I still have mine. The most impressive thing was that it was able to get the latest monthly security updates and annual system updates even days BEFORE the pixel does.
It wasn't cheap at the time of the launch, infact it was criticized by many reviewers because the camera was buggy and average for the price tag it was being sold at. That bashing from reviewers is one reason Essential is dead now and I guess some Andy Rubin issues as well .@@jevonsims900
@@daisybe3736 kinda agree. You still can find amazing fucking phones by Huawei and just install GAPPS on it and it works flawlessly. And their new phones are insanely good.
I used to have the Essential Phone back in 2022 for literally only two days. I purchased it used at a local pawn shop for a very low price and was all over how smooth and fluid the operating system was and how awesome the ceramic and titanium combo felt in the hand. And why did I only have it for two days? Because the damn reception crapped out. I couldn't send nor receive calls with the phone. I had to return it and was absolutely devastated. I still want to buy one of these very badly.
@Wigwamo It's decent considering it's a 3040 mAh. Mine doesn't last a full day now, but I mainly use it for the 360 camera module. I use it for travel and snapping 360 images.
4:03 this phone had a lot of potential but it is kind of contradictory because it is named essential phone and it kind of missed on the important features
This was a great little device. Excellent build quality and worked quite well. Sold it after a while since the weakest area for me was the camera. Nice flashback once again Ryan. Keep em coming 👊🏽💯💕
Do we need phones with glass and metal construction or plastic or metal construction I think a phone with the plastic construction would be better in cell connectivity better durability the phone would be lighter I don't know why everyone is obsessing over metal and glass construction
5:33 Aged like a fine wine dude, Longbottom'd lol :) I really loved the *aesthetic* of these when they came out, but the price was insane in New Zealand.
i really love ur content, ur kind of content is one of the new and rare kind. reviewing old technology and giving perspective from the current technology advancement.
At least 5 family members went for Essential Phones... Still have a couple of the 30w chargers around... Only stopped using the phones when they all eventually died of old age...
I will never forgive any company for ditching the headphone jack. dumbest, most greedy move ever done in smartphone history. I hear people argue all the time it's not needed anymore because people use bluetooth headphones. but nobody wants to admit most people use bluetooth headphones because they don't have a headphone jack and apple is extremely savvy with marketing. if headphone jacks TRULY weren't important anymore, then why do ALL computers have them? even macbook air's that are willing to sacrifice most ports STILL has a 3.5mm headphone jack. it's cheap, durable, and universal.
This is the DeLorean of phones. A striking, iconic design (you missed the detail that this was the very first phone to hit the market with the notch as we know it today, beating Apple to the punch by four months and writing the blueprint for the next five years of Android phone screen design); futuristic for its time, with some forward-thinking features in some places, but lacking in fundamentals-it didn't compare favourably to its competitors in its time, and the companies behind them were tanked through a combination of economic factors and controversies striking their famous visionary leaders (though unlike DeLorean, Rubin's allegations actually stuck). Now we look back with rose-tinted glasses, appreciating those forward-thinking elements while ignoring the flaws. This phone was my daily driver for just one year-from 2019 to 2020-but it's my favourite Android phone I ever dailied. By the time I got one, the software was smooth, snappy, and minimalist in all the right places-being the only non-Pixel phone to get version updates day and date was a huge plus for me. It was just the right size, and its design-while no longer unique by 2019-still felt more refined and carefully considered than many of the phonemakers who copied it. The LCD screen wasn't a big deal, and I was fine with the shots the cameras gave me, even on the stock camera software. This phone also managed to wean me off the headphone jack, after I already had started dailing wireless headphones on my Galaxy S8 (which prematurely died of pool water damage)-in a lot of ways its forward-thinking design helped ease me into the direction modern smartphones were heading. Unfortunately though, once Essential went under, I no longer felt comfortable sticking with the phone-I'm not a tinkerer and have no interest in rooting and patching it myself-so I moved on. But it remains in my drawer as something I like to occasionally take out and admire. I even got the 360º camera last Christmas, just to try it out for fun! I'm on an iPhone 15 Pro these days-returning to a titanium phone was pretty amusing for me, considering I had used one four years prior. I miss the simplicity of stock Android-Pixels and NothingOS aren't the same, and with everyone else trying so hard to be an iPhone rather than embracing Android's unique strengths, plus Apple loosening their grip in matters like personalization, I found no reason to not just get the iPhone. By the way, you missed one more thing: The engineers and such at Essential went on to found another company, OSOM-and they put together another insane titanium-and-ceramic smartphone that is by far the most direct spiritual successor to the Essential PH-1 hardware-wise, but they needed a larger partner in order to bring it to market. Unfortunately, nobody was interested except for Solana, so it got branded as a crypto phone, was saddled with useless bloated software, and got (sadly rightly) ridiculed at MKBHD's phone awards last year. An unfortunate outcome for such a passionate group of engineers with such interesting ideas. Software-wise I guess NothingOS is as close as it gets these days-Google has been intentionally neglecting stock Android in favour of their Pixel skin, so running stock Android is now more of a detriment than it ever has been before.
