The Essential phone by the cofounder of Android will be shipping sooner than expected

Essential's Andy Rubin sent out an email on Wednesday to customers who pre-ordered the Essential smartphone stating that they should expect their smartphone to ship in the next seven days, according to 9to5Google.

That's great news for customers who pre-ordered the Essential smartphone, who originally expected the phone to be shipped in June. After Essential missed the original June release date for the smartphone, news that the company had lost its head of marketing and head of communications meant things were looking shaky for the startup.

But Essential has been on point with keeping customers up to date with the progress of their orders via Twitter. On July 21, Rubin posted a tweet that the Essential phone will be shipped "in a few weeks." While the update was welcomed, the shipment date of "a few weeks" was still a little vague. On August 9, Rubin posted another tweet saying that the device was in "full mass production," and he promised another update in the following week. Again, the progress update was positive, but the shipping date was still vague.

Indeed, Rubin kept his promise with Wednesday's email, and the device is being shipped to pre-order customers sooner than expected. However, those who ordered the white model will have to wait "a couple weeks," as only the "black moon" option will be ready to ship in the next seven days. Rubin offered the chance for those who pre-ordered the white model to switch their order to the "black moon" option.

There's no official word on when the Essential phone will be available to buy outside of pre-orders, but things are looking up. Considering that the company is hosting an event on August 21 in New York City and another on August 25 in Los Angeles, it's likely that the phone will be fully released some time after August 25.