Nothing Phone 1 is the most hyped and discussed in the tech world.
On July 12th, 2022 Nothing announced the Nothing Phone 1 by CEO and Co-founder of Nothing, Carl Pei.
After months of rumors, the Nothing Phone 1 is officially available, and without a doubt, it is one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2022. Carl Pei, CEO of Nothing, made the official announcement of the Nothing phone 1 on July 12, 2022 and it was a prerecorded presentation that was aired on YouTube. Carl Pei also co-founded OnePlus before leaving to start Nothing.
This is the second physical product released by Nothing following the Ear (1) wireless bud.
The presentation was so unique that you’d never seen anything like it before; it was really straightforward, with no flashy animation or anything; it went in a minimalist fashion. The unique aspect of the presentation was that everything was videotaped with their brand-new Nothing Phone 1.
It looks familiar, but also very different.
Marques Brownlee (YouTube)
Let’s talk about Nothing Phone 1 Review Simplified right now.
Table of Contents
What’s new in Nothing Phone (1)?
From a brand-new firm comes a brand-new smartphone that, instead of the same old dull design found in most smartphones today, offers originality and makes the user feel special. What makes this smartphone unique is that it just includes the features that you require in a smartphone. Because you are unlikely to use top-tier features like as 4K display, high-performance chip, LiDAR sensor, Cinematic mode, or Dex mode on a daily basis, causing battery life to suffer and forcing you to spend more money on a smartphone.
Despite being Nothing’s first smartphone, the Snapdragon 778G+ 5G chip clearly indicates that the Nothing Phone 1 is not a flagship smartphone. Although it falls under the mid-range category, the Nothing Phone 1 is a powerhouse with 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage. It can record 4K videos at 30 frames per second and supports both wireless charging and reverse wireless charging. And with these specifications, the Nothing Phone 1 easily tops the list of mid-range smartphones.
Nothing Phone (1)’s revolutionary Glyph interface will stand out from the crowd, which is a really unique feature that has never been seen on a smartphone.
Despite the fact that the body is identical to the iPhone 12, the Nothing Phone (1) is somewhat larger.
The London-based Nothing Company still has no plans to enter the US market.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- No bloatware and an almost stock Android experience
- Unique design
- 4 years of Security Patch updates and 3 years of OS updates
- Decent performance
Cons
- Some user interfaces are missing functionalities
- Mid-range chip
- Not available in the US
- First generation product
It’s more than capable of serving as your everyday companion and it’s far more interesting than practically every other phone around its price point.
Alex Walker-Todd (Tech Radar)
Design
Click on the image to view
Nothing Phone (1) provides a familiar appearance as well as an eye-catching design. As you look at the phone from the front, it doesn’t appear to be anything unusual, but when you turn it around, the transparent back and the glyph light give it a whole new distinctive look that sets it apart from others. The rest, however, appears to be a carbon replica of the iPhone 12 frame.
When they first released their official images of the Nothing Phone 1, some thought it was an iPhone 12 with a clear back, but that is completely incorrect when compared.
People apparently claim that it is a duplicate of the iPhone 12 because it not only matches it in appearance but also feels premium, making it difficult to believe it only costs £400 (nearly $499). Nothing Phone (1) can provide you nearly the same premium feel as the $699 iPhone 12 to its customers for $499, which indicates they already won on design.
Nothing Phone (1) is available in Black and White variation colors that enhance the design.
Utilized 100% recycled aluminum to create the aluminum frame surrounding it, and manufactured 50% of the plastics inside the phone out of bio-based materials, which is a good initiative.
Glyph Interface
The Glyph lights, which have over 900 LED patterns on the back of the phone, are the highlight of the Nothing Phone 1. It wraps around the dual cameras, then the wireless charging pad in the center, some stripes in the top corner, and down by the charging port at the bottom.
These lights are so good that they can produce a clean continuous light bar along the line.
Even when surrounded by hundreds of other phones, it will still stand out because it provides the phone a distinctive appearance.
Glyph Interface: Use-cases
- Glyph lights pulsate through the notifications.
- Glows around the wireless charging pad when reverse wireless charging.
- When charging via cable, the bottom LED illuminates and serves as a progress indicator.
- Use as a fill light for camera.
Because it’s such a confident design, Because it so very clearly knows what it wants to be and isn’t scared to do it. It’s one of those that you’re gonna Love or you’re gonna Hate.
