The most hyped smartphone in recent times. It is launched for ₹32,999/- for the base variant in India. Since its launch, the feedback of the users was not good at all. Display issues, software issues, and battery problems.
But it doesn’t make any impact on the hype and we see the little effect on the sales. After all, Nothing started giving software updates to resolve these issues. Till now, Nothing Phone (1) received more than five updates.
Recently, a popular review site named Android Authority mentioned in an article that Nothing Phone (1)’s hardware supports 1200 nits brightness but actually, software supports up to 700 nits brightness only. Nothing responds “We will solve this issue in an update”.
The complete review of Nothing Phone (1)
Display
It has a 6.55-inch 10-bit FHD+ OLED display, 120Hz refresh rate, in-display fingerprint sensor, 1200 nits brightness, 2400×1080 resolution, HDR10+ support, 402PPI.
The display is not bright in the sunlight, even 700 nits brightness also proved wrong. Only 500 nits brightness coming. Having pretty narrow edges is a good one. 120Hz refresh rate is also not an issue here.
The overhyped 1200 nits brightness is only for HDR content. Even, HDR reproduction is very poor on this device.
In-hand feel is similar to an iPhone. The design and frame were actually good. The first thing you’ll like back design on this smartphone. The device weighs 193g. The display size is also bit large. The size is exactly the same as iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Stereo speakers are just average overall compared to other devices. Nearly 70% of the sound comes from the bottom and rest of them comes from the earpiece.
Performance
It is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ processor with Adreno 642L GPU. It performs very well while browsing and the 120Hz refresh rate is also one major plus point for the performance.
When it comes to gaming, I’ll suggest better to go with the smartphone having Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 or MedaiTek Dimensity 1300 processor than this device.
It is handling normal games very well but heavy games like BGMI, Call Of Duty, Asphalt 9 and Apex Legends. You’ll notice some frame drops in the high frame rate.
Camera
Nothing Phone (1) has dual rear cameras. 50-megapixel main rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, and Sony IMX766 sensor. Another camera is also 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens with f/2.2 aperture, and Samsung JN1 sensor. 16 megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.45 aperture, and Sony IMX471 sensor.
The main camera is very impressive even in night time. The Ultra wide-angle lens is not as great as the main camera. No need to compare this camera with flagships like iPhone 13 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
The front camera also gives decent pictures. We can expect much better pictures because Nothing giving time to updates. Video recording is the major issue in the camera department. I mean not that smooth. In the videos, colors might under exposed sometimes.
In the video department, Google Pixel 6a is far better than this device.
Battery
It has 4500mAh battery with 33W fast charging support and 15W wireless charging support and there is no adapter in the retail box. The screen-on time is about 7 hours. Sometimes is about 8 hours also.
When you charge the smartphone getting heat a lot compared to other devices. It takes more than one hour to full charge. 50% charges in 30 minutes.
Others
RAM management is quite good enough. Compared to Google Pixel 6a and other compared, not good. It is equipped with LPDDR5 RAM which is the faster RAM and UFS 3.1 ROM which is the faster ROM.
No Micro SD slot, you should think about this before purchasing. After receiving too much of OTA updates, you’ll notice some bugs in the UI. There is heating issues on the rear side.
The proximity sensor has a bit issue. This smartphone gets three years of Android version updates and four years Android security patch updates.
Major Cons
Firstly, the pricing. Base variant (8GB+128GB) launched for ₹32,999/- and now ₹1,000/- has been increased. For these specs, above ₹30,000/- is expensive. The people will expect Snapdragon 870 processor above 30k budget.
Wireless charging is no need at this price range. There is no adapter instead of wireless charging they should give this one.
The accessories prices are also a bit expensive. Transparent case priced at ₹1,499/-. Charger priced at ₹2,499/-. For making a transparent case it won’t cost more than ₹200 and the best price for this one is ₹300 or ₹400.
Worth it or not?
If you want a premium in-hand feel, design and better experience you should purchase this smartphone. Apart from that, I won’t recommend this smartphone.
If this smartphone comes for under ₹28,000/- in the upcoming festival sales then you should look at this device. It doesn’t give iPhone experience, it is just like another Chinese smartphone.
You should add more money and go for Google Pixel 6a for awesome cameras and user experience. Better to choose realme, Xiaomi, iQOO and Samsung smartphones instead of Nothing Phone (1).
I hope upcoming Nothing phones will not come with these problems. You should excuse Nothing because it’s their first ever smartphone.
Terry Ts