Phones are black slabs with colourful rear panels slapped on. Carl Pei, the founder of Nothing and the former co-founder of OnePlus, wants to change this. After his company delivered its first product last summer — a pair of earphones by the name of Nothing Ear 1 — this summer is reserved for Nothing Phone 1. And it seems that Apple is in the crosshairs. Or is it?
In short, we are looking at a new smartphone brand coming our way. But it is expected to be well thought out. That Nothing can deliver we have already see with Ear 1, which has been more than a decent product with a fresh design philosophy at a reasonable price. We expect the same with the phone.
The problem is we have very little information about the device except that it will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and run Android. What we do know is Carl Pei has a vision, which he presented clearly on Wednesday: “We’re building the most compelling alternative to Apple. If you want products that connect and work seamlessly together, the only choice is Apple. The MacBook, the iPhone, the AirPods, they are work together the way you want. But as soon as you leave that ecosystem for a Windows PC or an Android phone, it breaks down.”
Google has indeed been trying to achieve seamless integration but is far from the goalpost. Nothing wants to build an ecosystem that’s as fluid as that of Apple. It’s a big ask. Apple controls the tech stack like no other company. From building chips to developing its software to manufacturing its devices, Apple does everything for one company — Apple. Naturally, every device works flawlessly and people are hooked to the ecosystem. Billions of dollars have been spent to achieve this fluidity and that has given way to a company worth more than $2 trillion.
Carl Pei, founder of Nothing
What we hope won’t happen is Nothing playing by the same rulebook as OnePlus once did — slow reveal and tease to create a hype, something OnePlus is struggling to live up to after a short period of time. Then there is Samsung, which is another company that has excellent control over its supply chain and can swoop in to offer a product that makes a great deal for retailers and customers.
The shapes that will feature in the design of the phone’s back appear to suggest there will be a degree of transparency, like on the Ear 1. And some experts have pointed out that there could be white LED strips that light up differently based on the person calling or messaging.
Nothing has made some good investments, perhaps the best being acquiring Essential, the tech company Andy Rubin had founded. Andy is a former head of Alphabet’s Google Android division and his company Essential had managed to deliver one phone. But Essential had some important patents which are now with Nothing.
“We want to partner up with the leading brands of the world and help them create products, and, in the process, connect them to Nothing’s ecosystem. We’re also building support for third-party products that we believe our users might need, like the AirPods Pro or a Tesla, so then they’re able to control parts of the Tesla through Nothing OS,” Pei has told Wired.
We’re building the most compelling alternative to Apple.
Nothing’s success will also depend a lot on its design team. Dyson’s former design head, Adam Bates, recently joined Nothing to serve as its design director. Bates is working with Teenage Engineering’s team, which is known to create beautiful designs.
Whether all the talk will translate into action remains to be seen but Carl Pei’s willingness to come up with a system that’s as functional as Apple is admirable. We are looking forward to a summer of Nothing. The Nothing OS launcher will be available to download and use for select Android smartphones in April.