Essential Phones will begin shipping within a week

The first Essential phones will start shipping in a week’s time, according to emails sent by the company to early buyers. 9to5Google reports that Essential sent messages to customers who pre-registered for the phone. However, the messages say that only the black version of device (‘Black Moon’) will ship “within 7 days”, while shipment for the white version (‘Pure White’) is still “a couple of weeks away.”

There’s no exact release date for the phone either, but hopefully these emails mean that will be coming very soon. We’ve had a pretty good look at the device, but expectations are running high considering that the man behind Essential, Andy Rubin, is better known as the founder of Android. Investors too have been swept up in the excitement, with news coming this week that Essential is already a unicorn — a startup valued at more than a billion dollars.

A billion dollars, but zero phones shipped. Let’s hope that changes soon.