Nothing Phone (2) review

Introduction

The Nothing Phone (2) premieres one year after the first Nothing phone, and it is shaping as an amazing sequel offering enough relevant upgrades - an improved screen, flagship hardware, better cameras, and faster charging. Oh, and the Glyph UI has been expanded, of course.

The Nothing Phone (2) is indeed following in the footsteps of its predecessor, and what many thought of as a gimmick - the Glyph UI - is here to stay, and it offers some new cool functions.

The Nothing Phone (2) brings a larger 6.7" OLED screen with an improved LTPO panel that allows for a dynamic refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz. It supports 10-bit color depth, HDR10+, 240Hz touch response, and up to 1,000 nits of sunlight brightness.

The most notable upgrade is the chipset - it is now the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, up from the Snapdragon 778G+ on the previous model. And just like that, the Nothing Phone has moved up from the midrange class to the flagship one.

The dual 50MP cameras on the back appear to be similar to the ones on the Nothing Phone (1) - wide + ultrawide (with macro) - but according to the official materials, they can now capture more data thanks to the new ISP and newly developed advanced algorithms. And the 2x Super-Res Zoom should benefit greatly from that.

The larger screen and body allowed for a slightly larger battery - it now has a 4,700mAh capacity. The wired charging has been improved, too; it is now 45W, up from 33W. The 15W wireless and 5W reverse wireless options are still available.

There is one final improvement that is invisible to the naked eye - the ingress protection has been upped from IP53 to IP54, meaning the Nothing Phone (2) can now survive splashing water for about 10 minutes.

Let's look at the complete specs sheet now.

Nothing Phone (2) specs at a glance:

• Body: 162.1x76.4x8.6mm, 201g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), glass back (Gorilla Glass 5), aluminum frame; multiple LED lights on the back (notifications, charging progress, camera fill light), Blinking red light on the back (video recording indicator), IP54 - splash and dust resistant.
• Display: 6.7" LTPO OLED, 1B colors, dynamic 120Hz, HDR10+, 500 nits (typ), 1,600 nits (peak), 1080x2412px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 394ppi; Always On Display.
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 5G (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.0 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3x2.5 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 13, Nothing OS 2.0.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 24mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/2.2, 114˚, 1/2.76", 0.64µm, AF.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.5, (ultra-wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, live HDR; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, EIS.
• Battery: 4700mAh; 45W wired, PD3.0, QC4, PPS, 100% in 55 min (advertised), 15W wireless, 5W reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.3; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers.

The Nothing Phone (2) is a well-rounded offer with balanced specs and thoughtfully picked features, one that offers something unique on the market - the Glyph UI notification LEDs. It could have been better with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, yet Nothing has managed to offer top-tier performance and yet keep a mid-range price, so we'd say that is a win.

Looking through the specs sheet alone, we have only two thoughts - an IP67 or IP68 rating would have made this phone an even more competitive offer. And, we hope we are wrong, but this 32MP selfie camera probably uses yet another Quad-Bayer sensor, and we are not fans of those, sorry.

One final thought here - many users will think of the Nothing Phone (2) as a replacement model to the Phone (1). It is, in fact, a more premium offer with flagship-grade specs at a higher price. The Phone (1) model will be staying as a more affordable version, one that offers a more or less similar experience.

And now, without further ado, we are getting this Phone (2) out of its paper box.

Unboxing the Nothing Phone (2)

Just like the Phone (1), the Phone (2) ships inside an eco-friendly paper box and once you open it, or shall we say tear it apart, there is no mint condition anymore.

Anyway, inside this paper box you will find the Phone (2) with a pre-applied screen protector, a USB-C cable, and a fancy SIM ejection pin. Unlike on many other smartphones, the thin protective film is actually of high quality and not as smudge magnet as we expected it to be.