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Smartphones were “quite boring” until UK-based start-up Nothing entered the market, and phone makers are “confused” about how to use AI, the firm’s co-founder has said.
Akis Evangelidis was speaking as Nothing unveiled its latest mid-range phones, the Phone 3(a) Series.
The London-based start-up launched in late 2020, looking to offer an alternative to the likes of Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG) and Samsung (005930.KS) through striking design and unusual features, including flashing LED light patterns on the rear of its phones to symbolise different types of notifications.
“Back then, four years ago, it was quite boring to be honest. All the devices looked the same. They were just minor iterations; on camera module, more megapixels, all that kind of stuff – there wasn’t much happening. There wasn’t any grander vision,” he told the PA news agency.
“(There was also) a lot of negativity around tech, like with data privacy, social media consumption and there was a negative spiral.
“Whereas, when we were growing up, with the launch of the first iPhone, I still remember interacting with it and feeling super excited. You would stay up late to watch the Apple keynotes and so on… but that kind of sense of sense of magic around tech has gradually disappeared.”
The new Phone (3a) Series has been given a better camera system, as well as an AI-powered tool the firm calls Essential Space, a hub for user text and audio notes, screenshots and other items which act as a “second memory” on the device, able to capture, apply and recall key details from that data as the user needs it.
The handsets will start at £329, and come just a week after Apple unveiled its own mid-range device, the iPhone 16e – although that device starts at £599.
It is Nothing’s first steps into the ultra competitive world of smartphone AI tools – following Samsung, Google and Apple which all introduced features in 2024 – and Mr Evangelidis said the company was approaching the technology with the same alternative attitude that it has approached phone development in general.
“AI is coming into play and we definitely think it will disrupt the overall user experience when it comes to smartphones,” he told PA, adding that he felt many of the biggest firms had been drawn into a “specs race” to introduce similar tools quickly.
“I think there’s been a lot of buzz around AI but I think users are confused. The market is confused in terms of, what’s the end game? We’ve seen camera features and so on but we think that the opportunity is drastically, much bigger than that, yet people don’t see or don’t understand what their opportunities are.