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Most of us at Engadget haven’t been in school for some time, but we still appreciate a good backpack when we find one. We may have ditched textbooks a while back, but we still have a lot of gear to carry around. At minimum, most of us have to lug our laptops to and from meetings, while some of us have additional camera and video gear to schlep around town. So while our current backpacks don’t carry the same school gear that you might have, we’re confident that they can handle everything you need to bring with you to ace your classes.

Timbuk2 Lane Commuter bag

Andrew Tarantola / Engadget

What’s green and portable and, oh hey wow, has a secret pouch in the bottom that holds a waterproof sleeve which I just right now discovered while writing this? Yeah, it’s this here Timbuk2 Lane Commuter bag that I’ve owned, but apparently never truly known, for the past 4 years. I bought it because it’s lightweight, comfortable to wear, could be expanded to accommodate oversized items, had a pair of exterior water bottle holders — one for soup, the other for more soup — and offered a generous number of pockets.

The Timbuk company has a well-earned reputation for quality construction. I still regularly carry their messenger bag a decade-plus after I bought it and this laptop bag is of parallel durability. Even after the rigors of a few CESes, the Timbuk has shown remarkably little evidence of wear and tear. The color hasn’t noticeably faded and the straps are still unfrayed. Nor is my laptop any worse for wear despite the bag’s rough-and-tumble travel. And while my bag was pretty well water resistant before, the discovery of this sheath is a handy additional layer of protection — not to mention a teaching moment about the importance of paying attention when unboxing new gear. – Andrew Tarantola, Senior Reporter

Baggallini Soho Backpack

Valentina Palladino / Engadget

I had gone through a number of backpacks before receiving this Baggallini bag as a gift, and I can say that most of my previous daily carries can’t hold a candle to this one. It’s hard to find backpacks that are both durable and have some style that’s not strictly utilitarian. The Soho Backpacks fits the bill nicely with its water-resistant nylon fabric and taller doctor-bag profile. I can hold up to a 13-inch laptop in the interior padded sleeve and I like the healthy number of pockets the bag has. I most often use the front two pockets for quick-access things like my phone and keys, and pretty much every time I go out, both side pockets are filled with a water bottle and an umbrella. I also appreciate its luggage handle sleeve, which lets me rest my back a little bit while traveling.

While I’m glad I have this bag now to support me through all kinds of trips, I often think back on my college years and how useful it would have been to have then. I carried a lot of inadequate bags back then, and I’m pretty sure some of my back problems are a direct result of that. At least now I can prevent further injury by carrying this practical yet somewhat stylish backpack whenever necessary. – Valentina Palladino, Senior Commerce Editor

Peak Design 45L Travel Backpack

Sam Rutherford, Engadget

I’m kind of a sucker when it comes to bags. I’ve enjoyed using Peak Design’s original Everyday Messenger for the past six years, but its size often felt a bit restrictive during longer trips. So last year I bought Peak Design’s 45L Travel Backpack, and it’s probably the best backpack I’ve ever owned. Just like the company’s other gear, you can tell a lot of thought went into making it. There’s a seemingly endless number of zippers, pockets, handles and loops smartly strewn across the bag, which makes it really easy to organize your gear or tie down bulkier equipment like a tripod. You can even transform it into a duffel by hiding its shoulder straps and hip belts behind cleverly placed flaps, while built-in compression snaps help slim it down for carry-on duty. And of course there are separate padded sleeves for tablets and up to a 16-inch laptop.

The only real downside is that it’s a bit large and sometimes wearing it makes me feel like a turtle. It’s a great backpack for hauling a bunch of gear and clothes around during a long weekend. Unfortunately, not long after I bought this thing, Peak came out with a less bulky 30L version, and if I had to do it all over again, I’d probably go for the smaller one. – Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter

Dagne Dover Dakota Backpack

Nicole Lee, Engadget

There are many reasons I love my Dagne Dover Dakota backpack, but the main one is that it has pockets. A lot of pockets. One big pocket on the front, three more on the other side of the front flap, two internal side pockets, two external side pockets, and two more pockets on the back. Oh, and there’s also a large padded laptop compartment that’s big enough to fit my 13-inch MacBook Pro (According to the company, it should fit most 13-inch laptops).

