Nothing Phone (3) Demo Units Busted for Fake Camera Samples

Nothing has found itself under scrutiny after an embarrassing misstep with its latest smartphone, the Nothing Phone (3).

Demo units displayed in stores were showing off stunning photographs, but here’s the catch – none of them were actually taken with the new device.

The demo phones included a gallery labeled with the tagline: “Judge for yourself. Here’s what our community has captured with Phone (3).” Unfortunately, the images weren’t community shots at all. They were stock photos, sourced from the Stills marketplace, featuring scenes like a person by a window, a spiral staircase, and a woman in a scarf. One photo of a rounded headlight even traces back to photographer snapsbyfox, who captured it in 2023 using a Fujifilm X-H2S – long before Nothing’s latest handset even existed.

Company co-founder Akis Evangelidis admitted the mistake on X (formerly Twitter). He explained that these pictures were never intended to be the final showcase. They were temporary placeholders uploaded months before launch, with the plan to replace them with real photos closer to release. Some demo units, however, slipped through the cracks and never got updated. “We are actively fixing this and working with promoters to ensure all demo units display the correct materials,” Evangelidis said.

Nothing has launched an internal review to prevent similar oversights in the future. Interestingly, earlier launches avoided this problem by using photos from older Nothing phones as placeholders, ensuring at least some authenticity. This time, a new team chose to use stock images – a move the company now admits was a mistake.

The Nothing Phone (3) 5G is still expected to make its mark in the competitive market, available in configurations up to 512GB storage and 16GB RAM. But for now, the controversy serves as a reminder that even the smallest details in product marketing can have outsized consequences.