The Essential Phone was one of the most polarizing smartphones of 2017. We were expecting big things from Andy Rubin's new startup, but unpolished software, a less than sub-par camera experience, and an expensive price tag gave a lot of early adopters a bad taste in their mouth.
Thankfully, the state of the Essential Phone is much different in April of 2018 compared to when it first launched. Essential's released countless software updates for the phone over the past few months, and this has slowly turned it into one of the better mid-range options available right now.
Some of our forum members recently started talking about how they're liking the phone at this point in its lifecycle, and this is what they had to say.
I like to try lots of devices and so far this is the only one I have kept. It's just a good solid all around device. My latest venture was the galaxy s9 plus which is frankly an apple style upgrade for Samsung. I have the s8 plus which is updated to the same software and there is really no difference between the 2 phones that is worthy of an upgrade. I had it for 24 hours before I returned it, it...
anon(9918034)
Most of the issues like jittery scrolling, no full screen video and dead zone on the edge of screen have been fixed. The camera has improved a lot. I can get consistently good to great results with the monochrome camera but the color camera can struggle with low light conditions.
SactoKingsFan
QC was definitely an issue when I had my essential (went through 4 devices) and it has horrible reception on TMO in NYC. Had it not been for that I still would've had one and not this S9 (which I'm also enjoying).
dmateo
Fancy seeing you here, tired of the S9 already? ;) I bought my Essential back during the Sprint sale, and really only bought it because it was about $140 with the 360 camera. The phone has improved a lot since the end of November, and the camera is greatly improved. Unfortunately, I don't use it enough because of my other "toys" but I do love the phone.
mogelijk
Now, we'd love to hear from you – If you still have an Essential Phone, how are you liking it?
