It took a bit of time, but you can now stream Xbox games from your TV without a Microsoft console in sight. As long as you have a Samsung TV. The Xbox app is now available on Samsung’s latest smart TVs and monitors, alongside apps for rival gaming services like Stadia and NVIDIA’s GeForce Now. It’s bigger news, however, when a console maker — and its huge catalog of games on Game Pass Ultimate – offers game streaming straight from your TV.

I had an extended play session during a launch showcase at Samsung’s London event space, and it made me, a PlayStation gamer, an offer I can’t refuse: Play Xbox games from the cloud with no additional hardware, aside from a Bluetooth-connected controller. I can even use my DualSense controller because I’m that kind of person.

This will be familiar news to anyone that’s already streamed games with Xbox Cloud or Google’s Stadia, but, all the games I tried were smooth, with incredibly swift load speeds. Some early previews of Samsung’s Gaming Hub kept gaming media to familiar hits, but with Xbox rolling out the entire Game Pass experience, I got to test its limits with Flight Simulator, a game that benefits from speedier load times and avoiding those pesky huge patch files.

On a big TV, even while standing up, playing Flight Simulator turns into a meditative experience. Type in your destination for an exploration flight (or, easier on a controller, set your cursor on the world map), and just fly and fly and fly. That’s what I did, and I started to hate that I’ll never be able to do this on my PS5. I’m sold on the idea already – I just don’t have a 2022 Samsung TV. Damn you, Microsoft.

Xbox

It’s not perfect, of course. Don’t expect 4K or variable refresh rates beyond 60 fps – this is still cloud gaming, although we get 4K streams on Stadia... The bigger question is whether Xbox’s games can stream on Samsung’s Game Hub, stably, for several hours on end, and that’s something that can only be answered after extensive testing. What if your connection hiccups and you lose that major progress made in Red Dead Redemption 2?

For now, the hub is limited to Samsung’s 2022 TVs and monitors, and it’s unclear exactly how Microsoft will deliver Xbox Cloud to other big screens not connected to its consoles. For Samsung’s part, its spokesperson said the company hoped to “extend the device coverage in the near future”.

Microsoft’s own streaming stick, similar to a Chromecast, seemed like the obvious solution, but the company said earlier this year that it was taking a 'new approach' with its game streaming devices, so that’s not happening for a while at least. It hasn’t elaborated further, besides teasing “a new approach that will allow us to deliver Xbox Cloud Gaming to more players around the world in the future."

That could mean a dedicated device, or it could be exactly what I’m testing today, the TV app, coming to more TVs. Hopefully some that already exist. Hopefully mine? Buying a new TV to avoid paying $300 for a new console seems more than a little circuitous. For now, I’m left waiting for a way to stream Xbox Cloud to my TV without a console. Barring some particularly laborious workarounds, it seems I’ll be waiting a little longer.

It looks like our slow gadget summer is about to end, with Samsung ready to launch its next slate of products soon. The company today sent out invites to its next Unpacked event (after sharing a teaser puzzle this morning), which is set for August 10th at 9am ET. The keynote will be streamed online via Samsung's website, and there will be no in-person component. If you are dying to get ahead of other shoppers, you can already sign up to reserve the upcoming products, too.

Like it's done in previous years, Samsung is giving early birds special offers via its Reserve program. This time, you have till August 10th to register. According to Samsung, this is a "no-commitment offer" and you'll only need to provide your name and email address. Those who sign up can get:

The company is widely expected to launch the next generation of its Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip foldable phones, alongside a pair of new smartwatches and a set of wireless earbuds. We don't know much yet about the upcoming products, although reports suggest Samsung might be selling the foldable devices for a lower price than before. 

We'll be hosting a livestream of Unpacked, along with a live Q&A session after Samsung wraps. Join us at about 8:40am ET on August 10th on the Engadget YouTube channel, so we can all react together in real time. Chances are, we'll have answers for your questions about the new products, so come through to get all the details! 

The Atari brand recently turned 50 and the latest way that its current owner, Atari Interactive, is marking the occasion is with a Lego kit for its most popular console. The Atari 2600 set will be available on August 1st and it costs $240/€240.

The Atari 2600 debuted in 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (the name was changed in 1982). The Lego kit is based on a four-switch version that arrived in 1980. The set has 2,532 pieces. It includes a moveable joystick that Lego says feels like the original. 

Lego

There are cartridges for Asteroids, Adventure and Centipede that you can slot into the main body. There's a matching buildable mini model for each game and the cartridges can be stored in a holder. Sliding open the front panel reveals a pop-up scene of an '80s gaming room, which is a fun detail.

