the new 'essential' smartphone is the size and ratio of a TV remote

essential has teased its second smartphone: a narrow device that looks like a TV remote. dubbed ‘project gem’, the company released images of the prototype on twitter, showcasing an elongated display with a tall UI and card-like apps.

images courtesy of essential unless stated otherwise

essential hasn’t provided much detail on the smartphone, which currently in its early testing phase. the two images posted on twitter show four brilliant colors with a camera centered near the top of the back and what may be a center fingerprint sensor.

image © andy rubin

the narrow dimensions of ‘project gem’ allows it fits between the thumb and forefinger. on the front, there is a long full-screen display and there are two buttons on the right side that are likely power and volume buttons. essential also showed off the phone’s back, which uses eye-catching colorshift finishes that change hue slightly at different angles.

image © andy rubin

a 2018 report from bloomberg said essential’s next phone would ‘have a small screen and require users to interact mainly using voice commands, in concert with essential’s artificial-intelligence software.’ that could well be the case considering the limitations a screen of this size could have.

image © andy rubin

it is likely that the device is running an earlier version of android. the prototype is connected to AT&T with LTE, and uses a home page of widgets to provide easy access to features like maps, spotify, phone, camera, messages, and gallery.

GEM Colorshift material pic.twitter.com/QJStoiDleH

— Andy Rubin (@Arubin) October 8, 2019

project info

company: essential

name: project gem