Nothing Phone (2): what we know so far

Nothing, the company, launched at the end of January 2021 and since then it released one phone and a couple of TWS buds, but now it’s time for its second phone. The company is deliberate with its launches, working on building a reputation of hip, stand-out products because it is trying to enter the very crowded, very competitive smartphone market, a market with a lot of red tape.

The Nothing Phone (2) will be officially unveiled on July 11, but the Carl Pei & co. have already confirmed a number of key aspects about the device. There has been no shortage of unofficial leaks as well, here is everything we know so far.

The Phone (1) was powered by a slightly customized version of the Snapdragon 778G, the Phone (2) is getting the higher end Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. While slightly older, Nothing probably doesn’t have the pull to secure Gen 2 chips, not yet. Pei had this to say about the 8+ Gen 1:

Tested to perfection: The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 has been thoroughly tested and continuously optimised through numerous updates since its introduction a year ago. We prioritise user experience over being first in the specs race.

Additionally, the founder alluded that the chip was the best value for money, i.e. that the price premium is proportionally larger than the performance uptick (presumably referring to the 8 Gen 2).

Importantly, the company got its software division up and running and now develops Nothing OS in-house. Version 2 of the custom UI is in the works and Pei knows full well the benefit of extended software support – something that gave a fledgling OnePlus an edge. To that end, the Phone (2) will receive 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security patches. That’s close to Google’s 3/5 commitment, but short of the 4/5 years that the likes of Samsung and OnePlus offer.

Like the early OnePlus years, Nothing’s strategy is to release one phone a year. And this year the phone will be bigger – it will have a 6.7” display (up from the 6.55” of the original). To support the larger display and beefier chipset, Nothing also increased the battery capacity to 4,700mAh (up from 4,500mAh). The first model achieved an impressive endurance rating of 108h, an achievement that is as much thanks to the battery capacity and efficient chipset as it is to the well-optimized software.

For those wishing that the company would release something smaller, Pei says that a developing a small version costs as much as a brand new product and according to the founder “very few people buy small phones”.

The most recent reveal is the design for the new charging cable that will be included with the Phone (2), a cable that now has the same transparent-on-white aesthetic that is becoming Nothing’s calling card. Marketing is a huge expense but very much vital for a relatively unknown brand and lucky for Nothing Carl Pei is a master of it. You’d think “it’s a cable, who cares?”, but if you check the post you will see that it has over 100 comments. That’s a lot of eyeballs on the up and coming Nothing Phone.

The company has worked to make the Phone (2) design more eco-friendly than its predecessor, reducing its carbon footprint to 53.45kg, 5kg less than the Phone (1). The new design also uses more recycled materials (the mid-frame is entirely made out of recycled aluminum).

We mentioned red tape in the beginning and by that we meant all the rules, regulations and contracts that have to be negotiated to launch a phone in a new market. The Phone (1) was available in the US only through an unsupported beta program, not really suitable for a daily driver. Carriers are the gatekeepers to the US markets and there is no proper launch without their approval, the young company didn’t have the resources to get it done last year.

But now that it’s already up and running, Nothing will try to enter the US market with the Phone (2). Maybe not at launch, but this is a high priority. The phone should arrive in the States later this year.

That’s all the info we have up to this point, though we’re sure that the next couple of weeks will bring another teaser or two to maintain the inertia of the hype train as it rolls towards launch day. Now let’s delve into the less than official info.

@OnLeaks shared 3D renders of the Nothing Phone (2) that showed a more rounded design – rounded edges on the side, beveled glass on the front and back – but otherwise not much has changed. Note that Pei has already called out this design as fake, but that could just be a misdirect. We won’t know the truth until July 11, so for now we only have rumors to fill in the gaps in the spec sheet.

Nothing Phone (2), speculative renders

The Nothing Phone (2) will allegedly pair its Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 with 8/12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128/256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The 6.7” display will be an FHD+ panel with 120Hz refresh rate. Nothing unexpected so far.

The main camera will have the same key specs – 50MP sensor, OIS – as on the original. There isn’t much on the other cameras, but if the renders are accurate, there will be no third camera module.

The most important changes on the Nothing Phone (2) compared to the Phone (1) are shaping up to be the new class of chipset, more polished software and reaching new markets. We will keep our ears to the ground and report on any new developments and you can expect a detailed coverage of the Phone (2) once it launches.