The Nothing Phone 2 and Its Flashy Lights Debut at $599

The first Nothing Phone impressed us with its stable all spherical efficiency, its low value and naturally its flashing lights. But it by no means formally made it to the US except for an uncommon beta program. This second-generation telephone is right here to alter that. When it goes on sale within the US and the broader world from July 16, the Nothing Phone 2 may have a variety of upgrades from the processor to the design. And at solely $599 (£579), it is nonetheless a comparatively reasonably priced choice. Although it is dealing with some more and more stiff competitors, specifically from Google. The Pixel 7A’s twin rear digital camera is the very best you will get for the cash, and its pure Android 13 software program is slick and simple to make use of. While we anticipate the Nothing Phone 2’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor to ship higher efficiency than the Pixel 7A’s Tensor G2 chip, the Nothing Phone might want to provide extra than simply uncooked energy to justify the extra value over the Pixel’s $449 price ticket.  Watch this: Nothing’s Sequel Gets a Lot Right
09:34 A well-recognized, flashy designVisually, there’s not been a giant departure from the primary era. The again continues to be clear, letting you see somewhat contained in the telephone, together with the uncovered screwheads and varied connecting segments. The glass is gently curved on the edges now to offer it a barely extra premium really feel while you maintain it.But it is the flashing lights — or glyph, as Nothing calls it — that is the large household resemblance right here. Those LEDs mild up the again of the telephone and may provide you with a warning to incoming notifications, or for alarms, or can be utilized to indicate battery cost standing or just as a fundamental fill mild while you’re recording video. The Phone 2 supplies a bit extra customization over the glyph this time spherical, permitting you to create customized mild patterns for sure contacts or apps. There’s additionally a glyph timer that can step by step tick down because it reaches zero, however it might additionally give a handy visible cue of different time-related issues equivalent to when your Uber goes to reach, so you possibly can put it down and give attention to checking out your hair whereas keeping track of its progress. Nothing says it’s going to be working with different app builders to combine this performance. The glyph lights definitely made the unique telephone stand out towards the competitors and whereas they’re arguably one thing of a gimmick, it is good to see a little bit of enjoyable and aptitude in telephones. Especially in mid-range telephones like this the place fascinating designs are likely to take extra of a again seat so as to preserve these costs down.  Andrew Lanxon/CNETBut the lights aren’t the one bodily issues to care about; the aluminum body is recycled, there is a fingerprint scanner invisibly hidden beneath the show, and it is IP54 rated to assist preserve it protected when it’s a must to take calls within the rain. The 6.7-inch show is large and vivid sufficient to do justice to vibrant video games or for watching YouTube movies on the transfer, and its adaptive refresh fee lets it drop right down to solely 1Hz to assist protect battery life or ramp as much as 120Hz for smoother gaming. Older chip with large potentialPowering the Nothing Phone 2 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor backed up by both 8GB or 12GB of RAM. That’s a barely older era processor, but it surely’s nonetheless a potent chip you can totally anticipate to deal with most belongings you’d ever wish to throw at it, from video streaming to photograph enhancing or gaming. Nothing says it used an older chip because it wished one thing tried and examined that may provide a extra secure platform at a extra cheap value, and I believe that is in all probability a good trade-off. Bear in thoughts that the 8 Plus Gen 1 chip is in each the OnePlus 10T and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 — two absolute powerhouse flagships launched solely final yr, so don’t fret in regards to the Nothing Phone 2 having the ability to deal with any of your day by day necessities. The Phone 2 runs Android 13 at its core, however Nothing has executed so much to customise the interface. It’s a really monochrome expertise, with a heavy reliance on dot-matrix model texts and icons. There are a wide range of widgets that use these designs, and even the app icons are black and white to maintain with that minimal monochrome aesthetic. That might make it fairly tough to search out the apps you need if you happen to depend on these shade cues, however you possibly can flip this off within the settings if you need.A function that I can see being fairly helpful is creating folders of apps in your homescreen and hiding them behind an icon — I’m imagining filling this folder with my work-specific apps like Outlook, Zoom and Slack after which protecting them up with the briefcase image so I haven’t got to have a look at them on my weekend. Lovely stuff.  