Nothing Phone 1 seems a good package but needs refinement!!
Carl Pie, the founder of OnePlus came up with a new startup called Nothing which is now creating a huge hype in the technology space in today's world as it is focusing on multiple products from earphones, smartphones, and other accessories. Recently, a new smartphone called the Nothing Phone 1 has come and provides some very good specifications which include a very unique design.
Some of the specifications include a premium and unique design, a 120Hz AMOLED display, a powerful Snapdragon 778G+ chipset, a 50MP triple camera setup, and a 4500mAh battery with support for fast charging. The smartphone also runs on Nothing OS out of the box. Since we have many other powerful smartphones in the premium mid-range segment, can this new entrant create the position for itself?
Let's find out in the full review.
Nothing Phone 1 Design:
As we have a saying "First Impression is the Last Impression" Nothing has nailed it in terms of design as you get a very unique design that draws two aspects - the transparent rear glass and the Glyph LEDs placed under the glass. The design looks a lot similar to the iPhone 12 where you only get two dedicated cameras - main and ultrawide with a LED flashlight only.
Nothing has done a great job as both the front as well as the back of the smartphone are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The back has a flatter design and since the cameras do not protrude, it does not wobble when kept on a flat surface. Like the iPhones, the edges are curved which makes them easier to hold in hand. The Glyph LEDs do light up when a notification comes up, charging, or any incoming call.
The back of the smartphone has an IP53 rating which makes it splash and dust-resistant up to some extent. Around the sides, there is an aluminum frame that feels really good and houses the power button on the right side whereas the volume buttons are located on the left side. To the top, there is a secondary noise-canceling microphone only.
At the bottom, there is a USB Type-C port, a dual SIM card slot, a primary microphone, and a loudspeaker grille. There is also a third microphone that sits beside the two cameras. The Nothing Phone 1 weighs around 193grams and is also slightly thicker at 8.3mm. The most unique thing is the Glyph LEDs which work well if you keep your smartphone upside down.
Talking about the LEDs, they can sometimes be inconsistent also where you can see some yellow color in the lights as sometimes dust may enter through the transparent back. Also at the back, there is also a red LED light that lights up when you are capturing videos. On the front, there is a single punch-hole display with slightly thinner bezels around it. Overall, the unique design feels premium and breathtaking.
Nothing Phone 1 Display:
The Nothing Phone 1 sports a larger 6.55-inches Full HD+(1080x1920 pixels) OLED display with a screen-to-body ratio of 20:9. Since it is an OLED display, you get good viewing angles and color reproduction is very good. The single punch-hole for the selfie camera is located in the top left corner. This is a 10-bit display so you get punchier colors compared to an 8-bit display.
This display has support for a 120Hz refresh rate which means you get smoother multitasking between applications. There are two different options to choose from - High (120Hz) and Standard (60Hz) where set to High, all applications almost run at 120Hz, but the display can also go lower as 90Hz, or 60Hz depending on the application usage in the display.
You can also switch to standard 60Hz if you want to save battery life. Combined with the 120Hz refresh rate, there is a 240Hz touch sampling rate present which provides faster touch responses in games. In terms of display brightness, the display on the Nothing Phone 1 can reach a peak brightness of 1200nits (as mentioned on the Nothing website) and 500nits of actual brightness.
The display has good visibility under direct sunlight and also in HDR videos, the content looks good but around the display, there is a slight green tint noticed which is common with most AMOLED displays. The display has two different settings to choose from - Alive and Standard where Alive covers the DCI-P3 gamut and the Standard covers the sRGB scale and you can also adjust the color temperature on both.
The display on the Nothing Phone 1 has support for HDR on YouTube and also you get Widevine L1 so you can stream HD content on OTT platforms like Prime, Netflix, etc. but currently, Netflix does not support HDR which Nothing will soon fix with future software update. The Nothing Phone 1 has an in-display fingerprint scanner that looks unique in the form of a ring and works accurately.
Overall, the display on the Nothing Phone 1 is great for media consumption.
Nothing Phone 1 Performance:
The Nothing Phone 1 is powered by the Snapdragon 778G+ which is also seen on the Motorola Edge 30. In terms of daily usage, the smartphone could easily handle almost all tasks without any stutters or lags as such. In games like BGMI, Call Of Duty Mobile, Apex Legends, etc. it could easily run without any stutters or lags.
