Any Interest In Rubin's Essential Phone?

[jamezr]

They went about this the wrong way. They should have announced it and shown it off and have it ready to ship immediately or near immediately. There was a bit of buzz/hype that is now all but dead. This phone will be selling for $99 on Amazon within a year of it's release. It's the NextBit Robin of 2017.

have to agree with you on this......this phone is dead in the water and the sharks are circling.
All the buzz and hype it initially got is now gone. They can regain some of hype back if they ship the phone out soon and it totally blows everyone away.

 

[Zackmd1]

Do you really think the average consumer is the target demographic here?

Uh if it is a smartphone then yes. A startup is not going to design a phone with the intention of only selling it to enthusiasts. Only well established companies can take that risk. A startup should aim to sell as many units as possible in order to be successful.

 

[willmtaylor]

Uh if it is a smartphone then yes. A startup is not going to design a phone with the intention of only selling it to enthusiasts. Only well established companies can take that risk. A startup should aim to sell as many units as possible in order to be successful.

Ask 100 people randomly off the street about this phone, and I would bet $100 that lefewer than five of them have ever even ever heard of it.

I'm not arguing whether it's a good strategy or not, but the average Joe customer is most definitely not their primary target demographic.

 

[Tig Bitties]

Good comment from Tiberian on the [H]

>promise to be shipping the device to customers within 30 days of the announcement
>37 days go by
>no new updates, no new blog entries, no new announcements, no devices shipping

Someone tell Andy Rubin that perhaps it's essential for this company to keep its word and ship on time and if it can't then it's essential to let customers know what the **** is going on or else the customers are going to essentially give said company the finger and do their business elsewhere.
[doublepost=1499448844][/doublepost]This will be selling for $99 on Amazon by New Year to dump all the overstock in warehouses.

A Sprint only exclusive = fail. Or buy it outright for $700+ = fail, compared to either more affordable phones like the OnePlus 5 for $489, or higher end phone like the upcoming Pixel 2 for $750 ( due out in a couple months )

For a very close price I'd take the Pixel XL 2, when shopping for new phones this Fall. The Pixel XL 2 is supposed to be an LG made phone, based upon the G6 build design, just slightly larger at 5.9", with the SD835 + 4GB RAM + Waterproof + 3450mAh battery.

 

[widgeteer]

Uh if it is a smartphone then yes. A startup is not going to design a phone with the intention of only selling it to enthusiasts. Only well established companies can take that risk. A startup should aim to sell as many units as possible in order to be successful.

I don't agree with this. A start up company very specifically has to target a niche so as to control costs. It's well established companies that can throw something at a wall to see if it sticks.

Look at OnePlus, in example.

 

[lowendlinux]

I don't agree with this. A start up company very specifically has to target a niche so as to control costs. It's well established companies that can throw something at a wall to see if it sticks.

Look at OnePlus, in example.

I agree this is a phone by a nerd for a nerd

 

[Tig Bitties]

I agree this is a phone by a nerd for a nerd

The thing you guys are missing the point on, there already are two nerd phones on the market, with a fan base and following. I think it is hard to introduce a brand new third nerd phone on the market, the geek smartphone market not that big of the sales

- Affordable nerd phone = OnePlus 3T and now the OnePlus 5
- High end flagship nerd phone = Current Pixel XL and coming soon Pixel XL 2.

Ultra niche geek smartphones have a VERY SMALL % of the market. I think maybe 5% of the total smartphone market, which is made primarily by the iPhone and Galaxy phones, which each of those brands selling like some crazy 100 million phones each year. So those two companies combined probably sell over 200 million phones annually. Compare that to the Pixel, which last I heard maybe sold like 1.5 million phones as of March of this year.

Point being, for this Essential phone to even be relevant, it needs to compete with the now popular OnePlus line of affordable stock Android like phones, or you go the high end flagship route with the Google Pixel line, that gets updates first and right away, and is the #1 nerd phone, especially the new Pixel 2 coming soon, with much needed improvements.

I would take the Pixel 2 all day long over the Essential. I think price wise they will be very close, with the Pixel 2 XL, maybe being $50 more. Or if I am on a budget, but still want a nerd phone, then I'm going OnePlus. I just don't see where this Essential phone fits in with already well known brands this year like the OnePlus 5 and Pixel 2.

 

[lowendlinux]

The thing you guys are missing the point on, there already are two nerd phones on the market, with a fan base and following. I think it is hard to introduce a brand new third nerd phone on the market, the geek smartphone market not that big of the sales

- Affordable nerd phone = OnePlus 3T and now the OnePlus 5
- High end flagship nerd phone = Current Pixel XL and coming soon Pixel XL 2.