All of these pockets give me enough room to store a multitude of cables, external batteries, accessories, a water bottle and so much more. I especially love the two back ones as I can reach them easily while I’m wearing the backpack, making them ideal for essentials like my wallet, phone and travel documents.

The internal cavity is roomy as well. I’ve managed to fit in a large DSLR camera along with a giant telephoto lens. It’s great as a gym bag, too, as I can fit in an extra change of clothes and a pair of shoes. I love it for travel too. It holds so much stuff but it’s still compact enough to fit underneath the seat in front of me. In fact, the latest version of the Dakota even has a sleeve that fits perfectly over your luggage handle.

Plus, this thing is durable. It’s made of neoprene, a soft lightweight material that dries quickly if it gets wet. It’s also insulating and shock absorbent. I bought it back in 2017 and five years later, it’s still holding up. It doesn’t look quite as pristine as it did back then, but it’s just as functional. Sure, it’s rather pricey at $185, but for a bag that has lasted this long, it’s worth it. – Nicole Lee, Commerce Writer

Waterfield Staad Attaché bag

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

I’ve been buying gear from Waterfield in San Francisco for almost 20 years, a rather startling amount of time. But their bags, laptop sleeves, gaming cases and everything else I’ve tried has been exceptionally well-made and smartly designed. I’ve picked up a number of their bags over the years, but the one that I keep coming back to is the Staad Attaché, a waxed canvas (or ballistic nylon) messenger bag with a full-grain leather flap.

The thing that I like the most about it is that it can carry a lot of gear but it’s still fairly compact. It has two built-in sleeves for carrying a laptop and tablet, two deep hand pockets, a key fob, and a main compartment that’s big enough to carry headphones, books, a camera, or whatever else you deem most essential. There are also two external zippered pockets for anything you might need to get your hands on quickly. This bag is big enough for me to carry everything I need for a day or two, but small enough that I don’t overpack.

The Staad Attaché looks classy and understated on the outside, but the interior is a bright yellow. That might seem an unusual choice, but it makes it easier to see what’s inside than a dark liner. It’s a good example of the smart design decisions Waterfield makes. And, perhaps most importantly, this bag can take a beating. Waterfield products are expensive; the Staad Attaché starts at $289. But they’re the kind of product you buy once and can use for a lifetime. I’ve taken this bag on tons of work and personal trips and is still in perfect shape. The waxed canvas and leather have aged well over the years, and I expect I’ll be lugging this bag around for another decade, easy — unless I get tempted by another Waterfield option before then. – Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor

The history of video games is littered with odd tie-in merchandise, from Resident Evil perfume and Xbox body wash to a Call of Duty-themed Jeep and the Xbox Mini Fridge. Annapurna Interactive is adding to that storied legacy with a branded cat carrier for new adventure game Stray.

The publisher teamed up with pet accessories brand Travel Cat for the limited-edition carrier, which it announced just a few days before the game hits PlayStation and PC on Tuesday. "We've hinted at it. It's true. We're happy to share that limited-edition Stray x Travel Cat merch for your feline companions is up for pre-order!" Annapurna wrote in a tweet spotted by Eurogamer.

It's a version of a Travel Cat backpack called The Fat Cat with neon and charcoal colors inspired by the cyberpunk setting of Stray. The pet accessory company says the $185 carrier is sturdy and breathable, while there's space for more than one cat. There's a bubble attachment so your curious furry friends can look at the outside world, as well as a leash clip (a Stray leash and harness are also available)

You don't have to limit the contents to cats either. "You could also use the harness and backpack for small/mediumish dogs if you really wanted to," Annapurna said. "And you can use the backpack for carrying stuff in general too." Travel Cat will ship the carrier in two batches, one on August 31st and another on September 21st.