In BGMI, the Nothing Phone 1 ran on HD graphics with Ultra frame rates and Call Of Duty Mobile achieved Very High graphics with Max frame rates. The gameplay was smooth but still, the Snapdragon 870-powered smartphones provide a slightly better gaming experience. After long hours of gaming, the smartphone did not feel much warmer as Nothing provided a cooling system underneath.
In terms of CPU throttling test, the Nothing Phone 1 could achieve a sustained performance of around 80-85 percent which is very good as there was no throttling noticed. In benchmarks, the scores were also very good. In terms of network connectivity, there is support for good carrier aggregation and it supports 12 bands of 5G which is very good.
The Nothing Phone 1 has good haptics which you can feel while typing or doing any other task. The Nothing Phone 1 is available in three different variants - 8GB RAM with 128GB storage, 8GB RAM with 256GB storage, and another 12GB RAM with 256GB storage where RAM is LPDDR5 and storage speeds are of UFS 3.1.
Overall, the performance and gaming experience is very good on the Nothing Phone 1.
Nothing Phone 1 Software:
The Nothing Phone 1 runs on NothingOS 1.1.0 based on Android 12 out of the box which looks a lot like Stock Android with some NothingOS customizations on top. Like Pixel and Motorola devices, the look and feel are almost like Stock Android whether you see the launcher, settings application, and most of the applications from Google having the similar look as that of the Pixel applications.
Some of the changes that are present are the new font i.e. Roboto interface and there is also the dot matrix type interface found in many places like the lock screen, charging animation, headings in the Settings application, and also in many elements throughout the user interface. While there are not many customizations, you do get external icon packs and wallpapers that you can download and use separately.
There are a couple of custom widgets present which can be added to the home screen, the folders can be made larger to occupy 2x2 space on the home screen and pop-up view for better multitasking. In the experimental features, there is a feature called Connect to Tesla which lets you control some of the functions of the Tesla vehicles through the smartphone itself wirelessly.
There is also a dedicated Game Mode which enhances the gameplay of many games and also blocks incoming notifications or calls. However, the most striking feature is the Glyph interface that controls the LED lights present at the back of the smartphone. You can have full control where you can adjust the brightness of the LEDs that need to be lit and also you can turn them off if not needed.
Next, the Nothing Phone 1 comes with 10 different custom ringtones and notification sounds where each LEDs are programmed in a such manner, that they light up in a different manner and this can be better used if you keep the smartphone upside down. With application notifications, you get different lighting effects and also while receiving messages.
The Glyph interface also lights up while charging both wireless and wirelessly and while shooting the video, the red LED at the back lights up. There is also an interesting feature called Flip to Glyph which works when you flip the smartphone where the sound remains silent but the LEDs do light up. The Glyph interface is an interesting addition that needs some more refinement though.
However, we cannot criticize as Nothing has made this a very unique feature that will improve in the upcoming days. But in some areas, the software does need more customizations, and app crashing needs to be fixed in some scenarios. In terms of software updates, you are assured to get another three years of AndroidOS updates and four years of security updates.
Overall, the software experience feels really good with some minor fixes needed but what you get is a bloatware-free software experience.
Nothing Phone 1 Cameras:
The Nothing Phone 1 sports a dual camera setup that includes a 50MP f/1.8 Sony IMX766 sensor for the main camera and a 50MP f/2.2 Samsung JN1 sensor for the ultrawide camera only. It is really a very good move by Nothing not to provide a 2MP depth or macro camera so instead, the ultrawide camera on the Nothing Phone 1 doubles up as a macro camera.
There is a 16MP f/2.4 Sony IMX471 sensor for the front camera which has been seen on many OnePlus smartphones in the past. The images from the main camera come out with good details and dynamic range and the noise is very less in the background. The colors come out naturally without any oversharpening in the background. In HDR images, the details look much sharper and the colors look punchier.
At night, the images come out with sharper details and good dynamic range with very less noise in the background. The exposure looks very good in low-lighting areas and also colors come out naturally without any oversharpening. With the Night Mode turned on, the exposure improves slightly and images look brighter with almost no noise in the background.
Nothing did a good job of providing a larger 50MP ultrawide camera instead of an 8MP unit usually found on most smartphones. The 50MP ultrawide camera does a good job in terms of details as they look a tad sharper but do look softer at times. The colors look well-saturated but there is some amount of distortion around the edges.
