Nothing Phone (2) review

It’s exhausting to start out a know-how firm from nothing – maybe that’s one of many causes former OnePlus exec Carl Pei named his new firm Nothing again in 2020.

To date, the model has launched a telephone and three fashions of earbuds. The hype it builds round its merchandise works effectively in tech fanatic circles however hasn’t but damaged by means of into the mainstream.

Nothing’s new smartphone, the Nothing Cellphone (2), is an improved model of 2022’s Nothing Cellphone (1) and I’m unsure it’s going to assist the corporate break by means of, although it’s getting a full US launch. It has a really related design and digital camera and feels virtually similar in day-to-day use.

The software program is healthier, however the older telephone is promised an replace with the improved OS, so it’s not a purpose for present house owners to improve.

It means the Nothing Cellphone (2) is a strong, well-priced mid-range telephone at $599/£579/€679 – however there are lots of these available on the market already. Not all of them have programmable flashing lights on the again, although.

Design & construct

• iPhone-inspired design
• Programmable LED lights
• IP54 score

I’ll do my darnedest to not spend this entire evaluate evaluating the Cellphone (2) to the Cellphone (1) – however not a lot has modified right here:

That stated, I commend Nothing for at the very least doing one thing attention-grabbing with the design. Everybody who noticed me utilizing the Cellphone (2) needed to know what it was (or thought it was an iPhone).

The Cellphone (2) is effectively constructed with a 100% aluminium body and clear glass on the again exhibiting a neat array of internals and ‘glyph’ LED mild strips that flash to sign calls, notifications, and different programmable issues.

These lights are a little bit totally different to the Cellphone (1) – as an example the central mild is now in six strips reasonably than one, and the digital camera lights are cut up in two. The lights nearest the underside can point out the charging stage whereas face down.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

One of many central mild strips now has 16 totally different sections and can be utilized to point out the progress of a countdown timer, your quantity stage, and even how lengthy till your Uber arrives. Nothing is hoping for extra third-party app buy-in, however there’s a lot much less utility in a single mild strip in comparison with what builders can do with info in Apple’s Dynamic Island software program on the iPhone 14 Professional.

The glyph lights do make the Cellphone (2) stand out towards the iPhone 12 from which this design was probably cribbed, from the flat sides with curved corners to the rounded show and elongated buttons.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

My evaluate pattern is the gray mannequin that’s lighter than the closer-to-black of the Cellphone (1). There’s additionally a white mannequin I’ve not seen.

The rear glass is barely curved on the edges for a easy really feel, however the entrance Gorilla Glass over the show is flat. General, the telephone’s dimensions are 162.1 x 76.4 x 8.6mm, weighing in at 201g. I discover the telephone a little bit cumbersome and positively can’t use it comfortably with one hand.

I used to be a little bit upset with the haptics: the vibration motor that buzzes once you use the keyboard is sort of rattly and is audible in very quiet rooms. I adjusted it and it improved, but it surely’s beneath the standard of costlier telephones.

On the entrance there’s a properly even bezel across the fringe of the display screen that’s punctuated by a central digital camera cut-out on the high.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

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There’s no headphone jack to be seen, with a USB-C port on the backside. There’s additionally no charging brick within the field, however you do get Nothing’s beautiful transparent-tipped USB-C-to-C cable.

It’s additionally disappointing the telephone solely has an IP54 mud and water resistance score, implying it could actually deal with rain and splashes however received’t survive a dunk within the bathtub, pool, or sea. The equally priced Samsung Galaxy A54 and Google Pixel 7a each have superior IP67 rankings.

Display & audio system

• 6.7in OLED
• 120Hz LTPO
• Respectable stereo audio system

The Nothing Cellphone (2) has a 6.7in OLED display screen, a tad bigger than the Cellphone (1)’s 6.55in.

I discovered it high quality show. It will possibly refresh at as much as 120Hz and makes use of LTPO tech to scale the refresh price proper again right down to 1Hz when not wanted to avoid wasting battery. Not many telephones at this worth use LTPO.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

The difficulty is the panel doesn’t get vibrant sufficient. Even indoors with a little bit of solar I went to show up the slider solely to see it was on the most setting.

Open air the display screen could be very troublesome to see clearly. Nothing says it will get as much as 1,000 nits open air – it’s not sufficient, and one of the vital annoying issues concerning the Cellphone (2). It will possibly hit 1,600 nits indoors.