Ultra niche geek smartphones have a VERY SMALL % of the market. I think maybe 5% of the total smartphone market, which is made primarily by the iPhone and Galaxy phones, which each of those brands selling like some crazy 100 million phones each year. So those two companies combined probably sell over 200 million phones annually. Compare that to the Pixel, which last I heard maybe sold like 1.5 million phones as of March of this year.

Point being, for this Essential phone to even be relevant, it needs to compete with the now popular OnePlus line of affordable stock Android like phones, or you go the high end flagship route with the Google Pixel line, that gets updates first and right away, and is the #1 nerd phone, especially the new Pixel 2 coming soon, with much needed improvements.

I would take the Pixel 2 all day long over the Essential. I think price wise they will be very close, with the Pixel 2 XL, maybe being $50 more. Or if I am on a budget, but still want a nerd phone, then I'm going OnePlus. I just don't see where this Essential phone fits in with already well known brands this year like the OnePlus 5 and Pixel 2.

But not with his name on it

 

[Tig Bitties]

But not with his name on it

My point is that this Essential will have a super tough time selling, and really don't see the need for it, when we have the affordable OnePlus nerd phone line, and the flagship Google Pixel line.

I agree it's cool there is a new higher end stock Android type phone, the market does need more of these type of phones, for sure. Is the Essential phone really stock, like direct updates from Google stock ? Which I doubt. Or is it more like a Motorola phone or OnePlus phone running a near stock like experience, but then waiting for that manufacturer to send out updates when they can, which can typically be months after Google.

I wish Essential luck, but sorry to predict, I see this as a massive flop, close to Amazon Fire flop. But I hope I am wrong, like I said, we really need more stock Android type devices on the market.

 

[Zackmd1]

Another point is that they have deals in place to offer this phone in every Sprint store and Best Buy they can. That to me is evidence enough that they want to sell to the main consumer and not just to the tech nerds.

 

[widgeteer]

Another point is that they have deals in place to offer this phone in every Sprint store and Best Buy they can. That to me is evidence enough that they want to sell to the main consumer and not just to the tech nerds.

Best Buy is the only place you can buy non-carrier unlocked phones in the US (brick and mortor). I would not use it as an example of an attempt to appeal to a broad market.

 

[jamezr]

I read more on Andy Rubin and what he said about the Essential phone. He said:

“You can reserve it now, and I wouldn’t take reservations if it wasn’t going to ship in 30 days or so,” Rubin said.

So they are still within their predictions..... i tweeted him but no reply yet.
http://bgr.com/2017/05/31/essential-phone-release-date-andy-rubin/

 

[noobinator]

I read more on Andy Rubin and what he said about the Essential phone. He said:

So they are still within their predictions..... i tweeted him but no reply yet.
http://bgr.com/2017/05/31/essential-phone-release-date-andy-rubin/

He said they'd ship within 30 days on May 31. So it's been about 37 days with zero updates. And reserving involves putting in your email address and nothing else.

 

[widgeteer]

The phone might as well be vaporware right now. Marketing wise, this has been a dud.

 

[Tig Bitties]

Essential misses its promised 30-day shipping period for the Essential phone

http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/0...hipping-period-essential-phone/#disqus_thread

When the phone was unveiled, Andy Rubin stated that the phone would ship within 30 days. That period ended on June 29, and it's now July 8. We've reached out to Essential to ask why, but it has not yet responded. The company didn't respond to CNET or Business Insider either. We can only speculate about why the phone was delayed; perhaps the company wanted to improve the camera performance, or there were problems with manufacturing.

Either way, it is concerning that Essential is staying quiet on the delay. You only get one shot at a first impression.

 

[symphara]

He said they'd ship within 30 days on May 31. So it's been about 37 days with zero updates. And reserving involves putting in your email address and nothing else.

Actually he said "30 days or so". You can hear it for yourself here around minute 40:

I too want to see this device but I don't think they missed some hard deadline here. It was likely to be at least a little late, in software there's always some last-minute issue.

Plus, my impression is that they want very good reviews for this phone, or else the enthusiast segment (their target audience) won't buy it, given the excellent alternatives. I can easily see how for example the camera software required some more last-minute work to lift it from mediocrity, based on the shots they shared so far.

 

[tbayrgs]

Actually he said "30 days or so". You can hear it for yourself here around minute 40:

I too want to see this device but I don't think they missed some hard deadline here. It was likely to be at least a little late, in software there's always some last-minute issue.

Plus, my impression is that they want very good reviews for this phone, or else the enthusiast segment (their target audience) won't buy it, given the excellent alternatives. I can easily see how for example the camera software required some more last-minute work to lift it from mediocrity, based on the shots they shared so far.

Simple solution to this issue though--don't make a promise if you have any doubt of delivering on it, especially when this is the public's first impression of your product/company. Under promise, over deliver should be the approach, not the other way around. At this point all the conversation is negative--i.e. what's wrong with the phone, how come they couldn't ship on time, etc. Even if there aren't problems, perception is reality.

