Gadgetory

what is it that makes the essential phone essential well so the company that would be it's clean simple build and the two tiny divots on the back that connect to magnetic accessory this is a lot like Motorola's Moto Z phones except there are only two contacts here instead of a whole row so there's more freedom over the shape and placement at the accessory basically the connectors are just there to hold the module in place and power the device if the data itself transfers wirelessly this is a new approach and it's a pretty neat one too right now there's only one accessory a 360-degree camera but essential wants to make a bunch of them so you can collect them all here's a fun fact essentials led by Andy Rubin who's widely considered the father of Google's Android operating system so although the essential phone is strictly in start-up mode for now it's kind of a big Z even beyond the modules the essential phone is reaching for premium status there's a 5.7 inch screen protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and slim bezels the body is a beautiful slab of titanium with a ceramic backing it's really reflective though and a huge fingerprint magnet so you've been warned the whole design really has a minimal look that reflects theme of purity and asset there's no headset jack here but you do get an adapter in the box along with a reinforced charger cable and both of those are nice touches there's an 8 megapixel camera on the front which might seem weird at first all they're looking like a cyclops in the middle of the screen and all but it's actually really handy placement for selfies since you don't have to look off to the side like you do with some phones and that notch you see does not actually cover up notifications either on the back you have a dual 13 megapixel camera one with a color lens and one that enhances images with black and white shots and of course you can take black and white pictures too what's weird though is that the camera app has very few controls for example you can only add filters in editing mode and you won't be able to manually adjust things like white balance there's also new portrait mode for now but essential says it's coming there is however a fast processor a lot of storage and a very very clean version of Android nougat 7.1.1 which is something that purists will love the essential phone is an interesting device but it's also very much a first generation product that will have a lot to prove as the ecosystem develops and grows