Here’s what the Nothing Phone 1’s rear lights can actually do

The phone gets a lot of use out of its light strips. | Image: Marques BrownleeWe already know that Nothing’s debut smartphone, the Phone 1, will come equipped with a series of light strips on its back. But now,...

Jun 21, 2022 - 21:01

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Here’s what the Nothing Phone 1’s rear lights can actually do

We already know that Nothing’s debut smartphone, the Phone 1, will come equipped with a series of light strips on its back. But now, thanks to an in-depth video from Marques Brownlee, we have a much better idea of what they’ll actually be useful for. Brownlee’s video highlights a couple of different use cases, including having the LEDs work as a charging indicator, highlighting unread notifications, or flashing in time with ringtones.

The strips, which Nothing is branding as its “glyph interface,” consist of a little over 900 individual LEDs embedded into the rear of the phone. Nothing CEO Carl Pei previously hinted in an interview with The Verge that they could serve as a modern take on the classic smartphone notification LED, but now we have a much better idea of how this will actually work in practice.

Here’s a list of all the features Brownlee’s video highlights:

All strips light up to show notifications. The central circle (squircle?) lights up to indicate wireless or reverse wireless charging. The bottom light strip can act as a charging progress bar. All strips can light up to serve as a fill light for the camera. All strips can flash in time with the phone’s 10 built-in ringtones.

Aside from the glyphs themselves, there’s also a red LED that flashes when the phone is filming.

As part of its marketing blitz, Nothing hasn’t been shy about showing off the Phone 1 ahead of its official launch on July 12th. It showed off the design of the rear of the phone last week and has already released a beta preview of its Android-based launcher, Nothing OS. Internally, we know that the phone is running a Snapdragon processor, though other specs are yet to be announced. Expect that to change as we get closer to the July 12th launch.