The Nothing phone (1) will arrive in July with the goal of shaking up the Android world. The Nothing tech startup, founded by former OnePlus head Carl Pei, has already released the translucent Nothing Ear (1) earbuds and recently showed off a first official look at the phone (1) design.
Nothing has already attracted plenty of interest from Android enthusiasts. Pei helped make the OnePlus brand popular in the West and has inspired hope for a similar flagship-killing handset, at a time when the top Android phones tend to come from just a handful of brands.
As of April, the Nothing startup has raised over $144 million, with $63 million coming from Android community investors and the rest from venture capitalists. Evidently, Pei has gotten people to buy into a phone he claims will be a "compelling alternative" to Apple.
But what exactly is the Nothing phone (1) and how is it different from other Android phones? The Android Central podcast spoke with Carl Pei, who gave us new info about the phone's design, but otherwise kept a firm lid on concrete details like specs and performance.
We don't have the full picture yet, but we now know more about what the Nothing Phone (1) will look like, and have seen a trickle of rumors and official info that tell us what to expect about its specs and UI.
Nothing phone (1): Design
As a counter to apparent phone (1) leaks, Nothing revealed the phone's rear back almost a month early, confirming the stylized, mechanical look we've seen hinted at since May.
The render showcases a dual-rear camera array, a somewhat boxy design that suggests it'll sport a flat display, and a textured pattern that matches the logo teaser shown off in March. The Nothing logo is also visible on the bottom left.
Made from "100% recycled aluminium" and "over 50% bio-plastic and recycled sources in the plastic components," the Nothing phone (1) will have limited environmental impact.
You can see a video of the phone in action at an event in Switzerland, complete with flashing LEDs, in the video above. It's possible this could serve as a notification light when your phone is sitting on your desk. Thus far we've only seen these light up in white, so we don't know if other RGB color options will be available.
Overall, it'll give the phone a unique look and feel that likely will appeal to enthusiasts but not necessarily to mainstream buyers — who might prefer the boring, uniform Another phone (1) design Nothing jokingly teased on April Fools Day.
We originally suspected the phone might be fully translucent like the Nothing ear (1) earbuds; this design is arguably a better, less gimmicky choice.
Carl Pei and Nothing head of design Tom Howard gave a design-focused interview to Wallpaper last month that first suggested the phone would accentuate its internal components.
"From a design perspective, we really wanted to bring the inside out, and that meant working with the engineers to start from first principles," says Howard. "There are over 400 components in a smartphone, assembled in layers. We wanted to celebrate the 'good ones,' the things we thought were really interesting to emphasise [sic]."
In other words, Nothing had to "overhaul the entire manufacturing process" in order to make certain components follow a stylish pattern.
It's a different approach than the Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro took; that phone had a visible circuit board that wasn't actually the real circuit board, and only a portion of the phone back was translucent. With the Nothing phone (1), you also can't actually see the internal components, but the rear tracings match what the phone looks like on the inside.
Pei also told us during our recent interview that Nothing would release official cases for the phone that would enhance, rather than hide, the look of the phone. Some will be "low key" while others will let buyers "express their individual style," but they're all likely to leave the Nothing phone (1)'s unique back at least partially visible.
All of this aside, we don't have any hard details yet on the phone's dimensions, display size, or how it'll look from the front.
Nothing phone (1): Specs
Several sites covered an obviously fake Nothing phone (1) leak in early May, probably because the company has remained very leak-proof compared to what you typically see from Google or Samsung.
Nothing has confirmed the phone will use a Snapdragon chip, and sources told Android Central privately that it would use an unannounced Snapdragon 7 series chip. That could refer to the recent Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 or a variant exclusive to the Nothing phone (1).
By using this chip, it's clear Nothing will prioritize efficiency over raw performance, something Pei himself hinted at during the "Truth" livestream reveal where he described the phone's "powerful and energy-efficient experience with fast connectivity speeds." He went on to say that the OS "delivers the optimal processing power and RAM for the exact app you're using," with your most-used apps launching faster with cached RAM.
