Ron Amadeo

Ron Amadeo

Ron Amadeo

Ron Amadeo

Ron Amadeo

Ron Amadeo

Ron Amadeo

Ron Amadeo

Ron Amadeo

Ron Amadeo

Remember the Essential Phone, which was delayed so much it launched right in the middle of the iPhone (and Pixel 2) hype season? The phone built by Andy Rubin's new company offers an innovative design and a great software loadout, but the subpar camera and lack of water resistance put it solely in the "second-tier" phone category. Essential's second-tier phone still had a top-tier price, though, which made it a tough sell in the ultra-competitive world of smartphones.

Over the weekend, Essential announced it's doing something about that $700 price tag: the Essential Phone is getting a $200 price drop and is now just $499. The price drop is a huge deal and takes the Essential Phone out of comparison with the Galaxy S8 iPhone 8 , and Pixel 2 and puts it in a league with phones like the OnePlus 5

Against competition like that, the Essential Phone looks pretty good. It easily offers the best design, and if Essential proves to have a decent track record with updates, owning the phone could be a nice experience.

At publication time, the price drop hasn't yet made it to Amazon, but Essential.com and Best Buy have the new $499 price.

Listing image by Ron Amadeo