So as it turns out, the heavily hyped Essential Phone will be coming its way to Sprint. Earlier today, the country's 4th biggest carrier made an announcement that they will be the Essential Phone's "exclusive US carrier." The announcement follows USA Today's report that Sprint will be the launch partner of Andy Rubin's first smartphone.
But before you completely shun away from the Essential Phone, there's still good news. Since the Essential Phone is equipped with a plethora of built-in radios, it is still compatible with any of the major carriers. Adding to that, the phone will be sold by Essential unlocked so Sprint's claim of the device being "exclusive" doesn't really mean the phone won't work elsewhere. But let's give in to Sprint's promotion with the Essential Phone.
Back at the Code conference, Rubin said that he was trying his best not to install carrier apps on the device upon launch. But since other Android manufacturers are having no luck with this, the Essential Phone may not get away with it either. Sprint, however, is better compared to the other carriers when it comes to releasing devices with unnecessary apps.
The Essential Phone comes with a 5.71-inch QHD display with a 2560x1312 resolution. Beneath its surface is a 2.4 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with 4GB of RAM and a built-in storage of 128GB. It has a dual camera configuration on the back with two 13-megapixel sensors, 4K video recording, autofocus, and f/1.9 aperture. In front, there is an 8-megapixel camera. Other features included in the phone are a 3,040 mAh battery, fingerprint sensor, and Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. It is available in Black, Gray, Blue, and White color options.
During its launch, the Essential phone was announced to have a price of $699 for the unlocked model. Another option is to get the device with a 360-degree camera accessory for $749. These are prices that will be available on Essential's website. As for Sprint's own prices, the carrier has not yet revealed how much the Essential Phone will be but promises to unveil a pricing structure close to its launch date.