Nothing’s made a pretty sizeable splash this year with the launch of three smartphones — including its first-ever flagship-adjacent device — but it hasn’t been without controversy. Following a controversial video comparison earlier this year between the Phone (3a) and iPhone 16 Pro Max, Nothing’s been caught using professionally-sourced stock imagery on in-store demo units of the Phone (3).
As is usual for in-store displays, Nothing’s devices showcase a series of demos promoting the abilities of each of its respective devices. On the Nothing Phone (3), however, a demonstration of the power of its camera system instead uses five stock photos shot with professional cameras, rather than using samples captured with the actual device. Nothing has since confirmed the misuse of these samples on Twitter, with the company’s co-founder Akis Evangelidis claiming these images were meant to be placeholders used with “no ill intent.” He also described the entire debacle as “an unfortunate oversight.”
Reports from several outlets confirmed the images as fake following an anonymous tip from a photographer responsible for taking one of the images. The Verge was able to examine the EXIF data from the original image, confirming it wasn’t captured with the Nothing Phone (3) and, in fact, dates back to 2023. NewGeekGuide was also one of the outlets contacted over the weekend from this tipster, alongside links to all five images used within the in-store demo marketing experience available for sale at Stills, a stock photographer marketplace.
Evangelidis expanded on the incident in several replies to his initial post, explaining that older Nothing images used to be sourced as placeholders while laying the blame on “new teams/people involved” for the switch to professional stock imagery. Still, it’s unclear as to why Nothing would pay for photos destined to be replaced prior to shipping demo units to retailers when practically any image would do the trick of filling in vacant space. Even following the company’s logic, utilizing professional photography like this rather than clearly marked placeholders simply raises the odds of a mistake like this happening in the first place.
While it’s tough to definitively say whether this incident truly was an internal slip-up on Nothing’s part, it marks the second camera-based debacle the brand has faced this year. In February, Nothing was forced to issue a correction to its iPhone 16 Pro Max video comparison after viewers realized the iPhone’s video was shot in ultra-wide mode, rather than using its main — and much higher quality — sensor. At the time, Nothing promised to “be more careful to ensure greater scrutiny in future comparisons.” While this in-store demo experience wasn’t based around a comparison, it does bring into question whether or not that level of scrutiny was ever actually improved.
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