What you need to know
- Nothing launched its Community Review Program for consumers passionate about its devices, and are willing to review them early and offer feedback.
- The company has also started teasing a new product on X, posting a simple “(b)” and two Pokémon, Jumpluff and Blastoise.
- Nothing also features Jumpluff on its Community Review Program post, potentially signaling this mysterious device will be there.
Nothing has had a busy week. The company has now unveiled a new early access program for consumers who are passionate about its devices.
On its community forum, Nothing announced that its Community Review Program is now accepting applicants. This program is for consumers passionate about Nothing and helping it cultivate products that mean something. Nothing says, “This is your chance to get your hands on and review our latest products before everyone else!” Not only should applicants be interested in tech and design, but expertise in cameras, software, and product reviews is encouraged, too.
To sweeten the deal, Nothing says that the review device that it sends you (for which it will cover the shipping cost) can be kept by you, the reviewer. Anyone interested can submit their application.
However, this announcement could be more significant than we think. Late this week, Nothing posted a couple of teasers on X, which might hint at a new device and series. If you’re new to Nothing’s brand of “teasers,” the company often uses Pokémon for this. This time, the company has posted Jumpluff and the classic water boy himself, Blastoise. Following that, Nothing posted a simple teaser: (b). Usually, we’ve seen the company use “a” for its devices (think Nothing Phone 4a, 4a Pro).
What makes this even more interesting is that Nothing used one of these Pokémon, Jumpluff, in its Community Review Program post. We’re not trying to get ahead of ourselves, but perhaps what Nothing is teasing will be in this program.
What’s cooking?
We’re in an interesting time for Nothing right now. On Thursday, the company’s CEO, Carl Pei, posted a video on TikTok that’s textbook for the type of person he is. Pei directly called out Apple, stating he was going to steal away all of its “bored iPhone users.” Pei continues to position Nothing as a true Apple competitor, stating its iPhones have become “repetitive and uninspired.” That’s not all. Recently, the company’s co-founder, Akis Evangelidis, had some sad news about the CMF Phone 3 Pro.
As RAM continues to skyrocket, CMF will not produce a Phone 2 Pro successor to avoid placing higher costs on consumers. However, Evangelidis says CMF still has new things planned this year and that consumers should look forward to “more to come” from the flagship Nothing line. It feels like the company is cooking something up, and its recent public statements continue that narrative.
Android Central’s Take
Nothing is cooking something up, and I’m here for it. The brand’s past few launches have been pretty interesting. The Phone 4a and 4a Pro were pretty incredible, even if I don’t agree with the choices for SoC (I know, they’re more budget-focused). Still, even that’s a plus. Despite focusing on the affordability line, the 4a and 4a Pro were good devices that didn’t feel like a budget choice.