I thought nothing could impress me nowadays. But Nothing did!
In about a month, it will be four years since Carl Pei's London-based startup — Nothing — released its very first product. The Nothing Ear (1).I'll come out and say that I was extremely skeptical, judgmental, and tongue-and-cheeky about the startup. In my defense, all we had to go on until this point was Nothing's mission statement, which was 'To remove barriers between people and technology, to bring back artistry, passion and trust to the field of consumer technology'.A pretty bold, long-winded statement that, through the lens of someone who has been jaded by a barrage of marketing materials in the past, doesn't mean much of anything.It didn't help that after releasing that mission statement and spending months to tease us, Nothing's first product looked like a copy of AirPods Pro. AirPods Pro: Electric Boogaloo, this time it's transparent! The kicker — they didn't sound very good, too.But hey, OK, it was just a first product to get the name out there, gauge interest, get the websites talking. What's next?
It took another year and, in July of 2022, the Nothing Phone (1) was launched. And it immediately became apparent that the transparent elements of the Ear (1) were not just a one-off gimmick — it was something that the company actively wanted to bake into its aesthetics.In all honesty, the Nothing Phone (1) was rough around the edges. One wouldn't expect a perfect first launch, right? It had obscure bugs in the software (like the blue light filter not turning off, or some issues with the auto-brightness), and it wasn't a performer.Yet, there was something oddly alluring about it. I do remember spending a couple of months with the Nothing Phone (1) as my phone after the review period was done. I wasn't on board with the Glyph interface just yet — it didn't make much sense. And I wasn't happy with the software bugs.But yet, as a budget phone with modest hardware, it did have exactly the things that mattered — good display, snappy navigation, and a no-nonsense user experience that still had a distinct signature and style. Like the extra-large folders, which allowed you to fit more apps in a single homescreen, but still let you launch them with a single tap, with no need to open the folder first. I am a sucker for keeping my homescreen count down to a minimum.OK… OK, Nothing.
So, I wasn't super into the whole Glyph interface thing of the Nothing Phone (1), right? It was there to do two things. One — look cool. Two — deliver notifications to you with unique light patterns, so you'd know who's calling or what's happening when your phone is face-down.I found it pretty impossible that one may be able to memorize the light patterns and use that to figure out what type of call is coming through. To be fair — I still do, that's a weird way to try and sell the Glyph interface.Nah, what sold the concept of the Nothing Phone to me as a whole was the iteration on the entire package. First, the Nothing Icon Pack, which turns all of your icons monochrome, was introduced with this phone. The reasoning behind the move is to allow you to 'remove branding' from different apps and services from your homescreen.
That kind of makes sense in a world where 'nomophobia' is a word that we should be conscious of, right? Apparently, Apple agrees, as you can now have monochrome icons on iOS 18, too. Some use that feature to create abominations, other make nice, neat, tightly-packed homescreens.
Then, the Glyph was upgraded with a timing bar. One of the LED strips can work as a Pomodoro timer, or a tracker for your Uber or food delivery (3rd party API is available, but admittedly — not taken up by a lot of developers). Which was a small improvement, but instantly got me to thinking about placing the phone face-down more often.
And then it clicked for me. The Nothing Phone (2) was trying to be 'the best phone that you don't use'. With its many customizations and options, it's trying to help you push it to the back of your mind as 'that one device that I pick up when I need to communicate', not the smartphone that is always vying for and clawing at your attention. Again, I used the Nothing Phone (2) for a while. Want to know what got me to stop? It is so incredibly slippery! It will fall off my Anker rubber-covered wireless charging puck, it will slide off a desk, it just does not want to sit still. Thankfully, Nothing is aware of that design flaw.And now we get to the budget era of Nothing — the reason why I felt compelled to write this up, actually. The Nothing Phone (3a) and currently-launching CMF Phone 2 Pro are… pretty excellent for their respective prices.Granted, slapping the 'Pro' moniker on everything is a pet peeve of mine and feels like sandpaper on my prefrontal cortex.
But OK, let's look beyond that. The CMF Phone 2 Pro costs $280. It is by no means excellent in anything it does — at that price, it can't be… right? But it's pretty darn good where it matters!
