It feels like it's already been a long time since Essential, the brand new company being led into the future by Andy Rubin, announced its first smartphone, the aptly-named Essential Phone. And while there were some delays to the phone's official launch, the phone is finally available for anyone who wants to buy one. You can go through Essential directly, or, if you're on the Sprint network, go that route. Options exist!

Essential's delays were only really an issue because of timing. When Essential announced its first phone, the biggest companies in the world had already announced their early-2017 flagship phones, including Samsung's Galaxy S8 and LG's G6. And while Essential wanted its phone out before the end of the year, that didn't really happen. So people were already on the cusp of seeing devices like the Galaxy Note 8 from Samsung, the V30 from LG, and, yeah, Apple's iPhone 8/8 Plus/X.

Debuting at the end of May, and launching to those who wanted one at the end of August, is quite the stretch. Made more apparent when even more competitive devices arrive on the scene. But of course, that doesn't detract from what the Essential Phone offers and brings to market.

Now that the iPhone X is official, the comparisons are popping up. Unlike the LG V30 or the Galaxy S8, the iPhone X and Essential Phone go for driving that display as far up as possible, even if it means there's a bit of a cutout digging back in. Essential does it differently than Apple, as one might expect, and each person probably prefers one design choice over another.

All of those things considered, and especially with the fact that Google has confirmed it will announce the Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 on October 4, I'm wondering who of you out there picked up an Essential Phone.

Essential had the option to pre-order its first phone, and now that you can buy one right out, devices are out there in the wild and in owners' hands. And I want to know if you picked one up. If you did, what was the defining reason you went with the Essential Phone? Is it the design, the software, or Essential's vision of having a ton of different connected smart devices? Let me know!