Nothing has landed itself in hot water – due to an oversight, according to company co-founder Akis Evangelidis. Here’s what happened: in-store demo units of the Nothing Phone (3) had pre-loaded sample images with the note “Judge for yourself. Here’s what our community has captured with Phone (3).” One small problem – those images weren’t captured with the Phone (3). And they weren’t taken by community members either for that matter.
It was quickly discovered that the images in question come from stock photo marketplace Stills: person by the window, a full glass, rounded headlight, spiral staircase and woman wearing a scarf.
The offending camera samples that appeared on Nothing Phone (3) display units
The rounded headlight image can be seen on snapsbyfox’s Instagram account. This image was taken in 2023 (well before the Phone (3) was announced, never mind released) with a Fujifilm X-H2S. The photographer even has a long-term review of the camera.
Anyway, Evangelidis explains in a post on X that these were placeholder images added around 4 months before launch with the intention of being replaced closer to launch. “Once we enter mass production, those placeholder images are replaced with photo samples through a new version of the LDU (Live Demo Units), along with final product renders and videos. In this case, it was brought to our attention that some live demo units stock imagery were not updated. We are actively rectifying this and working with our promoters to ensure all LDUs reflect the latest version,” wrote Evangelidis.
Additionally, an internal investigation is being carried out to ensure this sort of mix-up doesn’t happen again.
Apparently, the company used to use photos from older Nothing phones as placeholder images. This would have avoided the issue – even if they don’t get replaced, they would still represent the capabilities of Nothing cameras. Evangelidis says that a new team opted to use stock images for this launch, which was a mistake.