Nothing phone (1) design is teased via some initial prototypes for the first-gen Android device

Carl Pei's announcement of a first-gen Nothing phone launch for 2022 has set off a wild tangent of speculation as to how this inaugural Android device will look. The nascent tech company still asserts that it will bring something distinctive and "iconic" to the market in this respect. Now, Pei and its head of design Tom Howard has confirmed what many may have expected for some time: the phone (1) will have a translucent rear panel.

Speaking to the blog Wallpaper, Howard has confirmed that Nothing's second device will match its first in this respect. Now that that decision has been made, the next challenge has apparently been to re-arrange the phone (1)'s internals (which, as with any candy-bar-type device, run into the hundreds) so as to look as attractive and compelling as possible.

According to Howard, this involves putting the best-looking and/or most interesting components front and center (from the back, that is). Then again, should the phone (1) have wireless charging as suspected, the coils involved might end up taking much of the focus in any case.

The emerging brand has shared some new prototype images with their aims in mind, although they are reportedly just some of many, and may thus fail to conform to the actual (1) on its eventual launch. Nevertheless, Howard and Pei have now confirmed that the device will have a conventional frame, at least, and that it will be made of recycled aluminum "to reduce its initial carbon footprint".