Released in July 2022, Nothing Phone (1) has just received its first major update to Android 13. A stable version that greatly improves the battery, but it is not yet available for everyone.
First major update for the Nothing Phone (1) // Source: Robin Wycke – Frandroid
Announced in December for January 2023, the Nothing Phone(1) update to Android 13 will finally have waited another month before it can begin deployment. Several users of the social network Reddit reported that they received the update on Thursday, February 16th. This is the first of three major updates that the manufacturer has promised.
However, the extra effort on this version seems to have been worth it: According to Nothing, the battery consumption has been greatly improved.
A better battery thanks to a better team
This version 1.5.2 of Nothing OS therefore follows two betas of Android 13 on Nothing Phone (1). If the first version was characterized in particular by a half reduced application loading speed, this time the idle battery consumption has improved by 50%. Already the second beta in early January saw an improvement in battery life.
A work of optimization that seems to make the brand’s founder, Carl Pei, quite proud, who on Tuesday 14 February congratulated the Nothing OS team on Twitter. Two days later, he justified this radical battery improvement by saying that he now relies on an in-house team at Nothing for his software, which was not the case when the phone was released (1).
Big difference now having our own team that previously delivered Oxygen OS together vs an outsourced team that doesn’t really care about the success or failure of our business. https://t.co/tsersO0WDS
—Carl Pei (@getpeid) February 16, 2023
Welcome customization options
Among the other improvements since December we can also note a slight acceleration of the fingerprint unlock speed and the improvement of the automatic brightness algorithm.
But most importantly, while we noticed a lack of personalization during our long-term testing of the phone (1), the Nothing OS 1.5.2 update also brings several personalization options: New ringtones that ring in the same rhythm as the light patterns on the back of the phone , new application shortcuts on the lock screen and more minimalistic wallpapers.
The application also brings the January 2023 Android security update, a month late.
Official release… for open beta members
If this version marks the official release of Android 13 on Nothing Phone (1), the brand nevertheless plays the card of caution by restricting its access to open beta members for the time being, “as a thank you for participating, the patch clarifies notes.
If you are one of the lucky ones, you can install Android 13 from the “System Update” category in the phone settings. For others, the update will roll out gradually over the next few weeks, unless major bugs are discovered.
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