The CEO of British technology firm Nothing, Carl Pei, announced on Thursday the launch of the company’s very first smartphone, the Nothing Phone (1). After launching his wireless headphones, the Nothing Ear (1), last year, the former co-founder of OnePlus is once again attacking the smartphone market, and more particularly Apple.
For the moment, advances the latter, “there is no alternative to Apple. This means that consumers have no choice and innovation slows down”. To challenge the limited and siled product ecosystem of iPhone makers, Nothing is expected to launch the Phone(1) later this year, while creating a seamless and integrative ecosystem with third-party products, the nature of which has no not been disclosed. Unlike the key features and specifications of the Phone (1), a small part of which has been communicated.
ZDNet’s editorial team reveals everything you need to know – so far – about Nothing’s first smartphone.
A no-frills experience
The Phone (1) will run on Nothing OS, overlaid on Android. In keeping with the brand, icons, widgets and fonts will follow Nothing’s raster design language. “Nothing OS captures the best features of pure Android, distilling the operating system down to the essentials, where every byte has a purpose. It is designed to offer a fast, fluid and personal experience,” explained the CEO of the British firm during the presentation of the device.
It is clear that the operating system – like the OnePlus OxygenOS of the early days, will offer an Android experience close to what is done today. Fans of Google’s native launcher will be happy to hear that the Phone (1) probably won’t feature a lot of bloatware and useless apps. According to Nothing’s press release, a first preview of Nothing OS will be available for download and testing on select smartphone models starting in April.
The Nothing Phone (1) will be equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The two companies announced a partnership in October last year, promising future tech products powered by Qualcomm chips. Whether it’s the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or the 2022 iteration of the flagship processor remains to be seen.
Four years of security updates
Software update policies continue to be the focus of consumers and brands. During the keynote, Carl Pei announced that the Nothing Phone (1) will receive three years of operating system updates and four years of security updates. While it’s not as competitive as the update standards offered by Samsung and Apple, it’s good to see that a company as recent as Nothing is lining up with those of OnePlus and Google. The cadence and quality of updates are left hanging for the Phone (1), but with its lightweight approach to Android, software tuning should be less of a problem.
While little or nothing has leaked out about the Phone(1)’s hardware and exterior appearance, it wouldn’t be surprising if the device featured elements of Nothing’s signature transparent design language. Last year, the brand’s wireless earphones grabbed headlines for their transparent finish, showing off the earbuds’ cabling and technical intricacies. We expect no less from an industrial design perspective for the company’s first smartphone.
How much will Nothing’s smartphone cost?
Nothing has not yet revealed the price of its Phone (1), but the company has specified that its launch is scheduled for next summer.
Source: ZDNet.com