH-1 is broken on arrival, we will repair it at our own expense, because legally we have to offer a two-year warranty in Switzerland. Of course, you also have this on a product that we buy in the USA in the same way as a customer does.

"But it's justified.

"But that never justifies the price," I can already hear users thinking aloud in the comment columns. Yes, it does. That's not just because Essential owners share the warranty cases in solidarity, but because the USA doesn't work quite the same way as Switzerland. This is about the tiresome topic of value added tax. In the USA, it's called sales tax and it varies from state to state. In Switzerland, we decided this democratically in Bern and voted on it a few years ago and that's that.

Smartphones

Essential Ph-1

128 GB, Black moon, 5.71", Single SIM, 4G

That's why prices in the USA are always quoted without VAT. In Switzerland, however, they always include it. So if you pay eight per cent VAT here and something is marked at CHF 10.80 in the shop, then 80 cents of that is VAT. In the USA, something labelled at USD 10.80 costs USD 14.58 in Alabama with the current 13.5 per cent sales tax. For comparison, because the USA is always a bit complicated: In Hawaii, the sales tax is only 4.712 per cent, so our USD 10.80 thing would cost USD 11.30 there

So if you read that the Essential PH-1 is priced at USD 699 in the USA, then depending on the state, the item can cost between USD 731.93 in Hawaii and USD 793.36 in Alabama. Without a margin for the seller, of course. And without warranty. And without import duty costs.

We add a small margin. Because everyone has to be able to keep their head above water. We have opted for electronics, hope that you like our devices and that you recycle them at the end of their service life. Add to that the warranty and you have a price that at first glance seems absurd by international standards.

I can see it coming. I will have to link to this passage in this article many times in the future.

And now: switch on! The everyday test begins. I'll be back soon with a full review about performance and so on. Because a phone like this is something very special on the market and comes with a lot of advance praise, I have to test it over a longer period of time.

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Dominik Bärlocher

Senior Editor

dominik.baerlocher@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.

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