Review: Nothing Phone (1) – transparent designer piece at mid-range price

A breath of fresh air is always good for the mobile phone market. OnePlus recognised this and launched the OnePlus One almost 9 years ago – a smartphone that was significantly cheaper and yet almost as good the flagship phones of its time. Back then, the company’s founders chose to do something different by giving the phone a rough sandstone back and a heavily modified Android operating system and, as a result, caused smartphones to change forever.

One of the founders was Carl Pei, who is now aiming to re-enter the phone market with his new company Nothing. This time round, the Nothing Phone (1) might even get OnePlus feeling a little shaken. After taking an extensive look at the Nothing Phone (1) in our hands-on , we now want to re-examine our first impression by taking a closer look at the device and performing measurements and benchmarks.

Let’s get started. The design is certainly the first thing that catches the eye about the Nothing Phone (1): it is available in a simple white or black with a striking metal frame in silver or black respectively. That said, the actual highlight is the rear of the device.

It is covered by a piece of transparent Gorilla Glass 5 that lets users look inside the smartphone. You might be at least slightly disappointed if you are expecting to see technical details similar to those on the Explorer Edition of various Xiaomi phones. This is because you can mainly just see individual structured elements in slightly different shades of white or black (depending on the phone’s colour).

Although these elements outline the flow of cables and the shape of components, they also obscure all these things. The only visible metallic bits are part of a speaker grill and a few screws. The most crucial thing to Nothing is the Glyph Interface, a lighting feature comprising 900 micro LEDs on the device’s back and likewise beneath the transparent glass panel.

The LEDs can be switched on and off individually or in groups. They can function as a notification light or charge status indicator. Moreover, the manufacturer still has some other plans for the lighting system.

Right now, you can assign personalised light patterns to your contacts or use it in silent mode to tell whether you’ve received an email or a WhatsApp message. When the phone is flipped over, it switches automatically to silent mode and notifies you using light symbols, whose intensity can be adjusted individually. The front of the phone features a punch-hole camera and an even frame on all sides of the display.

The sturdy frame is very reminiscent of the design of the current iPhones and is made of 100% recycled aluminium according to the manufacturer. The Nothing Phone (1) has almost the same exact dimensions as the OnePlus Nord 2T and is only minimally heavier. But it offers a slightly larger diagonal screen size.

Rated at IP53, the Nothing Phone (1) is protected against spraying water and dust, meaning it shouldn’t be immersed in water. Whilst the phone is well-built with tight gaps in the body, it creaks noticeably when twisted, which detracts from the impression of quality. Some users have complained about water or dust accumulating behind the back panel.

Currently, it’s difficult to find out under what conditions the users are encountering these problems and whether they are isolated cases. Nothing also hasn’t provided any statement regarding this. The Nothing Phone (1) comes in three storage and memory configurations, with the smallest only available in black: The middle option is probably the most interesting one: for 30 euros (£50) more, you get a generous upgrade in terms of storage.

The largest option is only worth it if you are always running very memory-intensive apps and can make full use of the huge amount of RAM. For perspective, you can get the OnePlus Nord 2T with 256 GB storage and 12 GB RAM at a recommended retail price of just 499 euros (£469). The USB port is connected internally via USB 2.

0, meaning it can transfer data at a maximum speed of 480 Mbit/s. As with most current phones in this price range, the Nothing Phone (1) doesn’t have a 3. 5 mm audio jack and uses the USB-C port for audio playback.

You can plug in a USB-C headphone jack adapter if necessary. The phone supports the up-to-date Bluetooth 5. 2 and NFC for wireless communication.

The NFC feature also lets you use mobile payment services, but Google Pay can’t be set up on the phone right now. The phone doesn’t have a microSD slot, which is an aspect that OnePlus, Carl Pei’s former company, has always struggled with. Something we are worried about: the microphone is located right next to the SIM card slot.

As a result, when opening the slot, you should be careful not to damage the microphone by accidently inserting the SIM ejector tool into the wrong hole. The phone comes installed with Nothing OS, which turns out to be a relatively stock version of Android 12. The company also promises that the phone will not ship with bloatware – and we can attest to this.

