10 things we know about the phone so far

The Nothing phone (1) is one of the most awaited smartphones right now. Ahead of the launch which is set to take place next month, the London-based startup recently revealed the full design of its upcoming phone.
While the full l of specifications of the Nothing phone (1) are still a mystery, the design reveal has answered a lot of questions around the phone. Here’s ten things we know about the Nothing phone (1) ahead of its launch next month.
Semi-transparent design
The Nothing phone (1) features somewhat of a transparent design on the back, where elements from the phone’s internals make up a large chunk of the visual elements. While this isn’t quite like the Nothing ear (1) where we could see more of the device’s internal components through the design, the phone (1) has what look like metal plates covering the exposed components, giving the back a cleaner look-and-feel despite offering a sneak into the device.
Illuminating back panel
Carl Pei revealed a few strange symbols back in March 2022, a set of lines and curves that we now know form a set of illuminating elements on the back of the Nothing phone (1). These illuminating lines, which are available around the camera island, the wireless charging area and on the top-right, could be used to alert users of notifications, but we’ll have to see if the use-cases go beyond that.Best of Express PremiumPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
Flat, metallic sides and buttons
The Nothing phone (1) features sleek metallic sides which are flat around the edges, similar to the new iPhone 13 series. This design choice has gathered mixed reactions from across the web as while some users on twitter seem to like flat sides, others have pointed out the similarity to Apple’s iPhones.
No 3.5mm jack
The design of the Nothing phone (1) has also offered more insight on what the phone’s hardware will not offer. One such element is the missing 3.5mm headphone jack. It seems that in favour of offering a better ecosystem for wireless audio products from other brands, Nothing will not be looking at native support for wired earphones and headphones. This also makes sense given that the company’s first own product was a pair of TWS earbuds.

No Alert Slider
When Carl Pei left OnePlus to form his own company, tech enthusiasts wondered if design choices which made early OnePlus phones popular would make their way to Nothing’s first smartphone. The OnePlus Alert Slider, which allowed users to quickly switch between silent and DND modes was one of these features.
However the design now reveals that the phone (1) will not be featuring an alert slider or any similar implementation. Instead, it seems like users will only have the software-side switch to toggle between ringing and silent profiles.
Dual camera setup on the back
The design also reveals that the Nothing phone (1) comes with a dual camera setup on the back, which actually is good news, even though it may not seem like it. The Nothing phone (1) is expected many to be a mid-range phone, not a flagship device, which means the phone is unlikely to feature over two powerful camera sensors on the back.
The Nothing phone (1) features a dual-camera setup on the back. (Image Source: Nothing)
In such a scenario, its nice to see what we guess would be a main sensor and an ultrawide sensor alone, instead of cramming in something like a 2MP macro sensor to call the entire setup a “triple-camera-setup,” a formula many brands have been trying lately. The dual-camera setup instead looks cleaner and offers more real estate for the rest of the back panel’s design to shine.
Power button, volume buttons on opposite sides
The Nothing phone (1) will apparently be following the opposite-side button pattern, where the power button and the volume rocker buttons are actually placed on opposite sides. This layout makes it easier to press multiple buttons together to do things like take a screenshot, enter the phone’s bootloader or recovery.
Wireless charging
One of the more prominent areas of the back panel of the Nothing phone (1) is the central circular area towards the bottom half of the device. This is the wireless charging coil, which finally confirms that the phone (1) will support wireless charging. This is good to see as wireless charging is usually seen only on flagship phones which are expensive.
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NothingOS powered Android 12
The Nothing phone (1) is set to launch with Android 12-based NothingOS out of the box. The same was shown back in March when Carl Pei offered a sneak peak at the phone’s software. A glimpse of the NothingOS skin, which will focus on offering a unique aesthetic and productivity, was offered to all Android users with the Nothing launcher which is currently available on the Play Store for interested users. It will be interesting to see what other new features NothingOS will bring with it when the phone goes live next month.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 700-series chip
The Nothing phone (1) is expected to be powered a Qualcomm Snapdragon 700-series chipset, although this has not yet been confirmed. We know that the phone will be powered a Qualcomm chip, and multiple reports of the device being an upper midrange one instead of a flagship phone, suggests the processor at the core of the phone could be a Snapdragon 700-series chip, likely the new Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC. More details on the phone’s processor may be revealed in the weeks leading up to the July 12 launch.