The Essential Phone is a lot better than you might think

Over the course of just a few months, the Essential Phone has transformed from an overpriced device that was hard to recommend to just about anyone into something that's very competitively priced and offers some of the best bang for your buck for $500.

The team over at Essential has been working nonstop to push out regular software updates to make using the PH-1 as enjoyable as possible, and at this point in November of 2017, the handset is exceeding a lot of people's expectations.

Some of our forum users recently got to talking about their experience with the phone, and this is what they had to say.

I ordered a white PH-1 as soon as the $499 price popped up, I was a little bitter after BestBuy dropped it to $450 but I wasn't charged tax through Essential.com so it cancelled out the price. After much second guessing myself while I waited for it to arrive and wanting to just spend the extra for a V30, I am glad to say it's way better than I expected it to be. Now I do have some minor issues,...

Darius DuPree

I love mine. I got the black one. Make sure for now you disable the swipe down on fps to open notifications bc that was causing my freeze ups. For under $500 this phone is fantastic. Beats the one plus in my opinion. I dropped mine from waist height onto concrete floor the day after I got it and all I have is a TINY almost unnoticeable nick in the material around the screen. Whatever that is...

andrew_ackley

My white came today from the Mothership so a few thoughts. Had to run 3 updates out of the box but all up to date now and rockin' along. The phone is gorgeous and built like a tank! The camera is nowhere even close to being bad. It's not the best but photos are more than adequate. It's fast and snappy. Just as fast and snappy as my Pixel and maybe even a little smoother. The screen? WOW!...

raqball

raqball - Glad to hear you like the phone so far. I know you were on the fence since launch and it sounds like the wait was worth it. Performance on the November update has been excellent. It keeps getting smoother with each OTA. And, you're right about the camera. I've been using the Essential camera app far more lately and uninstalled the Google HDR+ port. I'm getting better daytime...

modifier

I've had mine going on three days now. I really love this phone! Is fast and smooth. Perfect size and that screen!. So the only issue that still needs fixing (besides camera),which is what it is, is touch scrolling. Flick scrolling is great, but if you keep your finger on the screen without lifting and scroll, it's very choppy. I don't scroll the way but it does need to be fixed. There are...

DominionRoofs

With all that said, we'd still like to hear from you – If you own the Essential Phone, what are your impressions of the device?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Joe Maring

Joe Maring was a Senior Editor for Android Central between 2017 and 2021. You can reach him on Twitter at @JoeMaring1.