London technology company Nothing has today successfully launched its first smartphone, the Phone (1), bringing a welcome dash of fresh blood to a sector that some might say has become stale with annual incremental updates from the big players like Apple and Samsung.
The mid-range handset uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ processor, and runs on a modified version of the Android 12 framework. The press release states that the phone offers “no bloatware, just speed and a smooth user experience”.
However, the phone does offer integrated support for third party products, such as Tesla, as well as an in-built NFT app which allows the user to display their NFTs and track floor prices.
“We designed Phone (1) as a product we’d be proud to share with friends and family,” said Nothing CEO and co-founder Carl Pei. “This simple principle helped us wander off the beaten path, tune into our instincts, and create an experience that hopefully marks the start of change in a stagnant industry.”
The phone also features wireless charging, a 6.55” OLED display, and an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. The wireless charging in particular was the result of collaboration with Qualcomm, who worked closely with Nothing on a custom chipset which offers a balance of performance and power.
“Lately it feels like, after a slew of more and more similar products, and more and more uninspiring products At Nothing we don’t believe so,” said Pei.
Rumours of Nothing’s phone were circling for a while before the official reveal this month, with Nothing strategically leaking details incrementally.
These leaks resulted in a significant amount of interest – the first 100 phones were engraved and auctioned off on StockX, raising over $100,000 in total, showing that there may be some evidence to back up the company’s hopes to shake up the industry. This money was invested into a community-managed fund.
The phone is releasing today in regions such as the UK, Australia, and India, but is not yet available in the US.
New players in the hardware space are a rarity, and while Apple’s iPhone had a remarkably success launch, Steve Jobs was not keen to see the handset as part of the wider games industry. While the eventual impact on the games industry has been astronomical, it remains to be seen whether the Nothing Phone (1) will reverberate in the same way.
