Nothing Cellphone 2 Overview: A Flashy Cellphone That Must be Cheaper

7.5

Nothing Cellphone 2

Like

• 
  Flashy design
• 
  Highly effective processor
• 
  Massive, shiny show
• 
  Enticing interface

Do not like

• 
  Disappointing digital camera efficiency
• 
  Must be cheaper to compete in opposition to rivals

The primary Nothing Phone impressed us with its strong all-round efficiency, its low worth and naturally its flashing lights. But it surely by no means formally made it to the US, other than an unusual beta program. This second-generation telephone is right here to alter that. 

When it goes on sale in america and the broader world from July 16, the Nothing Cellphone 2 may have a spread of upgrades, from the processor to the design. However at $599 and £579 (with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage) it is $100 greater than the primary technology, and the competitors at this worth level has by no means been extra fierce. Particularly as my check mannequin with 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage truly prices $699.

Google’s Pixel 7A particularly has a barely higher twin digital camera, and its pure Android 13 software program is slick to make use of. The Pixel 7A’s processor is not as highly effective because the Nothing Cellphone 2’s, however the Google telephone’s way more reasonably priced $449 price ticket greater than makes up for that. Then there’s the Pixel 7 Pro — Google’s flagship — which has among the finest cameras it is potential to seek out on a telephone and is at present on sale (with 128GB of storage) for under $649 at Best Buy. If pictures is necessary to you, I might advocate spending the small quantity further. 

There’s additionally the OnePlus 10T, which boasts the identical highly effective Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor because the Nothing Cellphone 2, has the same digital camera setup, and may at present be picked up directly from OnePlus for under $400. Even the OnePlus 10 Professional with its very good digital camera system is just $480. 

The Nothing Cellphone 2’s flashing LED lights are the primary factor that separates it from the competitors, and whereas they’re actually an fascinating quirk, they’re arguably one thing of a gimmick and never a function I can see myself genuinely utilizing over time. The telephone’s massive display screen, highly effective processor and first rate battery life are higher causes to contemplate shopping for this machine, however at $599, it is troublesome to justify the Nothing Cellphone 2 over the more and more robust competitors. 

Watch this: Nothing’s Sequel Will get a Lot Proper

09:34

A well-recognized, flashy design

Visually, there hasn’t been a giant departure from the primary technology. The again remains to be clear, letting you see a little bit of what is contained in the telephone, together with the uncovered screw heads and numerous connecting segments. The glass is gently curved on the edges now to offer it a barely extra premium really feel whenever you maintain it.

But it surely’s the flashing lights — or glyph, as Nothing calls it — that is the massive household resemblance right here. These LEDs gentle up the again of the telephone and may warn you to incoming notifications. Or you should utilize them for alarms, to point out battery cost standing, or just as primary fill gentle whenever you’re recording video. 

The Cellphone 2 offers a bit extra customization over the glyph this time round, letting you create customized gentle patterns for sure contacts or apps. There’s additionally a glyph timer that’ll step by step tick down because it reaches zero, and it may additionally give a handy visible cue about different time-related issues, reminiscent of when your Uber goes to reach, so you’ll be able to put it down and concentrate on checking out your hair whereas keeping track of its progress. Nothing says it will be working with different app builders to combine this performance. 

The glyph lights actually made the unique telephone stand out in opposition to the competitors, and although they’re arguably one thing of a gimmick, it is good to see a little bit of enjoyable and aptitude in telephones. Particularly in midrange telephones like this, the place fascinating designs are likely to take extra of a again seat to maintain costs down. The glyph lights have turned heads once I’ve used the Nothing Cellphone in entrance of my buddies, however curiosity shortly fades as soon as the preliminary curiosity is glad. Can I genuinely see myself making use of the lights over time? Truthfully, no. 

However the glyph lights aren’t the one bodily issues to care about. The aluminum body is 100% recycled. There is a fingerprint scanner hidden beneath the show, which works effectively more often than not. And the telephone is IP54 rated to assist preserve it protected when you need to take calls within the rain. The 6.7-inch show is huge and shiny sufficient to do justice to vibrant video games or to YouTube movies you are watching whereas on the transfer, and its adaptive refresh price lets it drop all the way down to solely 1Hz to assist protect battery life or ramp as much as 120Hz for smoother gaming. 

Older chip with huge potential

Powering the Nothing Cellphone 2 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor backed up by both 8GB or 12GB of RAM (as reviewed). That is a barely older technology processor, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a potent chip that may totally deal with most belongings you’d ever wish to throw at it, from video streaming to photograph enhancing to gaming. It chalked up some nice scores on our benchmark exams, and it dealt with demanding video games like PUBG and Genshin Impression completely effectively at max settings. 

