Android creator Andy Rubin's new phone will not initially be essential for customers of the top three mobile carriers in the US.
That's because Rubin's Essential phone will be a Sprint exclusive in the US when it goes on sale in late summer, according to USA Today.
"We like to bet with where we think the market is going as opposed to where the market was," Essential President Niccolo de Masi tells USA Today. "I feel like we are a new brand and a new consumer electronics company and we are partnering with the network of the future."
There's no word as to how long Essential's exclusive partnership with Sprint will last. Sprint did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment. The company is currently the nation's No. 4 mobile carrier, ranking behind Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile.
Unveiled late last month, the $699 Essential PH-1 phone was designed so that all accessories—like a 360-degree camera, which you buy separately —"magnetically snap" to the device.
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You won't find any logos on the PH-1, which features a titanium body and ceramic back. In terms of specs, it has a 5.71-inch "edge-to-edge display" with a resolution of 2,560 by 1,312, an 8MP front camera, and 13MP rear camera. On the inside, the Android-powered handset packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, a 3040mAh battery with fast charging capabilities, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage.
Speaking with a group of reporters at last week's Wired Business Conference, Rubin called Essential a "pro consumer brand" that doesn't ask you to get a new weird dongle every time a new accessory comes out.
"Consumers need to tell me whether there's enough innovation in this," Rubin said. "The 360-degree camera and the magnetic accessory are two things. We're in a saturated smartphone market where everyone who wants a smartphone has one, and the consumer doesn't get to feel the innovation anymore. The reason we built this magnetic connector is to continuously produce innovation and show it to the consumer in real time. It's almost like software updates for hardware."
Would you switch to Sprint for a smartphone made by the creator of Android?
Rubin reveals more details about Ambient OS, Essential's interoperability strategy, and explains why you shouldn't call it a 'modular smartphone.'
Relax Report: Andy Rubin's Essential Phone Is a Sprint Exclusive stories
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