Essential PH-1 has USB-C 3.1 as supports DisplayPort over USB-C, just enable Android Desktop mode under developer options, plug it in and you'll get your desktop.
My friend and I found an essential ph1 just lying there in a shop. I think we found it in mid of 2018 and we got it for like $180 at that time and the phone was in pristine condition too. A bargain for us cause majority of ppl in my country didn't know what this phone was or didn't really care for anything except for Apple. Sadly, that phone was later sold to another friend who later exchanged it for an iPhone 6s. My jaw dropped when I heard it from that dude.
Is it possible to make a software other than android and IOS from scratch? I think both Android and IOS has reached their peak now more software should be introduced
I remember that phone when it came out. It was really enticing at first...then the company went down hill rather quick. It's a shame. I think it wasn't a bad first effort.
One of my favorite phones I briefly switched from iPhone to android specifically because I thought this phone was awesome. With they would have made a sequel
I really wish that there would have been more essential phones. I own an essential phone sitting on my desk at home. I currently have lineage I think 21 flash to it. I still use it all the time. I love that phone
Best looking phone of all time, except the screen, which would have done better with an eaually thick bezel up top or at least permanent blackening of the status bar around the notch
I think the Pixel 9 Pro is kinda a great successor to this as it's a phone made by the creators of android. It's not perfect but it's close enough. Go Pixel. Watching on the OnePlus 8T.
I had one of these phones back in 2019. Best phone I’ve ever had. The ROM community was also awesome, and I attempted to build my own custom ROM but I didn’t have good enough hardware haha. If they made one of these phones again with newer cameras and a new SoC, I’d buy one in a heartbeat.
This was a terrible phone from the perspective of repairability, they used very strong adhesive which meant that you couldn't open this up without breaking the screen, I'm glad that it failed.
I heard of the Essential Phone but I don't want to spend the money on beta products. Maybe one day when I have so much money I can blow money on a paper weight. Essential phone joins the Nextbit Robin and the Amazon fire phone and the Red Hydrogen One.
I had this phone for a while Cool features but the camera was horrible okay maybe it wasn't horrible but it was bad compared to what was out there at the time so I ended up selling the phone
@@theryanthomas YAAAAAAAAAAA!, please hurry though. its either that or and HMD fusion or skyline (need to loan a few dos from friends) I Really need a rock solid phone, and I also dont want to be hit with 400 dollar screen repair and all that. Just starting my undergrads in the US and I am jsut lost on what I want for my phone. I kinda hate S24, as i feel like i am always being watched (AI) and I really want a side mounted fingerprint reader (phone is safer that way). DO take about the DAC and how does it compare to the V30 too. I just don't know what to pick and the stocks are so limited. oh and any IEM suggestions? never tried it. I just want something I can wear for over 10 hours, and feel natural (bass makes me put of my earphones often) but I dont want fall in the bottomless pit of audiophile fantasy land. I never spend more than 15 dollars on audio, and basically use a 5 dollar speaker for must stuff (unless I need to watch movies or something). Sorry for the long text. :)
The Essential phone is overrated trash. Literally no redeeming features about it apart from barebones stock Android. Garbage phone. Every reviewer dunked on it for good reason. People need to stop being nostalgic for junk through rose tinted glasses. Some non-exhaustive reasons: - Small battery even for 2017 standards - No headphone jack - Camera was comically bad and OTA's never really fixed it - It claiming to be an innovative "bezel-less" despite having a notch, and despite the Mi MIX coming out half a year earlier with a notch-less design - Fragile ceramic design + INCREDIBLY hard to repair without destroying the phone (watch the JerryRigEverything teardown) - IPS not AMOLED - Pogo pin accessories (360 cam, magnetic DAC with 3.5mm jack) were gimmicks at best - Relatively expensive
I still have mine. The most impressive thing was that it was able to get the latest monthly security updates and annual system updates even days BEFORE the pixel does.
