 |
| Image: Nothing |
Nothing, a British tech brand, was caught trying to pass off stock images taken by professional photographers as samples taken by the Phone 3. The Verge reports that five sample images were licensed photos taken with different cameras.
The photographs were used on in-store demo units of the Nothing 3. One of the photographers anonymously confirmed to The Verge that they didn’t use the company’s latest smartphone to create the image. Instead, the photo was licensed by Nothing through the Stills stock photo marketplace. The Verge says it looked at the EXIF data for the image and confirmed it wasn’t taken with the Phone 3 and was taken in 2023, two years before the release of the phone.
 |
| Nothing used this car image available through Stills on its live demo unit, even though it was taken with the Fujifilm XH2s in 2023. Screenshot: Abby Ferguson |
Five other photographs were also licensed by Nothing through Stills. Roman Fox confirmed to Android Authority that they photographed one of the other images. That photograph was also taken in 2023 using a Fujifilm XH2s, a far different camera from the Nothing Phone 3.
Nothing’s founder Akis Evangelidis responded to the incident on X. He claims that the stock photos on the live demo units (LDU) were meant to be placeholders that should have been updated and replaced. “An initial version of the LDU needs to be submitted with placeholders around 4 months before launch, to be implemented and tested as we ramp up towards mass production,” Evangelidis said. “Once we enter mass production, those placeholder images are replaced with photo samples through a new version of the LDU.”
Re the Phone (3) live demo units (LDU) in some stores using stock imagery – let me explain. An initial version of the LDU needs to be submitted with placeholders around 4 months before launch, to be implemented and tested as we ramp up towards mass production. Once we enter mass…
— Akis Evangelidis ? (@AkisEvangelidis) August 27, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Evangelidis went on to say that it was “an unfortunate oversight” and “that there was no ill intent.” Nevertheless, paying for stock photos that were not intended for public use seems odd. It seems it would be much easier to simply use some of those cat photos that are likely on someone’s phone. Evangelidis says that used to be the process, in fact. In the past, it used photos taken using the company’s older phones on the live demo units. It’s unclear why it changed to using licensed stock photos instead.
This isn’t the first time a company has tried to pass off dedicated camera photographs as sample images. For example, Huawei has done the same thing a few times, and Nokia famously released a commercial supposedly featuring video from one of its phones in which you could see a reflection showing a professional video rig. Yet, companies don’t seem to learn that consumers do catch on.
Our DPREVIEW Tribute:
After nearly 25 years of operation, DPReview closed on 10 April 2023. This difficult decision was part of the annual operating plan review that parent company, Amazon, shared earlier this year.
Over the course of 25 years, DP Review built up a reputation as being one of the most informative places to go for information about that new camera or lens you’re after. DP Review began as an independent reviews site based in the UK in 1998, the brainchild of Philip and Joanna Askey, but it was eventually purchased by Amazon in 2007 and relocated over to Seattle in the USA in 2010.
Cheers DPReview – thanks for the great work and content that guided photographers, videographers and techno junkies the world over!
