Nothing Fold (1) concept is so good we hope Carl Pei is looking

It's nearly Christmas and while we already wrote our list to Santa, we've decided we're calling it back to add one more thing – the latest concept for the Nothing Fold (1).

It's not the first time we've seen what a folding phone from Nothing could look like – we wrote about another one we really liked in March 2024 – but this new design really is a delight.

Published on Yanko Design and created by Sarang Sheth, this Nothing Fold (1) concept is everything you would expect from Carl Pei's London start up and more.

The Glyph interface is present on the rear, but this designer has added some fun to the spine too. When the Fold (1) is booted up, the spine and rear of the device spell out a '1' in Glyph lights, but the spine is also a monochrome display that can show notifications too. Neat.

There's a 6.5-inch display imagined in this concept on the front, opening up to an 8.37-inch display inside, while the metal structure, flat edges and glass rear delivers a premium appeal.

Three cameras sit on the rear of this concept with a main sensor, ultra wide sensor and telephoto sensor on board, and two 32-megapixel hole punch cameras sit on the front and inner display.

What about inside this Nothing Fold (1) concept?

Under the hood, the designer expects the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 5G chipset, 24GB of RAM and a 5,500mAh battery to power the Fold (1), while Nothing's OS 3 will look after the software side of things.

It's said the design would measure 6.3mm when open and 14mm when closed if you include the camera bump, while the display is said to have a 1,500 nits brightness.

While this is of course a concept, there's nothing here (see what we did there?) that's beyond the realms of possibility. The Glyph interface on the spine of the device might take Nothing a little work, but we're sure its designers would be capable.

Where this concept falls down is the price the designer is hoping for.

Sheth claims a "£799 ($1,014) foldable would absolutely cement the phone as the most coveted piece of tech from the UK-based phone maker", and they are absolutely right, it would. The problem is, we're not convinced that would be achievable with such a gorgeous design and flagship hardware, given equivalents from both Samsung and Huawei are well over that bracket.

We suspect then, that we really would need the guy in the big red suit to step in for this concept and the price to become something of a reality. Like we said though, we are calling our letter back and we certainly hope Carl Pei has seen the desirable device, even if it offers only a little inspiration for a first foldable from Nothing.