There's been a sizable buzz around puzzle platformer Stray since it first emerged a couple of years ago. You'll play as a stray cat that has been separated from its family. You'll make your way home through a dystopian cybercity with the help of a companion drone, all the while knocking over as many things as you can. PlayStation Plus subscribers on the Extra and Premium tiers can play the game at no extra cost.

Casio has launched a new G-Shock model with a bold color that would look instantly familiar to space fans. It takes its eye-catching hue from the iconic orange suits astronauts wear for the ascent and entry portions of their flight so that they could be easily spotted by rescue teams in case their spacecraft has to bail out into the ocean. On the watch's official product page, G-Shock wrote that the black dial of the watch represents the black visor on the helmets astronauts wear with the suit, while the thin blue line on the dial mimics the suits' blue accents. 

In addition, the watch's band loop is adorned by an American flag and the back of its casing features the engraving of an astronaut. Even its packaging is on-theme: The watch comes in a tin can and a box that also feature elements of NASA's "pumpkin suits."

As collectSPACE notes, NASA introduced the vivid spacesuits following the Challenger tragedy in the 80's, and they had gone through several iterations since then. The latest version is the Orion Crew Survival System, which had been optimized for comfort, comes in more than one size and was designed to be easier to connect to the communications system. 

That Casio would release a new G-Shock watch based on a NASA spacesuit doesn't come as a surprise. It has a long history with the agency, with G-Shock being one of the few timepieces NASA has approved for use on the space shuttle and aboard the ISS. In fact, this is the third NASA-branded G-Shock model it has released, following an all-white and a black-and-white watch adorned with the red NASA logo known as "the worm."

This orange watch, however, is more expensive than its predecessors and will set buyers back $170. It's only available for a limited time and can be purchased from Casio's website.

This week on the show, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into Apple’s new MacBook Air M2 and its recent batch of OS betas. It turns out a redesign and a whole new chip makes the MacBook Air even more compelling than before (at least more than the 13-inch MacBook Pro). Also, we chat with Lisa Grossman, Astronomy Writer at Science News, about the astounding new photos and data from the James Webb Space Telescope. It’s a clear upgrade from Hubble, and NASA is just getting started!

Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

• Apple’s M2 MacBook Air is very good – 1:21

• There’s lots of fun stuff to explore in the iOS 16 beta – 7:39

• Stage Manager in MacOS Ventura is a step forward for window organization – 18:11

• What’s new in the watchOS 9 beta – 24:11

• New pictures confirm the James Webb Space Telescope will revolutionize astronomy – 30:44

• Elon Musk is trying to back out of his Twitter deal after three whole months – 53:14

• Our Nothing Phone 1 hands-on – 54:49

• Listener Mail: A phishing test for employees at Lowe’s – 1:02:45

• Working on – 1:05:58

• Pop culture picks – 1:06:50

Video Stream

Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Lisa Grossman
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien

Intel has told customers that it will raises prices on most of its processors and other chips by up to 10-20 percent later this year, Nikkei has reported. That could mean price increases on computers products ranging from laptops to servers, at the same time that demand is weakening and sales are dropping. 

Intel effectively confirmed the news, referring back to its Q1 earnings call. "Intel indicated it would increase pricing in certain segments of its business due to inflationary pressures. The company has begun to inform customers of these changes," it told Nikkei.

With the COVID-19 keeping folks working at home, PC sales increased dramatically in 2020-21. That bubble has since burst, however, and key Intel buyers like Acer, ASUS and others have warned of slowing sales ahead. Acer Chairman Jason Chen even noted that his company is no longer seeing a shortage of chips. "Some of the chip suppliers' CEOs even called me recently to buy more chips from them. The situation has changed," he told reporters on Wednesday.