Mrwhosetheboss (YouTube)
Display
Nothing Phone (1) has a quick and crisp OLED display that can reach 1200 nits of brightness and the screen supports up to 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, giving you a fast, responsive, and fluid experience, unlike the Google Pixel 6A only has a 60Hz refresh rate.
It’s quite nice to see a mid-range smartphone display with an evenly sized bezel around the screen, just like the iPhone does in its series; even flagship level Android devices don’t pay this much attention to design details, which is something to appreciate. Only a flexible OLED panel can be used to create an evenly sized bezel, and it is expensive.
Nothing Phone (1) currently lacks Always on Display, but we hope that Nothing will release an update adding the capability in the near future.
Cameras
Nothing Phone (1) has two 50 MP cameras on the back and a 16 MP camera up front.
The rear cameras have two lenses: a wide lens with an aperture of f1.8 and an ultra-wide lens with an aperture of f2.2 and a field of view of 114 degrees.
Main camera has a Sony IMX766 sensor and produces images with vibrant colors and respectable levels of detail.
Although it is not as fast as an iPhone, the shutter speed on Nothing Phone (1) is still rather quick. It’s refreshing to see that Nothing didn’t include a low-quality macro camera, and it’s a good thing they didn’t because no one wants to shoot photos with a low-quality camera anymore.
The phone has a built-in single-LED flash, and in some circumstances, you can also use the Glyph as a fill light.
Photo
Nothing Phone (1) takes some decent shots with improved noise reduction and uniform color presentation. It is not at the top of the list, but it produces reasonably excellent images, and the shots were processed well overall.
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The sharpness of the photographs is not up to the standard you would expect from a phone, but shots taken with the main camera (wide) provide good-looking images with realistic colors and a lot of resolved details. The dual stabilization (OIS and EIS) helps to reduce the frequency of blurry shots, and there are a few tiny cases of purple fringing, but there is still enough of detail.
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The Ultra-wide camera has a very wide field of vision, superb details and contrast, effective noise reduction, and some admirable distortion correction. The camera provides accurate color reproduction, however it is easy to distinguish between the primary camera and ultra-wide because it occasionally behaves strangely and washes out the colors. The overall result, nevertheless, is something you can be happy with.
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You can capture macro images with both camera modes, but we prefer using the main camera because it has a natural bokeh that brings the object to life. The main camera provides you with some brilliant, detailed, and colorful images as you would expect, but the trade-off is that the main camera has a focus limit of 10 cm compared to the ultrawide’s 4 cm. And the shots are better than with dedicated macro cameras seen on other phones.
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The front 16 MP wide camera is decent, although occasionally the sharpness of the photographs is not very high. The photographs and colors are detailed enough, and the noise reduction is excellent.
The Night Mode on the Nothing Phone 1 is only available when the phone detects low light conditions and the app offers you the choice to take the shot in Night Mode.
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The Night Mode is quite unrealistic because it sometimes adds more exposure than desired, which you cannot adjust. It’s more like what Samsung Night Mode does when the photographs look like they were taken in daylight. The colors are fantastic and wonderfully balanced, showcasing details nicely.
I can guarantee that using Night Mode will enable you to capture sharp low-light images with more vibrant colors.
Check out more Sample Photos taken on Nothing Phone (1) here.
Video
The Nothing Phone (1) is capable of recording videos in 1080p at 30 and 60 frames per second as well as 4K at 30 frames per second. Nothing used the Nothing Phone (1) to record the whole launch event, showcasing the camera’s capabilities in their introductory video. It’s available on YouTube.
You should avoid using 4K on the Nothing Phone 1, and if you watch the launch event video, you can see why I don’t recommend it. 1080p videos work better on the Nothing Phone 1.
I enjoy how the videos have a decent dynamic range and give natural colors with good crispness. One thing to keep in mind is that steadiness, even with the camera’s OIS, produces respectable results. It would also be nice if there was a button to swap between ultra-wide and main camera while recording.
The back of Phone (1) includes a red LED that blinks when you are shooting a video, which is a nice touch.
Performance
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ 5G, which has an Octa-core CPU and an Adreno 642L GPU, is the processor that powers the Nothing Phone (1). The best choice Nothing made was to use the Snapdragon 778+ chip, and since mid-range smartphones don’t need to run at lightning speeds, this is a fantastic choice for a mid-range mobile phone.
Without a doubt, Nothing Phone (1)’s in-built chip provides its rivals a tough fight, despite the fact that it isn’t a high-end chip like the most recent Snapdragon chip has to offer.
