The Nothing phone 2 and its flashy lights launch at $599

The First Nothing Phone impressed us with its solid all-around performance, low price and, of course, flashing lights. But it never officially arrived in the US beyond an unusual beta program. This second generation phone is here to change that.

When it goes on sale in the US and worldwide from July 16, Nothing Phone 2 will have a series of upgrades from processor to design. And at just $599 (£579), it’s still a relatively affordable option. Although it is facing some increasingly stiff competition, especially from Google. The Pixel 7A’s dual rear cameras are the best you can get for your money, and its pure Android 13 software is smooth and easy to use.

While we expect Nothing Phone 2’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor to deliver better performance than the Pixel 7A’s Tensor G2 chip, Nothing Phone will need to offer more than just raw power to prove it. justifies the additional cost compared to the Pixel’s $449 price tag.

A familiar, flashy design

On the surface, there is not a big difference compared to the first generation. The back is still transparent, allowing you to see a bit of the inside of the phone, including the exposed screws and various connection segments. The glass is gently curved at the edges to give it a slightly more premium feel when you hold it in your hand.

But it’s the flashing lights — or the glyph, as Nothing calls it — that’s the big family resemblance here. Those LEDs glow on the back of the phone and can alert you to incoming notifications or alarms, or can be used to show battery charge status or simply as a basic fill light when you video.

This time, Phone 2 offers a little more customization to the glyph, allowing you to create custom lighting patterns for certain contacts or apps. There’s also a visual timer that will gradually tick as it reaches zero, but it can also give a convenient visual hint of other time-related things, such as when Your Uber will arrive, so you can put it down and focus on getting the arrangement out of your hair while monitoring its progress. Nothing says it will work with other app developers to integrate this functionality.

The glyph lights definitely made the original phone stand out from the competition, and while they’re supposed to be something of a gimmick, it’s nice to see a bit of fun and flair on the phone. phone. Especially in mid-range phones like this, where interesting designs tend to dominate more to keep prices down.

But light isn’t the only matter of concern; The aluminum frame is recycled, there’s a fingerprint scanner hidden beneath the display, and it’s IP54 rated to help keep it safe when you have to take calls in the rain. The 6.7-inch screen is large and bright enough for a fair display for vibrant games or for watching YouTube videos on the go, and its adaptive refresh rate allows it to drop to just 1Hz to help maintain battery life or boost to 120Hz for smoother gameplay.

Older chips with great potential

Powering the Nothing Phone 2 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor backed by 8GB or 12GB of RAM. It’s a slightly older generation processor, but it’s still a powerful chip that you can fully expect to handle almost anything you’d throw at it, from video streaming to editing. edit photos or play games. Nothing says it used an older chip because it wanted something tried and tested that would provide a more stable platform at a more reasonable price and I think that’s probably a big deal. fair trade-off. Keep in mind that the 8 Plus Gen 1 chip is present in both the OnePlus 10T and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 – two powerful flagships that came out only last year, so don’t worry about the Nothing Phone 2 being able to handle anything. your device or not. daily necessities.

The Phone 2 runs Android 13 at its core, but there’s not much to customize the interface. It’s a very monochromatic experience that relies heavily on dot-matrix-style texts and icons. There are many widgets that use these designs, and even the app icons are black and white to match that minimal monochrome aesthetic. That can make it difficult to find the app you want if you rely on those color cues, but you can turn it off in the settings if you’d like.

One feature that I’ve found to be quite handy is creating folders of apps on your home screen and hiding them behind an icon — I’m imagining filling this folder with apps specific to your home screen. my work like Outlook, Zoom, and Slack and then cover them with a briefcase icon so I don’t have to look at them on weekends. Lovely things.

I usually don’t like Android’s heavily customizable user interface, but there’s something pretty stylish about the design that Nothing uses on its phones. If you like that completely minimalist style then you will definitely love it.

There is no promise that the Phone 2 will receive three years of operating system updates and an additional fourth year of security updates. That’s a bit less than the five-year deadline Samsung gives on its phones, but it could certainly be worse. However, I would expect to see all manufacturers extend their support period up to more than 5 years to keep phones safe for longer and thus keep more phones out of the yard. garbage.

Same camera, better handling

The back of the phone is home to a 50-megapixel main camera and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera. In terms of hardware, it’s almost identical to the setup we saw on the Nothing Phone 1. But the improved Snapdragon processor allows for a lot better software processing, nothing promises to improve colors, better exposure and HDR techniques to help you take better photos.

