This depiction of the Nothing Phone 1 fills in the gaps left by the announcement event.
Even though Nothing’s The Truth event this week verified the existence of the Nothing Phone 1, its look remains a mystery. As a result of the event, we now have a fresh concept image from designer Ben Geskin to help us visualise the future device’s appearance.
Using the graphic below, you can see that Phone 1 will be powered by a Snapdragon processor and run the company’s proprietary Nothing OS. Aside from those changes, this design was created by combining elements from the Phone 1 teaser picture that seemed to be completely unconnected before being assembled into the final form we see today.
Similarly to the Nothing Ear 1 wireless earbuds that were released last year, the design features a transparent shell on the rear. Nothing’s Phone 1 would stand out from its competition if its see-through technology was included, which has been more uncommon in recent years.
In the marks disclosed by Nothing, the top-left stadium shape points to the back camera module. Like the iPhone X or XS’ camera blocks, it seems to be about the correct size for two camera sensors. To help bring attention to the wireless charging coil on compatible phones, the spherical shape in the centre of the case seems to be there to serve that purpose.
Front camera design is a hot topic of discussion. There’s optimism that the Phone 1 will include an under-display selfie camera, but the primary expectation is that it will have a centred punch-hole camera. As Yanko Design points out in the briefing, the virtual interface is a good match for Nothing’s goal of providing a distinctive user experience. The renderings, on the other hand, were largely intended to showcase the programme, so this may just have been an oversight.
Even though we’ve seen that Nothing OS is going to be a familiar-looking shell of Android, we don’t know which Snapdragon processor Nothing will use. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is a good choice, but it could alternatively go with a 7-series or even lower-powered CPU if it wants to save money or emphasise software.
While there are still numerous holes in our understanding about Nothing Phone 1, they won’t last forever. There’s no word yet on when the phone will be released, but we wouldn’t be shocked if Nothing shows up again before then to take further potshots at Apple and the iPhone 13 or Samsung’s Galaxy S22..