Essential Ph-1 had better premium build materials than Pixel, faster updates, and it was cheaper, so Essential had to go.
Maybe that's why it was so buggy. They didn't spend time optimizing the system.
It wasn't cheap at the time of the launch, infact it was criticized by many reviewers because the camera was buggy and average for the price tag it was being sold at. That bashing from reviewers is one reason Essential is dead now and I guess some Andy Rubin issues as well .@@jevonsims900
The Essential Phone ran so that the Nothing Phone could walk.
Nostalgia is a bitch
@@wiltfield And it always will be
2017-2019 was peak for Android phones.
And then the Apple+Samsung duopoly really set in.
One Plus and Xiaomi specially Xiaomi. Check stats on it.
@Audacitycs1 I was using my Mi Mix 2 up until Winter 2022 haha
After Huawei ban, phones went downhill.
@@daisybe3736 kinda agree. You still can find amazing fucking phones by Huawei and just install GAPPS on it and it works flawlessly. And their new phones are insanely good.
"in the US"
I used to have the Essential Phone back in 2022 for literally only two days. I purchased it used at a local pawn shop for a very low price and was all over how smooth and fluid the operating system was and how awesome the ceramic and titanium combo felt in the hand. And why did I only have it for two days? Because the damn reception crapped out. I couldn't send nor receive calls with the phone. I had to return it and was absolutely devastated. I still want to buy one of these very badly.
Sounds like a the carrier took your money then cut off Network eligibility for the phone.
@jevonsims900 Firstly, I bought it unlocked and secondly it worked intermittently so it's more likely that it was a hardware issue.
owned one for 3 years and yea, bad cell reception was a common thing for me as well
Cell reception wasn't unusable for me but it definitely was among the weakest of smartphones I've dailied.
@@cruce907 Huh, maybe the combination of living in a shitty area and a poorly designed antenna WAS the reason why it didn't work properly.
"USB 2.0 speeds on its usb-c port"
Apple: Write that down, write that down!
I still have my Essential phone with the 360 camera module. You're right, the ceramic build feels great in hand
How's the battery life
@Wigwamo It's decent considering it's a 3040 mAh. Mine doesn't last a full day now, but I mainly use it for the 360 camera module. I use it for travel and snapping 360 images.
4:03 this phone had a lot of potential but it is kind of contradictory because it is named essential phone and it kind of missed on the important features
As strange designed/full screen phones go, I LOVED the Asus Zenfone 6 & 7 with the '180 degree rotate out' camera system 👍 😎🇬🇧
Loved my PH-1, still my fave in terms of build quality. Just wish they had delivered more on the modular aspect beyond the 360 cam and DAC
no way. i was searching the essential phone for some days and this banger dropped
This is the best channel for seeing old and discontinued tech
Really glad the heartfelt call to subscribe has worked out this well for you Ryan, been watching the channel off and on since the Fail Tech days.
Thank you so much! Wow you've been around a while haha
Hi! can you do a video on ZTE Phones?