Rival chipmaker TSMC previously said that it would race prices by a "single-digit" percentage starting next year. Since that company manufactures AMD's chips, consumers aren't likely to find as much price relief by switching brands, either. 

Some device makers are starting to build up inventories, which could mean deals in the short term. However, the outlook longer term is less clear. Samsung, for one, reportedly told suppliers to stop shipping parts used to manufacture its PCs, TVs and other devices. 

Remember when Steve Jobs pulled the original MacBook Air out of a Manila envelope? That was 2008. The Air series of laptops kickstarted the era of ultraportables, but Apple’s slimmest PCs were often underpowered compared to the Windows competition that appeared. Now, with Apple’s very own, very powerful silicon, the M2 chip, the 2022 MacBook Air has almost too much power, a new design, (a few) more ports and just… more.

That includes the price. The revamped MacBook Air starts at $1,199, $200 more than the M1 model. Check out Devindra Hardawar’s full review right here.

– Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• GM is building a 'coast-to-coast' EV fast-charging network

• Nothing Phone 1 Review: A remarkable-looking midrange Android phone

• Jury convicts ex-CIA engineer for leaking the agency's hacking toolset

• The best laptops for gaming and schoolwork

• The best study-from-home essentials for students

• Razer takes on Elgato's Stream Deck with its Stream Controller

Google's tool to turn old laptops into Chromebooks is now widely available

It’s squashed hundreds of bugs in the early release of ChromeOS Flex.

Earlier this year, Google announced ChromeOS Flex, a tool that lets anyone take an old Windows or Mac laptop and give it new life by installing Chrome OS. After launching ChromeOS Flex in “early access,” Google now says that Flex is ready to “scale broadly” to more Macs and PCs.

The basics remain the same. You can visit the ChromeOS Flex website to make a bootable Chrome OS installation on a USB drive to ensure that your system works properly, and you can then fully replace your old computer’s OS with Chrome OS if everything checks out.

Continue reading.

Nothing Phone 1 review

A remarkable-looking midrange Android phone.

Engadget

Nothing’s first smartphone certainly looks different. While that will help it stand out, it’s backed up by a solid array of features and clever touches. Sadly, it’s not coming to the US, though.

This is a midrange smartphone with style, so we expected some compromises on performance and cameras. Fortunately, the Phone 1 nails most of the fundamentals, with a surprisingly capable camera setup. Nothing is walking a fine line between gimmick and innovation, but as a new company, it gets to do that. Read our full review on the site, or check out our video right here.

Continue reading.

A Chinese Wikipedia editor spent years writing fake Russian medieval history

She pulled off one of the largest hoaxes ever seen on the platform.

Chinese Wikipedia had a robust collection of detailed and authoritative articles on medieval Russia, thanks to one user. Zhemao wrote 206 articles for the website since 2019, the longest of which rivals The Great Gatsby for length. It detailed Tartar uprisings in 17th century Russia and was supported by a map of the country during that era. Except it was all faked.

Continue reading.

Introducing our 2022 back-to-school gift guide

Start the new semester off right with these tools and gadgets.

Engadget

It may be too early for you to think about the upcoming school year, but it can’t hurt to get a jump-start on planning. Once again this year, we’ve curated the best gadgets for studying more efficiently. As always, there are plenty of laptop recommendations for all kinds of students, but also our favorite streaming hardware, dorm room essentials and even free services that will come in clutch for those headed to college.

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Instagram creators can now lock photos and Reels behind a paywall

They can offer subscribers exclusive group chats, Stories and livestreams too.

Instagram has been building out its creator subscription program this year and it’s got some major additions this week. Creators can now share subscriber-only feed posts. Those Reels and photos will have a purple badge with a crown symbol to make them stand out. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said this was the feature he's had the most requests about from creators in the program.

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Wordle is becoming a board game

Hasbro and New York Times Games are planning a physical release for the game's anniversary.

