OnePlus‘ co-founder Carl Pei surprised the world when he announced his exit from the company he has helped to put in the headlines with the OnePlus One. At that time, not much information was given by the executive. Later on, seeing the changes made with the OnePlus smartphone business and the merger with Oppo, we could clearly see that Pete Lau wasn’t happy with the brand’s new goals and philosophies. He announced his own company dubbed “Nothing”. The company was said to focus on wearables and innovative products, however, it has acquired Essential, the company behind the Essential Phone, and gained access to several patents in the process. At that time, we knew that the company would eventually launch a smartphone. The product will come soon in the form of the Nothing phone (1).
Nothing already confirmed it’s bringing a new smartphone dubbed Nothing phone (1), any similarity with OnePlus in its beginning is just a mere coincidence. The executive made bold claims saying that the Nothing phone (1) will come to revolution the market of Android smartphones. The goal is to offer a true Android answer to the iPhone. It will be a flagship smartphone, running the all-new NothingOS with three years of major Android updates granted. The company has been sharing a couple of details from time and time. For example, the phone will bring a transparent back, will support wireless charging, and will have a frame with recycled aluminum.
The company is really trying to create an appeal for the so-called NothingOS. It has even unleashed the phone’s Android launcher on Google Play Store before the phone’s launch. Curiously, one of the first brands to have support for the launcher is OnePlus.
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Nothing phone (1) a new flagship killer
The company hasn’t revealed the launch date of the handset, for obvious reasons. If we know Pei, he will keep bringing cryptic teasers before revealing the launch date. Anyway, a leak from Germany comes with an alleged launch date, and it’s closer than previously thought. The new Nothing phone (1) will hit the market on July 21. It’s unclear if that’s the date on which sales start or the date of the unveiling. Anyway, it seems to be an important date for Nothing.
The leak also brings information on the phone’s pricing info. Apparently, the company is aiming at a price tag of €500. This price is far away from what companies are charging for flagships. Will the Nothing phone (1) bring a revolution to the market as the OnePlus One did in its time? It’s hard to believe this will be a super flagship in the level of “Ultra” smartphones, but we’re probably seeing a worthy flagship killer. The phone is already touted to come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. At this point, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 sounds like a much more relevant option, but we can’t confirm the availability of this chipset right now.
For now, we can only wait for more news regarding the phone’s launch. Pei will likely bring a new round of teasers in the next month. The phone will launch globally and in India. After all, it’s already going through the necessary steps of BIS certification.
