When Nothing Phone 1 made its way to the market, it came alongside a surprise decision to skip the United States. Carrier partnerships, customizations, and networking hardware compatibility make it difficult for OEMs to find a foothold in this part of the world, and Carl Pei cited similar reasons behind the decision.

But six months since then, having seen success in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, the smartphone is officially making its way to North American shores, albeit via a beta program. Here we explore what this program entails and whether you should buy a Nothing Phone 1 in the United States.

Where and How Can You Buy The Nothing Phone 1 in the United States?

Until January 2023, it wasn't possible to buy the Nothing Phone 1 via official channels in the United States; this meant relying on third-party sellers that sold the phone on Amazon or importing the device from Europe.

The above methods have three caveats. First, you wouldn't receive any warranty or after-sales support in the United States. Second, your device would only work well with some carriers. Third, you would still pay $500 or more to get your hands on the device.

But with the launch of Nothing Beta Membership, you can get your hands on an 8GB + 128GB Black color unit of the Nothing Phone 1 for $300. Unfortunately, the other two caveats remain in place. Nothing clearly states that the device may not function properly with all carriers and that there will be no after-sales support.

Nevertheless, purchasing from an official channel does bring the advantage of a 14-day return window. You're likely to miss this option if ordering via Amazon or importing the device.

What Carrier and Network Bands Will Nothing Phone 1 Support?

Before we dive into discussing device hardware and how it compares with the competition, let us understand the device's network compatibility in the United States.

Nothing clearly states the device can only use T-Mobile 3G, 4G or 5G, Verizon 4G, and AT&T 3G or 4G. CDMA is not supported. The below table details the carrier bands that work with Phone 1.

Additional points to keep in mind are that VoLTE and VoWi-Fi will not work on AT&T, and users on Verizon will need to contact Verizon customer service to add their Phone 1's IMEI to the Verizon database.

What Specifications Does Nothing Phone 1 Have?

Despite being the first smartphone by Nothing, the Phone 1 has done a great job creating a space for itself. It delivers a combination of hardware that won it the Best Mid-range title in Pocketnow Awards 2022 and ensures that the device can easily handle any task you throw at it.

Display

Its 6.55-inch FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display is among the best on the market. It reproduces color with great accuracy and is also quite sharp. During our Phone 1 review testing, we didn't notice a significant color shift when viewing the panel from different angles too!

As for brightness levels, you'll experience a typical max of 500 nits, which is okay to use outdoors, but we would've liked a brighter panel. But compared to other devices that cost $300, it does hit the mark. HDR support allows the display to bump the brightness to 1200 nits. Also, the decision to use a flat panel with uniform bezels adds to the device's aesthetic.

Performance

When it comes to performance, the device depends upon the capable Snapdragon 778G Plus, paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage or 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. This combination ensures plenty of performance headroom, letting you play demanding games and multitask.

The beta membership model will ship with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Camera

The camera hardware on this device is also above par. It ships with a dual-camera system on the back, featuring a 50-megapixel wide and 50-megapixel ultrawide sensor. On the front, you'll find a 16-megapixel shooter. The images you can capture from this hardware are better than par for the course.

The main shooter is dependable in almost any scenario, be it a dimly lit restaurant or a bright sunny day in the park. The ultrawide here isn't the best, as we did notice a disparity between the colors it captures and the ones seen from the primary shooter, but software updates have improved its performance. So you can depend on it for the occasional group or landscape photo. The front camera is just okay and is seen struggling in low-light conditions.

Battery

Battery life on the smartphone is also acceptable. It ships with a 4,500 mAh cell that can easily last a day. Our testing showed it provided about 6 hours of usage when scrolling through social media, capturing images, and playing games in short bursts throughout the day. There's also support for 33W fast charging, which should get you from 0 to 100% in a little over 60 minutes.

How Does Nothing Phone 1 Compare to Its Competition?

From the spec breakdown above, it's clear that the smartphone packages a lot of high-quality hardware, and these provide enough reason to buy the Nothing Phone 1. But you might wonder if it's any better than its competition, and here's what we feel about it.

Be it at $300 or $500, in the United States, Nothing Phone 1 goes up against the Google Pixel 6a, Apple iPhone SE (2022), and Samsung Galaxy A53. Barring compatibility issues with carriers and a lack of after-sales support, the hardware and software package on Nothing Phone 1 is much better than the competition.

While the Google Pixel 6a might be the camera leader in the above assortment, the Nothing Phone 1 is not far behind. Yes, the iPhone SE (2022) ships with the high-performance A15 Bionic, but when it comes to day-to-day tasks, the Snapdragon 778G Plus also handles them just fine. And the display on Nothing Phone 1 closely matches the Samsung Galaxy A53.

We'd even pit it against the Google Pixel 7 and still see the device come out on top in some ways. And the Pixel 7 is a device that costs $400 more when looking at the Nothing Phone 1's beta price in the United States.

Should You Buy The Nothing Phone 1?

If you're someone who isn't on Verizon and is willing to work with the network compatibility issues the device might face, the Nothing Phone 1 is a clear winner. At $300, the value it offers can't be argued against and only bolsters the device's argument for being one of the best phones under $500.