Apple has Nothing to worry about
The last time we had such a buzz on a new product was when the late tech rockstar Steve Jobs dropped the first iPod back in October 2001. Fast forward 21 years later. A futuristic transparent design with a glyph interface, the Nothing Phone (1) has got us all psyched up again, but in the process, it also slightly poked the big bear at the Apple tree.
Yes, it’s been weak since Nothing dropped the Phone (1). This article is not late but rather intentionally delayed. Carl Pei caused quite a tsunami of Hype over Nothing. We could have easily surfed that wave but, we are different, we are geeks. We only care about the actual tech but given the buzz, it still has even after a weak. It’s safe to say that Nothing deserves this hype.
NB. It should be aforementioned that the use of (Nothing) puns in this article is no way intentional and we solely blame Carl Pei for it.
Carl Pei is a Swedish Internet Entrepreneur who left OnePlus in October 2020, the company he co-found with Pete Lau back in 2013. I started a new Hardware venture UK-based company and named it NOTHING. Yes, as in ‘Nothing’ is the actual name of his company. That is exactly when we knew that he was onto something.
Nothing ear 1
In April 2021 NOTHING released their debut product. The Nothing Ear (1) At a price of $99 yeah hard to believe right. The wireless earbud was stiped off all the fancy coating and delivered the essentials only. Nothing teamed up with Teenage Engineering to deliver a clear case, transparent earbud that not only looks distinct but also sounds pretty good. Bluetooth 5.2, active noise cancellation, waterproof IPX4, wireless charging, and they also detect once you put them back in your ear and will start playing your music again. It was at this point that Nothing stole our attention and like a cliffhanger left us hungry and wanting more.
A year later Nothing has been delivered. An android smartphone with a sleek design and some led lights that got us all geeked up again.
Prior to the release of the Phone (1), the world was overhyped over this long-awaited product. Unlike most companies, Nothing leaked its own designs. They took us through the journey of making this phone and made us a part of the project. Which is kind of interesting and hard to ignore. We actually applaud Carl and his team for pulling this stunt seeing as how the world is already waiting for the iPhone 14 (more like iPhone 13.2 if you ask me cough cough) and the Google Pixel 6a.
So, he needed a way to grab our attention, and boy he did.
Now that the phone has dropped critics are already calling it an android phone in a body of an iPhone 12 and the buzz continues.
Running under the mantra “Make Tech Fun Again”. Carl Pei has denied his fellow android predecessor and compatriots like Samsung, Huawei, Google Pixel or OnePlus the privilege to be compared with them even at the moment they may be better than his Nothing. However, he went straight and shot his arrow right up into the Apple camp. In a way that as they are the leading company in this phone-tech industry, it has failed to bring enough excitement as it used to. Now it keeps on releasing recycled, old, and already done ideas. But, Like Moses saving the Israelites Carl has shown that there is redemption after all.
Apple fanboys reading this must be thinking “Oh well give us the specs, there is no way this phone can compete with our worldwide loved iPhone”.
Before we gladly do that allow us to mention this, the excitement over this product is not unlike your usual products where it’s based on the number of megapixels in the camera or the cores in the processor but merely on the fact that Nothing has been reimagined what a modern smartphone should look and feel like. Whilst Apple keeps escalating the price of its premium phones under the guise that, the iPhone is a fashion item and a status of the class.
It’s now rarely about the tech or the innovation anymore. However, Apple fanboys like yourself will still do anything to get their hands on the latest iPhone despite it having fewer differences from its previous product or an android phone that actually has better specs.
Anyways enough rambling here’s the specs sheet
Specs
Display
OLED, 1B colors. 120Hz, HDR10+, 500 NITS, 1200 nits(peak)
The screen size is 6.55 inches with a 1080 x 2400 pixels resolution.
