Nothing has just been caught using stock photos from the website Stills and using them in the Phone (3) demo units on display in New Zealand.
Nothing Phone (3) Stock Photo Samples
This comes after a screen recording surfaced of a Nothing Phone (3) demo unit in New Zealand. Scrolling down the feature, it has a segment headlined by “#WithNothing” and supposedly showcases photos captured by the community using the device.
However, one of the photographers approached Android Authority to reveal that all five photos featured can be found on the stock photo marketplace Stills.
The headlight photo, in particular, can still be found on the Instagram of its photographer Roman Fox, and it was shared on his page in June 2023 and shot using a Fujifilm XH2s. This is long before the Nothing Phone (3) was even in the pipeline.
The photos in question were also confirmed to be paid through Stills, meaning the company has the license to use them. However, licensing aside, using these and claiming they were taken by the Phone (3) is all but false advertising.
The company responded to Android Authority with this statement in response to the issue, “Accuracy in how we represent our product capabilities is important to us. Phone (3) demo units are being updated to feature only images captured with Phone (3).”
However, this doesn’t quite address the issue of the stock photos being used as Phone (3) samples. In fact, it leaves more questions than answers. This includes why they used the stock photos at all, rather than actual photos taken on the phone. It also makes us wonder if other sample photos used in the promotion of the device and previous phones were actually taken on the respective devices.
Nothing has slowly built the camera prowess of its devices despite it being pretty young in the market, and we’ve experienced it first-hand with the Nothing Phone (3), but this definitely leaves a bad taste in the mouth, so to speak.
We hope to see the company face the issue head-on, bounce back, and improve its execution in the promotion of its devices in the future.
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
