Kellen
The Essential Phone is down to just $434.99 today at Amazon, a solid $65 drop in price from its normal $500 spot. This isn’t the first price drop for Andy Rubin’s first phone from his young company, but it is the lowest price we’ve seen since that ridiculous Black Friday bundle.
At $435, I’d say that the phone is probably still a decent bet if you don’t have a huge smartphone budget, yet need something capable. This phone won’t ever have a top tier camera, and it’s clear that Essential is still ironing out some performance and cellular issues, but they are one of the best so far at keep phones up to date. In fact, on most months, they push the current security patch before Google can.
I re-reviewed the phone after it dropped to $499 and had seen a wave of improvements. My thoughts have changed some since then, meaning I’m not as big of a fan since Essential still seems to be struggling with a couple of long-standing issues (touch latency, for one), but at $435, it’s probably worth it. You are still getting the best feeling phone on the market with a really striking design, plus stock Android that is always current. In the low $400s, you are in Moto X4 territory, and I’d take this over the X4 every day of the week.
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