Due to this frequent dimness within the sunshine, I usually ran the telephone in mild mode to extra simply learn the display screen – I not often do that and use most different evaluate telephones in darkish mode because it’s my choice.

The telephone comes fitted with a display screen protector out of the field, but it surely’s low cost and plastic. For a telephone that encourages you to place it face down on a regular basis to see the lights on the again, I bought some horrendous scratches inside three days on mine. You will have a case with a lip to guard the display screen, and a clear one at that, otherwise you received’t capable of see the lights.

Twin stereo audio system are desk stakes on mid-range telephones and the Cellphone (2) delivers. They get lots loud and can do for podcasts, YouTube, and gaming, however music sounds a little bit skinny and piercing at excessive ranges.

Specs & efficiency

• Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset
• 8/12GB RAM
• 128/256/512GB storage

The primary inside improve over Cellphone (1) is that Cellphone (2) has the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, silicon additionally discovered within the OnePlus 10T and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. This offers you 5G assist, however test which bands it really works with and if it’s suitable together with your service, notably within the US.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

It’s not the most recent 8 Gen 2 from Qualcomm, however the telephone is quick sufficient for the whole lot from day-to-day use flipping between apps proper as much as taking part in Name of Responsibility Cell for half an hour with no points.

It’s not excellent although, and there have been moments that I may inform the OS was stalling barely. This can be a highly effective telephone, however I’ve not discovered it as easy in tandem with the software program as latest OnePlus or Samsung telephones in the identical worth vary.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

My Cellphone (2) evaluate pattern had 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, the previous probably serving to with efficiency. You may also go for the bottom 8GB/128GB model, or a full fats 12GB/512GB. No fashions have a microSD slot however all do have twin bodily SIM card slots.

Right here’s how the telephone carried out in benchmark assessments on the CPU and GPU in comparison with the Cellphone (1) and another related spec and related priced rival telephones:

The in-screen fingerprint scanner is positioned fairly low down on the display screen and works effectively, and can be used for biometric sign-in to 3rd get together apps, in contrast to the face unlock, which is quick and efficient for unlocking the telephone.

Digital camera & video

• Essential 50Mp lens disappoints
• 50Mp ultra-wide
• 32Mp entrance going through

The Cellphone (2) makes use of the Sony IMX890 f/1.88 sensor for its most important digital camera, however in actuality that is an extremely related sensor to the IMX766 used within the Cellphone (1). It means there are barely any enhancements right here, and I’ve been upset by the pictures I’ve taken.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

The IMX890 is definitely similar sensor utilized in Pei’s outdated firm’s latest OnePlus 11, which I reviewed, and located its most important digital camera constant and of fantastic high quality.

The Nothing Cellphone (2)’s most important digital camera isn’t these issues. It’s good to shoot with in a pinch, however removed from excellent. It’s inferior to the Pixel 7a for nonetheless pictures, a telephone that prices over $100/£100/€100 much less.

In broad daylight – like most smartphones in 2023 – the principle digital camera is strong. It captures 12Mp stills by default however you can too shoot at full 50Mp. It offers comparatively true-to-life colors, with a good focal vary that reacts effectively once I tapped the display screen to alter focus:

However Nothing’s picture processing is overly aggressive, both sharpening photographs an excessive amount of or including an orangey tint to pores and skin tones and surfaces in all however the perfect lighting situations. It additionally struggles with vibrant solar, that means pictures can usually blow out the sky or make the topic too darkish relying on the main target level:

Video is normal and pretty much as good as you’d anticipate from a telephone of this worth. It will possibly file at 4K as much as 60fps. There’s good stabilisation (each optical and digital) and an motion mode that efficiently retains judders down, but it surely isn’t pretty much as good because the motion mode on the iPhone 14 (admittedly a pricer phone).

The ultrawide lens is acceptable for taking in more of a scene with its 50Mp f/2.2 Samsung JN1 sensor. It even manages low-light OK, but image quality suffers when you zoom in and notice detail is lost:

Henry Burrell / Foundry

There’s no telephoto lens but you can shoot at 2x with a toggle in the app using digital zoom, and then zoom further up to 8x.

The 32Mp front facing camera is actually the most pleasing of all, producing crisp, bright, well detailed shots:

Henry Burrell / Foundry

For a phone marketed partly around its photo improvements, the Phone (2)’s cameras are merely OK. If camera is your priority, get a Pixel 7a for cheaper.

