Nothing Phone 2 Review: Lighting Up The Competition
Nothing Phone 2 Review: A Unique Design, With Flagship Specs And Excelllent Value
Nothing
Phone (2) - Starting at $599 Nothing’s
Phone (2) is an affordable flagship that ticks all the right
boxes and brings a ton of fun and personality to the
traditional smartphone form factor.
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After launching the excellent OnePlus Nord in 2020, OnePlus co-founder
Carl Pei left the company to spearhead Nothing, a design-savvy consumer
electronics startup. Since then, Nothing has released three competitive pairs
of earbuds and two Android smartphones. During IFA last year, we spent a
week using Phone (1) and came away impressed with this affordable,
unique-looking, and well-rounded mid-range handset.
Phone (1) never officially made it to North America, but its successor, Phone (2) – which Nothing announced earlier this week – is coming to the US and Canada. While overall, this new phone inherits the standout design of its predecessor, it cranks the specs up into flagship territory with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 under the hood. Fortunately, at just $599 it also delivers the same value proposition as last year’s Phone (1).
We just spent two weeks testing Phone (2), so let’s find out what this unusual handset has to offer. Is it any good? How does it stack up to the competition? Is the Glyph Interface useful or is it just a gimmick? Read our full review below to find out...
Phone (1) never officially made it to North America, but its successor, Phone (2) – which Nothing announced earlier this week – is coming to the US and Canada. While overall, this new phone inherits the standout design of its predecessor, it cranks the specs up into flagship territory with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 under the hood. Fortunately, at just $599 it also delivers the same value proposition as last year’s Phone (1).
We just spent two weeks testing Phone (2), so let’s find out what this unusual handset has to offer. Is it any good? How does it stack up to the competition? Is the Glyph Interface useful or is it just a gimmick? Read our full review below to find out...
Nothing Phone (2) Hardware And Design
Close your eyes and imagine what it would be like if Apple had made a
larger iPhone 12, a “Plus” model if you will. Feel the slab-like aluminum frame, the
gently rounded corners, the perfectly flat front display, and the two
vertically stacked camera rings protruding from the rear glass. Now open
your eyes. That’s not an imaginary iPhone in your hand, but a real Android
handset – Nothing’s Phone (2). Imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery, right?
“But wait” we hear you protest, “this is no iPhone clone; check out the back.” Here’s where things get interesting. Like its predecessor, Phone (2)’s rear glass is home to the Glyph Interface – a series of white LED strips under the transparent back that surround the wireless charging coil and twin 50MP shooters, and form segments that line up vertically with the charging port and at a 45-degree angle with the top right corner.
“But wait” we hear you protest, “this is no iPhone clone; check out the back.” Here’s where things get interesting. Like its predecessor, Phone (2)’s rear glass is home to the Glyph Interface – a series of white LED strips under the transparent back that surround the wireless charging coil and twin 50MP shooters, and form segments that line up vertically with the charging port and at a 45-degree angle with the top right corner.
These LED strips are surrounded by ribbon cables, screws, and other
parts that give the back some depth and texture. It reminds us a but of the
RedMagic 8 Pro, minus the wild stencils. Everything under the rear glass
is either a shade of dark gray or a shade of white, depending on the
colorway you chose. As such, Phone (2)’s back is completely different from
the iPhone’s, yet instantly recognizable as one of Nothing’s products.
Plus, unlike Phone (1)’s sharp edges, Phone (2)’s rear 2.5D glass curves into the metal frame, making the handset more comfortable to hold. We’ll dive into what the Glyph Interface brings to the table later on, but the takeaway here is that Phone (2)’s aluminum and glass design looks and feels extremely polished and refined. The attention to detail and build quality are top notch, rivaling Apple and Samsung’s best.
Plus, unlike Phone (1)’s sharp edges, Phone (2)’s rear 2.5D glass curves into the metal frame, making the handset more comfortable to hold. We’ll dive into what the Glyph Interface brings to the table later on, but the takeaway here is that Phone (2)’s aluminum and glass design looks and feels extremely polished and refined. The attention to detail and build quality are top notch, rivaling Apple and Samsung’s best.
In front, the 6.7-inch LTPO OLED screen is covered in Gorilla Glass 5
and bounded by iPhone-like bezels. These aren’t the slimmest, but are
perfectly even all around – a rare feat for an Android phone at this price
point. It’s only with the center punch hole for the 32 MP selfie camera
that the iPhone comparison ends. Obviously, there’s no notch or Dynamic
Island here. As for dust and splash resistance, Phone (2) is rated IP54.
The rest of Phone (2)’s layout is pretty familiar. You’ll find the power/lock key on the right, volume rocker on the left, and secondary mic on top. One of the two speakers, the USB Type-C port, primary mic, and SIM tray are all located along the bottom edge. There’s also a third mic above the dual-LED flash plus a red LED (a recording indicator) in the back, and the earpiece lives in a slit above the display and doubles as the other speaker.
If you want a premium handset that looks and feels special, Phone (2) is exactly what the doctor ordered. Nothing nailed this design, and we’re big fans.