One — the display. It's an AMOLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate with 388 pixels per inch. Yes, these are specs from a sheet, but in reality — the screen looks good. Very good. And it's HDR compatible with 3,000 nits peak brightness. Since the screen is basically the thing you look at 99% of the time when interacting with the device, it sure helps if it's good. And it sells the premium illusion better when it's 120 Hz, too! (on a $280 phone, looking at you, iPhone 16e).
Then, the software experience. A Mediatek Dimensity 7300 Pro may not inspire much confidence — it shouldn't, if you want to play Warzone Mobile on your phone. But, if you just want the core smartphone experience, you will be hard-pressed to find a better performer in the $280 price bracket. No, it's not as fast as a $1,000 Galaxy S25+ or iPhone 16 Pro. But it doesn't lag, stutter, take ages to open your calendar like some other $300 phones I've tried. It works… just fine! And finally — the camera. No, it's not as good as on the $800, $1,000, $1,200 phones. In fact, its photos are only slightly better than those of other $300 phones, and that's arguable. However, what struck me with the CMF Phone 2 Pro was the overall camera experience. The viewfinder preview speed — it keeps up a high frame rate and doesn't have that 'cheap smartphone' choppy look when you are moving around. It responds pretty consistently when taking a photo, and even gives you a Portrait Mode preview with the faux bokeh cooked into the viewfinder (for example, the Pixel 9a does not do that).OK, so thus far, I've come to expect the following things from Nothing: Unique, signature design and user experience
Good core performance
Out-of-the-box takes on common features (Essential Space vs AI assistants)
Competitive pricing
It only makes sense that the community is eager and excited for the launch of a flagship Nothing Phone (3). It hasn't come yet… Hopefully soon?Let's take some points down, so this is not a puff piece. What still irks me about Nothing? The amount of puns that can be made with that company name — often times, not even intentional.
The dreaded 'Pro' addendum on these new non-pro devices.
The third generation of Nothing Ear earbuds doesn't have a number — so we went from (1) to (2) to .
The vagueness surrounding a Nothing Phone (3) launch (the Phone (2) is now two years old)
launch (the Phone (2) is now two years old) The limited and sometimes mysterious availability of the devices. Hey, at least it's not on an invite system!
Have you tried a Nothing product yet?
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GSM Arena
6 hours ago
- GSM Arena
Deals: Pixel 9, Galaxy S25 and Honor 400 series offered with freebies, cashback and discounts
This week on Amazon UK: price cuts, cashback, freebies and credit! Here are some interesting deals on Google Pixel 9, Samsung Galaxy S25 and Honor 400 series devices. The Google Pixel 9 is at a great price – with a straight £200 discount and £200 cashback, it works out to just £500. And you get a £50 coupon for the Pixel Buds Pro 2, if you need new TWS headphones. The Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL have token discounts and the same offer – £200 cashback and a £50 coupon for the Pixel Buds Pro 2. Note that this offer is valid until July 7. You can find more details here. The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold gets £400 cashback, but with no discount to go with that, it's still very expensive. You may want to wait until the Pixel 10 generation to see if the much talked about switch to TSMC will improve the Tensor chipset woes. The original Samsung Galaxy S25 trio has no discounts at the moment, unless you count the £100 Samsung Credit you get with them. But you do get a freebie – a Galaxy Tab A9+ valued at £260 (that's MSRP, of course). For detailed discussions on the pros and cons of the Pixel and Galaxy models, we will direct you to our head-to-head comparison articles: Pixel 9 vs. Galaxy S25, Pixel 9 vs. Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Galaxy S25 Ultra, Galaxy S25 vs. Galaxy S25+ and Pixel 9 Pro vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL. This offer is valid until June 26, you can find all the relevant details here. And no, the S25 Edge is not part of the deal. The Galaxy Z Flip6 and Z Fold6 are, but the next generation is coming in a few weeks time. Honor also focused on freebies. The Honor 400 is £100 off and you get a free Honor Pad X8a. This offer is valid until June 30. The Honor 400 Pro has no discount but stuffs your basket with goodies – an Honor Watch, Honor Choice Earbuds Clip and Portable Bluetooth Speaker Pro, all for free with the phone. This offer also lasts until the 30th. We may get a commission from qualifying sales.
GSM Arena
13 hours ago
- GSM Arena
Weekly poll: which (if any) would you rather have, Pura 80 Ultra or one of the other three?
