The Nothing Phone (1), the much-hyped device from OnePlus-founder Carl Pei, is set to be one of the hottest Android phones of 2022. We've known very little about the phone, until now.New leaks tell us that the Nothing Phone (1) will launch on July 21st for a price in the region of $500-$550. Pei has also teased images showing off the phone's unique translucent design, along with the inspiration behind it. Let's take a look.

Nothing Phone (1) Price and Release Date

According to the German site All-roundpc.com, the launch date for the Nothing Phone will be July 21st. It's not yet clear if that is the date the phone will be unveiled, or if it will go on sale then. The price is expected to be around €500, which puts the US price at between $500 and $550. The word comes from Max Jambor, who has a solid reputation for leaks, via an unnamed European retailer.

Assuming the pricing information is correct, it would set the phone firmly in the increasingly competitive premium-mid-range category. It would be up against the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE and the Google Pixel 6a, which also becomes available for pre-order on July 21st.

What the Nothing Phone (1) Will Look Like

Meanwhile, an interview with the Nothing team on wallpaper.com shows sketches and design inspirations for the phone. It will have a similar translucent design to that in the Nothing ear (1) earbuds and is apparently inspired by the New York subway map.

The idea is to turn the internal components into a design feature themselves, and create a distinctive design language in the process, according to Tom Howard, Nothing's head of design. "There are over 400 components in a smartphone, assembled in layers. We wanted to celebrate the 'good ones', the things we thought were really interesting to emphasize," he's quoted as saying.

nothing phone
Image Credit: wallpaper.com

On the inside, the phone is expected to run a version of stock Android with a few enhancements and Nothing's own design tweaks, including widgets. You can test out the Nothing launcher right now if you want to get a taste of it, although it's a pretty barebones experience at the moment.

We don't yet know anything about the phone's specs, other than that it will run on a Snapdragon processor.

The Nothing Phone Is Coming Soon

To date, Carl Pei is following the playbook he created for the original OnePlus launch—a constant drip-feed of information, lots of hype, and plenty of big promises. It worked for OnePlus, which found itself a solid position in the market. But for other new brands, it's much harder.

Last year, Nothing acquired Essential Inc., the company started by Android founder Andy Rubin and which folded after releasing just one poorly selling smartphone. We're only a couple of months away from finding out which path Nothing takes.