Essential Shows Off Selective Focus, 360 Camera

The new Essential Phone, from Android founder Andy Rubin's startup, is clearly a work in progress, but at a New York press event last night, the company demonstrated how the phone's camera will improve.

When we reviewed the Essential Phone, the camera's low-light performance was one of the device's major down sides. A software update released right before our review improved it somewhat, and another update to the camera software arrived just yesterday.

The biggest update, though, is coming within a month or two, with bokeh features for the dual camera, according to Essential reps at the event. The phone has two main cameras but can't yet do the selective depth-of-field tricks most dual-camera phones can perform. That will be fixed with a camera app upgrade.

The dual cameras also collect depth information, the rep said. That means that if Google eventually enables augmented reality features using two cameras—something I've heard whispers about in the industry—the Essential Phone will probably support those APIs.

There are limits to the phone's camera capabilities, the rep pointed out. In extremely low light, the camera's lack of optical image stabilization means it won't be able to eke out the images that OIS-enabled phones like the Samsung Galaxy S8 do. But software upgrades should progressively improve performance in moderate low-light and standard indoor lighting, the rep said.

Hands On With Essential's 360 Camera

Also at the event, I got to spend a little time playing with Essential's $199 360 camera attachment, which is shipping in September.

The camera looks like a clip-on, fish-eye lens and snaps onto the back of the phone using magnetic pins. It's the smallest 4K, 360 camera I've ever seen, and significantly more manageable than Motorola's 360 camera mod. It's basically the size of two thumbs put together, which makes it very easy to pop the 360 camera on when you need it, and slip it in your pocket when you don't.

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The 360 camera integrates with the built-in camera app. Press a 360 button, and you'll see the world in full surround. It records and auto-stitches 4K video and uploads it directly to Google Photos, but there's no included way to edit or trim the 360 video. Essential's reps couldn't recommend an on-device editing solution, which was a little odd.

I didn't get a chance to look closely at the 4K video recording results, but I look forward to reviewing the attachment when it comes out.

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