Using a Snapdragon 7 chip, Nothing will take Apple's approach with its Bionic chips, focusing more on efficiency than raw power and memory. But we'll have to see whether Nothing can deliver on such a promise, as Android phones typically rely heavily on RAM for benchmarks.
While Pei also promised a "smooth" experience, that doesn't mean the phone will have 120Hz — though we hope it will. He instead focused again on how the Nothing OS uses design consistency and minimal animations to prioritize efficiency.
One recent Nothing phone (1) charging leak indicated the phone could support 45W PPS Fast Charging, which beats many flagship Android devices from Google and Samsung. But we don't know what kind of battery life or capacity the phone will have.
The only "spec" we know for certain is the amount of software support it will receive. Pei promises three OS updates and four years of software support, which would mean a lifespan through the summer of 2026.
Nothing phone (1): Software
Pei spoke the most about the phone's Nothing OS software, which he promises will be “built on an open and seamless ecosystem that will effortlessly connect and integrate Nothing products and products from other world-leading brands.”
Referencing Apple's connectivity between its products, Pei said Nothing will aim to achieve similar connectivity, only with third-party products so you're not locked into an ecosystem. Again, this sounds like a tall order, so we'll have to see whether Pei delivers.
In terms of how the OS will look, it will have "stripped back, minimal animations" and "bespoke fonts, colors, and graphical elements that all speak our unique visual language." The dot matrix font visible throughout these screenshots gives you a glimpse of its simplicity.
It also will have unique features, like a voice recording logo shaped like an analog tape recorder that you can swipe with your finger to rewind, fast forward, or adjust playback speed. And it will have a unique sound design with "raw, technical sounds" inspired by "morse code, oscillators, and digital watches." No doubt this phone will have some unique notification chimes and ringtones.
Despite all these unique elements, we did see a few glimpses of traditional Android OS elements like the Quick Settings and app icons that look similar to what you'd see on the Pixel launcher.
If you want to try the Nothing Launcher out for yourself, the Nothing Launcher Beta is available on the Play Store for phones running Android 11 or higher.
Nothing phone (1): Release date and price
The Nothing Phone (1) will launch on July 12, 2022. Pei will unveil the phone at the Return to Instinct event in London, which begins at 11 a.m. EDT/ 8 a.m. EDT / 4 p.m. BST. You can RSVP for the livestream on the Nothing page (opens in new tab) to receive an email reminder.
As for the Nothing phone (1) ship date, we know it'll be in summer 2022 but don't know exactly how long after the launch event. Nor do we have an official price. That will likely depend on specs that we know little about as of yet.
A recent Nothing price leak (opens in new tab) claimed the phone would launch on July 21 for ₤500, which would mean it would launch the same day as Pixel 6a preorders open at a similarly mid-range price. We suggest considering both the price and release date with a heaping dose of skepticism until more reliable sourcing corroborates the news.
An uncertain future
In his Nothing phone analysis, Android Central global editor Alex Dobie broke down what awaits the startup.
Photography and videography will be a challenge even if the Nothing phone has powerful lenses. Most major phone brands have entire engineering teams dedicated to computational photography and image tuning with years of experience, which the 300-person Nothing startup can't hope to match.
And with component shortages hitting all major smartphone brands during the pandemic, it could be a challenge for Nothing to scale its new phone enough to make a major impact. Plus, Pei is promising the moon here, claiming the Nothing phone (1) will have the same innovative impact as the original iPhone. If he doesn't deliver, it'll be hard for the brand to recover.
Still, there's a reason why four out of five Android Central readers are at least somewhat interested in the Nothing phone and the brand has raised $144 million from investors and community backing as of April. The Android space has consolidated for years, with experimental brands like LG dropping out of the game and OnePlus abandoning its flagship-killer mantra for cheap Nord phones and unexciting software.
It's unclear if the Nothing phone (1) has what it takes to become one of the best Android phones, but at least it's promising something new.
