Must see video: CEO Carl Pei introduces the Nothing Phone (1)
The Nothing Phone (1) was officially unveiled on Tuesday featuring a 6.55-inch OLED display with an FHD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 and a 60-120Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, you'll find the mid-range Snapdragon 778G+ chipset. While the base model sports 8GB of RAM and 128GB of native storage, the high-end variant will have up 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
The Nothing Phone (1) features a pair of 50MP camera sensors, one for the primary wide lens with an aperture of f/1.7, and one for the ultra-wide lens with an aperture of f/2.2. Video can be recorded in 4K at 30 fps and there is a 16MP camera sensor with facial recognition for the front-facing selfie shooter. The phone will be equipped with a 4500mAh battery and fast charges at 33W wired (allowing the battery to hit 100% charged after 70 minutes) and at 15W during wireless charging.
The Nothing Phone (1) offers reverse wireless charging
You can also share some of your phone's battery power with other poor, unfortunate souls thanks to the reverse wireless charging feature. The base model will be available from Nothing's London kiosk on July 16th priced at €469. The company's website will start selling the handset on July 21st.
Nothing released what might be the first commercial for the Nothing Phone (1) yesterday starring what the company calls its Glyph display. It is a series of lights on the back of the device that turn on when a notification is received. The Glyph will also act as a progress bar displaying how much of the phone's battery has been charged. The light system can be used to alert the user to the identity of the person who is calling the phone.
You can catch the introduction of the Nothing Phone (1) by viewing a 37 minute video hosted by Nothing and One-Plus co-founder Carl Pei (who is also CEO of Nothing). Pei, who has the all-time best Twitter handle (@getpeid), said that Nothing wanted to do something different. So instead of just designing a phone with specs that look great on paper, instinct and intuition were used.
To make sure that they were on the right track, Pei would ask whether the Nothing Phone was something that the team, as consumers, would be interested in. If they saw their own product in the store, would they feel compelled to pick it up and test it out? And Pei asked whether this was a product that those who worked on the device would feel proud to share with friends and family.
Clearly, Pei is a smart guy, and watching him discuss the Nothing Phone (1), you get the impression that not only is he proud of the new device, but that this is just the beginning-not of nothing-but the beginning of something.
The unveiling doesn't have the excitement or drama of Steve Jobs' iPhone unveiling. Nor is it as technical as Jon Rubinstein's introduction of the Palm Pre. But listening to Pei is always interesting and having him explain how the Nothing Phone was created is worth viewing the video in its totality.
Nothing CEO Pei doesn't like putting skin over the Android OS
Pei and Pete Lau combined to create OnePlus which launched its maiden phone, the OnePlus One, in April 2014. And over the years, OnePlus has become a legit player in the smartphone industry. Lightning usually doesn't strike twice, but judging from early comments on the internet, it seems that the Nothing Phone (1) has caught the attention of some smartphone enthusiasts who have been sniffing around for something new.
Some corners had to be cut. The IP rating of 53 means that the phone is protected from a spray of water less than 15 degrees from vertical and less than 60 degrees from vertical. It also offers limited protection from dust. This is not a phone that you can get wet so keep that in mind when making your buying decision.
Pei also explained how he believes putting skins on Android slows things down. The executive likes Android's system apps the way they are and also says that Nothing's controls are being designed to work with products from third-party firms like Tesla. He notes that if you can't find your Tesla in a parking lot, you can use your Nothing Phone (1) to flash the lights on the car, or turn on the AC on a hot day before entering the car.
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