If you are fairly confident you can ship in 30 days, promise 60, so that you have a built in buffer if you discover a late bug or have some other issue you can address it and if everything's great, you actually ship early to everyone's surprise and delight.

Rubin bungled this launch/rollout and the closer we get to September, the more irrelevant all of these products become.

 

[noobinator]

They are really in a lose/lose position now. Release now and have potential issues that they are working on still or wait until the issues are resolved and release much closer to the iPhone release. What a horrible spot to be in.

 

[widgeteer]

They are really in a lose/lose position now. Release now and have potential issues that they are working on still or wait until the issues are resolved and release much closer to the iPhone release. What a horrible spot to be in.

I don't think they're competing with the iPhone, though. At this point I don't think it's wise for any Android OEM to focus on Apple. I think these two platforms are so mature that people are pretty much staying put.

Rubin's problem is that as we get closer to fall, there's a new Note, V30, and Pixel 2 that he's going to have to compete with. Pixel 2 is the most problematic of all of them for Essential as both phones are going after the same audience, and Pixel has a track record along with being the official "Google phone" which kind of equals any cache associated with "Andy Rubin's Android phone".

 

[Tig Bitties]

They are really in a lose/lose position now. Release now and have potential issues that they are working on still or wait until the issues are resolved and release much closer to the iPhone release. What a horrible spot to be in.

It's not the iPhone 8 launch that should concern them. But the Pixel 2 launch should worry them.

If the Pixel 2 is what the rumors are saying, I'd get the Pixel 2 all day long over the Essential.

And i'm a fan Rubin, and wish him success. We need more stock Android type OS's on the market, but this phone launch just seems amateur. And the spec's are good but not super super great. It's not IP68 rated from what I've read, which all other 2017 flagship phones are. And the battery seems a bit small.

And how close to stock Android is it ? How will updates be handled ?

 

[symphara]

Simple solution to this issue though--don't make a promise if you have any doubt of delivering on it, especially when this is the public's first impression of your product/company.

When it comes to software and hardware, this pretty much means “don’t make any promise”. I’ve seen enough last-minute issues in my life to confidently say this. The stuff is just too complicated.

It’s also clear to me, watching Andy, that he honestly had the expectation of shipping at the end of June. But something obviously happened.

So what you’re really arguing for is that he should have stayed mum until he was ready to ship, which is the Apple way. I think this works for Apple because they have a huge customer base. It won’t work for a startup that needs to generate a little buzz.

Provided it aces reviews, I think this delay won’t matter once they launch. The Essential phone is in a niche of its own - the super durable, stylish flagship. It doesn’t really compete with the plastic Pixel. Whoever wants a Pixel, which gives the best software experience on any phone, and a killer camera, would probably ignore the Essential, which offers a different proposition. I think all my friends with Pixel phones have cracked backs. And if you’re willing to put up with Samsung and their duplicated software, there’s no need to wait for the Note 8 - the S8+ is already available, and for a decent price too.

 

[Aneres11]

Andy hasn't handed the shipping and communications over to Blackberry has he?

 

[widgeteer]

When it comes to software and hardware, this pretty much means “don’t make any promise”. I’ve seen enough last-minute issues in my life to confidently say this. The stuff is just too complicated.

It’s also clear to me, watching Andy, that he honestly had the expectation of shipping at the end of June. But something obviously happened.

So what you’re really arguing for is that he should have stayed mum until he was ready to ship, which is the Apple way. I think this works for Apple because they have a huge customer base. It won’t work for a startup that needs to generate a little buzz.

Provided it aces reviews, I think this delay won’t matter once they launch. The Essential phone is in a niche of its own - the super durable, stylish flagship. It doesn’t really compete with the plastic Pixel. Whoever wants a Pixel, which gives the best software experience on any phone, and a killer camera, would probably ignore the Essential, which offers a different proposition. I think all my friends with Pixel phones have cracked backs. And if you’re willing to put up with Samsung and their duplicated software, there’s no need to wait for the Note 8 - the S8+ is already available, and for a decent price too.

I don't agree with much of this. Things do happen, but the bigger issue over the device missing its shipping window has been the radio silence from the company. And I'm not just talking about them not commenting on the delay. In general, this company hasn't really said a peep about their own phone.

Here's my take, and this comes from someone who started this thread:

• We know the specs and materials being used, but we know zero about the experience of using the phone or what differentiates it from any other Android phone. It it just pure stock? Pure stock with tweaks like Oxygen? Are there any software features specific to the Essential phone that I should care about?
• How does it run? Is it crazy fluid?
• How is the experience of actually using the screen? We know it has a somewhat unique form factor, and again we know the specs, but that doesn't really tell us anything about screen quality.
• Any other attachments planned besides the 360 camera that probably appeals to the tiniest fraction of the tiny fraction that's interested in the phone to begin with?