Yes please 🙏
I think the Axon 7 would fit in this series
the quality of videos is improving 👌 👏
This was a great little device. Excellent build quality and worked quite well. Sold it after a while since the weakest area for me was the camera. Nice flashback once again Ryan. Keep em coming 👊🏽💯💕
Do we need phones with glass and metal construction or plastic or metal construction
I think a phone with the plastic construction would be better in cell connectivity better durability the phone would be lighter I don't know why everyone is obsessing over metal and glass construction
Glass and metal just feels and looks good in hand. Even though most people will just use a case.
@@Lathi33 Plastic on the lumia 950 was really nice
@@KofolaDealer still not as good as my realme xt glass back.
5:09 Wow Young Ryan 🙂↕️
May you reach that 100k subs soon man
5:33 Aged like a fine wine dude, Longbottom'd lol :)
I really loved the *aesthetic* of these when they came out, but the price was insane in New Zealand.
i really love ur content, ur kind of content is one of the new and rare kind. reviewing old technology and giving perspective from the current technology advancement.
Hey Ryan, Great video as always!
It had the perfect form factor for a phone.. I wish it still got official updates, I'd still use it.
The essential phone was pivatol in the smartphone industry.
At least 5 family members went for Essential Phones... Still have a couple of the 30w chargers around... Only stopped using the phones when they all eventually died of old age...
Banger after banger
Didn't essential shut down?
The flush cameras...I don't know why OEMs have just let up the fight in that department
I will never forgive any company for ditching the headphone jack. dumbest, most greedy move ever done in smartphone history.
I hear people argue all the time it's not needed anymore because people use bluetooth headphones. but nobody wants to admit most people use bluetooth headphones because they don't have a headphone jack and apple is extremely savvy with marketing.
if headphone jacks TRULY weren't important anymore, then why do ALL computers have them? even macbook air's that are willing to sacrifice most ports STILL has a 3.5mm headphone jack. it's cheap, durable, and universal.
How often do you use a headphone jack on a phone?
Have you ever considered making a video on the OnePlus X? I feel like it was like the Essential Phone of the time
If possible, get your hands on OBI Worldphone SF1
This is the DeLorean of phones. A striking, iconic design (you missed the detail that this was the very first phone to hit the market with the notch as we know it today, beating Apple to the punch by four months and writing the blueprint for the next five years of Android phone screen design); futuristic for its time, with some forward-thinking features in some places, but lacking in fundamentals-it didn't compare favourably to its competitors in its time, and the companies behind them were tanked through a combination of economic factors and controversies striking their famous visionary leaders (though unlike DeLorean, Rubin's allegations actually stuck). Now we look back with rose-tinted glasses, appreciating those forward-thinking elements while ignoring the flaws.
This phone was my daily driver for just one year-from 2019 to 2020-but it's my favourite Android phone I ever dailied. By the time I got one, the software was smooth, snappy, and minimalist in all the right places-being the only non-Pixel phone to get version updates day and date was a huge plus for me. It was just the right size, and its design-while no longer unique by 2019-still felt more refined and carefully considered than many of the phonemakers who copied it. The LCD screen wasn't a big deal, and I was fine with the shots the cameras gave me, even on the stock camera software. This phone also managed to wean me off the headphone jack, after I already had started dailing wireless headphones on my Galaxy S8 (which prematurely died of pool water damage)-in a lot of ways its forward-thinking design helped ease me into the direction modern smartphones were heading. Unfortunately though, once Essential went under, I no longer felt comfortable sticking with the phone-I'm not a tinkerer and have no interest in rooting and patching it myself-so I moved on. But it remains in my drawer as something I like to occasionally take out and admire. I even got the 360º camera last Christmas, just to try it out for fun!
I'm on an iPhone 15 Pro these days-returning to a titanium phone was pretty amusing for me, considering I had used one four years prior. I miss the simplicity of stock Android-Pixels and NothingOS aren't the same, and with everyone else trying so hard to be an iPhone rather than embracing Android's unique strengths, plus Apple loosening their grip in matters like personalization, I found no reason to not just get the iPhone.
