Nothing Phone-1 Review

 

Nothing Phone Review - 23799/-

BUY NOW

Good all-rounder!

 1 Month of using the device:
-Cameras have improved significantly with the OTA update. Really have high hopes that with a few more tweaks, this will be one of the best cameras in this segment.
- Post the notorious last OTA update which has come in, charging has taken a hit. The device now charges 80-85% in 60mins, whereas it used to charge around 90%+ before the update. The messed up this update big time.
Some folks have complained about other issues but i have not noticed anything of that sort.
Hopefully, they will be careful before rolling out updates in the future.
Would still recommend this for any person looking for a solid, no-compromise premium midrange device.

Here are my observations post 48 hrs of owning the device:

- The display is pretty good. Yes, brightness is not on par with other devices of this budget but its not bad. Its just okay.
- Tested out the cameras and well the rear imx766 is pretty well optimized. Colour balance can (and hopefully will) be worked on to improve it. The JN1 sensor had a ton of shade change when switching from the main lens. Things need to be look led into to bring that to par.
- Even though there's a stereo speaker, its more like 70-30 with most coming from the bottom grill.
- I do play games on my mobile, particularly like Injustice 2 and Dragon Ball Lengends and the battery drain( with game mode on) has been okay. Its not huge but not as efficient as one might imagine. Gameplay has been smooth for both of them. But due to having an aluminium frame, the device does heat up a bit. It does cool down pretty fast and the heating does not cause any lags/frame drops. Overall, i got a solid 6hr 24mins SOT with adaptive refresh, wifi+ mobile data always and around 40-50% screen brightness on a single SIM.
- The glyph lights were an important factor towards my interest in this device. While they didn't disappoint, i do agree that the Nothing team and we as a community need to come up with more usecases as to where they could be used. I am a guy who loves to turn his device face down at work/when busy to prevent distraction but unfortunately the glyph lights are more distracting to me lol.
- UI experience even though clean has numerous bugs. I understand its a new UI they have and hopefully with time bugs get removed.
- Cellular reception and mobile data has been brilliant.

I probably have mentioned most of the necessary details an everyday user might experience with this device. I really hope they improve the cameras, gradually remove the bugs in the UI and probably have a look at improving the battery optimisation.

In short, folks who want a solid 7/10 all round device with few to no compromises can absolutely go for this device.

Camera Samples

Selfie 7/10
Primary camera 10/10
Ultrawide camera 6/10

Video recording 8/10

Performance & Stability 8/10
Design 10/10
No Green Tint issue
Software Experience 9/10
Value for money 8/10