Protected by Gorilla Glass 5 both front and back •Platform
OS – Android 12, Nothing OS
Chipset- Qualcomm SM7325-AE Snapdragon 778G+ 5G (6nm)
CPU- Octa-core
Internal memory- 128GB at 8GB RAM, 256 at 8GB RAM, 356GB at 12GB RAM
Main Camera
Dual – 50MP, f/1.9 24mm (wide)
50 MP, f/2.2 (ultrawide)
Video- 4k @30fps, 1080p @30/60fps, gyro-EIS, Live HDR
Selfie Camera
Single 16MP, f/2.5 (wide)
Video- 1080 @30fps
Battery
4500 mAh, non-removable, fast charging 33w, 50% in 30 min, 100% in 70 min.
Wireless charging 15W, Reverse wireless charging 5W
Sensors
Fingerprint (under the display, optical) accelerometer, proximity, gyro, compass
Before you concluded that this is just another midrange android phone with flashing lights at the back. This may be true to some degree this phone is more than just that so allow us to show you why we say so.
NOTHING OS
The Nothing phone’s unique selling point (USP) is undoubtedly its sci-fi design but what is also quickly ignored is the OS.
The Nothing Phone (1) has no third-party apps which make it offers users a full-on android stock experience. The only thing they put on top of the Android 12 is just the Nothing OS skin which has a distinct dot-matrix theme. Further promised 3 years of software updates, which means the Nothing Phone (1) will be able to run up to android 18 which is mostly done by Apple devices.
NFTs
Oh, and for those with NFTs. The Nothing Phone (1) has a native NFT Gallery with price tracking. It offers a unique setting created specifically to show your NFTs on your home screen.
SUSTAINABILITY
The phone is so light in weight 193.5 grams to be specific and that is owed solely to it having a 100% Aluminum frame, the tin used is completely recycled and 50% of the plastic material used is also completely Bio-plastic. Mention any other smartphone company doing that we’ll wait.
Tesla
The nothing phone has quickly rolled out an update to its Tesla integration feature that allows you to connect to Tesla EVs and control your vehicle right from a settings toggle within the notification shade. After you have linked with your Tesla account, you’ll be able to turn on your lights, air conditioners and flash the headlights to help you find your car in a crowded parking lot.
CAMERA
Nothing Phone (1) debuts with a dual 50 megapixels camera. Primary camera powered by a premium Sony IMX766, one of the best in the market right now. With a 1.8 aperture we are talking amazing dual image stabilization and 10-bit colour movies. Not to mention they also gave Night Mode and an incredible scene detection to give you optimum setting for each picture.
Carl Pei
Experience is better than specs and two good cameras are better than 1 good + 3 Cheap cameras
The image below was shot on the Nothing Phone (1) un-edited.
Glyph Interface
Save the best for last they say well this is definitely the best we have seen in a smartphone.
Embedded at the back of the phone with a semi-transparent back protected by a blanket of gorilla glass, the Star Wars-like Glyph interface is nothing we have seen before in a smartphone or any gadget for that matter. The interface has been seamlessly intertwined within the phone’s operating system.
The enigmatic geometric lights have a unique design that stands out. The central circle among other things immediately lights up to indicate wireless and reverse wireless charging. A bottom light strip at the charging pot serves as a progress bar when USB-C is plugged in.
The circle LED also serves as a fill light for the cameras which also works pretty well when shooting night portraits or scanning documents. The rest of the lights can be programmed altogether to flash in a specific pattern with a specific tone to indicate different notifications of calls, texts, and other apps. The possibilities are endless really.
Along the way, this project has attracted and is now being supported by some big-name investors including iPod inventor Tony Fadell, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, Reddit CEO Huffman, and YouTube Casey Neistat.
In conclusion, the Nothing phone (1) is a great phone, especially for a new kid on the block, but to say it’s now apple’s number nemesis would be a great misrepresentation of facts. And we don’t do that here.
Howbeit what we ought to bring to light is this. At the moment Nothing may have quite scared the big Bear at the apple tree but like the Sarajevo incident, this has enlightened the world that tech should be fun and exciting like it used to and this has opened a new path that many phone makers will be seen to also venture into. Because nobody wants to be left behind.
So Yes, Apple should be worried about Nothing and the innovations they may bring to the world, I mean think about it if they can make a phone like a new company and work on a budget now imagine what they could produce if they had the same resources Apple has.
Really when someone doesn’t know then its up to other viewers that they will help, so here it occurs.