Battery & charging

• Decent all-day battery life
• 45W charging
• 15W wireless charging

Battery life is excellent. Unplugging at 7am, I usually had 80% left by midday, and 30% left by 10pm or so. The 4700mAh cell is doing admirable work here, and I reckon the energy-saving LTPO display tech helps too.

In PCMark’s battery test it scored 14 hours and 17 minutes, a very decent score that betters the 5000mAh Galaxy S23 Ultra‘s 12 minutes and 43 minutes.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

There’s no charging brick in the box, but Nothing does give you its nice sort-of-transparent USB-C-to-C cable. Nothing says you can fully charge the phone in 55 minutes at 45W with the right charger – using a compatible one of my own I got it to 32% in 15 minutes and to 65% in 30 minutes, and it indeed hit 100% on 55 exactly.

There’s also 15W wireless charging and the phone itself can act as a 5W charger for accessories like earbuds that have Qi charging built in.

Software & updates

• Thoughtful, stylish software skin
• Three years of Android updates
• Four years of security patches

The Phone (2) runs Android 13 at launch with Nothing OS 2.0, an updated skin. It’s the best thing about the device, offering a genuinely unique look and feel to the home screen. I love it.

Android 13 lets you ‘theme’ apps to a chosen colour palette but requires app developers to offer such a themed app icon. Even on Google Pixel phones if you theme the apps on your home screen, some will likely not play ball and stay colourful.

Nothing has a new icon pack that themes all apps for you. It’s very good, and means icons appear white with a black icon in light mode or black with a white icon in dark mode. It’s also easy to make your home screens look quite different with some tweaks to the layouts, widgets, and Nothing’s wallpapers:

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Aside from the home screen customisation, the OS is actually quite plain. Menu headers and the new always-on display uses a digital clock-style dot matrix font, but otherwise the look and feel are similar to what you might find on a Nokia or Motorola phone that doesn’t change too much from basic Android.

There’s also a ringtone composer (what is this, 2002?) with sounds supplied by Swedish House Mafia, and you can program the glyph lights to flash in sync with your creations. There are ten preset tones for calls and others for notifications, which you can assign to apps or contacts.

I liked the ability to set ‘essential notifications’ – so now if I have the phone face down, one of the lights will stay lit if my wife has messaged me. It’s handy.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

You can flip the phone over to mute it, too, and set things like double tapping the screen to lock it.

Nothing is promising three years of Android updates (to 2026) and four years of security patches every two months (to 2027). That’s solid, and only one year behind Samsung on each front. It’s impressive that a new company is beating the software support of Nokia, Sony, and others. Then again, so far it only has two phones to keep updated.

Price & availability

The Nothing Phone (2) starts from $599/£579/€649 for the 8GB RAM/128GB storage model.

You can also get 12GB/256GB for $699/£629/€699 and 12GB/512GB for $799/£699/€799. The latter sounds expensive, but it’s a good price for that much storage.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Nothing is only selling the Phone (2) through its official store and a few select retail partners. It has no mobile carrier partners for the device.

The entry price is competitive, but I would recommend the OnePlus 10T over it at $649/£629/€699. It has a better camera, faster charging, better screen, and the same chipset, but no wireless charging.

You could also opt for the excellent Google Pixel 7a, sacrificing an LTPO display for a much better camera at just $499/£449/€509.

Verdict

The Nothing Phone (2) has flagship specs at a mid-range price, but it still feels mid-range. The display and camera in particular are disappointing, and the bulky build makes it a large and awkward phone to handle.

Yet Nothing OS 2.0 is excellent, and makes Android feel different from other manufacturers’ phones in a good way. The phone also has great battery life and packs in wireless charging, and the glyph lights are clever – but you’ll either love them or hate them.

Familiar mid-range pitfalls stick out such as an IP54 rating, a dim screen, and sometimes cheap-feeling haptics. But if you love the aesthetic and don’t think the lights are a gimmick, then the Nothing Phone (2) is worth considering, especially as it is guaranteed four years of software support.

Specs

• 6.7in 120Hz LTPO OLED display
• Rear camera:
  • 50Mp, f/1.8 OIS main camera
  • 50Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide camera
  • 32Mp, f/2.45 selfie camera
• 4700mAh battery
• 45W wired charging
• 15W wireless charging
• 5W reverse wireless charging
• 5G
• Stereo speakers
• Wi-Fi 6
• Bluetooth 5.3
• NFC
• Glyph Interface LED lights
• IP54
• Gorilla Glass
• Android 13 with Nothing OS 2.0
• 159.2 x 75.8 x 8.3mm
• 201g