The Nothing Phone (1) officially unveiled - decent specs and a sci-fi look at a reasonable price

The company behind the unique smartphone is the brainchild of a former OnePlus co-founder, Carl Pei, so naturally expectations are high. Whether the Nothing Phone (1) will match them is what we really want to know

Design & Display

The Nothing Phone (1) comes equipped with an OLED panel. The latter features a 60-120Hz adaptive refresh rate and 2400 x 1080 resolution. With a total screen real estate of 6.55”, this adds up to a pixel-per-inch density of 402. The display has a built-in fingerprint sensor, 1200 nits peak brightness and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. 

The real showstopper with the Nothing Phone (1) is not on the front of the device, however. The back of the smartphone is partially transparent and features 5 LED strips which together make up the “glyph interface” of the device. Essentially, the system enables the smartphone to communicate information to the user through LED light patterns. The LED strips will light up simultaneously in specific patterns depending on the information being conveyed. Each pattern will correspond to a specific notification. This means that users should be able to discern the notifications they are receiving, even if the phone is left on its screen. And if this sounds a little bit abstract, you can find a dedicated explanation of the “glyph interface” here.



On the front, the Nothing Phone (1) resembles pretty much every other premium Android phone from 2022 - edge to edge display, slim bezels and a cutout for the camera. Build quality looks excellent - the tried and tested combination of (Gorilla) glass and aluminum. The Nothing Phone (1) weighs about 194g, has a thickness of 8.3mm and an IP53 water and dust resistance certification. The phone comes in two colors - white and black. 

Camera & Audio

The camera module features a 50MP, f/1.8 wide primary sensor and a 50MP, f/2.2 ultra-wide secondary one. This translates to 4K video recording capabilities at 30 frames per second. The selfie camera is a 16MP shooter, supports facial recognition and can record video at 1080p. The Nothing Phone (1) comes equipped with stereo speakers and unsurprisingly lacks a headphone jack.