Nothing Phone 1 Review

It's finally here!

The Nothing Phone 1 was the best Android phone of 2022. Americans were disappointed that it didn't make the cut. This is now changing. There is a new Beta Membership available that allows you to purchase a Phone 1 and experience Android 13 beta from the company for $300. This membership does not work on all US carriers.

Beta software and incompatibility with certain carriers are difficult to swallow. Let's see how the Nothing Phone 1 compares, especially when compared to phones such as the Google Pixel 6a, which dominates the US budget market.

Design

Its design is the most intriguing aspect of the phone, which was revealed for the first time on June 15.

Anyone who has seen the Ear (1) headphones will recognize the design language. It is made of a mixture of transparent and opaque plastics that hint at the internals of the phone without revealing too much. You can choose from black or white.

The phone has a pair of LED light strips at the back. These are called the Glyph Interface and can flash in white (though not in all patterns) and have some neat tricks.

Flashing notifications

Reverse wireless charging is done by glancing around the charging coil

Slowly filling in the bottom bar during wired charging to indicate a full battery

When using the camera, all illuminating simultaneously as a fill light

Different patterns are flashed in response to pre-set notification alerts and ringtones

The phone's frame is made from recycled aluminum and much of the plastic is post-consumer recycled. For protection, the front and back are covered in Gorilla Glass 5 and the handset is also IP53 certified for dust and water resistance.

Nothing OS

Software is the last key component of the phone. Pei also presented Nothing OS, an Android-based user experience at the March announcement event. This will be the first smartphone from the company.

Pei describes Nothing OS as "capturing the best features and essence of Android. It distills the operating system down to its essentials. Every byte serves a purpose."

It's a familiar approach that follows similar principles to OxygenOS user experiences found on phones made by Pei’s former company, OnePlus.

The screenshots above show that Nothing OS has a distinctive aesthetic. This is consistent with the retro-futurism seen throughout the brand's other assets.

In an effort to provide a simpler and cleaner navigation experience, the OS's ringtones are and will be influenced by "Morsecode, oscillators, and digital watches".

Pei also promised to reduce the number of pre-loaded apps by 40%, with Google's experiences being the first port-of-call for most services.