This phone is surprisingly pragmatic and surprisingly cool.

This is combined with the OLED screen with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. This is quite a sophisticated piece of equipment, but useful. The same applies to the two 50 MP cameras with wide-angle and ultra-wide lenses, and the main camera even has optical image stabilization.

Pictures are good, but especially in low light the pictures can’t keep up with those of high-end devices, but these cost several hundred euros more, too. The features and performance of the Nothing Phone 1 are reasonable at best, with most users missing out on nothing. There is one here. Very good value for money mix of hardware.

Pragmatic and cheap also sounds a bit boring: Nothing Phone 1 is the opposite. The main reason for this is the back of the device: here you can not only look inside the device through the transparent glass, but more than 900 LEDs guarantee a special light show.

Glyph calls it Nothing. The individual light elements can light up in different combinations and rhythms, and thus theoretically represent a whole series of events.

You can add your own sound and glyph to incoming calls, emails, Insta posts and more. The idea behind this is that you can put your phone on the screen and still not miss important messages when they arrive.

In order to actually use this, you have to learn a number of glyphs; it was too tedious for us in the test. But it looks great either way.

In general, the operating system of the phone is sprinkled with elegant retro elements and the sounds also match. This makes the operation feel cool and special, even though the same Android works under the surface as with other devices.

The first smartphone from the new manufacturer Nothing gives an impression of complete success. Obviously, a lot of thought has been given to users who are interested in their smartphone and want to do everything with it, but are not willing to pay 800 euros or more for a high-end device.

At the same time, the Phone 1 is a real statement: at first glance, this device looks different from most other devices. If you want to stand out from the crowd with your mobile phone, you will definitely succeed with this device, even in the dark.

If you don’t need the best or fastest device, or just aren’t willing to spend $800+ on a smartphone, but still want a fast and easy to use cell phone, the Nothing Phone 1 can be highly recommended. An extremely successful start to Nothing on the smartphone, even without hype.