Nothing

It started with a search for good midrange phone to gift to my wife (since the phone she had was used as a brick-building exercise by our toddler). I had my eyes on Iphone12 or Google phone 6 for a while and had shortlisted these 2 till i heard of Carl Pei launching Nothing phone this month. A small peek into Carl's wiki will give you an idea that he was the driving force behind ONEPLUS till he left and creating NOTHING. It started my hunt for Nothing phone 1 launch date.

Enrolled for the launch and was invited soon for the pre-order launch. Bought it off Flipkart on the launch night (8gb 256gb Black). I did not like the white version as the glyph lights are yellowish in the leaks and hoped that they will contrast better on black (and they do!).

The delivery was super quick within 24 hours and the unboxing experience was great (only con is no cover/case provided). Had to buy a charger seperately as it is not sold with the phone. The build quality is Iphone sturdy and the weight is unbelievably light and balanced throughout the frame. The UI is the key element and this is what makes the phone standout in terms of stock Android performance. There is absolutely no bloatware and the UI animations are super smooth. I found the glyph lights and sound sync to be gimmicky but it's a developers delight and i see more stuff getting customized to this interface in future updates. The feel of the phone is flagship category. The primary camera is sharp and delivers crisp and contrasty photos (ala Iphone). Portraits are amazing with this sensor. Night mode is a little slow and videos are strictly Ok. The secondary camera has "more than regular" distortion at the edges and is Ok. The macro however is great in daylight. The front camera is good for the price but there is much scope for improvement in future updates. Overall if you are strictly looking for a camera phone with good video nothing can beat Google Phone 6 at 45k, but if you're at this budget you've a good set of cameras with scope for future improvement via software updates. The basic connectivity is good and the looks are an exclusivity (it will stay for few months). Battery life is good at this price point and the superfast charging is a boon. My wife and i aren't too keen on mobile gaming as we have tasted blood on console gaming and aren't going back, so this area is something that we haven't tested Nothing (pun intended).

Overall if you're looking for a jack of all trades phone at this price point just go for Nothing phone 1. I might even say that this phone with right set of updates can be "Apple of Androids"