Alright, I’ve been using NOS 4.0 for a week now, and although it’s a bit early, I think I can share my opinion.
As for the operating system, it does feel like it has more animations, which gives the impression of being slower — but in reality, it’s just the extra animations. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, though. That said, the animations could use a bit more polish; there are some frames that feel a bit unbalanced and could use some fine-tuning.
Honestly, I don’t mind having a dynamic island. I mean, if Nothing is all about innovation, I’m sure they could come up with something more in line with their own style instead of just copying the dynamic island concept. Plus, I’m not really a fan of how it looks. I know this is still a beta version, but it feels kind of uninspired — it’s Nothing, but it looks almost the same as the previous version. The main changes seem to be in the icons, which brings me to my next point:
The previous icons looked much better. The new ones are definitely clearer overall, but the older ones had way more personality.
As for the camera, it does feel slower. The latest patch seems to have improved it a bit, but I still feel like there’s something different about the image processing.
At times, when I have 8 or 9 apps open, the phone slows down a bit or starts acting a little confused. If I start closing apps, it runs fine again, but that behavior still feels a bit odd.
Regarding Lock Glimpse, I honestly don’t use it. I get that it’s a way for them to generate some extra revenue, and while I don’t like it, as long as it’s optional, I’m fine with it.
That said, for the lock screen, I feel like the customization layer doesn’t quite meet the standard I’d like. It’s not enough to just choose which clock I want — I’d like to be able to adjust its size, the app shortcuts, or overall layout. It doesn’t feel as customizable as it should be.
I’ve also encountered a small bug with notifications. When a notification appears and I try to silence it by swiping up, it doesn’t actually mute. That’s something that could definitely be fixed.
Conclusions:
Since this is a beta version, I think it’s mainly meant to test functionality over Android 16. Still, it feels almost identical to the previous version, without much real change. It’s “Nothing,” but I’m missing that spark of innovation that usually makes their updates stand out. It’s good that this isn’t the final release — and maybe it’s on me for having high expectations — but I was hoping for more, especially considering what Nothing usually delivers and what Android 16 can offer.
