Nothing Phone (1) Preview: What To Expect At July's Event

2022-07-02 09:31:05 By : Ms. Amy Liu

The Nothing Phone (1) is weeks away from launch, but a combination of official announcements and leaks paints a clear picture of what to expect.

On July 12, the Nothing Phone (1) will get an official unveiling of what the new smartphone will bring to the market when it arrives. Carl Pei, the founder of Nothing and the former co-founder of OnePlus, is known as a marketing genius who knows how to create an attention-grabbing narrative regarding mobile products. He demonstrated this knack for building hype during his time at OnePlus and has carried over the skill to his own company.

While the focus has been on the Phone (1), Nothing has two more products planned for release in 2022. It revealed the codenames of these devices back in Nov. 2021 as "Aerodactyl" and "Azelf," but several months later, their identities are unknown. Unconfirmed reports say these devices may be new accessories, possibly even a successor to the Ear (1) earbuds, but only time will tell what they are and when to expect them to arrive.

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The manufacturer and leakers have revealed several details of the Nothing Phone (1). These details include the phone's design, which straddles the line between familiar and unique. As seen in an official video detailing the phone's design and production, the Phone (1) will have a punch hole in the top left corner of its display for the front camera and slim uniform bezels. While that's not unique, it is the back that makes the phone stand out. The glass-covered rear is see-through, allowing one a glimpse at the phone's innards, albeit one that's been made to look pleasant.

However, the more critical use of the transparent back panel is for the over 900 LEDs that grace the rear. These lights are not only for aesthetics but also functional. Dubbed the Glyph Interface, the lights flash in sync with ringtones which can be customized for contacts and notifications. In addition, the lights at the bottom, above the USB-C port, double as a battery level indicator when charging, while the middle c-shaped one illuminates when using the reverse wireless charging feature of the phone. The lights can also come on to serve as a fill-light when taking photos or recording a video. To round off the design, the Phone (1) has dual rear cameras and a flat metal frame made from recycled aluminum.

Nothing is keeping the specs of the phone close to its chest, but in the video, it is hinted that the display is OLED and the refresh rate is 120Hz. Earlier, Nothing had revealed its phone would be powered by a Snapdragon processor but didn't specify which. However, thanks to a Geekbench listing, it has been shown that the Nothing Phone (1) will not be powered by a flagship processor but the Snapdragon 778G Plus. The 6nm chipset was released in October of 2021. Additional details revealed by the Geekbench result, which was shared on Twitter by Mukul Sharma, include the phone's model number, "A063," its RAM (8GB), and that it will run Android 12 out of the box. In March, when the Nothing Phone (1) was officially confirmed to be coming, it was revealed it would have a custom UI called Nothing OS. In another tweet, the tipster also revealed the Phone (1) would be available in other configurations, have support for 45W fast charging, and pack a battery capacity of 4500mAh or 5000mAh. In addition, the primary rear camera will have OIS, and there will be support for NFC. However, no leak has revealed what Nothing would charge for the phone, and while the mid-range chipset may mean that it shouldn't command a flagship price, that may not be the case. Take the Pixel 5 as an example, which launched in 2020 with a Snapdragon 765G processor but carried a $699 price tag, the same price as the iPhone 12 Mini released the same year.

As interesting as the Nothing Phone (1) sounds, when it launches, it will not be sold in the United States as the manufacturer has confirmed its phone won't be available in North America. In addition, the phone will only be sold in select regions via an invite system first, reminiscent of the OnePlus One. Carl Pei, Nothing's CEO, said the idea was to get the phone into the hands of early supporters and community members first "who deserve it the most." After which, it will be available to a wider audience when it ramps up production.

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Source: Nothing 1, 2, Mukul Sharma/Twitter 1, 2

Habeeb enjoys writing about the consumer technology space and has a keen interest in wearables, Android smartphones and tablets, and Chromebooks. When he's not writing, he's catching up on the latest TV shows and movies.