Everything you need in a phone is NOTHING

By Christopher David

Yes, it does sound strange but with the Nothing Phone (1) it is kind of true. Firstly, Nothing Phone (1) was awarded the most Innovative Smartphone Design in TIMES’s Best Inventions of 2022 and several other accolades from GQ, Forbes etc. Well, that’s something for sure. Nothing released the Phone (1) in July 2022 in some parts of the UK, Europe, India & Japan and have already sold 1 million products till December 2022. The UAE launch was quite recent (Jan 2023) with Sharaf DG as a sole distributor and the phone seems to have garnered a lot of attention since its official launch in 2022 for all the right reasons. The brand is looking to make Tech fun again and do things differently and this is a super effort on those lines.

I have been using the Nothing Phone (1) for over 2 weeks now and I can’t let it go off my hands. It does slip out unintentionally, but that’s all me, and fortunately, it’s all intact without any scratches or cracks. Doesn’t mean you do a drop test, you may not be lucky enough. There are many positives like the design, hardware, price point (not to be missed), weight, camera, colours, sound etc. but the most interesting and game-changing feature is the Glyph interface. Let’s see what we have in store.

Design – This is one phone with a bold design, different from what you see in the market and likeable from the first time you see it. The build quality of Nothing Phone (1) is quite interesting and what catches your eye is the transparent back. Ok, you will not see the inside mechanisms or hardware, but do you need that on a phone? Not sure yet. The phone screen is neat, with symmetrical edges (not sharp) which makes one-hand usage quite comfortable. The Glyph interface that sits on the back of the phone (hence the transparent design) is the standout feature of the Nothing Phone (1) and I’m sure this will become the identity of the phone with their future phones depicting more features around the Glyph.

The frame is designed with 100% recycled aluminium, you won’t fail to notice how lightweight the device is and 50% of its plastic components are bio-based, so that’s a welcome build quality for future devices. With an IP53 rating, the phone is splash, spill and dustproof, but not entirely waterproof. The front and the back are both equipped with Gorilla Glass 5 and the touch responses are exquisite. This makes sure your screen is scratch proof and the phone ships with a screen protector anyway.

Display – With over 1 billion colours Nothing Phone (1) is vibrant, bright, flashy and shows a rich display. The screen size is just enough at 6.55”, I have used 6.8” screen size devices and there’s instantly a difference in handling the phone. The OLED display and HDR10+ (the most advanced version of HDR10) do impact overall visuals in a good way with higher contrast and realistic display.

The phone refreshes at a 120Hz refresh rate and of course, the performance is seamless between scrolling and animations. You still have the option to set it at a standard of 60Hz for retaining battery life.

Sound – The phone doesn’t have a 3.5 mm audio jack so you will be limited to Bluetooth headphones or pods and if you still like wired headphones, then any C- type wired accessory should run perfectly. The phone sounds for notifications, rings, alarms are quite different, modern, and catchy.

I have always been used to keeping my phone on silent mode all this while, but this one you just wont keep it on silent at least initially. The ringtones and notification sounds are quite different from other Androids and you will love it. The phone speaker with 3 dual stereo speakers in-built is good enough and clear, not too loud and no jarring sounds etc.

Glyph Interface – The most astonishing, innovative and good-looking of all the features is the Glyph interface, this is what makes the back of your phone more useful than any of the phones available in the market. It will boil down to perspective as to how much you can extract from a cell phone but for instance, if you can assign notifications and rings to your contacts with the 900 white LED flashes, nothing like it. If you want to reduce screentime just before sleeping then “Flip to Glyph” – just keep your phone screen facing down and let the LEDs show you who’s calling and if important notifications are waiting for you.

Of course, you have to group/assign contacts/apps for ringtones (10 inbuilt with light patterns) for this feature to work. Even if your phone is on silent and when you have the phone face down, you will see the LED lights flashing for anyone who’s calling or messaging you from your inner or outer circle (make sure to assign them accordingly). The charging bar at the bottom will show you the charging progress with LED lights without flipping your phone to the front screen. Isn’t that cool?

