The Nothing Phone 1 is one of the most impressive mid-tier budget phones available for purchase now. Since its unveiling and subsequent launch last month, the phone has already received two updates. Its first over-the-air update introduced revamped sound effects, improvements in battery life, and optimized camera effects. The second update that arrived soon after had improved clarity in photos taken with the ultra-wide camera as well as photos shot in low-light conditions and added an experimental NFT gallery widget plus a Tesla control feature. Now, Nothing is at it again with yet another update bringing the Phone 1 up to OS version 1.1.2.
The third OTA for the Nothing Phone 1 sizes out at 35MB and, yet, is packed with multiple enhancements. Apart from background changes like smaller bug fixes and improvements in stability, the Phone 1 is getting some tweaks to the user interface this time around. One specific example is a new toggle for having the fingerprint icon appear while the phone is locked. This feature makes just the icon visible by simply touching or moving the handset which should help users to unlock their phones more easily. Additionally, a Bluetooth codec issue related to volume has also been resolved.
The two most important items in this update both contribute to better battery life for the smartphone.
The first one ensures that the phone's always-on display will be turned off at night by default, though a toggle will allow users to keep it on if they so wish. This feature ideally should have arrived when the smartphone was sold, but nevertheless, it is finally here.
The second tweak enables improved charging performance of the phone as well as better compatibility with third-party chargers. Considering that Nothing does not include the phone charger with the handset, we're curious as to whether people will notice much faster their phones are charging.
Updates for the Nothing Phone 1 have been coming in hot and fast, something we here can appreciate. It's a such a shame, though, that North America has to lose out on an Android option other than Samsung that puts a premium on timely software patches — though the security patches in this update still come from the July bulletin.