Android co-founder Andy Rubin is all set to launch a high-end smartphone under his company called as Essential on May 30. The company confirmed this news on its official Twitter account.
The tweet by Essential reads, “Hi, welcome to our Twitter page. We’re here to let you know something big is coming May 30th! Stay tuned…” This could mean that the smartphone’s launch is near. Earlier, Andy Rubin teased the upcoming smartphone on Twitter in March, which revealed an almost bezel-less display with a rounded screen. There is a cutout on top for a speaker, while at the side there is a visible button. The screen shows icons of cellular connectivity, battery and clock, which would mean that the handset might run on Android OS.
The smartphone was also spotted on a popular Benchmarking site, GFXBench, revealing some key specifications of the upcoming Android-powered smartphone by Andy Rubin.
The benchmark listing reveals a model number Essential FIH-PM1, which make sense as the company is known as Essential Products. As per the listing, the smartphone will come with a 5.5-inch display, with a screen Resolution of 2560 x 1312 pixels. The display resolution is a bit odd at first, but still, it produces an aspect ratio of 80:41 which is close the aspect ratio we have seen in LG and Samsung flagship devices.
On the hardware front, the listing reveals a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Processor along with Adreno 540 GPU is in tow. The device would be backed by 4GB of RAM and oddly, the listing says that it will come loaded with a 16GB of internal storage. We hope that the smartphone will boast a larger storage option.
On the camera front, it features a 12-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front shooter, with both the cameras supporting 4K video recording. The smartphone runs on latest Android 7.0 Nougat, however, there is no mention of the battery capacity. On the connectivity front, the device support, NFC, GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Earlier, way back in January, Andy Rubin announced a new company called ‘Essential’ and which focus on delivering high-end smartphones equipped with advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) based digital assistant, claimed a report by Bloomberg. The report further highlights that the company is planning to launch a new smartphone which will boast a large edge-to-edge display (something similar to Xiaomi Mi Mix). The report adds that the phone boasts a screen larger than the 5.5-inch iPhone Plus but will have a smaller footprint due to lack of bezels.
Rubin’s Essential is also reported to come up with a pressure sensitive display, similar to what we have seen in Apple’s iPhone 6s and later. It is also said that the company is working on a modular angle and is developing a new connector that can be used to add other accessories as well, just like we have seen in the Moto Z series. The report further states that the company is testing high-end design with metal edges and a back made of ceramic.