Jaheim2 Hey, really appreciate your reply — and thanks for sharing about the dyslexia and autism. It honestly means a lot that you’re putting your thoughts out there, and I totally respect how you’re using AI to help express yourself. That’s a great use of the tool, especially when it helps you stay part of the conversation.
Since you brought up OnePlus and long-term phone use, I just wanted to add something from my own experience.
I’ve been holding on to my OnePlus 6 for years now — not because it’s super powerful anymore, but because of custom ROM support. I’ve been able to run stuff like LineageOS, Ubuntu Touch, and even Mobian on it. That kind of flexibility has kept it going way beyond its official support period.
But here’s the thing: newer OnePlus phones just aren’t like that anymore. Sure, you can technically unlock and root them, but flashing ROMs isn’t easy. You often need to physically go to a service center just to relock the bootloader or fix things if something breaks. And now that they’re not releasing kernel sources and hardware details properly, even the dev community can’t do much with them anymore. Once support ends, the phone’s basically done.
With Nothing, I’m seeing a completely different approach. Their older phones — like the Phone (1) — already have a bunch of custom ROMs available. That’s a really good sign. It shows that they’re at least open to community development and keeping devices alive beyond the official update window. For someone who actually wants to use a phone for years, that’s a huge deal.
I recently picked up the Phone 3a Pro and honestly, it’s blown my old OnePlus 6 out of the water. It uses the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, and even then, games run better, the UI is smoother, and I haven’t had any major performance issues. So if you’re coming from something like the OnePlus 7, I think any of the Nothing 3 series would feel like a solid upgrade. And the 8s Gen 4 in the Phone (3) is no joke — it’s not the highest-end chip, sure, but it’s no slouch either. It’s a sidegrade to the 8 Gen 3, and plenty capable.
Now, about the price — I hear you. £799 is a lot. But they addressed that in an earlier video. They said they’d have to sell 250,000 units at that price just to break even. If they lowered the price to something like $699 (around £650), they’d need to sell 350,000+ units to make the same profit. And for a company like Nothing, with a smaller user base, that’s a risky move. They’re still trying to survive, not just compete.
That’s why I was a bit let down by your original post. Since you titled it as a response to the new video, I was really looking forward to a deeper counter-argument — maybe about how they could cut costs, or tweak specs, or structure pricing better while still staying profitable. But it felt like the same old “specs vs price” frustration we’ve seen so many times before.
Again, I’m totally cool with people using AI tools — I do it too sometimes — but what matters is that the thoughts are yours. And your reply here? That really shows your perspective, and I appreciate that. That’s the version of your voice I was hoping to see in the original post.
End of the day, we’re all here because we care about tech, and brands like Nothing that try something different. And I agree with you — specs matter, especially for a long-term phone. But so does software, support, and how a company treats its users and the developer community. I think Nothing’s trying to find that balance — maybe not perfectly yet, but they’re on that path.
Thanks again for the reply. Genuinely enjoyed this back-and-forth.
