Nothing looks set to roll out its next big software update, Nothing OS 5.0, which will be built on top of Android 17. A closed beta is already running on a handful of devices, and if things go according to plan, a full stable release should land for everyone else within the next several weeks.
The good news is that most of the company’s phones are in line to get the upgrade. Only three models are being left out, and that’s not because Nothing is cutting corners — those particular devices have already received every major software update they were promised when they launched, so there’s nothing left to give them.
Even the phones that won’t see another big Android jump aren’t being abandoned entirely. The Nothing Phone (2) and the CMF Phone (1), for instance, will keep getting security patches through to mid-2027, even though they won’t be moving on to newer Android versions. That means they’ll stay reasonably safe to use, just without any of the flashier new features that come bundled with fresh OS releases.
The original Nothing Phone (1) is a different story, though. Nothing’s own developers are nudging owners of that first-generation device to start thinking about an upgrade. It’s not just about missing out on new tools and interface tweaks — once security support for the phone ends, it becomes a genuinely riskier device to keep using day to day, since it won’t be patched against newly discovered vulnerabilities.
That’s really the underlying message here for anyone holding onto older Nothing hardware: at some point, sticking with an aging phone means giving up more than just cosmetic updates. You lose the safety net of ongoing security fixes, and eventually you’re locked out of whatever new software tricks Nothing builds into future versions of its OS. The company seems to be encouraging users to plan their upgrades around that reality rather than waiting until support quietly runs out.
For everyone else with a supported device, though, Nothing OS 5.0 should bring the usual mix of visual refinements, performance improvements, and whatever new capabilities Android 17 itself introduces under the hood. Beta testers are currently putting the update through its paces, which is typically how Nothing handles these rollouts — a limited trial run to catch bugs before pushing it out broadly.
There’s no exact release date yet for the stable version, but the company’s own timeline suggests it shouldn’t be a long wait. Given how quickly beta programs for past Nothing OS updates have moved toward full release, a wider rollout in the coming weeks seems like a reasonable bet.
In the meantime, Nothing Phone (1) owners in particular might want to start weighing their options. The device has had a good run, but with the clock ticking on both feature updates and security support, upgrading sooner rather than later looks like the safer move.
