Since Nothing's debut with their Nothing Ear 1 wireless earphones back in 2020, the brand's philosophy has been extreme minimalism; to create tech that simply disappears into the background. Nothing's Ear 1's are a perfect emblem of its mission statement, so the question to be raised is whether Nothing can fulfil this vision with their new upcoming device, the Nothing Phone 1.
Nothing set the bar extremely high before the release of their Nothing Ear 1's and most people's expectations were exceeded. However, there is a notable difference between an audio accessory release and a smartphone release, so it's safe to say the expectations behind the Nothing Phone 1 are much higher. Not only has Nothing got to produce a handset that can compete amongst huge brands such as Apple and Samsung, but they've also got to produce a handset that can live up to their mission statement: minimalism in every last aspect, from the design and user experience all the way down to the packaging and unboxing experience.
Design & Hardware
Now, whilst we don't have an official design for the Nothing Phone 1, we do know that they are going to adopt transparent design elements, similar to what we've seen on the Nothing Ear 1's. Carl Pei, Nothing's CEO, has confirmed that the back of the Nothing Phone 1 will receive a fully transparent rear design which is exciting news. It's evident that Nothing will continue to use transparent design elements as a key feature of its product design. What will be interesting is how Nothing approaches the appearance of the internal components in the Nothing Phone 1 to give us something genuinely good to look at; intricate, sophisticated and "nothingness". After looking at many concepts and leaks, it's safe to say that the Nothing Phone 1 is likely to adopt the popular hole punch camera design in a bezel-less display. We can certainly expect an OLED panel in this handset and most likely a higher refresh rate screen of 120hz or even 240hz. What's more, the Nothing Phone 1 is likely to feature either a dual or quad camera layout. More likely than not, we will probably see a dual-camera setup on the Nothing Phone 1 with a 50-64MP camera for its main lens. As for its battery and charging capabilities, whilst we don't expect OnePlus charging speeds, we can still anticipate a solid 4500-5000mAh battery with 45w fast charging, which is pretty solid.
Software
The Nothing Phone 1 will be an Android device. However, a nice transparent back with a standard Android 12 user interface, wouldn't quite fulfil what we all expect from Nothing's first phone. So, while the Nothing Phone 1 will run on Android 12, Nothing themselves has created their own Nothing OS, which will bring a user experience that can truly bring their vision to life. Carl Pei claims the Nothing OS overlay will "effortlessly connect and integrate Nothing products and products from other world-leading brands," comparing his vision to create a Nothing ecosystem in the future, like Apple's. We expect the Nothing OS to live up to its name with a lightweight, seamless experience and an easy-to-navigate layout. The software should be integrated through bespoke fonts, colours, graphical elements, and sounds.
Nothing has a vision. The Nothing Ear 1's showed us a taster of their vision, but now it's time for Nothing to show us what their brand is going to bring to the marketplace. Whilst the expectations are high, we don't think that Nothing will disappoint. Are you going to be part of Nothing's journey? Let us know in the discussion section below and share your thoughts on the Nothing Phone 1.