Hasbro

Still playing Wordle? Well now you can go for a “hyper-realistic” version, because the New York Times is teaming up with Hasbro to launch Wordle: The Party Game, in time for the one-year anniversary of the hit word guessing game. It’s multiplayer, too. The “Wordle Host” will write down a secret word and the rest of the players will be given six tries to guess it, much like the online version. Players who take fewer attempts to guess the secret word will earn fewer points, and the player with the least points at the end of the game wins. The board game will cost $19.99, and is available to pre-order today at Amazon.

Continue reading.

Meta's first human rights report defends the company's misinformation strategy

Facebook's parent company also tried to avoid blame for violence in India.

Meta has released its first yearly human rights report, and you might not be shocked by the angle the company is taking. As CNBC notes, the 83-page document outlines the Facebook parent's handling of human rights issues during 2020 and 2021, with a strong focus on justifying the company's strategies for combating misinformation and harassment. We’re all aware how those have fared.

Continue reading.

Hyundai's Ioniq lineup of EVs launched just a couple years ago but the wild and varied styling quickly caught the public's imagination. Now for "N-Day," the company has unveiled two new concept vehicles under the Ioniq N performance brand ("N" for "Never Just Drive"), that take that design theme even farther.

Hyundai

The RN22e is an electric performance car with the RN signifying "rolling lab" and N concept, according to Hyundai. It clearly uses the Ioniq 6's body, but also has the same E-GMP battery and motor platform common to the Ioniq series. As a performance concept, though, it uses the maximum spec available, similar to the Kia's EV6 GT — dual motors that put out a combined 577 horsepower and 546 pound-feet of torque, powered by a 77.4 kWh battery. It also has racing upgrades like four-piston brake calipers and 15.75-inch rotors. 

Hyundai

The "rolling lab" moniker means there's some experimental stuff going on, too. Hyundai is testing out ways to use regenerative braking to change the car's handling, much as you would use torque steering in an all-wheel-drive vehicle. And since one complaint about EVs is that they lack the powerful sounds and feel of ICE cars, Hyundai is using something called N Sound+ to apply artificial noises and even vibrations through the chassis. 

Hyundai

The Hyundai N Vision 74 electric/hydrogen concept, meanwhile, could not be more different. As the name suggests, it's based on the 1974 Hyundai Pony Coupe concept designed by Giorgetto Giugiario. It also borrows from the more recent Pony 45 concept with similar pixelated lights and other features. 

As the huge wing and racy looks suggest, the N Vision 74 has an even badder spec sheet. Two rear electric motors output 670 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque, while also allowing for torque vectoring. Along with the 62.4-kWh battery pack, it carries a 4.2-kg (10 pound) hydrogen fuel tank with an 85-kWh fuel-cell stack. That would offer a total range of around 373 miles, Hyundai said. 

Hyundai

The N Vision 74 looks more like a way to test concepts and styling rather than anything Hyundai will ever produce. However, the RN22e certainly looks like a feasible performance version of the Ioniq 6 for those who dig the egg-like styling. Concepts aside, though, Hyundai is planning to release its first performance N-brand production vehicle next year with the Ioniq 5 N, spied earlier this year in camouflage. 

When I first pulled the Nothing Phone 1 from its slender retail box, I just stared at it, flipped it over in my hand and scrutinized the see-through bits and pieces. Nothing’s attention to detail was noticeable everywhere. I’ll admit it outright: I love how it looks.

The company may be pushing a narrative of epoch-defining design, but its first phone also comes with decent, if not groundbreaking, specifications and, gasp, a competitive price point. While the aesthetics scream flagship device (and there’s definitely some iPhone DNA here), the price tag, around $476 (£399 here in the UK, no availability in the US), puts it in the arguably more competitive midrange weight class. That puts it up against the iPhone SE, Samsung’s Galaxy A series and Google’s Pixel A devices – don’t forget, the Pixel 6a is just around the corner. Can a literally flashy phone steal your attention away from all these heavy hitters?