Camera – The Nothing Phone (1) sports dual rear cameras 50 MP sensors with the main camera powered by the flagship Sony IMX766 and the wide camera using a Samsung JN1 sensor. The front camera sports a 16 MP Sony IMX471 sensor and all of these work like a charm. The main camera shoots perfect pictures which are rich, sharp, clear, bright and even in low light conditions the camera doesn’t disappoint. The Image Stabilization OIS on the main camera will make your pictures stand out and give a run for their money to all top phone brands sitting out there.

The selfies come out good during the day and there are different modes available to capture the best moments on your device. When taking close-ups in dimly lit areas or even normal pictures, just turn the Glyph interface to full brightness and turn on the glyph fill option while clicking instead of the flash. There you go, you just clicked pictures with less harsh light than the flash and without disturbing anyone with a loud flash (especially in restaurants).

The camera will click 12MP pictures by default but there is a way to change it to 50 MP pictures so you can take advantage of all the pixels available. Just open the camera and in the top centre you will see a downward arrow pre-selected as 12MP, just change that to 50 MP. Thank me later

Also, there is no macro lens on the Nothing Phone (1) as it sports only one main camera and a wide-angle camera at the rear. So, for closeups, choose the “More” option on the camera and select the Macro option, it will use your wide-angle lens but you will get much better pictures than you get using 2MP macro lens on other devices. 

The expert mode is one more interesting feature for professional clicks. Tap the RAW icon to select RAW mode within the expert setup and you will be able to click RAW pictures which can be edited later. The expert mode does give you many other options to use while clicking pictures or taking videos like the motion on/off option, burst shots, leveller etc. Do try this out.   

The video quality is just as amazing and you will not be disappointed. On both the rear cameras you can record high-quality 4K videos @30fps but the front camera has the highest set at 1080p @30fps.      

P.S. – I had a friend take pictures with an expensive phone and we compared it with the pictures clicked from the Phone (1). Well, some were at par and some pics were even better with Phone (1).

Performance – The Nothing Phone (1) sells 3 different variants starting with 8GB /128 GB, 8GB/256GB, and 12GB/256GB which are all powerful devices, not sure if the 12GB variant is selling a lot as of now. The first 2 variants are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ chipset, custom-made for Nothing to include wireless and reverse charging. The 778G+ is one of the best chipsets available being used in smartphones and works quite efficiently. Yes, it’s Seventh gen but it gets the work done perfectly.

The phone hasn’t shown any lags while switching between apps or opening new ones. The speed is at its best and gaming as well as a great experience on the Phone (1). Try Asphalt, the graphics and sound all do come alive. Switch to the game mode and you will have a better experience while the mode minimizes notifications for you (don’t do this at work, I didn’t). With only a 100 AED difference in price between the 128 GB storage and the 256GB storage option, I guess a better choice would be the 256GB variant.

The 4500 mAH battery does stay alive for 18 hours as promised by Nothing, but with heavy usage and more video hours, it may certainly lose charge a few hours before that. However, this charges at a good speed and you will be able to reach 50% of the charge within or even before 30 mins, provided you use an appropriate adapter. A PD 3.0/ Quick Charge 4.0 compatible charger will do the job for you. You can also charge accessories like the Nothing Ear (1) with a 5W reverse charge. Havent tried this but I’m sure it works.                   

Pricing – The Phone (1) is available in 2 colours, white and black, loved the black one. You can choose from the available models, 8GB/128GB @AED 1,399.00, 8GB/256GB @AED 1,499.00 and 12GB/256GB @AED 1,999.00. In UAE, Phone (1) will be available directly through Sharaf DG and of course online is an option.

Highlights – Build & Design, Glyph Interface, Camera, Hardware & Software and Price of course.    
Verdict – The Nothing Phone (1) is a fast, sharp, bold, different and efficient device to own. The price point just makes it easier to make the buying decision with the features on offer. Hand the phone to anyone and you will notice them seeing the back of the phone first. It’s that attractive.