Nothing Phone (1) comes with two internal memory options: 128 GB and 256 GB, as well as two RAM options: 8 GB or 12 GB. Nothing Phone (1) struggles with some high-intensive games, such as Apex Legends Mobile, which are not up to the duty of the Snapdragon 778G+ chip but it still provides a good gaming experience.
GeekBench Score: Single Core
GeekBench Score: Multi Core
Nothing Phone (1)’s 120Hz adaptable screen and the combination of this chip provide such a smooth experience that a new user would be unable to identify whether this smartphone is a mid-range or a flagship.
Nothing believes that most consumers don’t need fancy features or chips; they simply need a phone that will last throughout the day when used for everyday basic use, such as during a workday, you’ll just be using the smartphone for web browsing, email, messaging, scrolling through social media, or taking photos, and Nothing Phone (1) is capable of providing this without a worry.
But the actual issue here is that Nothing Phone (1) is the company’s first smartphone, and how will it perform in the long run? Because most first-generation cellphones have their own set of problems, performance, and quality difficulties, it is difficult to maintain trust in a company product like this unless it comes with a promise. We believe Nothing’s founder and CEO, Carl Pei, who previously worked for OnePlus, has done a fantastic job of running it in the long run. Furthermore, even after the release of the Phone (1), Nothing continued to release 2-3 bug patches and t his gives us cause to expect that in the future, Nothing will eventually fix all software-related bugs.
Battery Life and Charging
Nothing Phone (1) has a 4500mAh battery that, according to Nothing, can charge half the battery in half an hour. The battery also provides adequate energy life, lasting 5-6 hours with camera use, video streaming, online & social media browsing, and light gaming. Moreover, Nothing reports that using the glyph light for 10 minutes straight consumes nearly 0.5 percent of the battery.
However, you cannot expect the battery to last all day if you use it to its fullest capacity, such as gaming for 2-3 hours straight.
The Nothing Phone (1) supports fast charging using a 33W adapter, however like other smartphones, it follows the trend of not shipping with a charger in the box. As a result, you may need to purchase it individually in order to “Save the Planet.”
It’s amazing to see Wireless Charging and Reverse Wireless Charging on the Nothing Phone 1, which is a feature that’s rare in mid-range smartphones.
Operating System
With Android 12 and Nothing OS running on top, Nothing Phone (1) has a user interface that feels almost exactly like Stock Android without any unnecessary bloatware. Dot matrix font gives you a retro vibe and includes a few characterful qualities with it, and Nothing OS comes in handy with it.
Nothing is particularly proud of the voice recorder, for which they designed the user interface to seem like an old tape reel and that you can interact with for a nostalgic experience.
Under the experiment features category, Nothing OS gives you the option to immediately connect your Tesla car to your phone and control it there. But it doesn’t operate properly right now, and we hope Nothing will make an update to fix it. With this Tesla automobile connectivity, you’ll be able to add a quick setting to your notification panel to unlock your car doors, as well as some widgets to your home screen.
The fact that Nothing remembered to provide you four years of security patches and three years of OS upgrades makes this device stand out among its rivals and is worth the money you paid for it.
It does a lot of things right, but there are a few wrinkles that still need to be ironed out.
Manuel Vonau (Android Police)
Known Problems
- In an Indian retail unit, dead pixels were discovered near the front camera.
- When the display is in dark mode, a green tint can be seen at the bottom.
- Moisture was discovered under the back camera module, and Nothing offered the user a replacement, indicating that the problem was with the unit itself.
- Keep receiving errors telling you to restart the device when attempting to connect a Bluetooth headphone.
- Lags quite badly once in a while after unlocking it.
TL;DR
Carl Pei, CEO of Nothing, introduced the company’s first smartphone, Nothing Phone (1).
The frame of the Nothing Phone (1) is a slight bit larger but identical to that of the iPhone 12.
The phone contains a Snapdragon 778G+ 5G chip, storage up to 256 GB, and RAM up to 12 GB.
The phone’s transparent back and rear-mounted Glyph light are its standout features.
Glyph light can be used as a fill light and works with notifications.
The battery on the Phone (1) can easily last a whole day.
It is not a flagship killer like the OnePlus was years ago, but it is a great mid-range phone that can compete in the current market.
Nothing Phone (1) behaves just how you’d expect from a mid-range Android phone in 2022.
Source: Nothing, MrWhoseTheBoss (YouTube), Marques Brownlee (YouTube), Beebom (YouTube), Beebom, Tom’s Guide, GSM Arena, The Verge, Tech Radar, Android Police, Android Authority, Tech Advisor, Digital Trends
