Nothing Phone (1)

The Nothing Phone (1) is the company's first phone. After announcing wireless earbuds, it is now time for a phone which has to make an impression. Naturally, nothing hopes to do so by opting for an exciting and innovative design. However, is that enough today?

Glyph Interface

Nothing was founded in 2021 by the co-founder of OnePlus, Carl Pei. This Chinese-born Swedish entrepreneur quit OnePlus in 2020 to focus on his next adventure. After some acquisitions and investment rounds, the first product was released in mid-2021: the ear (1). Affordable earbuds with a striking transparent design. The Phone (1), announced in 2022, fits right in there in terms of design. It is not truly transparent, but the back is transparent, and some underlying components have been made visible. What is special, however, are the various LED lights. Thanks to this Glyph Interface, you can see who is calling and how far the battery has been charged.

The screen is not cut back

The downside of the backlight is that you always have to put your phone down on its screen. We prefer not to do that to avoid scratches. However, nothing hopes to keep that to a minimum, thanks to Gorilla Glass 5. A damaged front would undoubtedly be a shame because the screen is beautiful to look at, partly due to the use of a 10-bit OLED panel with a colourful display and smooth transitions. The screen edges are the same width everywhere, which does look premium. The 16MP selfie camera is in the top left corner. The back is also made of Gorilla Glass 5 with a flat frame made of recycled aluminium. The housing is not entirely waterproof but it is IP53 splash resistant.

Main Nothing Phone (1) specifications

• 6.55" OLED screen with colourful HDR10+ display and smooth 120Hz display
• 50+50MP rear camera with 114° wide angle and 4K video recording
• 16MP selfie camera in punch-hole and with Google Filters
• Mid-range processor from Qualcomm: Snapdragon 778G+
• 8+128, 8+256 or 12+256GB of RAM + storage
• 4500mAh battery with 33W fast charging + Qi wireless charging
• Splashproof IP53 design
• 5G support for fast mobile internet
• Partially transparent back with LED lights for notifications

Quick software, bare bones

Nothing applies a 50MP main camera on the back of the Phone 1 with optical and electronic image stabilisation. The ultra-wide angle also features a 50MP sensor. Nothing keeps things simple otherwise; no unnecessary macro camera, no separate depth camera, but unfortunately no separate zoom lens either. The performance of the camera is average for this price category. Nothing special. Nothing applies a reasonably clean version of Android based on version 12. Here it does put its own skin on top called Nothing OS but according to the company contains no bloatware or unnecessary. You receive three years of updates and four years of security updates every other month. Nothing has yet to deliver on all this at the time of writing but if it succeeds it could be an interesting alternative to the Google Pixel 6a, Apple iPhone SE and Samsung Galaxy S21 FE.