We already know that the first smartphone from Nothing, the Phone 1, will be equipped with a series of light strips on its back. But now, thanks to an in-depth video by Marques Brownlee, we have a better idea of what they’ll actually be useful for. Brownlee’s video highlights a few different use cases, including whether the LEDs serve as charging indicators, highlighting unread notifications, or flashing in time with ringtones.
The strips, which Nothing is branding as its “Glyph interface,” consist of more than 900 individual LEDs embedded in the rear of the phone. Nothing CEO Carl Pei had previously hinted at in an interview. ledge That they may serve as a modern take on the classic smartphone notification LED, but now we have a better idea of how it will actually work in practice.
Here’s a list of all of 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.
- With the phone’s 10 built-in ringtones, all strips can flash on time.
Apart from the glyphs, there is also a red LED that flashes while the phone is filming.
As part of its marketing blitz, there is no shame in showing off the Phone 12 ahead of its official launch on July 1st. It showed off the back design 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 specifications are yet to be announced. Hopefully that will change as we get closer to the July 12 launch.