From British tech start-up "Nothing" comes the "Nothing Phone (1)". At a glance, it has a similar look and shape to an iPhone. However, a series of LED strips scattered beneath a transparent glass back make this a rather unique and eye-catching piece of kit.

The light bars flash in sequence with various tones and vibrations to create customisable patterns for calls, notifications, and charging status.

Check it out here with MKBHD

In spite of the hype and the novelty, and given that it's the Company's first shot at a smartphone, it's a pretty decent device. It has an excellent display, solid cameras and ample battery life.

The specs don't compare with other flagship Android devices - which is to be expected. Nothing to be seen here.

At £399 - £499, Nothing is looking to compete in the mid-range market.

In terms of performance and overall value, it simply can't match other mid-range devices like the iPhone SE, Samsung Galaxy A52, or Google Pixel 6a.

What we do have is a decent mid-range phone, running near-stock android, with a unique aesthetic. Nothing to write home about.

This reminds us of the OnePlus One, which stole the hearts of techies around the world in 2014 when it took on the big players with a super cheap high spec device.

Then we found out why this is reminiscent of that period. Swedish entrepreneur Carl Pei co-founded OnePlus in 2013, and left in 2020 to start Nothing.

Carl Pei wants to start a smartphone revolution, and suggests that companies are not truly innovating. “Today, everyone is so passionless about technology. On the consumer hardware side it’s basically more and more of the same, in terms of products,” he says. “Less and less differentiation, and consumers are not as excited anymore. People don’t really want to watch the launch events for new products.” 

Disrupting the smartphone market is no easy task, as we witnessed with the Essential Phone from Essential Products, which came out swinging with its bezel-less design in 2017, but was soon discontinued, never to be seen again.

Then we learned that Nothing recently acquired Essential Products trademarks and brand, a year after it closed down.

Whether Nothing will become a serious player in the tech industry, or slowly drift away into the abyss after the hype dies down remains to be seen. Time will tell.