Android P Beta 1 now available on the Essential Phone

Essential may be going through an incredibly rough patch as a company but its smartphone, the Essential Phone (PH-1), has seemingly been unaffected. Fresh off a slew of recent updates, Essential has announced that the Android P Developer Preview build available to PH-1 owners has now been bumped up to “Android P Beta 1.”

If Essential’s naming system has you confused, don’t worry, you’re not the only one. What we’re looking it here (confirmed by Essential via Android Police) is the Beta 2/Developer Preview 3 that recently rolled out for Google Pixel devices.

It seems that Essential has deemed this build stable enough to warrant the “Beta 1” name. It also means that the Essential Phone is currently the only non-Pixel device to run the most up-to-date version of the Android P Beta.

So what’s actually changed? Not too much, in all honesty. Aside from the latest batch of Android security patches for June and stability tweaks, the only other notable change to the phone’s adaptive brightness range.

Of course, testers should also get access to all the features and fixes found in the Developer Preview 3, including the return of the ‘Clear all’ button.

If you’re already running the Android P Developer Preview on the Essential Phone you should receive an OTA update for the latest build very shortly. Otherwise, you’ll need to sideload the update from Essential’s website — you can follow our tutorial if you’re having any issues with the process.