The Essential Phone will (probably) receive monthly security updates

by Florin Troaca / May 31, 2017, 8:10 PM

The Essential Phone will (probably) receive monthly security updates

Officially unveiled yesterday, the Essential Phone will be released sometime in June as a pretty different alternative to most handsets out there. The brainchild of Andy Rubin (co-founder of Android and ex-Googler), the Essential Phone doesn't feature any logo, and is a near-bezel-less, high-end device made out of titanium, ceramic, and Gorilla Glass 5.

As already announced, the Essential Phone (model number Essential PH-1) will run stock Android 7 Nougat out of the box. But what about software updates? Well, right now, Essential can only say that the company's goal is to release "monthly security updates" - just like Google does for its Nexus and Pixel phones.

At the moment, it's not clear what Essential's policy regarding major software updates is. However, since the company is founded and led by Andy Rubin - the father of Android - we're expecting the Essential Phone to get major updates for at least two years after launch (this being the current policy of major Android vendors).

The Essential Phone will be available only in the US (at least for the beginning), and it's going to be sold unlocked for $699. We're impatiently waiting to test its hardware and software. What about you?

Hi, our goal is monthly security updates. We don't have any other specific information to share right now. Thanks for asking.
— Essential (@essential) May 31, 2017

source: Essential (Twitter)

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7 Comments

1. maherk

Posts: 6999; Member since: Feb 10, 2012

I'm sorry, but that bullet in it's forehead ruined the whole thing for me. They could've easily placed that camera on the bottom chin, and had the interface flip over whenever you need to use that selfie camera.

posted on May 31, 2017, 8:36 PM 3

7. joey_sfb

Posts: 6794; Member since: Mar 29, 2012

Had to agree. May get in the way for mobile gaming. I am OK if there a bit of bezel for the sake of the camera.

posted on Jun 01, 2017, 1:20 AM 0

8. Scott93274

Posts: 6040; Member since: Aug 06, 2013

I agree. I'd rather they remove the camera entirely than go with the solution they came up with. Other than that though, the phone looks pretty awesome. Not like I have a choice to get the phone though, I'm on Fi... maybe Google will loosen its restrictions on what devices are allowed on its service.