Hardware

Mat Smith / Engadget

Both colors of the Nothing Phone 1 are eye-catching. And, while the white version looks cooler, the black really emphasizes the unique glyph lights. Gorilla Glass covers the front and back, and Nothing has curated what components you can see and smoothed out some of the lines.

Let’s talk about the Glyph interface, as Nothing has coined it. It uses over 900 LEDS to create four different light-up elements across the back of the phone. Some have extra features, which I’ll come back to, but collectively they light and flash to signify phone calls or notifications… and prompt strangers to ask, “what’s going on with your iPhone?” The only thing it attracts more than onlookers is fingerprints. You’ll buff this phone a lot to ensure the transparent design can be properly shown off.

Yeah, it’s eye-catching to all humans within 10 feet, but fortunately, you can reduce the brightness and, well, the severity of a phone call or text from someone. There’s also a thoughtful warning that the Glyph Interface may not be safe for anyone with epilepsy or other light-sensitivity conditions. As I have a history of seizures myself, it’s a nice consideration, but as someone noted, what about the people around me?

Nothing has made 10 unique ringtones with dedicated Glyph patterns that light up in sync to the lo-fi chippy noises – one of several signs that the Teenage Engineering DNA runs deep here. Most of the ringtones and patterns are somehow... just plain cool? I think it’s something to do with the perfect synchronization or the fact that it’s not the hollow, orchestral stirrings of a corporate audio sting.

A light strip at the bottom of the Phone 1 doubles up as a charging gauge when the device is plugged in. You will have to enable the feature within the phone’s Glyph Interface settings. I wish the battery gauge also worked on the power strip even when it wasn’t plugged in. Perhaps we’ll get more Glyph functionality in the future.

Now, for all those claims of a unique smartphone paradigm, besides the back, the phone looks and feels like an iPhone – especially the edges of the recycled aluminum frame. Unlike Apple’s phone, there’s no mute switch, and that might be an intentional design choice to put some distance between Nothing and OnePlus. (Nothing boss Carl Pei co-founded the latter and I’ve made my feelings on the OnePlus alert slider known for some time.)

Like the iPhone, the power button is on the right side, while the volume buttons are along the left. At the bottom edge, you have a single-firing (but loud!) speaker, SIM card slot and USB-C port.

There’s a red LED on the back of the phone to indicate when Phone 1 is recording video, like a camcorder from the ‘90s. It’s equal parts privacy feature and intentional retro nod. Another cute touch: The SIM card remover handle is resin-tipped, and looks like a little transistor.

The Phone 1 is a big phone. It dwarfs my iPhone 13 Pro. Its 6.55-inch 1080p screen puts it closer to the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Pixel 6 Pro. Though, at 8.3mm thick, it’s more substantial than Apple’s biggest iPhone.

The midrange spec creep starts at the display, which has a relatively substantial bezel similar to the Galaxy A53 but it’s unlikely to be a dealbreaker for many. There’s a holepunch camera, (16-megapixel) and the display itself is vivid and bright (up to 1200 nits), while refresh rates can reach 120Hz. Adaptive refresh rates are one of the modern touches that help devices feel (and, well, look) premium.

Mat Smith / Engadget

The Phone 1 feels premium then, despite the next compromise: the mid-range Snapdragon processor ticking away inside. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G+ chip has been lightly customized for Nothing, meaning the Phone 1 can offer wireless charging (and reverse wireless charging) capabilities, unlike phones using the standard Snapdragon 778G. The Phone 1 was still able to handle some battles and exploration in Genshin Impact, though it did get rather warm in the process.

Nothing says you can 33-watt fast-charge the Phone 1 to 50 percent battery capacity in 30 minutes, and my testing pretty much replicated this. Wireless charging tops out at 15W, while you can reverse charge at up to 5W from the Phone 1 itself. I wonder if wireless charging is all that desirable? Or was it an issue of having something nice to show off on the transparent back? Something to frame a Glyph around? Perhaps I’m just a cynic. (Ok, definitely.)

