Michael Grothaus 24/08/2017 - 12:11pm

Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone is an immensely impressive debut Android phone, but can it beat Apple's incoming iPhone 8?

Pretty much everyone knows what Android is these days, the same way everyone knows what the iPhone is. Likewise everyone knew who Steve Jobs was, and a lot of people probably know who Tim Cook is, however, even fans of Android may not know who Andy Rubin is.

Andy Rubin was one of the original co-creators of Android way back when, in fact by many he is considered the true "father" of the platform. Whether he's as well-known broadly as the likes of Job and Cook, he still became a billionaire off the back of Android, but then left it in Google's hands to go and pursue other things, before eventually founding his own firm; Essential.

And now Rubin is back in the phone business, with Essential launching its own Android-based smartphone, its debut model, just shortly ahead of the launch of the 10th anniversary iPhone 8. The company's debut handset is the Essential PH-1, but it's caught on as "the Essential Phone".

Rubin has said he created the Essential phone because he wanted to make an Android phone with the best specs, hardware, and design, which would complement the operating system running on it.

Sound familiar? That’s because that has been Apple’s philosophy with the iPhone and iPad series. The fact that Apple makes the iPhone hardware and software is why many people consider the iPhone to be the best smartphone in the business and a go-to option for millions. If you control both aspects of the device, hardware, and software, you can fully craft it to how you believe it should work.

While the Essential ships this week, the iPhone 8 won’t be out until later this Autumn - typically the iPhone launches in September, and most sources are still pointing to that month for the iPhone 8. Right now, the actual specs of the iPhone 8 are unknown, but we have a good idea of what its specs may be thanks to a series of leaks.

That means, for now, we have enough to go on in order to compare the rumored iPhone 8 with the Essential Phone. So without further ado, let's gaze into our crystal ball to see how the rumored iPhone 8 will compare with the just released Essential Phone starting with the specs:

Essential Phone vs Rumored iPhone 8: Major Specs

Rumored iPhone 8

  • Display: 5.8in 2800 x 1242 OLED
  • Storage: 64GB and 256GB
  • CPU and RAM: A11 processor, 3GB RAM
  • Front Camera: 8MP
  • Rear Camera: 12MP dual lens, 4K video recording
  • Extras: FaceID, wireless charging

Essential Phone

  • Dimensions: 141.5 x 71.1 x 7.8mm [Titanium Body]
  • Weight: 185g
  • Display: 5.71in IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen 1312 x 2560 pixels (504 ppi)
  • Processor: MSM8998 Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Octa-core (4x2.45 GHz Kryo & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo)
  • GPU: Adreno 540
  • RAM: 4GB
  • Software: Android 7.1 Nougat
  • Connectivity: 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Type-C USB, NFC, GPS, Fingerprint scanner,
  • Storage: 128GB
  • MicroSD: No
  • Primary Camera: Dual-13MP, f/1.9 aperture, phase detection & laser autofocus, LED flash, Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panoramic capture 2160p video @30fps, 1080p video @60fps, 720p video @120fps
  • Secondary Camera: 8 MP, f/2.2 aperture, 2160p video @30fps, 1080pvideo @60fps, 720p video @120fps
  • Battery: 3040mAh

As far as specs go you can expect the iPhone 8 to see a new A11 processor and M11 motion-coprocessor. But until those actually ship, there’s no way to tell how they compare against the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 to be found in the Essential.

On the subject of RAM, the Essential’s 4GB is 25% more than the rumored 3GB that is expected in the iPhone 8. This looks like a win for the Essential, but you need to remember that Apple does a great job of tailoring the OS to take advantage of the RAM the iPhone ships with. That, combined with the A-series chipset, and the iPhone ALMOST ALWAYS blows away the more RAM and Qualcomm chipset found in Android devices.

When it comes to storage options, the iPhone 8 will likely max out at 256GB with the entry-level model coming with 64GB of storage. Those two options may seem slim, but it’s more than you get with the Essential, which only has a 128GB option. However, as 128GB is a good size for almost anyone (whereas 64GB might not be enough and 256GB might be overkill) the Essential wins on storage.

Essential Phone vs Rumored iPhone 8: Display

No doubt about it, the Essential’s 5.71in 2560 x 1312 QHD display is beautiful. But it could actually pale in comparison to the display on the rumored iPhone 8. That edge-to-edge display is expected to be 5.8in 2800 x 1242 OLED, meaning it’s just a tad bit larger than the display in the Essential. And it's also OLED, which is an obvious benefit in terms of both image quality and how friendly it is to battery life.

Essential Phone vs Rumored iPhone 8: Camera

Each phone offers dual-lens rear cameras. The front cameras will probably be at least 8MP (confirmed in the Essential, rumored in the iPhone 8). Of the back lenses the Essential maxes out at 13MP with a nice wide f/1.9 aperture, while the iPhone 8 is rumored to have a 12MP dual lens. That being said, it’s likely Apple could have improved software that makes it pictures richer and more colorful.

Essential Phone vs Rumored iPhone 8: Extras

Besides new designs for both handsets (well, the Essential’s is its first design ever), what is the killer features of each? For the Essential…it doesn’t really seem to have one, other than it's a stock Android phone and those are pretty rare outside of Google's stable. But keep in mind, this is a first generation phone, so we may see more clever things added on subsequent models.

The iPhone 8, on the other hand, is expected to be packed with killer facial recognition tech and wireless charging—both things the Essential lacks.

Essential Phone vs Rumored iPhone 8: Verdict

A verdict wouldn’t be fair yet because the iPhone 8 isn’t out. However, if the rumored specs and features are to be believed, the iPhone 8 and Essential Phone will be quite evenly matched in many respects. Both their dual-camera hardware appears to be in a similar ballpark, they both have top-tier chipsets with stacks of RAM and oodles of storage space, and they both run streamlined software as it was originally intended. The main arena in which the iPhone may edge out in front is the display, adopting OLED, which may also give it an advantage in battery life. It is plausible that the A11 chipset could also beat the Snapdragon 835 even with slightly less RAM to play with - but the jury is out until after the iPhone 8 launches.