I spent some time testing the camera and was pleased to see sharp, vivid images with good overall exposure.

So even though there are no significant upgrades to the larger sensor or zoom lens, you can still take better pictures on the Phone 2 than on the Phone 1. But the competition is bigger on Its photography comes from the Pixel 7A, which can take great pictures and costs a lot less, so I’m looking forward to seeing how the two come together.

The Phone 2 will shoot 4K video at 60 frames per second, and the 32-megapixel front-facing camera will do a good job of taking those embarrassing selfies.

Powering everything is a 4,700 mAh battery, which, if used properly, can get you through the day. As with all phones, your actual results will depend on how much you use it. Train it with video streaming and gaming all morning, and you’ll need to speed it up in the afternoon. Most of you will probably only need to fully charge the battery at bedtime each night.

It supports 45 watt fast charging, which nothing says will take it from empty to full in 55 minutes. That’s good enough, though it falls far short of the 80 or 100 watt charge we’ve seen on other phones outside of the US. However, at this price point, I can’t argue too much. It also has 15-watt wireless charging, as well as wireless reverse charging if you want to use your phone’s battery to power headphones or another phone altogether.

Nothing phone 2 is a good phone to buy?

If you’re after a flashy phone that stands out from the crowd, then Nothing New is a league of its own. Those lights really make a statement and while I can’t say I have any great desire to use them in everyday life, you may well find them useful. There’s a lot more to the phone than that, with a big screen, powerful processor, and beautiful software.

But it’s a bit more expensive than the first version, and its $599 asking price is quite a bit higher than the Google Pixel 7A’s $449 price tag. And while I don’t expect the 7A to compete in terms of processing power, Google’s cheapest phone has a great camera setup and its pure Android interface is easy to use.

The mid-range phone market has become one of the most competitive in 2023, and Nothing’s higher price tag could mean even greater competition for space in people’s pockets. use.

Nothing Phone 2 . specification comparison chart

	The phone has nothing 2	Pixel 7A	Galaxy A54 5G
Screen size, resolution, refresh rate	6.7-inch OLED; 2,412×1,080 pixels; 1-120Hz	6.1-inch OLED; 2,400×1,080 pixels; 60/90Hz	Super AMOLED 6.4 inches; 2,340×1,080 pixels; 120Hz
Pixel density	394 pixels	361 pixels	403 pixels
Dimensions (inches)			6.23 x 3.02 x 0.32 inches
Dimensions (mm)	162.1×76.4×8.6mm	72.9 x 152.4 x 9.0	158.2×76.7×8.2mm
Weight (grams, ounces)	201g (7.09 oz)	193g (6.81 oz)	202g (7.13 oz)
mobile software	Android 13	Android 13	Android 13
Camera	main 50 megapixels. Super wide 50 megapixel	64 megapixels (main) 4k @ 6fps; 13 megapixels (ultra-wide) 4k @ 30fps	50 megapixels (wide), 12 megapixels (ultra wide), 5 megapixels (macro)
The front of the camera	32 megapixels	13 megapixels 4K@30fps	32 megapixels
video	4K at 60fps	4KCK	4KCK
microprocessor	Snapdragon 8 Plus 1st Generation»	Tenor G2	Exynos 1380
RAM, storage	8GB + 128GB; 12GB + 256GB	8GB + 128GB	6GB + 128GB; 8GB + 256GB
expandable storage	ARE NOT	ARE NOT	MicroSDXC
Charge	4,700mAh; 45W . wired charging	4,385 mAh; 18W fast charging, 7.5W . wireless charging	5,000 mAh; 25W . Wired Charger
Fingerprint sensor	in the screen	Beside	in the screen
Connect	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
headphone jack	Do not have	Do not have	Do not have
Special Features	Support 5G, IP54 waterproof, back light flashing	5G (5G sub6/mmWave), IP67 . rating	Rated 5G (mmw/Sub6), IP67
Out-of-contract price (USD)	$599	$499 / $549 (mmW)	$449 (6GB/128GB) at launch
Price (GBP)	£579	£449	£449 (6GB/128GB) at launch
Price (AUD)	AU$1,120 in exchange	AU$749	AU$649 (6GB/128GB) at launch