Nothing's first community-driven product is a glow-in-the-dark smartphone

Community creation: British consumer electronics specialist Nothing launched a campaign earlier this year inviting the community to get involved in the creation of a new variant of the Phone 2a Plus. Now roughly six months later, the company's first co-created product is ready to go.

The first phase of the community project was to adjust the colors, materials, and finish of the phone to create a new look. From there, participants were asked to design new wallpapers that will ship on the phone. Next up was packaging – Nothing wanted something fresh for the special edition phone. Last but not least, Nothing tasked the community with making a marketing campaign for the device.

Nothing fielded more than 1,000 entries across 47 countries during the design phase. The end result is the Phone 2a Plus Community Edition, which utilizes the same core hardware as the original Phone 2a Plus released earlier this year. The highlight is the rear of the phone, which features green tinted phosphorescent accents that glow in the dark.

The glow-in-the-dark theme also carries over to the revised packaging, and is even reflected in the firefly marketing campaign. The six bundled wallpapers "interpret community connections as machine connectors," and look heavily inspired by AI.

The base Phone 2a Plus features a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate that is driven by a MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro 5G SoC alongside a Mali-G610 MC4 GPU. It ships with 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB of local storage, and a dual rear-facing camera array opposite a 50-megapixel selfie cam. The handset carries an IP54 rating and packs a 5,000mAh battery that supports 50W fast charging.

Nothing is producing just 1,000 examples of the co-created phone, making it their rarest product to date. Sales open on November 12, and it will be first come, first served – although those that participated in the project will be given priority. Pricing will reportedly be set at $519, and you can head over to Nothing's website for more information.