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A very nice gadget for the office. It is essentially a Google Assistant with a screen. However, this screen is not as useful as it sounds. For example, you cannot watch videos (from cameras or YouTube) and it does not show you photos if you ask the assistant to search for something. However, you can listen to music from YouTube and Spotify, as well as cast the sound from your mobile phone. You can check the weather and set an alarm with Google's smart features. It has some extras like a Nap Timer, Night Light, and you can also control your lights and devices from there. Additionally, the speaker it has is relatively powerful and has good sound, although you can also connect a Bluetooth speaker to it and play through the external speaker instead of the built-in one. It comes in a very nice box along with its power supply, which is 5V 2A and has a Micro USB port. The only downside is the lack of 5GHz WiFi, although for 30€ I shouldn't really complain about it. Definitely a better choice than the classic Google Assistant (due to the screen), although some settings are missing (such as EQ for the sound).

I have the phone in my hands since 26/12/2022 and so far I have only positive things to say. It is an excellent device for €500, with a very clean software and a very beautiful and original design.

[Design]
The Nothing Phone is original. I haven't seen many phones that manage to stand out in terms of design but also be simple at the same time. The front screen has a thin bezel which Nothing has managed to keep the same thickness on all sides. On the top left, it has a punch-hole camera and that's it, nothing else. On the sides, the phone has an aluminum frame, which gives it a very premium feel. I would like to emphasize here that the phone reminds me a lot of the iPhone when you hold it. On the right side of the frame, you find the power button, which is placed in such a way that it is very easy to press with your finger. On the left side, the device has the volume up & volume down buttons. At the bottom, we have the SIM tray, the main microphone, a USB Type C port, and a speaker. At the top, we only have the noise-canceling microphone. The back of the phone is what sets it apart from all other devices on the market. Initially, Nothing has managed to create a very nice design that is perfectly integrated with the illuminated "Glyph Interface" of the phone. It gives a different feeling to the device without becoming too flashy like we see in many gaming phones (the phone is not gaming, but we use it as a comparison measure in its design). Also, due to the clear back, you can see the wireless charging coil. On the top left, we have the 2 50MP Main Camera and UltraWide Camera Sensors, the flash, and another microphone (I believe for video recording). So, these are the aspects regarding the design, we will analyze the Glyph Interface in another section of the review.

[Software & Performance]
The phone is currently running Nothing OS 1.1.7 (Android 12) but we expect an update in mid-2023 for Android 13, with Nothing OS 1.5. The phone does not come with bloatware, only basic applications plus 4-5 extras from Google. Since it doesn't have any custom UI (like Xiaomi, Samsung, Huawei, Honor, etc.), the phone is very fast, easy to use, and yet, it offers a better experience than all the Custom UIs created by well-known companies. (Personally, after using Stock Android, I can't go back to MIUI, etc.). The apps open very quickly, the phone doesn't have any lag, and I haven't encountered any bugs. Of course, the Snapdragon 778G+ may not be the top processor on the market, but it works very fast on this particular device and the 8GB RAM helps a lot when you want to have many background apps open.

[Charging & Wireless Charging & Battery]
I have one thing to say: Better 45W Fast Charge than 120W and 200W made by other companies. What's the point of destroying my battery for the advantage of charging my phone in 9 minutes? The Nothing Phone provides 45W Fast Charge via Type C (but it does not come with its charger in the box), which is quite fast. I haven't measured how long it will take to go from 15% to 100%, but again, I didn't have to wait for a long time. Regarding wireless charging, I don't have a good wireless charger to test it to its maximum capacity, but with the ones I had and tried, if I didn't mind the phone taking a long time to charge, I might prefer wireless charging just to reduce wear and tear over time on the USB Type C port from plugging and unplugging the cable. Otherwise, wired charging is my preference for now. The battery of the Nothing Phone easily lasts the whole day, and I believe it will improve even more with Android 13. The phone also has reverse wireless charging, so you can charge other devices that support wireless charging through it. You can enable or disable this feature from the notification shade.

(Update on the charging part) Today I measured that it took 55 minutes to charge from 15% to 100% with the original 45W charger from Nothing. I assume it will take 1 hour and 15 minutes to charge from 0% to 100%.

[Connectivity]
The Nothing Phone has WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, 5G, and NFC. The WiFi has satisfactory range, and if you have a WiFi 6 Access Point, you can take advantage of the speeds of a very fast internet connection. The only problem I have with the phone's connectivity is that 5G is not yet available due to limitations from mobile network providers. I have sent an email to Nothing, and I will also visit the store where I purchased it to see if something can be done. (I will provide an update if there is any news.)

[Display & Fingerprint Reader]
The display has a resolution of 1080 x 2400 with 402 ppi, giving it high resolution and clarity (although it's not the highest resolution available on a mobile screen). The colors are vibrant, and thanks to OLED technology, the blacks are truly black. Also, due to the OLED display, when the phone uses Dark Theme, there is greater energy savings compared to a typical LCD screen. Additionally, the Nothing Phone's display has a 120Hz refresh rate, which gives it a very nice feeling when scrolling through websites, apps, and more. The fingerprint reader, which is under the display, is faster than I expected and faster than what I read online, although it's not the fastest under-screen fingerprint reader available on a phone. There are few instances where it hasn't read my fingerprint correctly, and that's due to poor placement of my thumb on the screen.

[Sound and Microphone]
The sound is quite loud for a phone, and vocals from music or speech sound very clear. Of course, it lacks the punch that other mobile speakers have, but if someone considers that a reason not to prefer it, I understand. When the phone plays music, it uses the speaker at the bottom of the phone, in combination with the call speaker, to provide a "Stereo" feel and louder volume. The phone's microphones offer good voice clarity when speaking to someone on the phone and good sound in videos.

[Photos & Videos]
The Nothing Phone doesn't fall behind in terms of videos and photos. The photos are clear, with nice colors and without extra saturation, and the videos are clear. The Optical Image Stabilization on the main camera helps a lot. Soon, I will upload photos taken with the Nothing's camera, and maybe I will also upload 1-2 test videos. The Selfie camera is also quite good and captures facial details very well. If you have good lighting, it helps a lot for the cameras to work at their best. From the camera app, you can also enable the Glyph Interface for the rear camera to shoot videos with smooth lighting at night. I haven't tried the Night Feature yet, so I won't write anything about it.

[ Glyph Interface ]
I decided to make a separate section in my review just for this feature. The Glyph Interface of the Nothing Phone is its main feature that makes it stand out. It may seem useless and just a gimmick, but in reality, it has uses. One of these uses is as a "Ring Light" for the rear camera. If you are in the dark and want to shoot a video, it will be quite useful. Another use is for notifications and charging. You can see your notifications (it flashes when you receive a call or a notification) and the Glyph Interface can also show you the battery percentage when you are charging. Now, if you want to make your phone more festive, you can add a contact named "Abra" and select it in the Glyph Settings to unlock the Music Visualization Mode, where the Glyph flashes according to the music or media you are playing.

[ Packaging ]
There aren't many things included in the packaging. The phone, the user manual, a sim tray ejector, and a USB Type C to Type C cable.

[ Cases & Accessories ]
Any case that is not clear (transparent) makes the phone lose its purpose. Personally, I believe that if you don't like the Glyph, keep it closed or if you don't like the appearance of the phone, don't buy it. There is no point in paying for a phone that one of its main selling points is its design and then covering it up.

So, this is my small review on the Nothing Phone (1). Most likely, I will have updates in the future if anything changes, and maybe occasionally I will upload a photo from its camera to help people who are interested in that.