Nothing Phone 1 Review

Former CEO of One Plus, Carl Pei's new smartphone company Nothing is launching its first smartphone Nothing Phone 1 based on Android os. The Nothing phone 1 is priced in Apple's 3rd generation SE 2022, One Plus Nord 2T and Google's Pixel a with hardware specifications of mid range Android though with premium looks, modern-unique design and company's unique Glyph back cover lights for notifications and apps integrations.  

Specs and Design:

The Nothing Phone 1 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 778+G, which is more improved SoC with software updates than this year's Snapdragon 7th gen 1 in terms of performance and battery life. The RAM option is 8GB or 16 GB that is as same as One Plus Nord 2T and Samsung Galaxy A53 while storage is 256 GB out of box. The oled display is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 with full HD at 6.55 inch taller than iPhone SE 2022 and Pixel 6a. The display is also more brighter than competitors at 1200 nits max and with refresh rate of 120 Hz optimized for gaming and with HDR10+ support to recorded videos and movies. The front of Nothing Phone 1 is with high end smartphone like design with front camera of 16 Mps engraved into the glass and still optimized for one hand usages for apps and selfie captures for not into heavy-weights at 193 gms. There is also drop proof aluminium frame that makes Nothing Phone 1 outdoors choice along with IP53 support for water proof and dust proof usage. The phone is also with 5G support along with dual sim support.

The back of the phone is Nothing's first unique hardware and software integration to Android with Glyph led lights with customization options for notifications and third party apps support while featuring Sony's 100 Megapixels IMX766 sensor for 50 Mp f/1.9 PDAF OIS at 1.56 inch while Samsung's JN1 f/2.2 50 Mps at 2 inch ultra-wide sensor for Macro photography. The pixel size of 1 micrometer is also best for low light photography and HDR. The video recording is supported to 4K at 30 fps and full HD at 60 fps making Nothing Phone 1 really competitive against iPhone SE and others. The selfie camera is with f/2.5 and 3 inch sensor size for the best selfie experience.

The battery is 4500 mAh of fast charging 33 Watts that charges the phone to 50% in 30 mins while 15 Watts of wireless charging and 5 watts of reverse charging another Android smartphone. Qualcomm's Quick Charge 4.0 is also included. 

OS:

Nothing is launching its first smartphone with Nothing OS, a lite version of Android 12, made for smoothness and integrated Glyph user interface experience. Nothing OS is made for minimalist user experience of Bespoke effects making smartphone more retro stylish with dot matrix blend of analog and digital across in-house apps. There is also Nothing's branded widgets and wallpaper support with Glyph interface support.

Glyph interface is integrated to Nothing OS with company's 12 unique ringtones that display cool effects of led lights that are customized to user settings. There is also option for contacts of phone to show Glyph led patterns receiving incoming phone call. Users can also create their own ringtones with Glyph customized light settings.  

Camera performance:

The camera performance of rear and main is solid at mid range price point as tested by mainstream bloggers. The main camera's 12 Mps images are crisper in details and there is a lot of details with vivid colors. The camera app is easy to use with standard features like HDR, Portrait mode, Expert mode and time lapse mode. The OIS is also great hardware feature at such price point for delivering descent night photography and smooth video recording. There is also Glyph interface integration for customized led video recording lights effects.

Check out camera samples below:

Checkout the through Camera review by Androwide:

Gaming and apps:

The Nothing Phone 1 is also a well optimized smartphone for gaming as 120 Hz display and 8GB RAM on a software updated Snapdragon 778+G SoC . The popular gaming titles run smooth on Nothing OS with less lag and more fluidness.

Battery Life:

The Nothing Phone 1 delivers impressive battery life one and half day as reported by mainstream bloggers so far that positions Nothing Phone 1 as top option against same price point devices. The battery life is slightly affected by Glyph interface set on for apps like Camera app, Ringtones and some third party apps against notifications.

Durability:

The Nothing Phone 1 is durable to water splashes and other liquids thanks to IP 53 ratings with also sealed off design to sand and dust free. Checkout the video by JerryRiggEveryhing YT.

