Essential Home is Andy Rubin's answer to the Amazon Echo and Google Home

Andy Rubin—also known as the father of Android—has just made his long-awaited, Essential phone official, but alongside the bezel-less smartphone, Rubin’s Essential venture is also launching a second device – a smart home speaker that’s going head-to-head with the Amazon Echo and Google Home, only this one is focused on privacy.

Called the Essential Home (what a surprise), the new device looks undoubtedly sleek, like a hybrid between the Nest and a Google Home base with a round display. It looks relatively low-profile, at least when compared to the Google Home and ...