Essential Phone coming to Canada as a Telus exclusive

By Daniel Bader
last updated

This was unexpected. Essential Phone, the titanium-and-ceramic wünderhandset from Android creator Andy Rubin's company of the same name, will debut in Canada later this summer on Telus.

The company said in a press release that the phone will be available for pre-order at the end of July, with availability later this summer. According to Rubin, Telus was chosen as the sole carrier "due to our strong alignment on the importance of continuous innovation and support for consumer choice."

Essential Phone Specs

Essential announced earlier this month that the Phone would be available for $699 when it goes on sale unlocked in the U.S. Sprint then came out as the sole U.S. carrier offering the phone. With Telus locked in for Canadian distribution, it would seem that Essential's strategy is in place.

Canadian pricing hasn't been confirmed just yet, but Telus said it will be available outright — likely for close to $1,000 given today's exchange rates — or on subsidy with select shared data plans. Telus also plans to sell Essential's 4K 360-degree camera accessory in its stores.

See at Telus (opens in new tab)

Daniel Bader
Daniel Bader

Daniel Bader was a former Android Central Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editor for iMore and Windows Central. 

13 Comments
  • I must say the Essential is growing on me.
  • This or the Pixel 2, decisions......decisions.......
  • You could always wait, the Pixel 2 won't come until September/October, and the Essential phone is launching this summer but will still be available by the time the Pixel 2 launches
  • I don't understand why any manufacturer would ever want to make their phones exclusive to one carrier. How could that possibly benefit them?
  • I think it's also to get them to an existing customer base and more people, if Essential only sold the phone unlocked from them, they may not sell as many because they're a new company
  • Depends on the deal. See, if they sign with everyone and it's placed in the back if the stored with all the others that did the same and didn't pay for premium space, it's not going to sell. If they signed an exclusivity deal, that usually includes a strong push from the carrier and a prime spot in the store to reach the average consumer. When you're a startup, it's probably best that way to get "free" publicity in front of the store.
  • I'm going to have to switch company!
  • Or unlock it.
  • For that price, why not just get the Mi Mix..
  • The ui is not so stockish
  • Do you even know the quality of build materials used in the Essential PH-1, this is not some cheaply build Chinese phone.
  • Telus exclusive? Meh, the CRTC rule that all phone must be sold unlocked can't come soon enough.
  • Roflmao, exclusives are created to only take away consumer's choices.