Since its launch less than two years ago, the mysterious start-up Nothing Phone (1) was created by former OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei. The startup has only released one product, a pair of affordable earbuds. It has finally been followed with its second product ever, the Nothing Phone (1), and it has finally launched.
The Nothing Phone (1) features or full specs, not to mention its price might be cheaper than you were expecting. It will not be launched in the US at all sadly, but fans in the UK, Europe, and Asia can grab this pretty unique phone that will no doubt earn (some of) its hype.
Below is Everything You Need to Know About Nothing’s First Phone
The company first confirmed its working on a smartphone at its 23rd of March event, before slowly drip-feeding fans news ahead of an official launch event on the 12th of July. This is not when the phone officially went on sale though, which was not until the 21st of July.
One more thing to note about this phone is its global availability. Nothing has confirmed carrier partners across the UK, Europe, and Asia, but the phone will not get launched in the US or Canada.
The Nothing Phone (1) is available in three versions, though one is launching a little later than the others:
8GB + 128GB: £399/€469/₹32,999
8GB + 256GB: £449/€499/₹35,999
12GB + 256GB: £499/€549/₹38,999
You might have a question in mind – Where do I get Nothing phone 1? Well, you can pick it up directly from Nothing’s site, or from Amazon in the UK and Europe, Flipkart in India, and networks including O2 in the UK.
Another question might arise – How to differentiate a Nothing phone from another phone? In that sense, the price positions the Phone (1) well to undercut the likes of Google’s Pixel 6, Samsung Galaxy S22, and iPhone 13, and is in fact closer in price to mid-range options like the OnePlus Nord 2T and Samsung Galaxy A53.
Despite the affordable price point, the Nothing Phone (1) has a few impressive specifications to offer. The Nothing Phone 1 details:
Design
The most tantalizing element of the Nothing Phone 1 is its design, first revealed on 15 June.
The design language is immediately familiar to anyone who has seen the Ear (1) headphones. They come with a mix of opaque and transparent plastic hinting at the phone’s internals without explicitly revealing too much of them. The product is available in either white or black.
Most strikingly, the phone imbibes a set of LED light strips on the back. Called the Glyph Interface, these LED light strips are able to flash in white in various patterns, and they have a few neat tricks:
- Flashes for notifications
- Glows around the charging coil when reverse wireless charging
- Slowly fills the bottom bar when using wired charging, as a battery indicator
- All illuminates at once as a fill light when using the camera
- Flashes in distinct patterns in time to a number of pre-set ringtones and notification alerts
As for materials, the frame of the phone is made out of recycled aluminum, while its plastic is post-consumer recycled. The front and back of the phone are finished in Gorilla Glass 5 for the purpose of protection. The Nothing Phone 1 boasts an IP53 rating for dust and water-resistance.
Core Specifications
The design is quite unusual, but the specs of the phone are a little more familiar.
The Nothing Phone 1 processor boasts the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ chipset. It dashes hopes to use the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or the more recent Snapdragon 7 Gen 1. It has been paired with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM, and 128GB or 256GB of storage.
Carl Pei told Input that the “custom-tuned” version of the chip was made specifically for Nothing Phone 1, and that Qualcomm added in support for wireless charging and reverse charging just for this phone.
The phone features wireless charging in the big circular coil present in the middle of the design. It has been confirmed to be Qi-compatible at up to 15W speeds boasting a support for 5W reverse wireless charging. The feature that is a turn-off is that wired charging is only 33W. Nothing Phone ships the phone without any charger in the box. The battery capacity stands at 4500mAh.
Display
The Nothing Phone (1) comes with a 6.55 inches screen – a fairly average Android size. The phone uses 120Hz OLED tech. It supports HDR10+, a 240Hz touch sampling rate, and an under-display fingerprint sensor depicting the fairly typical feature of a modern mid-ranger.
The Nothing Phone 1 Camera
The Nothing Phone 1 camera is a little different. The 16Mp, f/2.5 selfie camera shows standard features, but the pair of 50Mp rear lenses are less so. Most phones at this price come with a single decent camera and then pack the rear with dubious extra lenses. On the other hand, Nothing focuses on including two cameras that should be able to hold their own.
The main camera comes with an f/1.9 aperture and the popular Sony IMX766 sensor in tow bringing with it optical image stabilization.
Nothing Phone 1 OS
The final key element of the Nothing phone is its software. At the March announcement event, Pei revealed the Nothing Phone OS: the Android-based user experience that is set to debut on the company’s first smartphone.
Nothing Phone (1) Full Specs
Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+
8/12GB LPDDR5 RAM
128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage
6.55in 120HZ OLED display
Rear camera:
50Mp, f/1.9 OIS main camera
50Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide camera
16Mp, f/2.5 selfie camera
4500mAh battery
33W wired charging
15W wireless charging
5W reverse wireless charging
5G
Stereo speakers
Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth 5.2
NFC
Glyph Interface LED lights
IP53
Gorilla Glass 5
Android 12 with Nothing OS 1
159.2 x 75.8 x 8.3mm
194g
Final Words:
To throw light on the software side of things, Pei promised three years of Android OS updates and four years of security updates. The phone will arrive running Android 12 and will be upgraded to Android 13, 14, and 15.
If you want to know what Nothing OS will look and feel like, you can get the Nothing Launcher on your phone with a beta version of the company’s app launcher. This is available on selected phones running Android 11 or newer. It does not have the full OS, but it will certainly give you a hint of the experience.
