The first Nothing phone might be around the corner

Nothing was formed by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei in late 2020, with the company launching its Ear 1 true wireless earbuds last year. We’ve already seen Pei and the company tease a smartphone, and it looks like more details have emerged.

The manufacturer has shown off a prototype smartphone in meetings with industry executives at MWC 2022, a source “with direct knowledge of the matter” told TechCrunch. This, combined with Nothing’s previous teases, suggests that a launch is on the cards sooner rather than later.

TechCrunch‘s source also told it that the phone will have a similar design language as the Ear 1 earbuds, featuring “elements of transparency.”

This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a smartphone with transparent elements, though. But we hope Nothing doesn’t ape Xiaomi’s Explorer Edition phones, which saw the brand add dummy parts underneath a transparent rear cover.

The news comes after Pei cryptically tweeted that he was “back on Android” and that “Android 12 was nice” earlier this month, with the official Android and Snapdragon accounts chiming in as well.