The huge-screened Essential Phone will be a Sprint exclusive
The Essential Phone, an upcoming Android smartphone conceived by Android creator Andy Rubin, will be available with only one major carrier in the U.S. -- Sprint.
This doesn't mean you absolutely must switch to Sprint if you want one. The phone will be available unlocked from the Essential website, and will work with all major U.S. carriers. But if you want a carrier-locked variant, Sprint will be the way to go.
The news comes via USA Today, who's gotten a statement from Essential President Niccolo de Masi. “We like to bet with where we think the market is going as opposed to where the market was. I feel like we are a new brand and a new consumer electronics company and we are partnering with the network of the future,” he told the outlet.
So why would you choose Sprint over an unlocked phone? Lower price, possibly, though the pricing for the Sprint-locked version hasn't been announced. And don't worry, the Sprint variant of the device will not have any signs of Sprint branding, per the company's commitment to simplicity.
The Essential Phone costs $699 (or $749 if you opt for a bundle that includes the company's 360 camera which attaches to the phone), and can be pre-ordered from the company's website now.
The phone has an unusual look, with a 5.71-inch, 2560 x 1312 pixel screen that stretches all the way to the top and wraps around a selfie camera module. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel dual rear camera, a 8-megapixel selfie cam, a fingerprint sensor on the back, 128GB of storage, and a 3,040mAh battery.
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
