Smartphone manufacturers have been caught cheating on camera issues more than once — Samsung, for example, faked a photo of the moon. Now, Nothing is being accused of a similar scam, passing off photos taken by someone else as being taken on a Phone (3), Android Authority reports.
The Nothing Phone (3) demo in stores in New Zealand showed specs and a few photos when the camera was launched. But it turned out that these photos were taken from the stock footage, not taken on the device itself.
The photographer whose photo was passed off as being taken on a Nothing Phone (3) anonymously told Android Authority that all five images were purchased from the stock photo service Stills.
One of the images was also traced back to Instagram user Snapsbyfox, who posted it back in 2023 — long before the development of the Phone (3) even began. What’s more, the photographer revealed that he took the photo with a Fujifilm XH2s camera, and not a Nothing smartphone.
Although Nothing officially purchased the images from Stills and had the rights to use them, the company misrepresented them as photos taken on a Phone (3), misleading users. A spokesperson for Nothing did not deny this, but noted that the smartphones would be updated to show off their own camera capabilities.
"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)," the statement said.