Can a smartphone still be cool? They were once, in those days when they were more luxury than ubiquity. But what happens when everyone has one—and, more importantly, almost all of us have the same one? Phones are not a fad. They are not clothes or shoes or even cars. The odds are probably about equal that you have the same one as the world’s richest billionaire or the guy who bags your groceries.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the choice between smartphones is an illusion, but it’s also probably not as big as you think. The past few years have seen market consolidation among a fleeting handful of companies, while once-mighty brands like LG and HTC have fallen. Add in geographic and carrier restrictions and it becomes clear what a small pool we end up swimming in here.
Nothing is a company founded, among other things, on the idea that smartphones can still be cool. That they can be exciting and interesting in an area where they are more or less similar touch screen electronic plates.
There has never been a good or easy time to start a new smartphone company. But in a number of ways, founder Carl Pei may have chosen the worst—or at least the most difficult. Along with the aforementioned consolidation comes an overall stagnation and decline in smartphone sales. After a decade of flying aloft, the stuff dispersed to Earth. It’s a regression that goes back a long way, but was ultimately accelerated by the pandemic.
Nothing smartphone
Image credits: Brian Heater
Smartphone manufacturers have backed themselves into a corner in an attempt to beat the competition. In the process, devices improved to the point where people felt less compelled to upgrade as often. Differentiation became more difficult, and continued attempts to add features to outdo others drove the prices of flagship models into four figures. It’s something of a paradox—smartphones may have become too popular for their own good.
These factors portend a massive disruption in the supply chain. Chips and other components have become increasingly difficult to supply at scale for companies not named Apple or Samsung, while external financial factors, including inflation, have driven up the price of consumer electronics. Anyone with a passing interest in the category would likely agree that the category could use some new life, but how one can provide it is a different matter entirely.
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“Nothing has been a difficult company to start,” Pei told me recently. “This industry in general has one of the highest barriers to entry. We have huge companies and they are consolidating. There are a handful of companies that are active, and the huge companies tend to be quite bureaucratic, slow moving and very analytical. No wonder why all products are similar these days. In a regular industry or product category, you also have fresh blood that keeps coming from below. There is no fresh blood in our industry because the barrier to entry is so high.”
There are other barriers as well. After all, that’s exactly why Nothing didn’t bring its first phone to the States. While US consumers have begun to recognize the appeal of buying unlocked devices, carriers still have a stranglehold on the market. “You have to work with a major carrier,” Pei added, “they have a lot of negotiating power over you.”
The Nothing Ear (1) headphones were a great way to test wider consumer interest. The headphone market, while still saturated, still has room for growth. And besides, $99 for a pair of headphones from a brand new manufacturer is a lot easier to ask for than a smartphone — even for $400.
Image credits: Brian Heater
Meanwhile, the company is working hard to build a brand. Pei’s greatest strength is his ability to build community. That was a key part of OnePlus’ early successes, and it’s doing its best to recapture that magic with the Nothing. For the phone, that means things like invite-only buying (something that happens to mesh well with these supply chain issues), equity crowd investing, and, yes, NFTs. Scarcity isn’t a concept one tends to think about when discussing a mass-produced product like a phone, but perhaps there are lessons to be learned from the cultures of crypto and hype beasts.
Aesthetic consistency is another shortcut to brand building. When we broke the news that the company was working on a phone back in March, we noted:
Details surrounding the upcoming device are thin, though the source notes that the product will share a similar design language and “elements of transparency” seen in Nothing’s first product.
It’s safe to say the report paid off. The clear back, combined with the ‘Glyph’ LED lighting arrangement, is the phone’s most striking visual element, sharing a language with Nothing’s transparent earpiece. Stripped of that aspect, it, well, looks an awful lot like an iPhone. “I got that feedback,” Pei told me when I brought this up. “It’s the most efficient use of space.”
Is the current iPhone some platonic ideal of smartphone design? I guess it is until it isn’t and someone else comes up with something better. Perhaps this speaks to another kind of limitation: physical design and use of space. Of course, nothing could go out of its way to produce something completely different, but 1) good luck finding a manufacturer who will work with you and 2) you’re suddenly catapulted into the world of function over form. There is certainly some wiggle room, but the phone has to be functional first and then you can start worrying about the other stuff.
After all, when you choose utility, you need to find other ways to stand out as a real alternative in the same world of phones. This is the ultimate space that the Nothing Phone occupies. It’s kind of a thought experiment on how one can differentiate themselves in a product category that’s already so mature and well-defined.
Nothing smartphone
Image credits: Brian Heater
One thing that is undeniable, however, is that the form factor is solid. The combination of glass and metal combined with the weight of the device gives the phone (1) a premium feel. It’s not heavy – certainly not for a phone this size – so much as substantial. As for the build, it never felt like I was wearing anything other than a flagship.
The company has decided that bleeding specs aren’t the hill to die on either. That’s understandable. Going head-to-head against Samsung and Apple in an all-out specs war is a losing game. This is most obvious in the case of the chipset. The inclusion of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ chip puts the device firmly in the mid-range category. Like almost every other aspect of building your first phone in 2022, there are trade-offs.
I assumed the decision was largely a budget one. I suspect that still played a factor in the decision, but ultimately Nothing’s choice not to go all-in on the latest flagship chip was a bit scarier than that. Pei said the decision to use a TSMC factory — instead of Samsung — is what pushed him over the edge. “It was a tough choice because we knew there would be people who would say ‘hey, what are you doing?’ It’s not the latest. But I think this is the most responsible choice in the seven series.”
When it comes to performance, the phone can falter. It performs well, especially these devices in its price range. Of course, there are trade-offs that come with not getting this year’s latest flagship chip, but nothing that should have a profound impact on your day-to-day use. The chips are paired with a solid starting 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There are three tiers in total, ranging from £399 ($473) to £499 ($592) for 12GB/256GB – again, positioning the product in the mid-range.
Image credits: Brian Heater
It’s good value – especially for a first-time phone. The resources required to run a device like this are huge. Pei certainly mentioned the fact that much of the company’s growth so far has been related to the phone (1), making the success of this phone almost essential or ultimate for the young company. For this reason, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if Nothing shifted some of the financial burden to the user.
Like talking about specs, pricing your product like Apple and Samsung is a fool’s errand. First, phone prices above $1,000 are one of the factors that have reduced phone sales. Finding a better price point makes the product more competitive and opens up additional markets like India that tend to be more interested in mid-range pricing (a big market for nothing, as it happens). It’s probably no coincidence that pricing has also been a key part of OnePlus’ strategy.
The back, meanwhile, is the most unique design element I’ve seen on a phone recently, aside from folding screens. Is it a trick? Yes, 100%. It’s decent though, with real functionality. This is also why the device comes with a warning for people with epilepsy and sensitivity to light. That’s not something you see on most phones — and partly an indication of how bright this thing gets at full power. The “glyph” is made of 900 LEDs covered with a diffuse layer that makes it look like one connected light source. The design is certainly unique. “I was told it was the kanji for ‘love,'” Pei told me of his design team. “But I call that bullshit. I can not see him.” It can be programmed for many different notifications, but it takes a while to remember which is which.
Image credits: Brian Heater
In the center is a 5W coil for wireless charging. Select “Power Share” from the drop-down menu, place a pair of headphones in the center, and the ring will light up to let you know it’s doing its job. Battery life in general is not…
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