Essential Phone Releases Detachable 3.5mm Jack for PH-1 for $149

Essential has released the Audio Adapter HD in the United States and Canada. This is a detachable 3.5mm connection for Essential’s first smartphone, the PH-1. It came out last year, where the 3.5mm connection was missing. The adapter costs $149

The Audio HD Today features over a built-in ESS Saber dac, which should provide an input of a quality of 24bit or 96kHz. According to Essential, this leads to rendering with a quality of 32-bit or 384kHz via the MQA algorithm. Music streaming service Tidal, among others, works with MQA files.

The 3.5mm jack has a physical connection to the phone for power via the pogo pins on the back, but the sound is transmitted via a wireless connection at 60GHz. The Audio Adapter HD is the second accessory of the pogo pins on the back of the Essential Phone. The first is a 360-degree camera that the phone maker released at the same time as the phone.

The adapter is currently only available in North America for $149, roughly 30 percent of the US price of Essential Phone. It is not known whether the accessory will also be released outside the US and Canada.

The Essential PH-1 was announced in May 2017 by Android founder Andy Rubin and at the beginning of this year it was announced that the device was also coming to the Benelux. Originally, the device came out in the United States for a price of $ 699, but the actual release was delayed several times due to production problems, causing the price to drop.

The company is said to be currently developing a new phone that uses AI. However, the business is not doing well; a month ago, 30 percent of the workforce was reportedly laid off.