Nothing executive reveals Phone (1) sales in this top three smartphone market
For Nothing CEO Carl Pei, the big question is whether lightning can strike twice. He turned his unknown OnePlus brand into a legitimately popular and global smartphone brand. And then he surprisingly left in October 2020 to start Nothing. After releasing the Nothing Ear (1) true wireless earbuds in September 2021, the Nothing Phone (1) was released earlier this year garnering a strong review from us.
Also read:
- Nothing Ear review: retune, re-release
The Nothing Phone (1) sells over 100,000 units in India in only 20 days
Thus far the phone has not been made available in the U.S. and global sales results are not known. But Manu Sharma, Vice President and General Manager of Nothing India, told GSM Arena that at the end of last month the Nothing Phone (1) had sold over 100,000 units on India's Flipkart e-commerce platform during a 20-day period. The executive also noted that the phone is the top-selling handset in its price class on Flipkart. India is the world's second largest smartphone market after China. The U.S. is third.
Front and back of the Nothing Phone including the Glyph interface that sends out notifications on the back of the device
The handset will soon receive an update to Nothing OS 1.1.4, the fourth update for the still newly released handset. The update is expected to fix some of the issues that users have complained about as well as improving the phone's cameras and battery. As for an update to Android 13, Sharma said that the company's goal is to deliver a good software experience rather than quick updates.
Additionally, the timing of the Android 13 release and the timeline for the Nothing Phone (1) do not "jive," meaning, that for now, there won't be a quick path to Android 13 although it will be offered via a software update eventually. Sharma did suggest that Nothing will release other products in the future to create a complete ecosystem as Apple and Samsung have with a phone, tablet, smartwatch, true wireless earbuds, and other devices. Also building an ecosystem is Google for its Pixel line.
The Nothing Phone (1) sports a 6.55-inch OLED display that refreshes 120 times each second (120Hz). The 1080 x 2400 resolution works out to a 20:9 aspect ratio pointing toward a thin and tall display. Under the hood, you'll find the 6nm Snapdragon 778G+ 5G mid-range chipset. Usually, the lower the process node, the smaller are the transistors used for the chip creating a larger transistor count.
And that is important because the higher a chip's transistor count, the more powerful and energy-efficient that chip is. A mid-range component, like the Snapdragon 778G+ 5G, is not going to be made using the smaller process node used on flagship chips. For example, Apple's iPhone 14 Pro models, to be released on Friday, will be using the A16 Bionic made using the 4nm process node with each chip containing nearly 16 billion transistors.
Configuration options for the Nothing Phone include 8GB of RAM with 128GB or 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage and 12GB of RAM with 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The camera array on the back includes a 50MP sensor driving a Wide primary camera with an f/1.9 aperture. Another 50MP sensor is behind the ultra-wide lens that features an f/2.2 aperture. The front-facing selfie snapper weighs in at 16MP with an aperture of f/2.5.
The Nothing Phone (1) is equipped with a 4500mAh battery that fast charges at 33W. This allows the device to return to 50% charged after 30 minutes, and become fully charged in 70 minutes. It also allows for 15W wireless charging and 5W reverse charging. This means that you can use the Nothing Phone (1) to wirelessly charge a phone belonging to a friend or family member by putting your device back-to-back on a table with the device you are sharing your battery with.
Lower prices for the Nothing Phone (1) are coming to India
While it is nice to be a good friend, remember that you are using up some of your phone's current battery life to help out a friend in need. If your own battery situation is perilous, and your friend asks if your phone supports reverse wireless charging, you can pretend that you don't speak English.
The festive season is coming in India and Nothing is cutting prices by 2,000 Rupees ($25.17) off of each Nothing Phone (1) model. The model with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage will be reduced to INR 31,999 ($402.72). The unit sporting 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage will be INR 34,999 ($440.48), and the top-of-the-line model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage will be reduced to INR 37,999 ($478.24).
In addition to these discounts, customers of certain banks in the country will get to take another INR 3,000 ($37.76) off of the price of a Nothing Phone (1).
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