A long-delayed hands-on with Essential’s skinny Android phone

Rob Wainwright, a bundle technologist who works connected the Nova Launcher, says helium bought the telephone connected eBay, and in his video, you tin spot the mostly operational PH-2 with card-style widgets for apps similar Spotify and Uber, on with a smartwatch-style timepiece astatine the top.

Why didn’t it travel out? The first Essential telephone successful 2017 reportedly lone sold astir 150,000 units, and earlier a follow-up could launch, reports by The Information and the New York Times surfaced disturbing details astir the intersexual misconduct claims surrounding institution laminitis Andy Rubin’s departure from Google a fewer years earlier. Plans for the 2nd telephone were canceled, and successful aboriginal 2020, Essential shut down, saying it had “no wide way to deliver” the instrumentality to customers.

The video shows disconnected the PH-2’s gangly 5.7-inch AMOLED show with 2,160 by 560 solution and a holepunch camera successful the front, portion the rear has a protruding camera and a non-functional fingerprint reader. Like the PH-1, this 1 is besides a fingerprint magnet.

While the UI is not afloat complete, the video shows disconnected the customized Android launcher that has swipe-up gestures connected the bottommost corners to spell location oregon back. Many of the cards connected the homescreen are fundamentally conscionable web apps that, erstwhile opened, look precise retired of spot — a YouTube video looks similar a postage stamp sideways connected the top, and the remainder of the surface is conscionable the description, comments, and different suggested videos.