If Huawei released a phone with the specs of the Essential’s hype-driven debut, no one would have paid much attention. Snapdragon this, edgeless that, modular thingamajig. It really is a nice phone, but “nice” isn’t blowing any minds. As it happens, though, the Essential Phone—the first product from a company started by Android creator Andy Rubin and the gadget line it flagships—is more mission than material. At the same time, it’s Rubin’s atonement for the sins of Android.
Now, that’s not to say the handset is gonna free the masses from the fractured bloatware that plagues handsets from LG, Samsung, and others. (Admittedly, the company doesn’t even want its Phone in every pocket.) Wrapped up in Rubin’s penance, however, isn’t salvation for the cluttered smartphone landscape, but for the ever-splintering smart home.