The ultrawide camera on the Nothing Phone 1 also doubles up as a macro camera and since it has autofocus, the macro images have sharper details and excellent dynamic range with no noise in the background. You can also use the main camera by going closer to a subject and here you will get sharper details though the focusing distance may not be as good as that by using the ultrawide camera.
At night, the ultrawide camera does a good job in terms of dynamic range but the details look slightly softer and the colors are also slightly washed out. There is very less noise present in the background though. With the Night Mode turned on, the images look slightly oversaturated while the exposure improves drastically and noise also reduces to a larger extent.
In terms of portraits, the smartphone does a good job in terms of dynamic range and skin tones also look natural without any oversharpening. The edge detection is perfect and though you do not have a dedicated depth sensor, the background blur is perfectly implemented and also you have almost no noise in the background.
On the front, there is a 16MP camera that does a good job in terms of selfies as you get good dynamic range and colors look natural without any noise in the background. The selfies have sharper details and you also get a Night Mode for the front camera which works well in low-lighting conditions. In terms of selfie portraits, the edge detection and background blur are perfect with sharper-looking details.
In terms of videos, the Nothing Phone 1 can shoot 4K videos at 30fps on both its main and ultrawide camera and the videos from the main camera come out with excellent dynamic range and colors that look natural without any oversharpening. Since there is OIS present, the noise is very less with sharper details in the background.
The videos taken from the ultrawide camera have a good amount of details which do look softer with very less noise in the background. Since it has EIS present, the stabilization is good with average contrast. However, the colors come out slightly undersaturated which needs to be improved. The front camera can record 1080p videos at 30fps and these videos have a good amount of details with less noise around.
Nothing Phone 1 Battery Life:
The Nothing Phone 1 sports a 4500mAh battery which can easily last the smartphone for about two days with normal usage that includes the casual playing of games, web-browsing, and streaming social media with the display set to 120Hz and with heavy usage that includes playing heavy games like Call Of Duty, BGMI for longer hours, rendering videos and continuous calls, the smartphone could last for one and half day easily.
The standard screen-on time is around 5-6 hours which is pretty less for a Snapdragon 778G+ chipset as it is based on a 5nm process also NothingOS does not have any bloatware but still, it does not seem too optimized for battery life. In terms of charging, the Nothing Phone 1 supports 33W fast charging which is fast but still behind the competition that does provide 65/120W fast charging speeds.
However, just like Samsung and Apple, you do not get a charger bundled inside the box. Using any third-party 33W fast charger, the smartphone takes around 1 hour 30 minutes for a full charge from 0 to 100 percent. The Nothing Phone 1 sports 15W wireless charging and 5W reverse wireless charging which are some very good additions to this price segment.
Nothing Phone 1 Audio Quality:
The Nothing Phone 1 sports a dual stereo speaker setup that sounds adequately loud and clear without any distortion. The loudness levels are very good but the bass level could have been better. The only issue is that sound is slightly louder from the earpiece compared to the loudspeaker grill at the bottom. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack present.
Verdict:
Overall, the Nothing Phone 1 is a good smartphone that brings a newer and interesting design with those Glyph LEDs at the back, the 120Hz AMOLED display with stereo speakers are a great source for media consumption, the Snapdragon 778G+ chipset provides good daily performance, and is capable in gaming, the cameras are very good, and there is no bloatware present in the user interface.
However, there are some areas in the Nothing Phone 1 does feel short and mainly in terms of battery life which is not so good considering the efficient chipset, the NothingOS has quite a few bugs which need to be fixed, the charging speeds are not as fast as in the competition and though the Snapdragon 778G+ is a powerful chipset, it is not as good for gaming as the Snapdragon 870 chipset.
In terms of cameras, the Nothing Phone 1 delivers a good experience but the ultrawide camera does need some improvement. So if battery life and flagship-level performance with gaming are your highest priority, the Nothing Phone 1 is not the perfect one but with other aspects like a unique design, a good set of cameras, and a clean software experience, then the Nothing Phone 1 is a good buy.
Overall, considering the premium mid-range segment which has a lot of smartphones from different brands, the Nothing Phone 1 will find a hard slot to set the benchmark as it does everything in a placid manner but if you want a unique design that sets it apart and the cleaner software experience, it is worth considering.
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