After what ended up being only a brief delay, Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone will start shipping ‘in a few weeks,” according to the Android co-founder.
In an email sent to those that have pre-ordered the eagerly anticipated device, Rubin says that the Essential Phone is now going through testing at U.S. and international carriers and that his team is currently “working long hours” in order to get the device shipped soon.
It’s unclear, however, why certification is an obstacle for Rubin and his company given the device is only set to be sold at a few carriers, with Telus being the smartphone’s exclusive seller in Canada.
When the Essential Phone was first announced, Rubin stated that it would ship within 30 days of its initial reveal, though that day came and went without any word from the company.
You can find the full text of Rubin’s email to Essential Phone pre-order customers:
I personally wanted to thank you for putting your name down for our first phone. We’ve been hard at work getting everything ready and the good news is that we’re now going through certification and testing with multiple US and international carriers.
You might be getting impatient to get your hands on your new Essential Phone (and I’m also impatient to get it to you!) but rest assured that you will have a device in your hands in a few weeks.
In the meantime, give us a shout out using #thisisessential to show the team that sweating the details and working long hours to get this device shipped is worth it.
Andy
Canadians interested in getting their hands on the Essential Phone can pre-register for more information about the device from Telus at this link. It’s unclear if the smartphone will launch simultaneously in the U.S. and Canada.
“We selected Telus as our preferred carrier partner in Canada due to our strong alignment on the importance of continuous innovation and support for consumer choice,” said Andy Rubin, CEO of Essential, in a statement sent to MobileSyrup regarding his company’s partnership with the Canadian carrier. “We look forward to delighting Canadians with our premium crafted materials and powerful components.”
The Essential Phone features a 5.71-inch ‘bezel-less’ ‘Full-Display’ screen with a 19:10 aspect ratio and 2560 x 1312 pixel resolution. The device is set to ship with a Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.
We've been working around the clock to get our first device in your hands. See this update from Andy. pic.twitter.com/bm5xm5XRKS
— Essential (@essential) July 21, 2017
Other noteworthy features include a body made from titanium and ceramic, which Essential says makes the device more maneuverable. It’s still unclear how much Telus plans to sell the Essential Phone for, but it’s priced at $700 USD (approximately $943 CAD) unlocked from the company’s U.S. website. It’s still unclear if Essential plans to offer the phone to Canadians via its website at some point in the future.
We’ll have more on the Essential Phone on MobileSyrup in the coming weeks.
