Until recently, the London start-up Nothing had been a bit under the radar.
That changed when the company, which was founded in 2020, announced its new Nothing Phone (1), which quickly caught the attention of tech enthusiasts and was officially launched on Tuesday.
Nothing says your smartphone offers 18 hours of use with each charge and two days on standby, and that it can reach 50% power in just 30 minutes of charging.
He says the phone also has a number of remote features, including the ability to unlock the doors of a Tesla car.
Here’s what you need to know about the newest phone, which has been listed as one of the most environmentally friendly on the market.
What makes Nothing Phone (1) so different?
At first glance, the model appears to be similar in design and features to the iPhone 12, with flattened edges, side button designs, and dual rear cameras.
The phone has a transparent back and was inspired by artists like Massimo Vignelli who designed the New York subway map and made a complex system look like art.
“We were inspired by our childhood, the rush to relate to our first tech products, like the transparent Gameboy, or even old cassette tapes,” said Akis Evangelidis, head of marketing and co-founder of Nothing, to Euronews Next in an interview in June.
He added that modern technological design “has become cold and does not cause the same feeling of emotion as before.”
The design team is led by Adam Bates, a former Dyson designer.
What really differentiates this product, however, is Nothing’s commitment to sustainability.
“We cannot deny the importance of sustainability at this stage, especially within the consumer technology industry,” Evangelidis continued. “We really don’t want to be another brand caught up in greenwashing.”
The phone is made of a 100% recycled aluminum frame that makes it lightweight and sturdy, while more than 50% of the phone’s plastic components are made from biologically based or post-consumer recycled materials, a leading percentage in the industry.
The packaging of the phone will also be made with eco-friendly soy ink, recycled fiber (bamboo, trees and sugar cane) and completely free of plastic components.
“We want to support our customers and technology users alike in making an informed decision as we continue to find new ways to improve technology sustainability,” Evangelidis told Euronews Next.
“For years, it seemed like all the artists had left the industry. All we have left are cold, unexciting and derived products. It was time for a new take,” said Carl Pei, CEO and co-founder of Nothing. he said in a statement.
“The phone (1) was designed by instinct, making a product for ourselves and most of all, we would be proud to share it with our loved ones. I can’t wait for people to start experiencing it.”
The Nothing phone will run on a custom version of Android, backed by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset.
A challenge to Big Tech
Pei co-founded smartphone maker OnePlus in 2013 and made it a rival to Apple and Samsung by offering premium features at half the price and becoming the best-selling in several countries, including India.
After leaving OnePlus in 2020, he founded Nothing last year with the support of people like Tony Fadell, Apple’s iPod designer, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin and Reddit CEO Steve Huffman.
The Nothing Phone (1) is just the company’s second product launch, after last year’s Ear (1) wireless headphones, priced at $ 99 (€ 98.7), leagues below of their counterparts, although they retained premium features such as active noise cancellation.
How much does the Nothing Phone (1) cost?
The Nothing Phone (1) is priced at £ 399 (€ 473), and the company says it is cheaper than premium phones with similar features and there are more than 200,000 pre-orders.
OnePlus used an invitation-only strategy to sell smartphones that created great demand by keeping customers in a state of constant anticipation.
Following a similar strategy, Nothing conducted an auction in June for 100 new phones and secured bids of more than $ 3,000, he said.
The company teamed up with StockX to auction off the first serialized units, with all proceeds going to a community-managed fund.