Gaming performance is a different story, with the Nothing Phone (1) hitting an average onscreen frame rate of 82fps in the GFXBench Manhattan 3 test. That’s roughly 44% faster than both the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G and OnePlus Nord 2T 5G. One thing to note is that the Google Pixel 6a’s flagship Tensor chip is technically faster than the Snapdragon 778G+, but it is limited by a 60Hz screen. Meanwhile, the Phone (1)’s wide-angle camera produced mixed results in testing. If you’re blessed with plenty of natural light there’s not much to complain about, but as the sun begins to set the visual noise creeps in. The camera adds a warm hue to these low-light images as well.

It may help that I am using the highest-tier model of the Nothing Phone 2 for my review. There are 8GB and 12GB models available, and that much RAM can make a difference in an Android phone. I’m sure apps will still run smoothly on both models, but if you switch between apps often or work with large games, you might want to spring for the extra memory. To compare, the Nothing Phone 2 costs about the same as a fully loaded Google Pixel 7 (with 256GB of storage) or a OnePlus 11. There is no Samsung Galaxy S phone offered this cheap, not even the Galaxy S22 from 2022 that Samsung still sells. If you want an iPhone at this price you can buy a new iPhone 12 from Apple. I still really like the bottom LED that slowly fills up as the phone charges giving you a visual indicator of how close you are to 100% without getting distracted by the phone itself. Nothing isn’t rewriting the rulebook when it comes to the Phone (1)’s blueprint, but it is trying to differentiate itself with a striking design. The camera specs sound good on paper as this is the same sensor you’ll find on excellent smartphones like the Oppo Find X5 Pro and Xiaomi 12, which really impressed us when we tested them. It also thoroughly impressed our reviewer of the OnePlus Nord 2T, another phone that uses this sensor.Inside the Phone (1) is a 4500mAh battery and during my time with the phone, it has never failed to get me through the day. Particularly busy days have called for the lowering of the screen to 60Hz, but for the most part, this is a device you won’t be worrying about charging before you leave the office. However, the phone doesn’t last quite as long as the OnePlus Nord 2T – so that’s probably a better choice if you’re keen on getting as much juice from a charge as possible. Audio: The stereo speakers can get pretty loud and remain clear even at higher volumes, but the audio is wildly imbalanced due to the tinny earpiece speaker. Thankfully, there’s support for a wide range of Bluetooth codecs for wireless audio. With LTPO technology, the screen can slow down to one refresh per second or ramp up to 120Hz, as needed. That makes for an always-on display that won’t drain your battery significantly, and Nothing does a nice job designing the always-on screen and making it very useful. As for performance, this is precisely what’s to be expected of a modern mid-ranger. In the Geekbench 5 test, the Nothing Phone (1) achieved broadly similar single-core and multicore processing results as its rivals. There’s a lot to like when it comes to speeds – it’s just that the comparison graph isn’t all that interesting to analyse.

I fired up some HDR videos on YouTube and they popped with brightness, while the screen can hit just under 500 nits of brightness in everyday use. This is enough to cope with brighter days and the Nothing Phone (1) managed to avoid becoming unusable in direct sunlight. Video recording was solid for the money but only up to 4K at 30 frames a second, not 60 as is increasingly common. Proximity Sensor, Light Sensor, Gyroscope Sensor, Accelerometer (G-Sensor), Magnetometer, Motion Sensor, Fingerprint Sensor Unlike OnePlus, Nothing isn’t touting the Phone (1) as a flagship in terms of performance. In fact, the spec list here is very modest. If a top-tier Qualcomm chipset or ridiculously fast charging is a must-have feature, you might be better off looking at something from Realme or Xiaomi – or even the newer Nothing Phone (2).If you want a faster phone than this for the same price, the OnePlus is a bit faster, but you’ll only be able to tell in benchmark tests. The Nothing Phone 2 has plenty of power to run games at high graphics levels, and the visual flourishes Nothing adds to the interface look very smooth running on this phone. The Nothing Phone (1) is sandwiched between two layers of Gorilla Glass 5 for impact and scratch protection, with an IP53 water resistance rating. A fingerprint sensor is positioned underneath the screen. Nothing Phone (1) review: Glyph Interface