The Essential Phone has been given a hefty price cut in the US, with $200 shaved of the handset’s expensive $699 original price tag.
While the Essential Phone, developed by Android creator Andy Rubin, has yet to make it over the pond to the UK, the Android-toting handset is set to make its British debut before Christmas.
With the US price slashed, we can expect to see the lower cost also extend to UK pricing, which should go someway to help make the phone appeal to people more used to mobiles from giants like Apple and Samsung.
Despite sporting an interesting design, edge-to-edge display, and having introduced the screen ‘notch’ well ahead of Apple’s iPhone X, the Essential Phone hasn’t really taken the US market by storm, with some suggesting that the attention the phone initially got was down to Rubin’s involvement as a pioneer of Android, rather than the handset’s credentials.
It could be argued that a phone from a brand-new company retailing for a flagship-level $699 without any previous hardware successes was destined to have a lukewarm reception at launch. This is likely to be the reason for the chunky price cut.
“We want to make it even easier for you to experience our products and our brand. So starting today we’re offering Essential Phone for $499 on Essential.com,” said Essential, which would suggest the price drop is here to stay rather than a one-off promotion.
At $499 the Essential Phone starts to look a lot more competitive, in the face of the Pixel 2, iPhone 8, and Galaxy S8, and its modular features combined with a more acceptable price could boost the handset’s appeal when it reaches UK shores, though we’ll have to wait and see before we cast any further judgement.
The price cut comes four days before the iPhone X goes on pre-order, which is a likely motivator.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
