Nothing, the corporate from the previous co-founder of OnePlus, is lastly able to reveal its first good gadget, and it’s an bold one. It’s making an attempt to interrupt into the more and more samey world of telephones. And nothing appears fairly just like the Nothing Telephone 1.
You’ll both love or hate how the Telephone 1 appears. No matter whether or not you decide up the white or the black mannequin, the again of the cellphone is a clear Gorilla Glass slab that permits you to see an array of elements, LEDs, a charging coil, digicam and, wait, is that an elephant?
That is simply our early take a look at the cellphone (it’s solely been a few days), however I’ve already observed some intelligent design selections and options in each the {hardware} and software program. Having mentioned that, flagship cellphone obsessives that love a spicy spec sheet could also be underwhelmed. That is the primary smartphone from a brand new firm – it’d be not possible to compete with Samsung and Apple, so it’s targeted elsewhere.
From the beginning, the Telephone 1 has been framed as a playful reinterpretation of the smartphone, a class that (beside foldables) has turn out to be staid, to place it kindly. On the identical time, not competing with flagship cameras, screens and processors has ensured the worth is surprisingly cheap, beginning at £399 (roughly $476). Sadly, there’s no plan for US availability, however the worth places it within the mid-range cellphone class, alongside Google’s Pixel A collection, Samsung’s Galaxy A53 and Apple’s 2022 iPhone SE.
Essentially the most eye-catching a part of the cellphone are all of the light-up particulars on the again. Nothing calls these its Glyph interface. And regardless of my reservations, it’s not simply an eye catching design alternative – although, let’s be sincere, it’s largely that.
You may assign distinctive gentle patterns to particular contacts (there’s additionally a raft of completely synced ringtones) and totally different app notifications. Fortunately, you’ll be able to modify the brightness – it’s just a little too aggressive at max energy. The decrease light-up strip additionally represents the charging standing of the cellphone when it’s plugged in. This implies you gained’t have to wake the gadget – and even take a look at the display screen – to test the battery stage. You may as well use the Glyph Interface to gentle close-up topics, like a short-range ring-light with out the punch of the flash.
Mat Smith / Engadget
Unrelated to the Glyph interface, Nothing has additionally added a purple indicator gentle when the cellphone is recording, which is a pleasant, and in some way retro, contact. The white panels beneath the Gorilla Glass backing have a papery-looking texture to them, repeating a design alternative discovered on the Nothing Ear(1) wi-fi buds charging case. It’s a pleasant contact of household resemblance.
The body is made from recycled aluminum (over 50% of the plastic elements come from bio-based and recycled sources), and the flat edges make it really feel so much like an iPhone – not a nasty factor. The Telephone 1 has a small, however noticeable bezel across the 6.55-inch OLED display screen, a lifeless giveaway of its midrange nature. The display screen appears shiny and responsive sufficient to this point, with adaptive refresh charges as much as 120Hz.
Maybe a curse of a gorilla glass shell: each the display screen and the again will decide up fingerprints extremely simply – particularly irritating when it appears this good.
The cellphone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G+ chip. It is a customized twist on the midrange Snapdragon chip we’ve seen in different gadgets, which implies that the Telephone 1 can provide wi-fi charging capabilities. A Nothing spokesperson informed me that there are additionally Nothing’s personal customized algorithms for app optimization, which ought to, as you employ the gadget, optimize launch speeds in your most-used apps.
The Telephone 1 options 33W fast-charging to prime up the 4,500 mAH battery, and may reverse cost at as much as 5W – excellent for these companion Nothing Ear(1) buds, the corporate hopes.
On to a different necessary spec: the cameras. The Telephone 1 has a dual-camera system with a f/1.88 50-megapixel major digicam with optical and digital picture stabilization. This comes with all the standard options like HDR, Portrait mode, night time mode, 120 frames-per-second slow-mo video seize and extra. Zoom is proscribed to 2x optical zoom, with some digital zoom thrown in if you happen to’re determined.
Mat Smith / Engadget
The first shooter is joined by a 50-megapixel ultrawide digicam with a 114-degree discipline of view. There’s a front-facing 16-megapixel selfie digicam, too, with face unlock functionality. (There’s an in-screen fingerprint reader too). Anticipate us to offer some extra significant insights on the digicam in our overview, coming quickly, however for now, early samples counsel that the cameras are fairly succesful, providing picture high quality that wasn’t too far off flagships just like the Pixel 6 and the iPhone 13 Professional.
Nothing goes arduous on the aesthetic angle, and I’m pleasantly shocked that the cellphone appears, at the very least on first impressions, lots succesful. The value is tempting, and it’s definitely eye-catching. I’m wanting ahead to seeing the way it fares towards the equally priced competitors.
All merchandise advisable by Engadget are chosen by our editorial group, unbiased of our dad or mum firm. A few of our tales embody affiliate hyperlinks. When you purchase one thing via one in all these hyperlinks, we might earn an affiliate fee.