South African consumers will soon be able to get their hands (officially) on the Nothing Phone: the smartphone brand will be launched locally next month, TechCentral has learnt.
Cernotech, a South African distributor, has secured a deal to launch the company’s latest products in South Africa, including the flagship Nothing Phone 2 and midrange Nothing Phone 2a.
Nothing Technology is a UK-based consumer electronics brand founded by Carl Pei, the co-founder of another popular smartphone brand, OnePlus. Nothing’s investors include Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, and YouTube personality and vlogger Casey Neistat.
The brand has attracted significant interest, including among tech-savvy users and youngsters (millennials and gen Z), who have been drawn to the products’ design ethos.
Philip Goodwin, Cernotech’s product lead, told TechCentral in an interview on Thursday that the Nothing Phone 2 and Nothing Phone 2a will go on sale in South Africa by early June. They’ll be sold online and via at least one of the country’s two major mobile operators – these negotiations are concluding soon, Goodwin said.
Non-carrier-subsidised pricing is as follows (it’s indicative pricing for now and subject to change before the launch date, and 15% VAT is included):
| Model | Storage (GB) | RAM (GB) | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing Phone 2 | 256 | 8 | R16 100 |
| Nothing Phone 2 | 512 | 12 | R17 825 |
| Nothing Phone 2a | 128 | 8 | R8 700 |
| Nothing Phone 2a | 256 | 12 | R10 000 |
Goodwin said Cernotech hasn’t yet made a decision about when to introduce Nothing Technology’s earbuds in South Africa, but when it does, these will likely be sold online only.
The company plans to establish service centres in South Africa in time, too, but initially it will adopt a “swap for repair” model, where consumers will have faulty devices swapped out should they encounter problems.
Cernotech specialises in distributing non-mainstream mobile brands in South Africa, and is known for introducing the Cat ruggedised smartphone brand here. Cat phones are designed by the UK’s Bullitt Mobile (under licence from US-headquartered Caterpillar, known for its mining and construction equipment.
‘Challenger brand’
Goodwin described Nothing as a “challenger brand” in the mobile market, offering premium features at lower prices than the market-leading brands.
“This is going up against the flagships,” he said. “Nothing 2 is very well priced and specced. Nothing 2a, which made the noise [internationally], is the one that will knock everyone’s socks off. It’s a high-midrange device at midrange pricing with premium specs.”
The Nothing Phone 2 has a 6.7-inch OLED panel with 120Hz refresh rate, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 system-on-chip, two 50-megapixel rear-facing cameras, a 32MP selfie camera, 5G and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, an under-display fingerprint scanner, and a 4 700mAh battery.
The 2a model has a MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro 5G system-on-chip, dual 50MP rear cameras, 32MP selfie camera and 5 000mAh battery.
Both phones ship with Nothing OS, an operating system based on Android underpinnings. The phones offer three years of Android updates and four years of security updates.
Unique to the Nothing Phone is the “Glyph Interface”, which – when placed face down – provides a “new way to interact with a smartphone through customisable light patterns and sounds”. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media
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