Andrew Lanxon/CNETI do not usually like UIs that closely customise the look of Android, however there’s one thing fairly trendy in regards to the design that Nothing makes use of on its telephones. If you are into that sort of stark minimalism then you definitely’ll little doubt get pleasure from it. Nothing guarantees that the Phone 2 will obtain three years of OS updates and an extra fourth yr of safety updates. That’s somewhat under the 5 years that Samsung gives on its telephones, but it surely might definitely be worse. Still, I’d hope to see all producers extending their assist interval as much as and past 5 years to maintain telephones protected to make use of for longer and subsequently preserve extra of them out of landfills. Same cameras, higher processingThe again of the telephone is residence to a 50-megapixel primary digital camera and a 50-megapixel extremely extensive digital camera. Hardware-wise, that is just about the identical setup we noticed on the Nothing Phone 1. But the improved Snapdragon processor permits for lots higher software program processing, with Nothing promising improved colours, publicity and higher HDR strategies that will help you take nicer-looking photographs. I’ve spent a while testing the digital camera out and am happy to see vibrant, sharp pictures with first rate general publicity.  Nothing Phone 2, primary digital camera. Andrew Lanxon/CNET Nothing Phone 2, primary digital camera. Andrew Lanxon/CNET Nothing Phone 2, primary digital camera. Andrew Lanxon/CNET Nothing Phone 2, primary digital camera. Andrew Lanxon/CNETSo whereas there isn’t any important improve when it comes to larger sensors, or zoom lenses, you need to nonetheless have the ability to take a lot better pictures on the Phone 2 than on the Phone 1. But its larger competitors in pictures comes from the Pixel 7A, which might take beautiful pictures and prices so much much less, so I’m wanting ahead to seeing how these two stack up. The Phone 2 will shoot 4K video at 60 frames per second, and the 32-megapixel front-facing digital camera ought to do a good job of capturing these embarrassing selfies. Powering every thing is a 4,700-mAh battery that with cheap use ought to have the ability to get you thru a full day. As with all telephones, your precise outcomes will come right down to how a lot you employ it. Hammer it with video streaming and demanding gaming all morning and you will want to offer it a lift within the afternoon. Most of you’ll in all probability simply get away with giving it a full cost while you fall asleep every night time.  Andrew Lanxon/CNETIt helps 45-watt quick charging, which Nothing says will take it from empty to full in 55 minutes. That’s first rate sufficient, though it is a approach behind the 80- or 100-watt charging we have seen on different telephones outdoors the US. At this value, although, I can not argue an excessive amount of. It has 15-watt wi-fi charging too, in addition to reverse wi-fi charging if you wish to use your telephone’s battery to energy up your headphones or, one other telephone fully.Is the Nothing Phone 2 a very good telephone to purchase? If you are after a flashy telephone that stands out from the group, then Nothing’s newest is in a league of its personal. Those lights do make an announcement, and whereas I can not say I’ve any nice need to make use of them in on a regular basis life, you could effectively discover them helpful. Beyond that, the telephone does have so much going for it, with its large display, its potent processor and its cool-looking software program.  Andrew Lanxon/CNETBut it is a bit dearer than the primary model, and its $599 asking value places it fairly a good distance above the $449 value of the Google Pixel 7A. And whereas I do not anticipate the 7A to compete on processing energy, Google’s most cost-effective telephone does have an outstanding digital camera setup, and its pure Android interface is gorgeous to make use of. The midrange telephone market has develop into one of the hotly contested areas in 2023, and Nothing’s greater value might imply it has a much bigger combat on its arms to win area in individuals’s pockets. Nothing Phone 2 specs comparability chart Nothing Phone 2Pixel 7AGalaxy A54 5G Display dimension, decision, refresh fee 6.7-inch OLED; 2,412×1,080 pixels; 1-120Hz6.1-inch OLED; 2,400×1,080 pixels; 60/90Hz 6.4-inch Super AMOLED; 2,340×1,080 pixels; 120HzPixel density 394 ppi361 ppi403 ppiDimensions (inches) 6.23 x 3.02 x 0.32 inDimensions (millimeters) 162.1 x 76.4 x 8.6mm72.9 x 152.4 x 9.0 158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2 mmWeight (grams, ounces) 201g (7.09 oz)193g (6.81 oz)202g (7.13 oz) Mobile software program Android 13Android 13Android 13Digital camera 50-megapixel primary. 50-megapixel ultrawide64-megapixel (primary) 4k @ 6fps; 13-megapixel (ultra-wide) 4k @ 30 fps50-megapixel (extensive), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 5-megapixel (macro)Front-facing digital camera 32-megapixel13-megapixel 4K@30fps32-megapixel Video seize 4K at 60fps4K4KProcessor Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1Tensor G2Exynos 1380RAM, storage 8GB + 128GB; 12GB + 256GB8GB + 128GB6GB + 128GB; 8GB + 256GB Expandable storage NoNoMicro SDXCBattery, charger 4,700 mAh; 45W wired charging4,385 mAh; 18W quick charging, 7.5W wi-fi charging5,000 mAh; 25W wired chargingFingerprint sensor In-displaySideIn-displayConnector USB-CUSB-CUSB-CHeadphone jack NoneNoneNoneSpecial options 5G-enabled, IP54 water resistance, flashing rear lights5G (5G sub6 / mmWave ), IP67 rating5G (mmw/Sub6), IP67 ratingPrice off-contract (USD) $599$499 / $549 (mmW)$449 (6GB/128GB) at launchPrice (GBP) £579£449£449 (6GB/128GB) at launchPrice (AUD) AU$1,120 convertedAU$749AU$649 (6GB/128GB) at launch