By the way, you missed one more thing: The engineers and such at Essential went on to found another company, OSOM-and they put together another insane titanium-and-ceramic smartphone that is by far the most direct spiritual successor to the Essential PH-1 hardware-wise, but they needed a larger partner in order to bring it to market. Unfortunately, nobody was interested except for Solana, so it got branded as a crypto phone, was saddled with useless bloated software, and got (sadly rightly) ridiculed at MKBHD's phone awards last year. An unfortunate outcome for such a passionate group of engineers with such interesting ideas. Software-wise I guess NothingOS is as close as it gets these days-Google has been intentionally neglecting stock Android in favour of their Pixel skin, so running stock Android is now more of a detriment than it ever has been before.
Essential PH-1 has USB-C 3.1 as supports DisplayPort over USB-C, just enable Android Desktop mode under developer options, plug it in and you'll get your desktop.
I have a friend from college who swore by the essential phone and it took many years for her to part from it. I think she has a pixel now, reluctantly
Never heard of!? Bro, it was a hyped launch with all of the major tech youtube channels covering it.
I still have them both (the camera and the ph1) and still work with a full day battery. :D
U should let your hair grow out again. Your hair being a little longer in that old video clip looked good bro. Nice video. Keep them coming 😁
No mention of the Osmo? That’s the true successor by all reasonable measures.
Nothing and essential share a vibe that I’m not able to put in words
I totally get what you mean
Maybe AI can?
a video on nextbit robin would be nice!!
My friend and I found an essential ph1 just lying there in a shop. I think we found it in mid of 2018 and we got it for like $180 at that time and the phone was in pristine condition too. A bargain for us cause majority of ppl in my country didn't know what this phone was or didn't really care for anything except for Apple. Sadly, that phone was later sold to another friend who later exchanged it for an iPhone 6s. My jaw dropped when I heard it from that dude.
6s? Goddamn what a disservice
I had one. Incredible hardware
I'm wondering what you have planned when you hit that 100K (which you will). Something like a special video? ;)
A well deserved good night's sleep mate 🤣
I loved.the essential phone, back in the day.
I got that module too, not very good
Is it possible to make a software other than android and IOS from scratch?
I think both Android and IOS has reached their peak now more software should be introduced
They tried. Windows Phone was awesome. Android and iOS buried it alive.
I remember that phone when it came out. It was really enticing at first...then the company went down hill rather quick. It's a shame. I think it wasn't a bad first effort.
I had a ph1. Definitely the coolest phone I've ever owned. I'm still kinda sad that Essential just vanished after it.
only saw one in person years ago because 1 person had this in high school. unique phone
I wish I wouldve kept mine. I got one when it was $299 with all the extra accessories like the 360 cam
This phone was wild it’s upsetting it didn’t do better
And purple ghosting of oled burns
One of my favorite phones I briefly switched from iPhone to android specifically because I thought this phone was awesome. With they would have made a sequel
The Essential Phone looked so good back then. It was slightly out of my budget at the time so I got the Xiaomi Mi5 instead...
Pls make a video on LG V60 Thing... I think It’s a legendary phone & good deal.
Such a great phone, wish they made PH-2
I knew about this eta prime reviewed it and turned it into a gaming machine
Why all my smartphones right now are being featured for the fourth consecutive time now in this channel lol
Lol. You are the ideal enthusiast customer
still got my essential 360 camera. Screens bust on the phone but might fix it one day.
I had this phone. I returned that shit fast. It had the most janky scrolling I've ever experienced.
I really wish that there would have been more essential phones. I own an essential phone sitting on my desk at home. I currently have lineage I think 21 flash to it. I still use it all the time. I love that phone
I wanted one so bad even few years after it came out
i heard of this phone but then forgot about it as technology advenced byt is still very cool
The 360 module camera was very cool at its time. Too bad the battery drain was crazy.
Not me remembering Sharp Aquos S2 from thumbnail, but it was obviously not popular in US market.
I still have my Essential phone and the 360 camera. I may have to throw a sim in it and use it again for old times sake.
I tired to get one but it was just too much in the second hand market
always wanted one of these :,)
Best looking phone of all time, except the screen, which would have done better with an eaually thick bezel up top or at least permanent blackening of the status bar around the notch
Let's go, Razer phone next plsssss
I remember this phone being decent. I got hammered one night and it ended up shattered under my recliner tho.
