Nothing deserves brand royalty

I don’t like to think of myself as someone with “brand loyalty”, but it’s undeniable that I have preferences for the tools I use hardware and software-wise.

When it comes to brands for any product, I like to think that I do my research and often go for the most budget-friendly options. I used Xiaomi devices for a long time because they were easy to jailbreak and install custom Android versions on them that allowed me to customize my device however I wanted.

I chose my Kobo Clara 2E because it’s not Kindle and it was easy to install KOReader on it. If it were any other brand, if it lacked a built-in store and if its default OS were bad. I wouldn’t mind, the hardware allowed me to do what I wanted, it was the most practical choice. The XTEINK X4 showed up much later to fill a different niche, but I still would have gone Kobo for a proper-sized reader, Amazon is just evil.

I went with Anbernic and Miyoo handhelds since they simply had the most community support around them and I knew the hardware was plenty for my needs. I could have gone with even cheaper no-brand options too but the amount of information available would not have been as big.

Built-in features are almost never what I care about, a pretty logo does not matter to me, I don’t need some comfy walled garden either, when it costs me my freedom.

However, I am weak when it comes to one brand: Nothing

Or at least, that design language of theirs.

Yep, the title had a double meaning, I apologize

I don’t think this warrants a super long blogpost, you can just look up what they sell and you’ll clearly see how incredibly unique they are.

I own one of their phones—Nothing Phone (3a)—one of their wireless earphones—Nothing Ear (a)—and I just purchased their of open earphones too—Nothing Ear (open)—that I’ve been testing for a couple of days and plan to use while cycling around my city.

For the price, the brand is well placed, offering affordable devices with some compromises that I don’t really care about. But when I purchased these earbuds (and the ones I already had, to be honest) I realized that I completely ignored my “budget-friendly” ideals of before. I would usually go for something like SoundCore or Haylou back in the day.

I got them because they were competitive, sure—any more expensive and I would not have bothered—but the design is what won me over. They look unique, they say something about you. And as much as I don’t want a brand to represent me or seem superficial, I just can’t help but love it.

There are better products for better prices, but the creativity just won me over, their phones’ bootloader is also unlockable so that’s a plus for the day I finally decide to get into rooting and installing a rom on my phone again.

Now, if it’s not obvious. Nothing (the brand) doesn’t actually deserve brand loyalty. They have done some sketchy moves too. I am not a fan of the pathetic AI button on my phone that can’t be reprogrammed by default. There are also some updates that have shown some notifications with ads for app recommendations and the like. Definitely not perfect at all.

I just love that their phones and products are more than just boring rectangles and Apple clones, okay?

Oh, actually, I am also weak to Nintendo, they suck, they do terrible stuff sometimes, but those games are just so goood…

Sorry, I am just a hypocrite. Enough.

This is day 68 of #100DaysToOffload)

All of my Nothing products, very aesthetic!