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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 August 2023
I've always been a flagship item owner, Samsung, Apple, one plus, I always had to have the best on offer... Which is quite a sad statement in itself, but I work in the tech industry and although I don't glue myself to devices constantly, I like to have something which does it's job well.
Earlier this year I had my latest Samsung flagship stolen by a couple of opportunistic women pretending to be beggars in Tottenham court road, apparently it's very common and I'm still kicking myself that I wasn't more aware of their technique... But anyway, it's gone and hopefully karma will get them... London bus perhaps.
So, after losing a few grands worth of tech I reconsidered my penchant for everything flagship and realised that there were a few brands emerging that were offering almost flagship specs for a large chunk less in coin.
Up steps nothing....I watched a tonne of videos and reviews and knew of the founder through his previous business endeavours, so kept a close eye on the reveal of this phone... As always the hype usually over-eggs the product and the tech nimbies on you tube wildly assume next gen products will have 16 cameras and be constructed of material only found on asteroids.... And so on.
I waited for a week or two until the you tube review boffins got their hands on them and gave them a once over... All of them were quite kind to the phone so I pulled the purchase trigger (along with a set of their nothing earbud 2's) and awaited my delivery.
Parcel arrived and it's presentation was decent enough... Not going any further with that as it's pretty irrelevant in my opinion.
Fired the phone up, chose nothings interface over basic stock android (as I quite like the minimalism) and proceeded to install my apps.
First thing you note is jeeze this thing is snappy. I came from a Samsung flagship and this was eeeeeeeasily on par, despite this having the last gen chip (not that I think that makes much difference that anyone would notice anyway).... I continued to be largely impressed and still to this day a month later, continue so.
The screen is crispy clean and yields excellent text viewing on the smallest size font... The menus are great, the widgets are great (especially being able to use them on the always on display) and the whole experience has been super positive because of 1 simple thing.... Cost... It's half the price (let that sink in) of premium flagships yet (in my opinion) makes them look outrageously overpriced.
Sure you could argue those costing twice as much use better materials or better camera options... But not to the tune of a 50% price hike... What you're getting here is 'almost' flagship quality for half, if not more, the price.. if you're like I used to be and assume that the best Samsung or best Google etc phones must be good because those respective brands and it's fans tell you so.... Check this out first.
The sound from the speakers may not be up to Apple standards, but are decent enough... The cameras may not be up to Samsung quality sensors, but as we know from various reports, Samsung uses software to enhance their images (the great moon swindle anyone?)
So why pay double when the output from the sensors on this are pretty bloody good!.
Finally, the Glyphs... The founder has said on numerous occasions that he thinks mobile phones are stagnant and boring...I agree... The glyph might be a gimmick but when it starts to flash away like a strobe at a 90's nightclub when someone calls you, it does make you chuckle and does grab your attention and that of those around you (who subsequently ask what case it is as they want one... Although end up disappointed finding out it's the phone itself).
Battery... I'm not a constant 'on and in my face' user like my kids... But with a few calls,50-100 WhatsApps and then a few hours of YouTube, I'm usually only down to 65% by bedtime...it's very good.
Negatives - when you consider the price... Not many warranted ones...a few software glitches, expected as it's their new o/s and to be really picky, I'd rather have a 'close all apps' option when closing windows and I find the adaptive brightness too heavy... I've opted to leave it off as I was getting annoyed by opening the screen in low light to be hardly seeing anything.
Overall, again - for the price Vs flagships, it's an absolute no brainer
Earlier this year I had my latest Samsung flagship stolen by a couple of opportunistic women pretending to be beggars in Tottenham court road, apparently it's very common and I'm still kicking myself that I wasn't more aware of their technique... But anyway, it's gone and hopefully karma will get them... London bus perhaps.
So, after losing a few grands worth of tech I reconsidered my penchant for everything flagship and realised that there were a few brands emerging that were offering almost flagship specs for a large chunk less in coin.
Up steps nothing....I watched a tonne of videos and reviews and knew of the founder through his previous business endeavours, so kept a close eye on the reveal of this phone... As always the hype usually over-eggs the product and the tech nimbies on you tube wildly assume next gen products will have 16 cameras and be constructed of material only found on asteroids.... And so on.
I waited for a week or two until the you tube review boffins got their hands on them and gave them a once over... All of them were quite kind to the phone so I pulled the purchase trigger (along with a set of their nothing earbud 2's) and awaited my delivery.
Parcel arrived and it's presentation was decent enough... Not going any further with that as it's pretty irrelevant in my opinion.
Fired the phone up, chose nothings interface over basic stock android (as I quite like the minimalism) and proceeded to install my apps.
First thing you note is jeeze this thing is snappy. I came from a Samsung flagship and this was eeeeeeeasily on par, despite this having the last gen chip (not that I think that makes much difference that anyone would notice anyway).... I continued to be largely impressed and still to this day a month later, continue so.
The screen is crispy clean and yields excellent text viewing on the smallest size font... The menus are great, the widgets are great (especially being able to use them on the always on display) and the whole experience has been super positive because of 1 simple thing.... Cost... It's half the price (let that sink in) of premium flagships yet (in my opinion) makes them look outrageously overpriced.
Sure you could argue those costing twice as much use better materials or better camera options... But not to the tune of a 50% price hike... What you're getting here is 'almost' flagship quality for half, if not more, the price.. if you're like I used to be and assume that the best Samsung or best Google etc phones must be good because those respective brands and it's fans tell you so.... Check this out first.
The sound from the speakers may not be up to Apple standards, but are decent enough... The cameras may not be up to Samsung quality sensors, but as we know from various reports, Samsung uses software to enhance their images (the great moon swindle anyone?)
So why pay double when the output from the sensors on this are pretty bloody good!.
Finally, the Glyphs... The founder has said on numerous occasions that he thinks mobile phones are stagnant and boring...I agree... The glyph might be a gimmick but when it starts to flash away like a strobe at a 90's nightclub when someone calls you, it does make you chuckle and does grab your attention and that of those around you (who subsequently ask what case it is as they want one... Although end up disappointed finding out it's the phone itself).
Battery... I'm not a constant 'on and in my face' user like my kids... But with a few calls,50-100 WhatsApps and then a few hours of YouTube, I'm usually only down to 65% by bedtime...it's very good.
Negatives - when you consider the price... Not many warranted ones...a few software glitches, expected as it's their new o/s and to be really picky, I'd rather have a 'close all apps' option when closing windows and I find the adaptive brightness too heavy... I've opted to leave it off as I was getting annoyed by opening the screen in low light to be hardly seeing anything.
Overall, again - for the price Vs flagships, it's an absolute no brainer