In our battery rundown tests, the Phone 1 was able to play a video on loop for just over 16 hours, which is better than several Android phones we’ve tested in the last year, including the OnePlus 10 Pro, although it’s worth noting that Nothing’s has a lower-resolution display.

In typical use, I managed to get a day and half out of a full charge. With more video recording, or gaming or streaming, this would mean I’d be under 10 percent by 9PM. This is ameliorated a little with the fast charging, but a bit more battery life would have been nice.

Software

The dot-matrix ‘Nothing’ font that arrived with the company’s debut earbuds, is peppered around the company’s take on Android 12. There isn’t much different about this “bespoke” interpretation of Google’s mobile OS, though. There are those Glyph-connected ringtones, some monochromatic wallpapers, and unique widgets in the drop-down menu, but otherwise, it’s mostly the Android you know.

A Nothing spokesperson told me that they’re working on expanding features through third-party APIs — one example currently live is the ability to unlock your Tesla from this dropdown menu. You can turn on the AC in advance, flash the lights and a few more lightweight features. But that’s an incredibly tiny slice of Venn diagram overlap: Tesla driver and Nothing Phone 1 owner.

Mat Smith / Engadget

Another obvious display of the company’s partnership with Teenage Engineering, is its voice memo app, which has a minimalist tape deck aesthetic. You can rewind and fast-forward, and there are several noise-canceling options to better isolate voices. It’s not podcast-ready but if you’re recording a meeting or leaving a note for yourself from a loud pub they should at least help.

If there’s one thing I can’t get on board with, it’s Nothing’s addition of a native NFT Gallery. I don’t have any NFTs, but if I did, I’d be able to track their prices and “show them off” in five different sizes on the Phone 1. Let’s move on.

As it’s a new phone from a very new company, I had my reservations about stability. But so far, I’ve had no major issues. Resource-intensive apps may take slightly longer to load compared to flagship phones, but that’s about it. The company has also vowed to bring three years of Android updates to the Phone 1, which should help keep things secure and stable.

Cameras

Mat Smith / Engadget

If you‘ve been checking out many of our phone reviews over recent years, you’ll have noticed that multi-camera setups often include a dud – a monochrome sensor here, a 2-megapixel macro camera there. There’s a reason why the Pixel 6 and iPhone 13 are still capable of decent photography, despite “only” having two cameras – diminishing returns. This phone also has a dual-camera system. At this mid-range price, this is where things often go awry. But, thankfully, that’s not the case with the Nothing Phone 1.

Nothing has gone for Sony’s IMX766 sensor and combined it with f/1.9 lens with optical image stabilization. If you’re a smartphone obsessive, that might sound familiar, because that’s what you got on Oppo’s Find X3 Pro, a flagship Android phone from last year that was double the price of the Phone 1.

The secondary ultrawide camera uses a 50MP Samsung JN1 sensor with an f/2.2 lens. This doubles as a macro camera, but don’t expect incredible macro photography from a phone.

You can expect crisp images in good lighting, though. I’ve been impressed with the still quality from the Phone 1. There seem to be some image software tweaks here, but they’re relatively light. Comparing daylight shots from the Phone 1 against the Pixel 4a, Google’s seemed to offer more contrast, but it’s hard to call a winner between the two. Both offered up 12-megapixel images, so detail levels were generally a match, Nothing just seems to have gone for slightly more muted colors.

With brighter parts of the image, you will notice some chromatic aberrations: a purplish hue around those bright spots. Night-time photography is decent enough, with the usual night shooting mode in attendance. It didn’t best the top smartphones, but it was able to rescue a few lowlight shots that would have otherwise been a dark patchy mess. Despite the algorithms at work, results were a little noisy.

The Glyph Interface can also be used as a sort-of ring light, to illuminate nearby subjects without the oomph of a standard flash. It added a gentle, slightly blueish hue to photos when enabled. It’s a clever idea but the execution is a little lacking. If Nothing could offer finer color temperature controls, like many ring lights do, this could be genuinely useful.