Atari is celebrating its milestone in other ways. For one thing, it teamed up with Cariuma for a sneaker collection. This fall, it will release a collection of 90 games from the Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, ST, Jaguar and Lynx on the Atari VCS mini PC, modern consoles, Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The biggest news in the camera industry this month is that Nikon is reportedly halting development of new SLR cameras, marking the end of a 63-year run. From now on, it will focus exclusively on mirrorless Z mount models like the Z6, Z50 and recently-launched Z9 flagship.

This is a seismic industry change, as Nikon has a storied history with SLRs going back to the iconic Nikon F launched in 1959. But it’s not the only company going in this direction: Canon already confirmed that the EOS-1DX Mark III will be its final flagship DSLR, and Sony moved to selling only mirrorless cameras last year.

Until recently, reflex cameras were regarded as a better option than mirrorless for action photography, so what happened? Simply put, mirrorless models improved so dramatically over the past couple of years that they rendered DSLRs moot.

A lot of pro photographers are holding onto their DSLRs, and the main reason is speed. As we explained several years ago in our Upscaled series, reflex cameras have dedicated autofocus sensors under the mirror. They’re extremely fast, so they allow for high burst shooting speeds with accurate focus on each shot. Canon’s 1DX III, for example, can shoot at up to 16 fps with AF and auto exposure enabled.

Many serious shooters still prefer an optical viewfinder, too. They want a subject view they can trust and believe that a physical view via a prism and mirror is superior to an artificial electronic display. The drawback, of course, is that you can’t see the image when you shoot it because the mirror lifts up to block the display.

The last big thing is battery life and handling: Flagship DSLRs have heavy bodies and big grips that make for stable shooting platforms, particularly with the massive telephoto lenses used by sports and wildlife photographers. They’re also covered with dials and buttons for easier handling. And the optical viewfinder obviously doesn’t drain the battery, so DSLRs can shoot many more photos on a charge.

Engadget

That’s been true even until recently, but the latest mirrorless cameras have allayed most of those concerns. The most important change has been the introduction of stacked sensors. Those have much faster readout speeds that allow for rapid burst shooting and more accurate autofocus. They also produce less rolling shutter in electronic mode, reducing skew in photos and wobble in video.

Canon’s EOS R3 is a great example of that. It’s a bit slower than the 1DX Mark III DSLR in mechanical shutter mode but far faster with the electronic shutter, and delivers more resolution. Sony’s A1 is even more impressive, letting you fire off 50-megapixel RAW frames at 30 frames per second.

Perhaps the most vivid display of stacked sensor power is Nikon’s new flagship Z9. It lets you shoot RAW 46-megapixel images at 20 fps with the electronic shutter and doesn’t even have a mechanical shutter. By comparison, Nikon’s flagship D6 DSLR can handle 14 RAW images per second, but at 21 megapixels, they’re less than half the resolution.

The viewfinder issue is also largely resolved. Not long ago, mirrorless EVFs tended to be laggy, low resolution and choppy, while sharing a problematic issue with DSLRS – the viewfinder would black out when you took the picture. Now, all three of the above models have sharp and fast OLED display switch smooth refresh rates of at least 120Hz and up to 240Hz. And all offer blackout-free shooting in most conditions. All that arguably gives professionals a view superior to an optical viewfinder.

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Finally, cameras like Nikon’s Z9 and the Canon R3 are just as substantial as their DSLR counterparts and match them control for control. And if you want a professional camera that isn’t huge, Sony offers small, great-handling cameras like the A1 and A9.

Battery life is still an issue for mirrorless cameras next to DSLRs, though. The Nikon D6 can shoot a colossal 3,580 shots on a charge, while the Z9 is CIPA rated for just 770 – and that’s very high for a mirrorless camera. For the time being, mirrorless will always be at a disadvantage, but the situation is improving.

All told, with those key improvements in stacked sensors, improved EVFs and better handling, mirrorless models can now go toe to toe with SLR cameras. In nearly every other category, however, they’re actually superior.

Take autofocus. Though DSLRs have fast dedicated phase-detect AF sensors, mirrorless models have many more phase-detect pixels directly on the main sensor. In Canon’s case, every single pixel is used for AF. That allows for quicker and more accurate autofocus, in theory.

Engadget

With their hybrid phase- and contrast-detect pixels directly on the sensor, modern mirrorless cameras also win on AI smarts. Most can do subject, face and eye detection with humans, birds, animals, cars and more. That’s particularly useful for action photography to track fast moving subjects – an area that has traditionally been dominated by reflex cameras. And with the latest processors and stacked sensors, these features are finally good enough to use in real-world pro shooting.

