Essential Phone Gets A $200 Price Cut To Spur Sales

Andy Rubin is the father of Android and he and his company, Essential, decided not too long ago to try and break up the Samsung and Apple duopoly with a new smartphone. Things didn't go so well right out of the gate. Now, Essential has decided to price their device more realistically, which could spark a new wave of interest from cautious consumers.

Essential is selling the unlocked device directly on its website at a $200 discount making the phone $499. That is a much more appealing amount than the $699 launch price. The original price put the device right in line with other more established and popular devices making the Essential Phone a hard sell.

This direct price cut on the smartphone comes only days after Best Buy cut the price to $599 giving those who had been on the fence a push towards buying the smartphone. The only people out there who won't be happy about the new $499 price are those who bought the device at full MSRP or those who picked one up at Best Buy for $599.99 since last Friday when the discount offer began.

However, if you bought an Essential Phone before October 22, Essential is offering a $200 Friends & Family discount towards another Essential Phone or Essential 360 camera. That's not exactly as good as getting the smartphone for $499, but at least it's something. You can enter your information on the form at the Essential website to get your discount.

Back in September the Essential Phone teardown revealed dreadful repairability. The smartphone also launched as a Sprint exclusive, which didn't help its popularity. It was later learned that only 5,000 units of the Essential Phone had sold via Sprint from launch through late September.