The Essential Phone is getting its first new attachment module since it launched almost a year ago. And it’s a magnetic 3.5mm headphone jack dongle. Essential revealed it was working on this accessory back in September.
The new attachment dongle — called the Audio Adapter HD — is part of a focus on music that Essential announced today, and in addition to providing the missing 3.5mm headphone jack, it also contains a high-resolution ESS Sabre DAC with an “audiophile-grade amp” that’s “crafted from machined titanium for exceptional durability.” And, as Essential is very explicit in pointing out, it also means that you can finally charge your phone while listening to music at the same time.
Also new on the Essential phone is support for Tidal’s Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) lossless tracks, along with a new partnership with the music service where Essential Phone owners will be able to listen to MQA tracks. Tidal is offering Essential Phone owners a three-month subscription of its Hi-Fi tier for free to try out the higher-resolution audio.
The magnetic attachment system was touted as a major feature for the Essential Phone when it was first announced in 2017, but aside from the 360-degree camera attachment that the phone launched with, no other Click attachments ever materialized. Until now, that is. The charging dock station for the phone that was unveiled alongside the 360 cam has yet to ship.
There’s no word yet as to how much the Audio Adapter HD will cost, but Essential is promising a release sometime this summer. The release of any new hardware at all is something of a surprise, given that reports were swirling last month that Essential had canceled its second phone and was exploring selling the company.
Although, as my colleague Casey Newton pointed out, it makes a kind of poetic sense that after cancelling the future, Essential would embrace the past.
Comments
I assume both people with Essential phones will be very excited by this.
By neilw on 06.07.18 5:55pm
There’s dozens of us.
By The Artgineer on 06.07.18 6:28pm
By BigDaddy0790 on 06.07.18 8:57pm
essentially
By punbot on 06.08.18 12:44am
Isn’t the ESS Sabre DAC the same one LG’s V series phones have used the past few years?
I can’t see this being cheaper than $149 which wouldn’t be terrible since FiiO DAC’s are at least $100 for the decent ones and the DAC in that isn’t as high quality as the ESS Sabre not to mention you have to carry around another device with you.
By jdmp10 on 06.07.18 5:56pm
But that fact also means it can be used with any phone, not stuck to a specific phone that only 100,000 people own.
The only benefit I can see is maybe a Magsafe type snap off mechanism to prevent your phone hurtling towards the ground when you catch your headphone cord on something.
By Doge Man on 06.07.18 6:16pm
On the other hand if you have headphones connected and leave your phone on a table etc then stand up this all but ensures your phone will plummet to the floor.
By JamesMarsh on 06.07.18 7:45pm
Are falling phones really saved by headphone jacks?
#courageousjack
By Doge Man on 06.07.18 9:49pm
Yes! I’ve actually had this happen to me several times!
By kayzee on 06.08.18 6:31am
Me too
By Ponk on 06.08.18 8:30am
Conversely, I’ve had phones ripped out of my hands by a cable I accidentally hooked around something.
By CPD_1 on 06.08.18 12:11pm
I think the DAC is the point of this.
As a dongle, it’s terrible obviously.
But if you want high grade audio, then this makes more sense.
By gregorian on 06.07.18 7:41pm
Exactly. This is a DAC, not a headphone adapter dongle.
I’m not saying its the best idea ever, but its not really fair to call it a dongle. Dongles are just adapters.
By pallentx on 06.07.18 7:57pm
High quality DACs can be housed in far less comical form factors. This is seriously one of the most ridiculous products I’ve seen in a long time.
By starxd on 06.07.18 9:16pm
Why is it comical?
It’s a box that clips onto their expansion port.
It is what it is.
By gregorian on 06.07.18 10:00pm
It literally looks like they made the module Apple would to me.
By Stone Cold Dan Quinn on 06.08.18 8:11am
That’s the first thing I noticed. This is very apple-esqe
By droidface on 06.08.18 9:28am
The PH1 itself is very reminiscent of the iphone 4. Almost same shape and size but with a better screen.
By iamantman on 06.08.18 10:26am
I think the intent for the entire company was to be an Apple-esque company. It would’ve worked longterm had they had deeper pockets. Still think Amazon should buy them.
By Stone Cold Dan Quinn on 06.08.18 2:25pm
Yeah absolutely. I think that was definitely Andy’s intent. It feels more premium than basically every android phone on the market and it’s a first gen startup. I’m still hoping they get approved for some loans or something. I was really bummed when I heard the ph2 was cancelled
By iamantman on 06.08.18 3:07pm
It’s actually considerably larger but very similar to hold. The screen is superb, very similar quality to the iPhone 8 and with it the best LCDs until the new LG one came out recently.
By Dr Strange on 06.08.18 2:35pm
True. I really like the PH-1,l. They took an attractive design and made something similar but their own. Google definitely should’ve gone for this. The PH1 w Google money and Google’s camera I would buy one.
By droidface on 06.08.18 5:47pm
This takes visual design cues from Apple, but it is a very un-Apple product. In fact, we know how Apple would approach making an external DAC and headphone port, because they made one. It’s tiny, works inline with any cable, is free with every iPhone, and only costs $9.
By starxd on 06.08.18 3:48pm
Yeah, and that’s such a great DAC…
By lusional on 06.08.18 5:18pm
For the quality of headphones that 99.9% of people will attach to it, it’s perfect. A better DAC wouldn’t make a noticeable difference. Audiophiles with very expensive headphones can buy a pro-level DAC if they want one, but that is a tiny minority of users.
By starxd on 06.08.18 6:09pm