As mentioned, some of the best mirrorless cameras now eliminate the viewfinder blackout that plagues DSLRs. And the stacked sensors also heavily reduce rolling shutter that can result in wonky, distorted photos. They’re now good enough to allow shooting of fast-moving subjects, with the advantage of being silent if you’re working at a golf tournament, for example.

Perhaps the biggest benefit is video. Photographers in many different areas are being asked to do that on top of photos, whether they do weddings or work for major news and sporting agencies.

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DSLRs like Canon’s 5D helped prompt the trend to shooting high-quality video with consumer cameras and recent models like the 1DX III can handle video well. However, by and large, mirrorless models are superior. Nikon’s Z9, the Canon R3 and Sony A1 can stand up to most cinema cameras, making them true double threats. That’s thanks to the incredible video autofocus systems, resolutions up to 8K, RAW video capture, top-notch audio capabilities and more.

On top of all that, most mirrorless cameras (unlike DSLRs) have in-body stabilization so you don’t need to worry about having that feature on the lens. And speaking lenses, those designed for mirrorless cameras tend to be smaller, lighter and optically superior, because the back is closer to the sensor.

Then there’s the issue of price and cost. Mirrorless cameras are less complex than DSLRs, so they tend to be cheaper. Nikon’s Z9, for instance, costs $1,000 less than the D6, and the Canon EOS R3 is $500 cheaper than the 1DX Mark III.

Finally, with the decline of the camera market kicked off by smartphones, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for manufacturers to build both DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. Now, they appear to be concentrating on one technology in the interests of profitability.

Wrap-up

Engadget

Photographers may feel sad that DSLRs appear to be coming to the end of their road, particularly if they just bought one. Don’t panic yet, though – while Nikon and Canon appear to have stopped designing new DSLRs and lenses, they’ll continue to manufacture and sell existing models.

The key thing driving this is that mirrorless has not just caught up to, but will soon blow past reflex mirror tech. For example, Sony recently unveiled new sensors that can gather double the light of current stacked sensors, paving the way for fast shooting, even in low light. And you can expect much faster image processors, better EVFs and smarter AF systems in the near future.

In other words, future mirrorless tech could make you forget that digital cameras ever had mirrors inside. Then, we may only ever see them in their original glory – with a roll of film inside.

You don't have to wonder when Samsung will hold its next Unpacked event — the company all but spelled it out. As The Vergenotes, Samsung Mobile has posted a simple puzzle teasing an Unpacked presentation on August 10th. You just have to match a grid of characters to their corresponding colors (which conveniently match typical Samsung phone colors) using the above guide to get an "081022" date.

The timing lines up with a recent leak by Evan Blass, who shared a teaser image for an August 10th Unpacked event. Samsung appears to have forced Blass to remove the picture.

There may not be much mystery as to what the event will bring. Rumors have swirled for months that Samsung will introduce the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4, with OnLeaks' unofficial renders suggesting they'll be subtle evolutions of the company's existing foldable phones. Further OnLeaks images (along with other leaks) suggest Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Watch 5 and a titanium-clad Watch 5 Pro. While we wouldn't rule out surprises, the clues so far point to the company sticking to last year's script.

Ultimate Ears brought its in-ear monitor (IEMs) expertise to true wireless earbuds in 2020 with the UE Fits, a set of buds with fancy tech that molds the tips to fit your ears. Despite the interesting premise, the earbuds didn't deliver on a lot of the basics you expect from an audio accessory these days, namely subpar audio and limited features. The Logitech-owned brand is back with a new take on custom-fit buds, only this time the company is making the process more like how you would order a set of IEMs with the UE Drops.

Indeed, the main attraction of UE Drops is the custom fit, which is coordinated via the company's FitKit. Once you place your order, Ultimate Ears will ship you a FitKit that the company says includes the "technology and information" to guide you though the process of taking your "earprint." More specifically, the kit shows you how to take impressions of your ears with an app, just like you would if you were ordering a set of the company's CSX IEMs. A set of eartips are molded to your ears with a warming process that looks similar to the light and heat method for UE Fits, only this time they're attached to a contraption you plug in. You then return the impressions and your pair of UE Drops are built to those specifications. You can expect to receive your pair about 2-4 weeks after the FitKit is received back at the factory. 

Inside, 9.2mm drivers power the sound the UE describes as "revered by music professionals and music lovers alike." There's no active noise cancellation (ANC), but the custom-fitting tips should provide better passive noise isolation than most off-the-shelf earbuds. However, there is a transparency mode, allowing you to tune into your surroundings as needed. Dual beamforming microphones on the water- and sweat-resistant buds are there for calls, plus handy features like on-board controls, in ear detection and wireless charging are here too. 

