The phone was manufactured in the spring of 2017, I bought it in November of that same year. It had Android 7.1 and I've updated a couple times. The last update was in February 2020. Essential states their intent to come out with a new model called PH-2 (phone 2) but never did. The Ph-1 was top end when it came out. When my service contract expired end of November 2019, Telus tried to convince me to get a new phone. But any phone they had was not as good as this one. I don't want to keep changing. Besides, since Android 9.1 this phone does everything I need for work.

I have a USB-C to USB-A adapter, a USB serial port with DB9 to RJ45 cable, and a terminal emulation app so I can log into the console port of a rack mount server. I also have a USB to ethernet adapter, and use Firefox to connect to port 1 of a cell phone router used by retail Post Offices. That allows me to control and configure the router. I don't need to carry a laptop, my phone can do everything.

Of course I also have other apps that any Android phone should be able to use. Adobe Acrobat Reader for Android to read PDF documents. It has a fill-and-sign option to allow me to fill out paperwork and have a client sign it. LibreOffice Viewer allows me to read Word documents.

When Essential folded, they stopped providing updates. There was a.discussion by users how to upgrade to Android 11, but I was afraid it might require wiping my phone.

Rob Dyck