Nothing Phone (1): Not quite the revolution that was expected

With phrases such as "a new way to communicate" and "hardware and software speak a single visual language", Nothing's marketing has raised the bar pretty high for the Nothing Phone (1). We recently had the opportunity to review the device in detail and have to say that although the phone is certainly innovative and exciting, it still doesn't fully deliver what so many people apparently expect of it.

If you haven't been following the news: the Phone (1) is a device made by Nothing, the new company of OnePlus' co-founder Carl Pei. Whilst the OnePlus One ushered in a revolution and led to top-end SoCs making their way into some less-expensive smartphones nowadays, the Phone (1) aspires to bring some buzz back into technology and make the mobile phone market a little bit more exciting.

To achieve that, the UK-based company has come up with the Glyph Interface, which consists of several LED strips underneath the phone's transparent back. The LED strips can, for instance, display customised flashing patterns for each contact, indicate the charging status and show the camera timer counting down. This is an interesting idea that still needs to prove its utility in everyday use. Much of it would likely also depend on how much support Nothing gives to this feature in future.

However, there are a few things we found annoying about the Nothing Phone (1). These include the loud creaking made by the phone when it is twisted, the ear-piercing ringtones and notification sounds (not to mention the selection is quite modest) and the fact that Google Pay currently doesn't work on the Phone (1).

That said, the near-stock Android, the ability to play games at 120 fps and great battery life are some qualities that made us like Nothing's first smartphone more. The screen is also quite impressive with its high colour accuracy, thin bezel and minimal flickering.

One noteworthy feature of the phone is wireless charging, which is rarely found on Android phones in this price range. You would have to get the iPhone SE 2022 if you want this feature.

Overall, there are still a few things left for Nothing to do. And much of it depends on whether the company provides the phone with regular software updates to iron out the issues. The Phone (1) began shipping on 21 July 2022. However, not all variants are currently in stock at Nothing or amazon.co.uk.

To find out what makes the Nothing Phone (1) nonetheless a special device and how the system and camera perform, you can read our in-depth review with many benchmarks and tabulated results.