Ultimate Ears says you can expect up to eight hours of battery life with 14 additional hours in the case. A quick-charge feature offers one hour of use in five minutes. You can check your battery status in the UE Drops app, where you can also choose between sound presets, manage connected devices, configure voice controls and more. 

The UE Drops are now available in the US via the Ultimate Ears website for $449, which means you'll pay a premium for that custom-tailored fit. The company says UE FitKit and UE Drops apps are available for both Android and iOS devices. 

GM previewed its 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV today, adding the two-row mid-size crossover [in a variety of trims, including the SS performance model,] to its growing lineup of all-electric cars. As far as SUVs go, the Chevy Blazer hasn’t ever been the most eye-catching or highest rated. But the new Blazer EV could stand out as a solid, reasonably priced electric mid-sized SUV in a market filled with (way too many) options. The vehicles include a 11.5 kW AC charging module for at-home charging and charging capability of up to 190 kilowatts. Roughly 10 minutes of charging will add up to 78 miles of range. 

The 2024 Blazer EVs take things in a dramatically different direction than older models of the Blazer, at least design-wise. The exterior is a tad more aggressive and futuristic than older models of the Blazer. The RS model features 21-inch wheels and a black grille and accents and the SS features a black roof, ultra-thin 22-inch wheels. Depending on the size of the battery pack, the RS has a maximum range of 320 miles, while the SS can run for 290 miles. The SS model can produce up to 557 horsepower and has a high-performance mode known WOW (Wide Open Watts) mode that can enable 0-60 mph times of less than 4 seconds. Both the RS and SS models feature heated front and rear outboard seating (though on the RS it’s an additional charge) and a flat-bottom steering wheel and sculpted vents.

The most bare-bones option of the bunch, the LT (with two different trim levels), comes with 18-inch wheels and a monochromatic coat. The 2LT delivers an estimated range of 293 miles, while the 1LT can go for 247 miles on a single charge.  

The vehicles are all equipped with a 17.7-inch-diagonal screen and Chevy's infotainment system. To top it off, the Blazer EV is built on GM’s Ultium EV platform, which kind of serves as a unified battery system for all of GM’s electric vehicles. The automaker believes that using just one battery — the Ultium — for all of its EVs will cut down production costs and allow it to easily convert to an all-electric lineup by 2035.

The new cars will arrive next year: The 2LT and RS will debut in the summer of 2023, and are priced starting around $47,595 and $51,995, respectively. The SS will arrive later next year, and starts at $65,995. Finally, the 1LT will debut sometime in the first quarter of 2024 and start at $44,995.

The developer behind Destiny is now a part of the Sony universe. Sony Interactive Entertainment officially closed on a $3.6 billion deal today to buy the independent game studio and publisher Bungie, according to tweets from both Bungie and PlayStation Studios. Under the terms of the acquisition, Bungie will still maintain creative control over its operations and independently develop its games. As leaders from bothcompanies have noted since the deal was announced in January, Bungie will be considered an independent subsidiary of Sony and won’t be required to make either current or future games exclusive to PlayStation consoles.

As TechCrunch noted, Sony is hoping Bungie’s expertise with games like Destiny will help it expand its own live service game offerings. The company plans to spend 55 percent of PlayStation’s budget on live service games by 2025, revealed Sony CEO Jim Ryan at a May investor presentation. PlayStation plans on releasing 10 live service games before March 2026, and Sony believes Bungie’s assistance will be crucial in this effort.

Sony this week also closed on a deal to acquire Montreal-based Haven Studios, which is working on a multiplayer title for PlayStation. And Sony is far from finished. The company plans to acquire even more studios over the next few years in a bid to grow its live service and PC offerings, as Ryan has noted in several interviews. And on the Xbox side, Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is expected to close next summer.

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.

Wordle players who can’t resist posting their scores on social media to show off their verbal smarts can now subject friends to this behavior in-person. Hasbro and New York Times Games announced a physical adaptation of the online word game phenomenon to be called Wordle: The Party Game, designed to be played with multiple players or teams.

Each round of Wordle: The Party Game begins with one player (the so-called “Wordle Host”) who writes down a secret word. 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 less points, and the player with the least points at the end of the game wins. The game comes with three Wordle boards, a secret word board for the host and dry-erase markers There’s also a set of physical green and yellow tiles that mimic the ones used in the game.

The board game will cost $19.99, and is available to pre-order today at Amazon, Target and Hasbro’s online store. Wordle: The Party Game is expected to hit stores in October, which will also be the one-year anniversary of the online game's release to the public. Since its debut, the strangely addictive word game has been purchased by the New York Times and inspired a number of spin-offs, including Tradle, which has players identify countries by their exports and Heardle, a guessing game for popular songs. Earlier this week, Spotify purchased Heardle for an undisclosed sum.