Nothing OS 1.1.2:

The new os update 1.1.2 is released on end of July, that adds a option to show fingerprint icon by moving the phone when display is turned off. There is also an updated night mode with always on display switched off to save battery as users need to switch off always on from setting mode. Nothing has also improved Blutooth codec to resolve issues with aptX HD audio and accessories/devices pairing along with new ui optimizations. Nothing has now opened Nothing Phone 1 to third party chargers and also improved quick charge experience. 

The camera is also improved with low light imaging to higher dynamic range and more clarity for ultra wide sensor. Glyph light fill is now also available on portrait mode.There are also overall improvements in battery life, stability of Nothing OS and animation updates.

Nothing OS 1.1.3:

Nothing has launched an another update for system ux improvements for camera, battery life and faster app performance.

There is a new option for turning on Google adaptive battery for saving on battery life while pausing background unwanted apps and avoiding heavy usage apps in background. Camera app is now updated with faster night mode and hdr mode. The dynamic range and sharpness is more improved than the 1.1.2 update. Glyph mode lights are optimized for better color and saturation. Saturation is more improved using ultrawide camera mode. Noise is improved for camera zoom mode. Lockscreen issues are resolved for fingerprint sensor.

Apart from the release of update 1.1.3, Nothing has announced the delay for Android 13 because of time needed for Glyph interface optimization as the launch is delayed for 2023.

Conclusion:

Nothing's Nothing Phone 1 is a retro-stylish smartphone with Glyph interface that redefines mid range smartphone as your normal phone. The aluminium frame design, Glyph back and modern Nothing OS at $476 price point is a great buy for Android users looking into stylish upgrade and cool apps making a standing out of crowd moments for more often.

 

Apple is testing Lockdown mode for iPhones on iOS 16

 

Apple have released a new security Lockdown mode for iOS 16 beta iPhone users. The Lockdown mode is advanced security for enterprise users to not get targeted by Spywares or Banking Trojans with customized settings that do not share data to vulnerability use case scenarios with the apps. The Lockdown mode also limits the device functionality for following features:

Messages: Most message attachment types other than images are blocked. Some features, like link previews, are disabled.

Web browsing: Certain complex web technologies, like just-in-time (JIT) JavaScript compilation, are disabled unless the user excludes a trusted site from Lockdown Mode.

Apple services: Incoming invitations and service requests, including FaceTime calls, are blocked if the user has not previously sent the initiator a call or request.

FaceTime: Incoming FaceTime calls from people you have not previously called are blocked.

Shared Albums: Shared albums will be removed from the Photos app, and new Shared albums invitations will be blocked.

Wired connections: with a computer or accessory are blocked when iPhone is locked.

Configuration profiles: It cannot be installed, and the device cannot enroll into mobile device management (MDM), while Lockdown Mode is turned on.

Apple is looking for collaboration and feedback from researchers and others in the security community. To help with that goal, the company has created a new category in the Apple Security Bounty Program to reward those who find Lockdown Mode bypasses and help strengthen the feature.The bounties will be doubled for qualified Lockdown Mode discoveries, up to a maximum of $2,000,000, the highest maximum bounty payout in the industry.

Private Access Tokens by Apple as Captcha alternative

 At WWDC 2022, Apple presented a new technology alternative to Captcha that's used by web developers for protecting key features or information within a web page against bots or spammers. 

Apple is also improving data privacy that doesn't store device data or usage patterns with private acces tokens. Apple is reinventing HTTP authentication with PrivateToken that is an server that verifies using cryptography for a value stored on iCloud. There is also Rate-limit that checks Apple device for identifying pattern whether it is repetitive by the device or a click farming.

Apple also presented Cloudflare's Token security that doesn't gather information about Apple device's usage patterns and user interactions. Apple is launching Private Access Tokens support for devices with iOS 16 or Mac os Ventura.

Apple is going to put efforts to more partnerships for PATs as a new web standard.