[Update] Nothing Phone (1) display NOT as bright as advertised and this is the reason

Nothing Phone (1) and its related controversies don’t seem to end! It has been over a month since the phone launched and Nothing has only started to get on top of the manufacturing issues the first batch of phones faced. In the same time, the phone is consistently getting new software updates to squash all its known bugs and introducing improvements. Sadly for Nothing, a new issue crept up and this one is related to its display. While all the marketing materials advertise the display to reach a peak brightness of 1200 nits, the Phone (1) is currently unable to achieve the same.

The peak brightness rating is usually achieved only in certain conditions, the most common one being the situation of playing HDR videos. While most other phones can do that, the Nothing Phone (1) is currently unable to achieve the same. Based on a report from ComputerBase, it has been found that the Nothing Phone (1) is unable to reach its peak brightness even while playing HDR videos. Initially assumed to be a defect, it was found out later that this is a software limited feature.

UPDATE: Nothing reached out to HT Tech, stating the below statement. Nothing says that the phone's display can do up to 500 nits normally and it can go up to 700 nits when triggered by the auto-brightness sensor. The hardware can support brightness levels higher than 700 nits and go up to 1200 nits, which Nothing calls the special mode. A future update will look at unlocking this peak brightness, although the use case for that is not mentioned. 

Nothing Phone (1) display NOT as bright as advertised

A report by GSMArena got a response from a Nothing spokesperson, stating that the company has limited the brightness at the moment, even though the OLED panel can achieve the same. “The hardware is capable of reaching up to 1,200 nits peak brightness, but this is currently capped by the software to 700 nits. This decision was made to ensure a balanced user experience regarding heat and battery consumption. We look forward to hearing from our users about this and will monitor feedback closely to understand if this should be addressed in future software updates,” says Nothing.

Hence, most users will only be able to get up to 700 nits of peak brightness in HDR videos, which is much less than the advertised 1200 nits. Based on the statement, it seems Nothing is unwilling to remove the cap unless its customers demand it.

Is this good or bad? That is for you to decide. We have been using the Nothing Phone (1) since its launch and so far, we haven’t faced any major issues with the display. Yes, the brightness isn’t great outdoors but it does the job. The Phone (1) is currently optimised nicely for longer battery life and optimum performance, which is more crucial that unveiling the peak brightness.