Weekly poll results: Nothing phone (1) stirs heated debate, but the company needs to prove itself

2022-07-24

Last week’s poll shows that Newton’s third law applies to hype as well – for every hype there is equal and opposite hate. And few phone launches this year were as hyped up as the Nothing phone (1).

That’s not to say that things are looking bad, necessarily. 1 in 10 people in the poll have already pre-ordered a unit, which means that they had jumped through all the hoops of the invite system.

1 in 3 people are waiting on reviews to make a decision. That’s reasonable considering that this is the company’s first smartphone and only its second product ever. It needs to prove itself, which is something that we will get back to in a minute.

Those that like the phone (1) tout its design as an advantage – it certainly has a look at a time when many new releases look outright generic. It also has a pretty premium build with an aluminum frame sandwiched between two panes of GG5. And it doesn’t skip wireless charging. The software support schedule (3 years of OS updates, 4 years of patches) is a boon as well. All of this makes it stand out in the mid-range segment.

Weekly poll results: Nothing phone (1) stirs heated debate, but the company needs to prove itself

Then there’s the Glyph Interface. Some doubt how useful it actually is, but people are talking about it – it’s an attention grabber, which (we suspect) was the point. There is also the Nothing launcher, which some have test driven on their current phones, but that’s not quite as interesting.

All that said, most voters in the poll don’t have an interest in the Nothing phone (1). Many commenters listed the phones that they would rather have - Samsungs, Pocos, Xiaomis even Asus. That’s probably okay for Nothing right now, which needs to focus on keeping up with demand.

But the company does need to prove itself – many expressed a sentiment along the lines of “not this one, but maybe the phone (2)”. It doesn’t help that there isn’t any variety. Okay, some brands launch too many phones, but Nothing has the opposite problem – if the phone (1) is too big or too small or too anything else for you, you’re looking at another brand.

Love it or hate it, the Nothing phone (1) made a splash as it launched. We received our unit and are working on a review, so stay tuned for our verdict on the phone.

Weekly poll results: Nothing phone (1) stirs heated debate, but the company needs to prove itself