Nothing Phone 1 Review | Engadget

Once I first pulled the Nothing Cellphone 1 from its slender retail field, I simply stared at it, flipped it over in my hand and scrutinized the see-through bits and items. Nothing’s consideration to element was noticeable in all places. I’ll admit it outright: I really like the way it appears to be like.

The corporate could also be pushing a story of epoch-defining design, however its first telephone additionally comes with first rate, if not groundbreaking, specs and, gasp, a aggressive value level. Whereas the aesthetics scream flagship gadget (and there’s undoubtedly some iPhone DNA right here), the worth tag, round $476 (£399 right here within the UK, no availability within the US), places it within the arguably extra aggressive midrange weight class. That places it up in opposition to the iPhone SE, Samsung’s Galaxy A collection and Google’s Pixel A units – don’t overlook, the Pixel 6a is simply across the nook. Can a actually flashy telephone steal your consideration away from all these heavy hitters?

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Each colours of the Nothing Cellphone 1 are eye-catching. And, whereas the white model appears to be like cooler, the black actually emphasizes the distinctive glyph lights. Gorilla Glass covers the back and front, and Nothing has curated what parts you possibly can see and smoothed out among the traces.

Let’s discuss concerning the Glyph interface, as Nothing has coined it. It makes use of over 900 LEDS to create 4 totally different light-up components throughout the again of the telephone. Some have further options, which I’ll come again to, however collectively they mild and flash to indicate telephone calls or notifications… and immediate strangers to ask, “what’s occurring together with your iPhone?” The one factor it attracts greater than onlookers is fingerprints. You’ll buff this telephone so much to make sure the clear design might be correctly proven off.

Yeah, it’s eye-catching to all people inside 10 ft, however thankfully, you possibly can cut back the brightness and, effectively, the severity of a telephone name or textual content from somebody. There’s additionally a considerate warning that the Glyph Interface might not be secure for anybody with epilepsy or different light-sensitivity situations. As I’ve a historical past of seizures myself, it’s a pleasant consideration, however as somebody famous, what concerning the individuals round me?

Nothing has made 10 distinctive ringtones with devoted Glyph patterns that mild up in sync to the lo-fi chippy noises – one in all a number of indicators that the Teenage Engineering DNA runs deep right here. Many of the ringtones and patterns are by some means… simply plain cool? I believe it’s one thing to do with the proper synchronization or the truth that it’s not the hole, orchestral stirrings of a company audio sting.

A light-weight strip on the backside of the Cellphone 1 doubles up as a charging gauge when the gadget is plugged in. You’ll have to allow the function inside the telephone’s Glyph Interface settings. I want the battery gauge additionally labored on the facility strip even when it wasn’t plugged in. Maybe we’ll get extra Glyph performance sooner or later.

Now, for all these claims of a novel smartphone paradigm, moreover the again, the telephone appears to be like and seems like an iPhone – particularly the perimeters of the recycled aluminum body. Not like Apple’s telephone, there’s no mute change, and that could be an intentional design option to put a long way between Nothing and OnePlus. (Nothing boss Carl Pei co-founded the latter and I’ve made my emotions on the OnePlus alert slider identified for a while.)

Just like the iPhone, the facility button is on the precise aspect, whereas the quantity buttons are alongside the left. On the backside edge, you might have a single-firing (however loud!) speaker, SIM card slot and USB-C port.

There’s a pink LED on the again of the telephone to point when Cellphone 1 is recording video, like a camcorder from the ‘90s. It’s equal elements privateness function and intentional retro nod. One other cute contact: The SIM card remover deal with is resin-tipped, and appears like just a little transistor.

The Cellphone 1 is a giant telephone. It dwarfs my iPhone 13 Professional. Its 6.55-inch 1080p display screen places it nearer to the iPhone 13 Professional Max and the Pixel 6 Professional. Although, at 8.3mm thick, it’s extra substantial than Apple’s greatest iPhone.

The midrange spec creep begins on the show, which has a comparatively substantial bezel just like the Galaxy A53 but it surely’s unlikely to be a dealbreaker for a lot of. There’s a holepunch digicam, (16-megapixel) and the show itself is vivid and vibrant (as much as 1200 nits), whereas refresh charges can attain 120Hz. Adaptive refresh charges are one of many fashionable touches that assist units really feel (and, effectively, look) premium.

The Cellphone 1 feels premium then, regardless of the subsequent compromise: the mid-range Snapdragon processor ticking away inside. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G+ chip has been calmly custom-made for Nothing, that means the Cellphone 1 can supply wi-fi charging (and reverse wi-fi charging) capabilities, in contrast to telephones utilizing the usual Snapdragon 778G. The Cellphone 1 was nonetheless capable of deal with some battles and exploration in Genshin Affect, although it did get relatively heat within the course of.

Nothing says you possibly can 33-watt fast-charge the Cellphone 1 to 50 p.c battery capability in half-hour, and my testing just about replicated this. Wi-fi charging tops out at 15W, whilst you can reverse cost at as much as 5W from the Cellphone 1 itself. I’m wondering if wi-fi charging is all that fascinating? Or was it a problem of getting one thing good to point out off on the clear again? One thing to border a Glyph round? Maybe I’m only a cynic. (Okay, undoubtedly.)

In our battery rundown checks, the Cellphone 1 was capable of play a video on loop for simply over 16 hours, which is healthier than a number of Android telephones we’ve examined within the final 12 months, together with the OnePlus 10 Professional, though it’s price noting that Nothing’s has a lower-resolution show.

In typical use, I managed to get a day and half out of a full cost. With extra video recording, or gaming or streaming, this could imply I’d be underneath 10 p.c by 9PM. That is ameliorated just a little with the quick charging, however a bit extra battery life would have been good.