Has Nothing not made any changes to the system at all? No, the design has been modified to use a dot matrix font and there is a separate menu for the Glyph Interface. In addition, the operating system is intended to be an open platform that other manufacturers can easily incorporate in their devices. As an initial step, users can control their Tesla via the operating system.

Nothing has also talked about a native NFT gallery app, which is available as a widget and can connect to a corresponding wallet in order to showcase NFTs and track their price. Some of the ringtones, alarm tones and notification sounds are very high-pitched, technology-inspired and somewhat annoying. There is only a limited selection of ten for each type.

If piercing static-like sounds hurt your ears, then you only have a few options left. Incidentally, your furry friends won’t be very thrilled by the high-pitched sounds either. But at least you can use your own sounds if you wish.

At the time of our review, the security patches were from May 2022 and therefore no longer very up to date. Nothing promises three major Android updates and four years of security patches, which is now quite average compared with other manufacturers. However, we are still unable to say how often security updates and new features will be rolled out.

The Nothing Phone (1) supports the latest Wi-Fi 6E standard. However, based on measurements taken using our reference router Asus ROG AXE11000, the phone is still unable to take full advantage of this high-speed standard. Whereas the data transmission rate is quite good at 946 Mbit/s, the data reception rate is just average at 598 Mbit/s.

The Motorola Edge 30 is substantially more stable in terms of speed. As expected, the phone is 5G-enabled and supports a wide range of frequencies in both 5G and 4G bands. This means you should also be able to use mobile internet when abroad in almost any country.

We measured the phone’s reception strength randomly during our test. And we found that the Nothing Phone (1) hardly ever lost full reception (even in buildings) and generally had very good signal strength. The phone was able to quickly identify our location outdoors.

But it took some time for the accuracy to increase to a decent four metres. The Nothing Phone (1) can communicate with all conventional satellite networks to determine location. However, the SBAS network, which is designed to improve position accuracy, was not accessed during our review.

In order to assess the phone’s location accuracy in real-life situations, we got on our bicycle and brought along a Garmin Venu 2 for comparison. The result: the Nothing Phone (1) was sometimes slightly off the route taken but otherwise didn’t make any major mistakes. The phone can be used for day-to-day navigation without any issues.

The Nothing Phone (1) uses Google apps for phone calls and contacts, meaning users of other phones with stock android should be able to find their way around quickly. The apps are logically structured and easily accessible even for newbies. We are not fully impressed by the phone’s voice quality: the internal ear speaker sounds very trebly and buzzes audibly at maximum volume.

The microphone is able to pick up our voice quite well. The person on the other end of the line sounds better on the phone’s speaker. However, the hands-free mic has problems suppressing ambient noise.

Nothing equipped its first smartphone with only two cameras: a main camera and a wide-angle camera. Both can support resolutions up to 50 megapixels. However, they will usually only take photos at a resolution of 12.

5 megapixels. This is because the sensors bin four pixels into a larger pixel to capture more light. The full resolution can only be used in a special software mode.

The main camera uses a Sony IMX766 sensor with optical image stabilisation. Although the camera can’t keep up with those on high-end smartphones in terms of details and sharpness, it delivers photo quality that is standard for its class and absolutely fit for everyday use. Its weaknesses become even more apparent in low-light and high-contrast situations.

Even though the subject is still recognisable here, the details are blurry and darker areas have hardly been brightened. We are slightly more impressed by the wide-angle camera. Whilst you probably still shouldn’t zoom in too much on shots taken using the wide-angle camera, details that are far away can still be made out to an extent not achieved by other wide-angle cameras on smartphones.

Nothing has also come up with a few ways to use the Glyph Interface with the camera. The LEDs on the rear can be used like a ring light when recording videos and produce a light that is mellow but not particularly warm. The Glyph Interface can also be used to indicate the time left when the camera timer is active.

What’s more, you can enable a red LED when recording videos – reminiscent a professional video cameras. Speaking of videos, the phone can record at up to 4K and 30 fps. It is also capable of taking 1080p videos at 60 fps.

We like the image quality, even in lower lighting conditions. Exposure adjustment and autofocus react swiftly and almost inconspicuously. The haptic feedback when zooming is very nicely designed.