The rest of Phone (2)’s layout is pretty familiar. You’ll find the power/lock key on the right, volume rocker on the left, and secondary mic on top. One of the two speakers, the USB Type-C port, primary mic, and SIM tray are all located along the bottom edge. There’s also a third mic above the dual-LED flash plus a red LED (a recording indicator) in the back, and the earpiece lives in a slit above the display and doubles as the other speaker.
If you want a premium handset that looks and feels special, Phone (2) is exactly what the doctor ordered. Nothing nailed this design, and we’re big fans.
Nothing Phone (2) Specs And Features
Processing and 5G Platform | Qualcomm
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 + integrated Snapdragon X65 5G Modem |
Display | 6.7"
FHD+ LTPO OLED, 2412x1080 resolution, 120Hz |
Memory | 8/12GB LPDDR5 |
Storage | 128/256/512GB
UFS 3.1 |
Rear-Facing Cameras | 50MP f/1.9 Main OIS, omni-directional PDAF - 50MP f/2.2 114º Ultra-Wide AF |
Front-Facing Cameras | 32MP
f/2.5 |
Video Recording | Up to 4K @ 60fps, 1080p @ 60fps, 1080p slow-mo |
Battery | 4700
mAh, 45W wired charging, 15W wireless charging |
OS | Android 13 |
Dimensions | 162.1
x 76.4 x 8.6 mm |
Weight | 201.2 grams |
Connectivity | 802.11ax
Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3+LE, NFC, USB-C, LTE, 5G (sub-6GHz) |
Colors | Dark Gray,
White |
Pricing | Find the Nothing Phone (2) @ Amazon, Starting at $599 |
Nothing Phone (2) Display Quality
Phone (2) packs a perfectly flat, 6.7-inch 10-bit FHD+ (2412x1080
pixels, 394ppi) LTPO OLED display with a 20:9 aspect ratio, a 1-120Hz
variable refresh rate, and HDR10+ support. As we previously mentioned, the
bezels aren’t the thinnest we’ve seen on a modern handset, but they are
completely uniform, which is aesthetically pleasing. There’s a center
punch hole at the top of the screen for the 32MP selfie camera.
It’s a gorgeous display, with punchy colors, inky blacks, and wide viewing angles. Plus, at 1600 nits peak brightness, it’s easy to read in direct sunlight – except when using the camera app, which dims the screen a little, making it more difficult to compose shots in bright light. Hopefully, this can be fixed in a software update. Besides this minor niggle, we have no complaints. This display is flagship worthy.
Nothing Phone (2) Camera Performance And Image Quality
Phone (2)’s flagship theme continues with a pair of 50MP rear shooters
– a f/1.9 1.0-micron main sensor (1/1.56-inch Sony IMX890) with
omni-directional PDAF and OIS, plus a f/2.2 0.64-micron 114-degree
ultrawide (1/2.76-inch Samsung Isocell JN1) with AF – that both use 4-to-1
pixel binning to output 12.5MP images. A 32MP f/2.5 0.8-micron selfie
camera (1/2.74-inch Sony IMX615) completes the package.
For everything else – daytime images, night photos, videos, portraits, selfies, and even macro shots (thanks to that ultrawide with autofocus) – Phone (2) delivers excellent results. Of the current crop of flagships, Nothing’s camera tuning most closely resembles the OnePlus 11 5G’s and even holds up against the Pixel 7a, which we’ve been using side-by-side with Phone (2) during this entire review period.
This setup is very similar to what the OnePlus 11 5G offers, minus
the dedicated telephoto lens. And honestly, zooming is the only area
where Phone (2) falls a little short. Where 10x photos taken with the
OnePlus 11 5G and even Google's Pixel 7a (thanks to its Super Res Zoom
algorithm) are perfectly usable, 10x pictures shot with Phone (2) show a
noticeable loss of detail. That being said, anything up to 5x zoom is
fine.
For everything else – daytime images, night photos, videos, portraits, selfies, and even macro shots (thanks to that ultrawide with autofocus) – Phone (2) delivers excellent results. Of the current crop of flagships, Nothing’s camera tuning most closely resembles the OnePlus 11 5G’s and even holds up against the Pixel 7a, which we’ve been using side-by-side with Phone (2) during this entire review period.
This means you’ll enjoy beautiful, detailed pictures with accurate
colors and exposure, great dynamic range, and solid low-light
performance – thanks to a (defeatable) automatic night mode, and Phone
(2)’s ability to freeze moving subjects even better than the Pixel 7a.
Phone (2) also captures decent stabilized video with stereo audio at up
to 4K 60fps with the main and ultrawide shooters, but only 1080p
30/60fps with the selfie camera.
Shooting modes include portrait, panorama, macro, expert (manual),
night (auto), motion photo, slow motion (4K/1080p 120fps, 1080p
240/480fps), HDR video (4K/1080p 30fps), action (1080p 30/60fps), and
time lapse (4K/1080p 30fps). We don’t usually care much about photo
filters, but Nothing’s lenticular filter is particularly fun. Another
cool feature is that in addition to the dual-LED flash, you can turn the
Glyph Interface into a ring light.
Overall then, we’re satisfied with Phone (2)’s camera performance,
and we think you’ll be as well. The only features missing here are 4K selfie video recording and a telephoto shooter – though that’s a big ask
for a phone that costs $599.