Canadian telecommunications giant Telus Corp. has officially announced the month of release and price point for Canadians interested in buying Android co-founder Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone.
Telus is already taking preorders for the device, which officially goes on sale in September. Canadian users will be able to purchase the phone for $290 under the company’s two-year “Premium Plus” plan or for $1050 outright.
In a statement, Telus vice-president of mobile devices Robert Currie said the company was very pleased to bring the Essential phone to Canadians.
“We take pride in carrying the latest smartphones and technology, ensuring that our customers have the greatest selection of products to suit their lifestyle,” he said.
Announced in June and originally scheduled for a summer release, the titanium-and-ceramic Essential phone features an edge-to-edge display and dual camera, along with an optional snap-on 4K, 360-degree camera accessory that allows users to create VR content, and which Telus will sell for $270.
According to Rubin, the device’s titanium body and ceramic backing provides more strength than other phones on the market, and its 5.7-inch screen displays at a resolution of 2560 by 1312.
The phone runs on Android and is powered by a Kryo Octa-core processor and Adreno 540 GPU. It has a 13 megapixel camera on the front and a 8-megapixel camera on the back, and according to Telus will have 128GB of memory and 4 GB of RAM.