All we know is that Andy Rubin has a company named Essential, and this is their phone. We should have had an on stage demo by now hyping *using* this phone. Or at least advertising telling us same. This was my expectation once the initial reveal was out of the way. Since then, absolutely nothing. So as a consumer, albeit a geeky early adopter consumer, what's the proposition here? Why should we assume it appeals to the Pixel crowd anymore when we don't even know if it runs like a Pixel? We have no idea which phones on the market it should be competing with at this point because no one knows anything about the phone other than it's Andy Rubin's Android phone.

They've made a huge mistake in their roll out of information. I think that's more troublesome than missing a shipping window because of some setback.

And one final point on that: what if the setback is barely anyone bothered to reserve the phone? What if the reservation system was meant to gauge interest and there just ain't none?

P.S. I am *still* looking forward to this phone and will still probably buy it when/if they ever send me an email telling me I can give them money.

 

[symphara]

I don't agree with much of this. Things do happen, but the bigger issue over the device missing its shipping window has been the radio silence from the company. And I'm not just talking about them not commenting on the delay. In general, this company hasn't really said a peep about their own phone.

Here's my take, and this comes from someone who started this thread:

• We know the specs and materials being used, but we know zero about the experience of using the phone or what differentiates it from any other Android phone. It it just pure stock? Pure stock with tweaks like Oxygen? Are there any software features specific to the Essential phone that I should care about?
• How does it run? Is it crazy fluid?
• How is the experience of actually using the screen? We know it has a somewhat unique form factor, and again we know the specs, but that doesn't really tell us anything about screen quality.
• Any other attachments planned besides the 360 camera that probably appeals to the tiniest fraction of the tiny fraction that's interested in the phone to begin with?

All we know is that Andy Rubin has a company named Essential, and this is their phone. We should have had an on stage demo by now hyping *using* this phone. Or at least advertising telling us same. This was my expectation once the initial reveal was out of the way. Since then, absolutely nothing. So as a consumer, albeit a geeky early adopter consumer, what's the proposition here? Why should we assume it appeals to the Pixel crowd anymore when we don't even know if it runs like a Pixel? We have no idea which phones on the market it should be competing with at this point because no one knows anything about the phone other than it's Andy Rubin's Android phone.

They've made a huge mistake in their roll out of information. I think that's more troublesome than missing a shipping window because of some setback.

And one final point on that: what if the setback is barely anyone bothered to reserve the phone? What if the reservation system was meant to gauge interest and there just ain't none?

P.S. I am *still* looking forward to this phone and will still probably buy it when/if they ever send me an email telling me I can give them money.

There is communication. It's "stay tuned for announcements" - if you check out their Twitter feed.

If you mean more precise communication, I think you can't have your cake and eat it. I don't think they can give a certain date without a very generous buffer which would make it meaningless. If they promised more dates but failed to deliver, you'd rightfully complain. What do you expect, for them to list actual problems that prevents them from shipping? Nobody does that. In fact, having seen the phone was unusual enough, and I guess it only happened because it's the first. Otherwise nobody wants to leak their new device lest the customers stop buying the old one.

Have patience, it will come. I don't know if it will be that good though. BTW I think it was someone from The Verge who actually handled it and wrote a hands-on article, you might want to search for that.

 

[widgeteer]

There is communication. It's "stay tuned for announcements" - if you check out their Twitter feed.

If you mean more precise communication, I think you can't have your cake and eat it. I don't think they can give a certain date without a very generous buffer which would make it meaningless. If they promised more dates but failed to deliver, you'd rightfully complain. What do you expect, for them to list actual problems that prevents them from shipping? Nobody does that. In fact, having seen the phone was unusual enough, and I guess it only happened because it's the first. Otherwise nobody wants to leak their new device lest the customers stop buying the old one.

Have patience, it will come. I don't know if it will be that good though. BTW I think it was someone from The Verge who actually handled it and wrote a hands-on article, you might want to search for that.

I'm sorry, but are you responding to the correct post? Mine wasn't really aimed at missing the ship date

This piece though:

"In fact, having seen the phone was unusual enough, and I guess it only happened because it's the first. Otherwise nobody wants to leak their new device lest the customers stop buying the old one."

Is completely incorrect. They announced the phone. Full stop. They have an entire website dedicated to showing us what the phone looks like, its full specs, and a reservation system. Every single company that has reached this point in their marketing cycle has had a full on demonstration of their phone to generate the reservations/interest. Even if it's months from shipping (which is true of a great many Android OEM's, as a matter of fact).

The phone is no longer a rumor, there are no leaks to worry about. Your argument there makes absolutely no sense because Essential has done something pretty dumb: they announced a phone with NO MARKETING prepared for it.