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Here’s what we know about Andy Rubin’s new Essential phone

It should ship in about 30 days.

Andy Rubin, Essential phone, Code 2017 Asa Mathat

This morning, Android co-creator Andy Rubin finally unveiled his new smartphone, as well as more details about Essential, his new hardware company that’s making the device. The phone, unsurprisingly, runs Android.

At the Code Conference today at the Terranea Resort in California, Rubin showed off his new Essential phone, which he says will ship in 30 days.

Rubin first teased the phone earlier this year on Twitter. The Essential phone’s defining feature is the edge-to-edge screen that’s so big it even wraps around the phone’s front camera.

Photo: Essential

Here’s what we know now about the new smartphone from the creator of Android:

  • The screen stretches across the entire front of the phone.
  • Essential’s phone’s exterior is titanium and ceramic, materials that don’t blemish when you touch them like aluminum does, according to the Essential website.
  • There are 128 gigabytes of storage on the device and 4GB of RAM.
  • The front-facing camera can take eight-megapixel resolution photos, and the back camera takes 13-megapixel pictures and 4K video.
  • It weighs 0.4 pounds and is only 0.3 inches thick.
  • The Essential Phone has a magnetic connector and wireless data transfer capabilities.
  • Essential’s phone runs Android.
  • It’s available in four colors: Black Moon, Stellar Gray, Pure White and Ocean Depths.
  • The Essential Phone is available now for preorder for $699.
  • There is no headphone jack.

Rubin also unveiled what he describes as the world’s smallest 360-degree camera that’s made to connect to the Essential phone. It’s less than three inches long and weighs less than half a pound. The camera rotates by touching the screen.

Andy Rubin, Essential phone, 360 degree camera, Code 2017 Asa Mathat

Right now the phone is only available online, but Rubin said that he will add other ways to sell the phone in the future, presumably with carriers or other stores that sell smartphones.

After leaving Google, Rubin started Playground in 2015, a hardware design lab and $300 million venture fund, that helps and invests in startups working on the next wave of smart machines.

Essential, Rubin’s own new startup, is one of the companies that Playground supports, which was actually the first company that hatched out of the venture fund, Rubin shared at the Code Conference today.

Redpoint, Foxconn and Tencent are also investors in Rubin’s new hardware company, according to the Essential’s website.

You can watch Rubin’s full interview below.


This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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