Android founder Andy Rubin launches the Essential Phone

Android founder Andy Rubin has launched his new smartphone, the Essential Phone, which features a titanium body with a ceramic back and a Gorilla Glass 5 cover.

The display is a 5.7-inch QHD unit, while by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 does the processing.

Essential also unveiled its 360-degree camera attachment for the phone, which is the world's smallest 360-degree personal camera, it claims.

The Essential Phone, which runs on Android is being offered in four colours - Black Moon, Stellar Grey, Pure White, and Ocean Depths (Green).

The smartphone, bundled with a 360-degree camera, can be reserved for $749, while the standalone phone carries a price tag of $699.

According to commentators, though the phone runs standard Android, it is meant to act as a vanguard for Essential's new ecosystem of smart home devices and services connected by the mysterious Ambient OS.

According to commentators, even if we believe that Rubin's futuristic vision for a connected home will materialise, it is not going happen anytime soon. But currently, what we have right now, is a well-designed Android phone which may usher in Rubin's vision at a later date, they say.

The Essential Phone, according to commentators, is  an ambitious device, which has a unique way to connect modular accessories, starting with a 360-degree camera.

Dieter Bohn, executive editor, The Verge writes that the screen itself is LCD instead of OLED, which means the Essential Phone will not really work well with VR headsets. He writes that engineers at Essential told him that finding a supplier to do the cutout when development started 18 months ago limited their options.

The 5.7-inch screen on the Essential Phone is bigger than what one gets on an iPhone 7 Plus or a Pixel XL, yet the phone itself is much smaller. Size wise it is closer to the smaller counterparts of those phones, the iPhone 7 and Pixel, and their significantly smaller displays.