The phone is able to properly simulate the sound and feel of a mechanical zoom ring. However, there is no hybrid zoom between the wide-angle and main cameras, meaning you will need to settle on one of the cameras before you start recording a video. In our laboratory tests, our test pattern was photographed under studio lighting.

The main camera produces images with good contrast and little artefacts on large coloured areas. But the images are significantly softer towards the edges. The camera struggles noticeably in low light, but at least manages to keep the subject identifiable.

Nothing didn’t include a charger with its smartphone. The only other items in the box are a USB-C cable, an especially designed SIM ejector tool and some paperwork. A screen protector has also been pre-applied.

Nothing sells a 45-watt charger for 35 euros (£35). This seems to be an odd choice considering the smartphone only has a maximum charging speed of 33 watts. A new screen protector can be had for 19 euros (£19), while a specifically designed case costs 25 euros (£25).

The manufacturer offers a 24-month warranty when the phone is purchased in the EU. The 120 Hz touchscreen on the Nothing Phone (1) is very precise to use and responds to quick inputs without perceivable delay. The fingerprint is located underneath the screen and quite close to the lower edge.

This meant we had to change our grip a little when holding the phone in our hand. However, the sensor works very reliably and unlocks the phone from standby mode rather promptly. The phone can also be unlocked using 2D facial recognition, but this option only works in good ambient light and is less secure than a hardware solution with infrared sensor.

The OLED panel in the Nothing Phone (1) is made by Visionox. The company has managed to keep the bezel on all sides of the screen equally slim, resulting in a stylish design. At the same time, the panel is on par with the competition with an extended Full HD resolution and an average brightness of 625 cd/m² in our test.

Only the Xiaomi 11T can produce significantly higher brightness levels when its ambient light sensor is exposed to light. The screen on the Nothing Phone (1) can switch between 60 Hz and 120 Hz. During our review, however, we noticed that the phone wouldn’t leave the 120 Hz mode once it is activated, despite the fact that the system should be able to switch dynamically between 60 Hz and 120 Hz.

A lower refresh rate would help save battery when you are reading text, for example. Another thing that we like is the OLED panel’s colour reproduction, which is extremely accurate in “Standard” mode. In this mode, colours are indistinguishable from the target value of the colour space with the naked eye.

Shades of grey also don’t have any colour tint. Some users on the Internet have reported that their screen has a green tint or defective pixels. The display on our test unit is completely fine.

We are positively surprised by the refresh rate, which stayed more or less at a constant 120 Hz in our measurements made using an oscilloscope, even at minimal brightness. Consequently, it is unlikely for people who are sensitive to get headaches from the phone’s OLED panel, as its frequency hardly fluctuates. With response times just slightly above 1 millisecond, the display should also be able to satisfy gamers.

The Nothing Phone (1) cuts a fine figure outdoors and can also be used on bright sunny days. As with most AMOLED displays, the screen has extremely good viewing angles. This means users will still be able to see an accurate image even when viewing the screen from the side.

The Adreno 624L in the Nothing Phone (1) delivers enough graphics performance, even for more demanding applications. Nonetheless, it struggles to keep up with other devices in our comparison. For example, the OnePlus Nord 2T and Xiaomi 11T have substantially more graphics horsepower.

In the browser benchmarks, the Nothing Phone (1) consistently lagged behind the competition. Having said that, it does well in everyday use, loads websites relatively quickly and is sometimes able to get images ready while the page is being scrolled. The snappy UFS 3.

1 storage allows the Nothing Phone (1) to achieve fast loading times when launching apps and to copy files quickly. In particular, write operations are performed at very high speeds. In our first gaming test with Armajet, it was straight away apparent that the phone is almost able to take full advantage of the screen’s 120 Hz refresh rate and run the game at close to 120 fps, which enables faster reactions.

In PUBG Mobile, a more demanding 3D shooter, the phone still managed to hit around 40 fps at high settings and roughly 60 fps at low settings. All of these are good results, meaning that we can absolutely recommend the Nothing Phone (1) for gaming use, as long as you don’t need to play games at the highest settings at all cost. We used GameBench to measure frame rate.

