Pei appears to be gunning for the same kind of appeal with Nothing. In the leadup to Phone (3a)'s launch, Nothing put out a video that depicted a humanoid robot — made by Norwegian startup 1X — unboxing the device and holding it up.
'Sea of smartphone sameness'
Ben Wood, chief analyst at market research firm CCS Insight, applauded Nothing for "trying to do something different" to combat what he called the "sea of smartphone sameness."
"Bottom line, if you want to sell phones in this more affordable segment, you have to have something that stands out from the crowd," Wood told CNBC.