Mat Smith / Engadget

The camera app offers all the usual imaging features of a phone in 2022: HDR, Portrait mode, timelapse and even an expert mode for finer controls over white balance, ISO and more. I found the basic photo mode more than versatile enough. The biggest limitation was the 2x zoom, which crops part of the image sensor. There’s some digital zoom thrown in if you’re desperate. I started to miss the more expansive telephoto options on other – usually more expensive – smartphones.

The Phone 1 can capture 4K video at 30FPS or 1080p at 60FPS. Video quality was smooth and serviceable. There’s a little bit of rolling shutter wobble when you’re panning around, and in lower light I noticed it hunting for focus if I was moving while recording. It also struggles to balance exposure between a pinkish sky at dusk and a darker street.

Wrap-up

Brian Oh / Engadget

At the Nothing Phone 1’s launch event, Carl Pei said that “stability [was] way more important than a ton of flashy features.” It was an odd choice of words when the biggest differentiator of your company’s new phone is literally a flashing feature.

The good news is that all this effort into how the phone looks – and it’s certainly eye-catching when the Glyphs light up – hasn’t been undone by wobbly software, mediocre cameras or disappointing build quality. It’s a competent Android phone.

The price, the style and the attention to detail are all impressive. Nothing is walking a fine line between gimmick and feature at times, but as a new company, it gets to do that. There’s no predecessor phone to replicate, and this goes in Nothing’s favor. Having said that, its biggest rival could be Google’s Pixel 6a, with a similar price point, and its own unique look.

This is a new phone from a new company, so I’ll be keeping an eye on this phone longer term. But, Nothing has made an impressive debut. Don’t believe all the hype, but the Phone makes a compelling argument for mid-range shoppers and anyone that wants a phone that looks different but does things pretty much the same.

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Over the past few days, NASA has released stunning photos of nebulae, groups of galaxies and even the "deepest" view of the universe taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. Now, the agency has released images of something much closer to home that everyone's new favorite telescope — sorry, Hubble! — has captured. When the James Webb team was calibrating the instrument, members took photos of Jupiter to see if it can be used to observe nearby celestial objects like moons and asteroids, as well other elements like planet rings and satellites. The answer, it turns out, is yes.

A photo taken by the telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument’s short-wavelength filter (above) clearly shows the gas giant's distinct bands and its moon Europa. The Great Red Spot is also perfectly visible, even though it looks white due to the way the image was processed. When the NIRCam instrument's 2.12 micron filter was used, the resulting image showed the Jovian moons Europa, Thebe, Metis and even Europa's shadow near the Great Red Spot. And when the team used NIRCam's 3.23 micron filter, the resulting image captured some of Jupiter's rings, as you can see below:

NASA, ESA, CSA, and B. Holler and J. Stansberry (STScI)

Bryan Holler, one of the scientists who helped plan these observations, said:

"Combined with the deep field images released the other day, these images of Jupiter demonstrate the full grasp of what Webb can observe, from the faintest, most distant observable galaxies to planets in our own cosmic backyard that you can see with the naked eye from your actual backyard."

It's worth noting that James Webb captured these images moving across its field of view in three separate observations, proving that it's capable of finding and tracking stars in the vicinity of a celestial body as bright as Jupiter. That means it can be used to study moons in our solar system and could give us the first images of the plumes of material known to spew out of natural satellites like Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus.

The team also tracked asteroids in the asteroid belt to figure out the fastest objects it can observe. They found that it can still get gather data from objects moving up to 67 milliarcseconds per second across its field of view. NASA says that's equivalent to tracking a turtle moving from a mile away. As Stefanie Milam, James Webb's deputy project scientist, said, these images show that "everything worked brilliantly." We can expect not just more impressively detailed images of space in the future, but also information that could shed more light on how the first galaxies had formed.