Huawei has not detailed plans for a global rollout of the new Pura 80 series, but given that the Pura 70 models are available in places like Europe, Indonesia and others, it's hard to imagine that the new generation will be available only in China. So, assuming the Pura 80 phones are available near you soon, would you buy one – and which one? Huawei Pura 80 • Huawei Pura 80 Pro • Huawei Pura 80 Pro+ • Huawei Pura 80 Ultra Starting with the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra, that has a crazy complicated camera system that moves the same 50MP 1/1.28' sensor between two lenses – 3.7x/83mm and 9.4x/212mm. The phone also has a 1'-type 50MP main sensor and a 40MP ultra-wide camera. The 6.8' LTPO display is backed by a 5,700mAh battery with 100W wired and 80W wireless charging. The Huawei Pura 80 Pro and Pura 80 Pro+ mainly differ in areas like memory and satellite connectivity. Both keep the 1'-type main camera from the Ultra, but settle for a single telephoto camera – a 48MP 4x/93mm module. The ultra-wide is still 40MP. The display and battery are the same as the Ultra too. The vanilla Huawei Pura 80 has a smaller 6.6' display, still an LTPO OLED, and a 5,600mAh battery with 66W wired and 50W wireless charging. The camera system is more basic, but still quite capable with a 50MP 1/1.3' main, 12MP 5x/125mm tele and 13MP ultra-wide. Note that the Pura 80 launch is still pending. Huawei is keeping chipset details under wraps, but we think it's the same chipset as on the Mate X6, at least at the top of the Pura 80 range. And these phones don't run Android but HarmonyOS. The global variants should get EMUI instead, though. Here are pricing details for the Huawei Pura 80 family, but keep in mind that the USD amounts are simple conversion and the real global price will likely be different. Pura 80 Pro Pura 80 Pro+ Pura 80 Ultra 12GB/256GB CNY 6,500 USD 905 - - - - 12GB/512GB CNY 7,000 USD 975 CNY 8,000 USD 1,115 - - 16GB/1TB - - - - CNY 10,000 USD 1,390 12GB/1TB CNY 8,000 USD 1,115 CNY 9,000 USD 1,250 - - 16GB/1TB - - - - CNY 11,000 USD 1,530
GSM Arena
18 hours ago
- GSM Arena
Apple starts displaying energy efficiency labels on iPhone and iPad's pages in EU
Starting June 20, manufacturers are required to sell their smartphones and tablets in the European Union (EU) with an energy efficiency label in the box. We don't know about the boxes, but with the regulation in effect, Apple has started displaying this label on iPhone and iPad's pages on its website in EU countries. If you visit an iPhone or iPad's main product page or purchase page, you'll see a colorful little icon, and upon clicking it, you'll see the energy label of that product. iPhone 16 Pro's product page on Apple Ireland's website • iPhone 16 Pro's purchase page on Apple Ireland's website This label is accompanied by a product information sheet that provides the device's repairability information and general parameters, including rated battery capacity, screen scratch resistance on the Mohs hardness scale, minimum guaranteed availability of security updates, and IP rating. iPhone 16 Pro's product information sheet shared by Apple The energy label, on the other hand, displays seven pieces of information about the product, including an overall energy efficiency class rating on a scale of A to G, with A being the most efficient and G being the least. Here's a sample energy efficiency label You can check the energy labels for the Apple iPhone 16 Pro and iPad Pro 11" (M4) below. iPhone 16 Pro's energy efficiency label • iPad Pro 11" (M4)'s energy efficiency label Apple found certain aspects of the EU's regulation and testing procedure to be "ambiguous" and, therefore, voluntarily downgraded the ratings of its products. Here's what Apple said: "As an additional cautionary measure, Apple went one step further and downgraded some of its scores to factor in test method ambiguities and variance. For example, Energy Efficiency Index scores for iPhone models on the EU market in June 2025 all qualified for the highest 'A' grade, but Apple chose to voluntarily derate scores to a 'B' grade to minimize the probability that a third-party tester interpreting the regulation differently would achieve a lower grade. We also downgraded scores for the Repeated Free Fall Reliability Class for the same reason." You can read the 44-page document shared by Apple here regarding this matter for more details, and head this way to learn more about the new EU energy efficiency labels. Apple iPhone 16 Pro Source | Via