Software program

The dot-matrix ‘Nothing’ font that arrived with the corporate’s debut earbuds, is peppered across the firm’s tackle Android 12. There isn’t a lot totally different about this “bespoke” interpretation of Google’s cellular OS, although. There are these Glyph-connected ringtones, some monochromatic wallpapers, and distinctive widgets within the drop-down menu, however in any other case, it’s principally the Android you understand.

A Nothing spokesperson instructed me that they’re engaged on increasing options by way of third-party APIs — one instance at present dwell is the power to unlock your Tesla from this dropdown menu. You possibly can activate the AC upfront, flash the lights and some extra light-weight options. However that’s an extremely tiny slice of Venn diagram overlap: Tesla driver and Nothing Cellphone 1 proprietor.

One other apparent show of the corporate’s partnership with Teenage Engineering, is its voice memo app, which has a minimalist tape deck aesthetic. You possibly can rewind and fast-forward, and there are a number of noise-canceling choices to raised isolate voices. It’s not podcast-ready however for those who’re recording a gathering or leaving a word for your self from a loud pub they need to at the least assist.

If there’s one factor I can’t get on board with, it’s Nothing’s addition of a local NFT Gallery. I don’t have any NFTs, but when I did, I’d be capable of observe their costs and “present them off” in 5 totally different sizes on the Cellphone 1. Let’s transfer on.

Because it’s a brand new telephone from a really new firm, I had my reservations about stability. However thus far, I’ve had no main points. Useful resource-intensive apps might take barely longer to load in comparison with flagship telephones, however that’s about it. The corporate has additionally vowed to carry three years of Android updates to the Cellphone 1, which ought to assist preserve issues safe and secure.

Cameras

In case you‘ve been trying out lots of our telephone evaluations over current years, you’ll have observed that multi-camera setups usually embody a dud – a monochrome sensor right here, a 2-megapixel macro digicam there. There’s a cause why the Pixel 6 and iPhone 13 are nonetheless able to first rate images, regardless of “solely” having two cameras – diminishing returns. This telephone additionally has a dual-camera system. At this mid-range value, that is the place issues usually go awry. However, fortunately, that’s not the case with the Nothing Cellphone 1.

Nothing has gone for Sony’s IMX766 sensor and mixed it with f/1.9 lens with optical picture stabilization. In case you’re a smartphone obsessive, that may sound acquainted, as a result of that’s what you bought on Oppo’s Discover X3 Professional, a flagship Android telephone from final 12 months that was double the worth of the Cellphone 1.

The secondary ultrawide digicam makes use of a 50MP Samsung JN1 sensor with an f/2.2 lens. This doubles as a macro digicam, however don’t count on unimaginable macro images from a telephone.

You possibly can count on crisp photos in good lighting, although. I’ve been impressed with the nonetheless high quality from the Cellphone 1. There appear to be some picture software program tweaks right here, however they’re comparatively mild. Evaluating daylight pictures from the Cellphone 1 in opposition to the Pixel 4a, Google’s appeared to supply extra distinction, but it surely’s exhausting to name a winner between the 2. Each provided up 12-megapixel photos, so element ranges had been typically a match, Nothing simply appears to have gone for barely extra muted colours.

With brighter elements of the picture, you’ll discover some chromatic aberrations: a purplish hue round these vibrant spots. Evening-time images is first rate sufficient, with the same old evening taking pictures mode in attendance. It didn’t greatest the highest smartphones, but it surely was capable of rescue a couple of lowlight pictures that might have in any other case been a darkish patchy mess. Regardless of the algorithms at work, outcomes had been just a little noisy.

The Glyph Interface will also be used as a sort-of ring mild, to light up close by topics with out the oomph of a normal flash. It added a mild, barely blueish hue to photographs when enabled. It’s a intelligent thought however the execution is just a little missing. If Nothing might supply finer coloration temperature controls, like many ring lights do, this might be genuinely helpful.

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The digicam app presents all the same old imaging options of a telephone in 2022: HDR, Portrait mode, timelapse and even an skilled mode for finer controls over white stability, ISO and extra. I discovered the fundamental picture mode greater than versatile sufficient. The largest limitation was the 2x zoom, which crops a part of the picture sensor. There’s some digital zoom thrown in for those who’re determined. I began to overlook the extra expansive telephoto choices on different – often costlier – smartphones.

The Cellphone 1 can seize 4K video at 30FPS or 1080p at 60FPS. Video high quality was easy and serviceable. There’s just a little little bit of rolling shutter wobble once you’re panning round, and in decrease mild I observed it attempting to find focus if I used to be shifting whereas recording. It additionally struggles to stability publicity between a pinkish sky at nightfall and a darker road.

Wrap-up

On the Nothing Cellphone 1’s launch occasion, Carl Pei mentioned that “stability [was] far more vital than a ton of flashy options.” It was an odd alternative of phrases when the largest differentiator of your organization’s new telephone is actually a flashing function.

The excellent news is that each one this effort into how the telephone appears to be like – and it’s definitely eye-catching when the Glyphs mild up – hasn’t been undone by wobbly software program, mediocre cameras or disappointing construct high quality. It’s a reliable Android telephone.

The worth, the type and the eye to element are all spectacular. Nothing is strolling a tremendous line between gimmick and have at instances, however as a brand new firm, it will get to try this. There’s no predecessor telephone to duplicate, and this goes in Nothing’s favor. Having mentioned that, its greatest rival might be Google’s Pixel 6a, with an identical value level, and its personal distinctive look.

This can be a new telephone from a brand new firm, so I’ll be maintaining a tally of this telephone long run. However, Nothing has made a powerful debut. Don’t consider all the hype, however the Cellphone makes a compelling argument for mid-range consumers and anybody that wishes a telephone that appears totally different however does issues just about the identical.