Not Sponsored: the Nothing Phone
I haven't wanted a product so badly in a long time.
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A few years ago, the Nothing Phone popped up on my TikTok page.
Cool.
I scrolled on, reminded of that one concept phone with the customizable pieces.
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Today, I found myself refreshing the Nothing Phone homepage, tossing up between using my $100 JBHi-Fi gift card on the Nothing earbuds or a blender.
Realistically, I should probably be using it on a new microwave, but Kmart will have to do the trick for that one.
Anyways, back to the phone.
I'm not too sure what it is about the Nothing Phone that makes me want it so badly, but I'm ready to jump from Apple.
As a girl who once had a hot pink Motorola Razr, this product just oozes the same je ne sais quoi.
I feel like it's the first phone which aesthetically, hits. It also doesn't brag about functionality -- it's literally just a phone.
Perhaps, that's the marketing working on me.
Perhaps they want it to be just a cool phone.
I mean, their website is already insanely cool. Check this out:
Now that I’m done gassing the phone up, let’s look at the actual specs and see if it’s worth my money. $1509 / $1689 (256 / 512GB), to be exact.
Okay -- while the website is cool to use, it is a little annoying to navigate.
Here’s what I think is cool about the Nothing Phone:
It functions as a voice recorder
You can long-press the Essential Key to record voice notes. I’ve been debating buying a voice recorder for ages, so having this would totally eliminate that need. With three microphones, I’m guessing it works just as well -- if not better -- than my iPhone.
It has silly little analog-esque toys
I LOVE a little whimsy. Making people do silly things? The best. What do you mean I can use my phone as a groovy glyph mirror? What do you mean I can play spin the bottle or rock-paper-scissors? So small. So smart. I’d honestly rather give this to my four-year-old niece to play rock-paper-scissors than the front screen. Wait… it’s like a Pixel Chix omg.
It has groovy notification icons
As someone who used to love the iPhone flash feature for notifications, the glyph notification system feels pretty sweet. Not only can you seemingly customize the graphics, it also won’t look like you’re taking a creepy photo of someone every time your phone buzzes.
It comes with a phone case
Okay, the phone case isn’t a mega sell—but still! That’s one less thing to buy. I do wonder if it’s anywhere near OtterBox-level, though.
The camera is apparently great
Look, I know nothing about camera specs. What I do know is that I like the sound of: Ultra XDR, Auto Tone, Portrait Optimiser, Motion Capture Mode, Night Mode, Macro Mode, and Action Mode. And the video? Ultra XDR video recording, 1080p Ultra XDR, slo-mo, and time lapse. Say less.
It has wireless charging
I don’t know if all phones have wireless charging these days, but it’s still a plus in my book.
It supports Nano-SIM, Dual SIM, and eSIMs
I travel a lot and rely on eSIMs. Most phones do this now, sure -- but dual SIM is still a pretty nifty thing to have.
It’s water- and dust-resistant
I need a water-resistant phone because I loooove the beach. The dust resistance is also handy for when it inevitably falls into some weird, dark restaurant-booth corner.
It runs on Android
No weird new operating system to learn here -- the Nothing Phone runs on Android 16. I haven’t had a green text bubble in a while, but I associate Android with solid tech, which makes me feel good about this phone. What can I say -- branding really works on me.
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Sales associate mode:
If you decide to get one on Amazon, use these links at no extra cost to you -- I just become your sales associate and get a little commission :)
Nothing Phone (2) - 12 GB RAM + 256GB
Nothing Phone (2a) Plus Smartphone