Essential Phone Still Not Shipping; Andy Rubin Keeps Mum Amid Delay

The Essential PH-1, or simply the Essential Phone, hasn’t been shipped to customers yet. Andy Rubin, the creator of the device and CEO of Essential Products Inc., remains to be quiet on the delay, which is becoming a bit worrisome for customers.

Essential Products opened pre-orders for the $699 Essential Phone on May 30. The company didn’t provide a shipment date back then, but Andy Rubin said that they wouldn’t have opened pre-orders if they weren’t going to ship “in 30 days or so.”

The company’s deadline has passed more than a week ago, and shipments haven’t started yet. It seems as though the Essential Phone has been delayed. What’s particularly worrisome is that Rubin and his company have been quiet about the delay. They haven’t addressed it, nor have they given information as to what’s causing the delay.

READ: Essential Phone Will Be Compatible To All Major US Carriers, According To FCC Filing

The company also appears to be not responding to media queries. Sites like The Verge, Android Police, CNET and Business Insider have all asked Essential why the device has been delayed, but the company declined to give a statement or simply didn’t respond.

It’s now being speculated that Essential might have ran into trouble with manufacturing. Another possibility here is that the company might be trying to improve the Essential Phone’s camera performance. Either way, delays aren’t that uncommon, and Essential Products is still new in the smartphone scene.

The Essential Phone was officially revealed back in May, and it turned a lot of heads with its unique take on the bezel-less design. It comes with a 5.71-inch display with a screen resolution of 2,560 x 1,312. The device is said to be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor, and it has 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and a 3,040 mAh battery.

The Essential Phone also comes with dual 13-megapixel cameras on the back and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. It also has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C port and the 3.5mm headphone jack. The device is expected to run Android 7.1.1 Nougat straight out of the box.

The Essential Phone is exclusive to Sprint in the United States, but it’s also available unlocked to GSM and CDMA networks. IBT reported last month that the Essential Phone will work on all major U.S. carriers based on its most recent FCC filings.

READ: Essential Phone Release Date Will Be Exclusive To Sprint

With the Essential Phone seemingly being delayed, this might be an opportunity for other manufacturers to fill the gap. A couple of weeks ago, it was rumored that Sharp would be releasing two bezel-less smartphones on July 17 in China.

These devices don’t have names yet, but both are carrying the model numbers FS8016 and FS8010, according to Android Headlines. The Sharp FS8016 is believed to be powered by the mid-range Snapdragon 660 processor along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The Sharp FS8010 on the other hand will be powered by the lower-end snapdragon 830 along with 4GB of RAM. Both are expected to run Android 7.1.1 Nougat straight out of the box. What’s interesting here is Sharp is also said to be the display supplier for the Essential Phone.