Nothing Phone (1) – First Impressions

Upgrade was due

The last Smartphone I purchased was my current OnePlus 6 which was four years ago. At the time that I got it, I was midway through university which feels like a long time ago! However, I felt it was time to make a change since my current phone was starting to feel sluggish and the battery life didn’t see me through the day.

What came in the box?

The box everything arrived in is what you would expect from most smartphone companies. I also got a phone case (for protection) and the Nothing 1 earphones since I don’t have any Bluetooth earphones. I didn’t order myself a phone charger as I’ve already got a OnePlus 30-watt charger for devices and the phone supports up to 33 watts. My photo was taken on my current OnePlus 6 phone which I’m upgrading from.

Thoughts on Nothing Phone (1)?

Flashy!

What stands out the most on this device is the fancy lighting on the back. The company does a great job on creating a phone that looks interesting and appealing enough to get me on board. Being able to see the internals of the phone is also pretty eye-catching though if you’d rather not buy the Nothing Phone (1), dbrand have their own version of skins for phone internals.

Chipset and Battery

Initially, the Nothing phone 1 felt underwhelming due to the Snapdragon chip chosen by Nothing. The fact phone felt like a downgrade to my current OnePlus 6. Considering the Snapdragon is an upgraded version of the existing chipset (778G+), it didn’t feel like much of an upgrade. However, the thought that went into selecting this snapdragon felt reasonable, especially when battery life is concerned.

In terms of an upgrade, the Nothing phone 1 offers more improvements over my current OnePlus 6, including 5G which I’ve been able to use due to my current phone not supporting it. The battery life is another improvement over the current 3300mah of my current daily driver… Did I also mention it has wireless charging up to 15 watts and reverse charging? This makes Nothing Phone (1) one of the first middle-range smartphones I’ve seen with this feature on the market.

Sustainability

With the ever-growing need for businesses to adopt sustainable practices, Nothing made the right choice in using up to 50% recycled materials for their mobile devices. It’s great to see a new phone company doing this, especially as this gives me peace of mind that I’m not adding as much to the endless amount of landfill/waste.

UK Business

It’s also great that the company is UK based which means I’m supporting a homebrew business. And yes, we all know the “made in Great Britain” scene from the IT crowd but hopefully, this won’t be the case for this mobile device, after all, those who helped build it had lots of industry experience when it comes to tech.

Will I buy Nothing moving forwards?

After a couple of weeks of using the device, I wouldn’t mind buying more Nothing Technology products in the future. The build quality feels nice in my hand and reminds me of when I had an iPhone years ago due to how alike the Nothing Phone 1 looks to one. As for the headphones, they’re pretty good value for money too assuming I didn’t have any Bluetooth earphones of my own.

Conclusion

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed owning a Nothing Phone (1). The device offers a well-rounded package of specs and features, some mid-range phones don’t have. It has an almost premium build quality and a software skin close to stock Anroid which is nice to see. I really hope to see more phones from Nothing in the future with more fantastic features built into it.

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