Damn I guessed the phone right before I clicked the video.
I almost bought this phone, but the price was way too high.
How dare you say this was forgotten? I bought it! ❤
I think the Pixel 9 Pro is kinda a great successor to this as it's a phone made by the creators of android. It's not perfect but it's close enough. Go Pixel. Watching on the OnePlus 8T.
Andy Ruben stole Android from Apple and ended up with Essential-ly Nothing 😂
honestly, I'd love to get one sometime
it is definitely a pretty neat phone still to this day
"Essential Phone," but lacks the essential aspects despite the device being 6:06 designed by Android's developer 💀
Hey can you make video of linux phones like librem 5
I had one of these phones back in 2019. Best phone I’ve ever had. The ROM community was also awesome, and I attempted to build my own custom ROM but I didn’t have good enough hardware haha. If they made one of these phones again with newer cameras and a new SoC, I’d buy one in a heartbeat.
The Ph1 is just a worse Xiaomi Mi Mix2 in most aspects
As a Mi Mix 2 user up until winter 2022, I honestly agree.
I've actually heard of this flagship, but I'm kinda a phone nerd 🤓
I still have my Essential PH1. You've covered a lot of phone's I've personally owned(PH1, Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 7 Pro, OnePlus 12).
I think you should revisit some other old gems as well like the Oneplus One and the original Xiaomi Mi Mix. Also Iphone X would be interesting.
Come anyone who watches your videos will know what an essential phone is
This was a terrible phone from the perspective of repairability, they used very strong adhesive which meant that you couldn't open this up without breaking the screen, I'm glad that it failed.
Dude was a creep.
Clean but.. Unusable android.. Sounds like Pixel 🙈
I heard of the Essential Phone but I don't want to spend the money on beta products. Maybe one day when I have so much money I can blow money on a paper weight. Essential phone joins the Nextbit Robin and the Amazon fire phone and the Red Hydrogen One.
The red hydrogen was so bad
I had this phone for a while Cool features but the camera was horrible okay maybe it wasn't horrible but it was bad compared to what was out there at the time so I ended up selling the phone
I feel offended by titlle of video sir :)
The Essential phone was trash. It was trashed then and it's trash now. Stop the 🧢
Please do razer phone 2
Show some love to Samsung 10e, its on a sweat deal on amazon.
I might have a video on this in the works....
@@theryanthomas YAAAAAAAAAAA!,
please hurry though. its either that or and HMD fusion or skyline (need to loan a few dos from friends) I Really need a rock solid phone, and I also dont want to be hit with 400 dollar screen repair and all that. Just starting my undergrads in the US and I am jsut lost on what I want for my phone. I kinda hate S24, as i feel like i am always being watched (AI) and I really want a side mounted fingerprint reader (phone is safer that way).
DO take about the DAC and how does it compare to the V30 too. I just don't know what to pick and the stocks are so limited. oh and any IEM suggestions? never tried it. I just want something I can wear for over 10 hours, and feel natural (bass makes me put of my earphones often) but I dont want fall in the bottomless pit of audiophile fantasy land. I never spend more than 15 dollars on audio, and basically use a 5 dollar speaker for must stuff (unless I need to watch movies or something).
Sorry for the long text. :)
man this phone is a pos
The Essential phone is overrated trash. Literally no redeeming features about it apart from barebones stock Android. Garbage phone. Every reviewer dunked on it for good reason. People need to stop being nostalgic for junk through rose tinted glasses. Some non-exhaustive reasons:
- Small battery even for 2017 standards
- No headphone jack
- Camera was comically bad and OTA's never really fixed it
- It claiming to be an innovative "bezel-less" despite having a notch, and despite the Mi MIX coming out half a year earlier with a notch-less design
- Fragile ceramic design + INCREDIBLY hard to repair without destroying the phone (watch the JerryRigEverything teardown)
- IPS not AMOLED
- Pogo pin accessories (360 cam, magnetic DAC with 3.5mm jack) were gimmicks at best
- Relatively expensive
looks like i am early
First