Essential Oreo beta release makes it even more tantalizing

The Essential Phone PH-1 seems to be becoming more essential with each passing day. Not only has it received a price cut of US$200, bringing it down to just US$499, it has also recently received unofficial support for LineageOS. Making it even tastier still, Essential has just posted the first Android 8.0 Oreo beta for the device making it available to anyone with the know how to manually install it.

Andy Rubin’s startup Essential has had a rocky start, with its flagship smartphone missing repeated launches and then shipping with dodgy camera software. It received mixed reviews and also has little brand awareness among the general public. Although it did get some mainstream press thanks to Rubin’s involvement with the company, it hasn’t had the financial or marketing capacity of the undisputed king of the Android market, Samsung.

With Android 8.0 Oreo now available for the Essential Phone, it will be among the first flagship devices to get an update to Google’s latest and greatest operating system. For a device made from a combination of ceramic, titanium and glass, powered by a Snapdragon 835 with a nearly bezel-less display, there aren’t too many devices that come close to it for the money. Tempting, so very tempting.

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