In terms of controls, the smartphone doesn’t exhibit any weaknesses: both the touchscreen and motion sensor react to inputs accurately and very swiftly. Reaching up to 46°C, the Nothing Phone (1) can get very warm after running at full load for a while. Although the heat is only clearly noticeable on the upper part of the phone, it may at times become uncomfortable to use, especially when ambient temperatures are high in summer.

In normal day-to-day use, however, you won’t be able to feel the heat as much because the phone manages to stay nice and cool. The phone’s performance also doesn’t seem to be affected by the heat generated. The system didn’t slow down appreciably even after several loops of 3DMark Stress Tests.

The Nothing Phone (1) uses the ear speaker as a second speaker to create a stereo effect. But because it is much weaker than the main speaker, the effect is not entirely pronounced. The sound produced is balanced and quite high-quality.

At maximum volume, some high frequencies are a little too emphasised for our liking, but there isn’t any audible buzzing or rattling at all. The phone can connect to external audio devices via USB-C or Bluetooth 5. 2 and supports aptX codecs (including aptX Adaptive), LDAC and LHDC.

In our tests, both connection options provided good sound quality. In terms of energy efficiency, the Nothing Phone (1) is on par with other phones in this range. It doesn’t really stand out in any particular aspect.

Likewise, the exhaustive usage tests conducted using Geekbench and GFXBench didn’t yield anything noteworthy. The Nothing Phone (1) can charge at up to 33 watts when connected via a cable. This can be done using any charger with USB Power Delivery 3.

0 and support for Quick Charge 4. 0. According to the company, it is possible to fully charge the phone within 70 minutes – something we can confirm after performing our tests.

This puts the Nothing Phone (1) significantly behind the OnePlus Nord 2T and Xiaomi 11T when it comes to charging speed. In some cases, these two phones can charge two and a half or even four times faster than the Nothing Phone (1). One distinctive feature of the phone is its compatibility with the Qi wireless-charging standard.

The iPhone SE 2022 is the only other device in our comparison that has this feature. At a maximum charging speed of 15 watts, it takes around two hours to fully charge the phone wirelessly. The Nothing Phone (1) can also be used to wirelessly charge other devices at speeds of up to 5 watts.

The 4,500 mAh battery is large enough to keep the Nothing Phone (1) running for an impressive 15 hours and 26 minutes in our Wi-Fi test. Whilst OnePlus and Xiaomi smartphones have slightly longer battery life, the first phone from Nothing should overall be able to last several days without charging, depending on usage. On the one hand, the Nothing Phone (1) is definitely something special due to its distinctive look and features such as wireless charging and an aluminium frame, which you seldom see in this price range.

On the other hand, it is not as revolutionary as the OnePlus One once was, a phone that shifted entire price brackets on the smartphone market and introduced software features that were unique at that time. For its first smartphone, Nothing mostly sticks to conventions common in this price range, despite the fact that the Glyph Interface is innovative and can be used in variety of ways, for instance, as a charge status indicator or camera light. In terms of software, Nothing still has room for improvement in many areas: besides some odd translations and features available only in English (such as the Tesla Link), we would like to see more ringtones and alarm tones that are less jarring.

There is also still potential for optimisation in the speed of the Wi-Fi module (which at least supports Wi-Fi 6E), the screen’s refresh rate, Google Pay support and the performance. These are all improvements that could perhaps be delivered through a software update. Long battery life, an AMOLED display with permanent DC dimming mode, solid speakers and fairly accurate location tracking are all strong points of this phone.

On its own, the Nothing Phone (1) is a great device for its price. The phone is enjoyable to use and is going to make users stand out in their daily life. But it is not quite a revolution.

For faster charging and more performance, you can take a look at the OnePlus Nord 2T or Xiaomi 11T . The iPhone SE 2022 likewise features wireless charging and high-end performance, but it has a small screen and an outdated design. The Phone (1) is available from Nothing’s online shop at prices between 469 euros (£399) and 549 euros (£499).

The company says that it also accepts cryptocurrencies as a payment method. Alternatively, you can pre-order every variant of the phone at amazon. co.

uk . The phone is scheduled to start shipping in late July or early August. .