Super rare phones are sold at 'sky-high' prices

The Essential Gem with its "unique" design. Photo: Essential .

Before disappearing from the market, Essential was a pioneer in the smartphone industry. The company was founded by Andy Rubin, famous for the Essential Phone (PH-1) launched in 2017. The PH-1 introduced the controversial "rabbit ear" (notch) design that quickly became a trend, shaping the design language of many phones later.

In late 2019, Essential founder Andy Rubin unveiled the “Gem” smartphone concept, revealing it would be the successor to the beloved Essential Phone. The device was described as having a distinctive tall and narrow design. However, just a few months later, Essential officially shut down, leaving the “Gem” project permanently abandoned.

Since the product was never officially released to the public, only a limited number of “Gem” prototypes were produced. However, an eBay user named “anuket_bay” has suddenly acquired a large batch of these rare prototypes and is selling them for $1,200 each.

This person even owns a shipment of Gems with a full range of color versions, including blue, purple, matte black and glossy black.

Essential Gem shipments are being sold by “anuket_bay” in various colors. Photo: anuket_bay/eBay.

Each device works fine with Essential's custom software, but there won't be any future updates. It's worth noting that the camera doesn't work, some other features are disabled, the back cover is flimsy, and some devices occasionally have a green or purple line running across the screen.

While there have been retail versions of the Essential "Gem" before, and even detailed reviews, this is the first time a large number of these devices have hit the market.

Notably, this comes shortly after Nothing published its own review of Essential “Gem.” The company also confirmed that it had acquired the “Essential” trademark, having considered using the name for its own products.

Although the price of $1,200 for a smartphone with many limited features is an unreasonable investment, many people will still be willing to "spend" because the number of these phones on the market will not be much in the near future.

First revealed in 2019 as “Project Gem,” the device features a unique design with a tall, narrow display. The design is reminiscent of the “memes” that appeared about the 4-inch screen of the iPhone 5, when users imagined the phone would continue to grow in height instead of width.

Essential "Gem" was highly anticipated by the community for its unique design and software. Photo: Rob/NothingCommunity.

The Essential “Gem” failed to launch for a variety of reasons. The first Essential Phone in 2017 was said to have sold only around 150,000 units.

Before the successor was released, The Information and the New York Times broke a number of scandals involving Essential founder Andy Rubin when he left Google a few years earlier.

As a result, plans for a second phone were scrapped. By early 2020, Essential officially shut down, claiming it could no longer deliver devices to customers.

Source: https://znews.vn/dien-thoai-sieu-la-sieu-hiem-gia-tren-troi-post1560561.html