HN Explorer

43 comments

[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 96.0 ms ] thread
silisili
Gonna be a no from me. Pei is a master of hype and marketing, but his products are underwhelming.

From the reviews I've read of both the earphones and phone, more of the same. Both are... just OK.

busymom0
I came across it via Linus's review. He seems to like it so far and it's decently priced too at $399 if I remember right:

https://youtu.be/TEoEeKFcuDA

silisili
It's the same exact thing he did at Oneplus. Launch cheap phone with promises it won't meet, gain a few fans, then turn the screws.

I'm not saying it's bad or overpriced as I don't have one, but it's like watching Oneplus be born all over again.

Edit: Also, FWIW, this phone will not be available nor really work in USA. Not sure if LTT mentions that or not.

kreetx
The early OnePlus'es were good performance for their price, no?
Hamuko
The OnePlus One was also a great deal for the price. I had one and it was great. However, I'm not planning on ever getting another OnePlus.
giords
I'm curious, why? And which other brand do you buy then?
Hamuko
OnePlus' OTA update soft-bricked my OnePlus 5 on Christmas Eve, so I got a really bad taste in my mouth for their software.

And with the hardware not being budget anymore, I figured I might as well buy an iPhone, since the price is basically at iPhone-levels now anyways. When I bought my OnePlus One, it was basically a flagship device for around 350€. Back then the iPhone 6 was starting at like 699/799€?

coreyp_1
Who is Pei? I didn't see the name on the website. But, also, I haven't heard about this until now.
silisili
Carl Pei. He left Oneplus to form Nothing.
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
chaoticmass
I bought the ear(1) because they looked cool. They sound OK.
coreyp_1
I didn't find a price. It just says "sold out".
busymom0
Linus says in his review it's priced at $399.
Hamuko
499€. It's not sold in the US.
solatic
Can't tell if it's a real product or a prank site. A "nothing" phone? So if I buy it, I'll get nothing?

Who picked that brand name?

pimlottc
I had assumed it would be “nothing but a phone”, and was surprised to see a camera.
system2
Is this satire or a real iPhone replica? I also looked at "Where to Buy" but no links shows direct link to a product. What kind of company doesn't sell their product on their own site?!
Hamuko
I see a big "Buy now" button in the bottom-right corner.
system2
Which doesn't work.
Hamuko
Worked for me. Got to the purchase page with price details.
system2
Care to share? All I see is "Where to Buy" and in the main menu bar I see "Store" link with out of stock phone page.
Hamuko
I opened the page, clicked on "Buy now", got to https://fi.nothing.tech/products/phone-1, selected "Black" and "8+128GB", got a shipping estimate of "Aug 02, 2022", added to cart, went to checkout. Stopped there since I don't actually want to buy one. No hitches at all.
system2
Thanks. Maybe in the U.S. it doesn't show a buy button.
Hamuko
Makes sense, since it's not sold in the US.
TheAceOfHearts
LTT made it sound pretty underwhelming.

Tech has continued growing cheaper and more powerful, and yet innovation appears to have stalled within the smartphone domain.

https://youtu.be/TEoEeKFcuDA

tim--
No SD card slot, and the marketing page talks about NFTs. No thanks.
wayne
They went pretty over the top with the lights to look artsy and the overall reviews have been mixed, but it's really nice to see experimentation in smartphone hardware like the notification-triggered ambient indicator lights. Most phones look pretty much the same these days.
CharlesW
In case you like the look but have an iPhone, the “Something” case: https://dbrand.com/shop/special-edition/something
ColanR
> Imagine trying to break into the smartphone market. Turns out, having less money than Apple makes it a little difficult. Availability? Limited. Supply? Constrained. Even with a design so compelling that people pay ridiculous markups at StockX, nobody can get their hands on your fancy new flashlight. To top it all off, the assholes at dbrand have parroted your design and are making it for the competition. Sorry, Carl.

Their marketing copy sounds like a Seinfeld skit.

croes
Sounds like mocking the underdog.
CharlesW
Carl Pei isn’t exactly an “underdog”. As for the mocking, they’re calling the Nothing design “compelling” and calling themselves “assholes”. I think Carl is probably not crying himself to sleep over this.
jhanschoo
dbrand's edgy marketing is part of its brand, and uses it to stand out in a crowded market. Come to think of it, sounds quite like Nothing
behnamoh
There was "nothing" of interest on the page. Looks like some designers scratched their itch for something different that won't be around in a couple years.
freitasm
Interesting. Until they got to "Collecting NFTs? Show them off in 5 different sizes and track their prices on your home screen."

Nope.

livinglist
Am I the only one that finds the website really difficult to read…
busymom0
I thought the same too. Those fonts look hideous and hard to read.
kstenerud
I just want a no-nonsense 4.5" phone...
navels
Exactly what I've been looking for: bespoke widgets.
ulrikrasmussen
Why glass on the back of the phone? It doubles the surface area susceptible to breaking and it serves no useful purpose (the widget thing looks like a gimmick). I've had two phones with glass surfaces on the back, and they both had cracks in it within the first year (the front luckily survived though).
flxy
Looking at their careers page[1] lists a bunch of web3 positions, so it's safe to say their general plan regarding crypto/blockchain goes even beyond just NFTs as a phone feature. That's a big no from me for sure.

[1] https://careers.nothing.tech/