Nothing says it used an older chip as a result of it needed one thing tried and examined that may provide a extra secure platform at a extra cheap worth, and I feel that is in all probability a good trade-off. Motorola’s foldable Razr Plus is doing the identical factor. It won’t be the newest chip Qualcomm makes (that may be the 8 Gen 2), nevertheless it’s nonetheless one thing of a powerhouse that’ll address virtually something you’d ever wish to do with it. 

The Cellphone 2 runs Android 13 at its core, however Nothing has accomplished lots to customise the interface. It is a very monochrome expertise, with a heavy reliance on dot-matrix model texts and icons. There are a selection 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 troublesome to seek out the apps you need should you depend on these colour cues, however you’ll be able to 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 am 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. Pretty stuff. 

I do not usually like UIs that closely customise the look of Android, however there’s one thing fairly fashionable concerning the design that Nothing makes use of on its telephones. In case you’re into that sort of stark minimalism, then you definately’ll little doubt take pleasure in it. 

Nothing guarantees that the Cellphone 2 will obtain three years of OS updates and an extra fourth 12 months of safety updates. That is a little bit beneath the 5 years that Samsung presents on its telephones, nevertheless it might actually be worse. Nonetheless, I might hope to see all producers extending their help interval as much as and past 5 years to maintain telephones protected to make use of for longer and due to this fact preserve extra of them out of landfills. 

Identical cameras, higher processing

The again of the telephone is house to a 50-megapixel primary digital camera and a 50-megapixel ultrawide digital camera. {Hardware}-wise, that is just about the identical setup we noticed on the Nothing Cellphone 1. However the improved Snapdragon processor permits for lots higher software program processing, with Nothing promising improved colours, publicity and higher HDR strategies that can assist you take nicer-looking pictures. 

I’ve spent a while testing the digital camera, and I am happy to see vibrant, sharp photographs that look higher than those I noticed from the primary technology telephone. Nonetheless, it is not excellent, with some shiny skies nonetheless being blown out within the highlights and a heavy-handed sharpening that ends in odd picture anomalies. Towards the cheaper Pixel 7A, I usually desire the pictures from the Pixel. 

The Nothing Cellphone 2’s colours are OK on this instance, however there are noticeable patches within the white clouds the place it has overexposed the picture, leading to blown-out particulars. And that is regardless of the buildings themselves trying darker. The Pixel 7A’s HDR abilities have resulted in a a lot nicer-looking picture total right here. 

Switching to the ultrawide lenses on each telephones, the story is way the identical, with the Nothing Cellphone 2 managing to once more overexpose sections of the sky whereas underexposing the buildings subsequent to the river. The Pixel 7A’s shot is way more balanced.

Neither telephone has a devoted telephoto zoom lens, however each provide 2x digital zoom modes, utilizing cropping and picture sharpening to get nearer to your topic. I usually desire the general look of the picture from the Nothing Cellphone 2, however although the high-quality particulars are sharper, the software program sharpening has precipitated some points. 

Zooming in to 200% on the 2x zoom photographs, it is clear that the Nothing Cellphone 2’s shot seems usually sharper. Nonetheless, look the place I’ve circled in pink — on the Pixel 7A the vertical slats are clearly rendered, whereas the Nothing Cellphone 2’s heavy-handed processing has turned this right into a bizarre spiral mess. So whereas it is artificially added extra element in some areas, it is critically diminished it in others.  At full display screen you might by no means discover this, nevertheless it’s value conserving in thoughts, particularly should you usually digitally crop into photographs later.

Different photographs from the Nothing Cellphone 2 are usually shiny and vibrant, albeit with that overexposure drawback usually noticeable. 

Ignoring the default mirroring on the Nothing Cellphone 2, each telephones have taken usually well-exposed, sharp pictures right here. I desire the white steadiness and richer yellow of my jacket within the Pixel’s shot, nevertheless it’s an in depth name. 

General, although, I feel the Pixel 7A takes the higher pictures, which is spectacular contemplating it is fairly a bit cheaper than the Nothing Cellphone. If pictures is necessary to you, then you need to think about trying towards Google — both the 7A or splashing a bit extra on the 7 Professional.

Respectable battery life

Powering every part is a 4,700-mAh battery that with cheap use ought to get you thru a full day. It put in an honest effort on our rundown exams, dropping to 91% after two hours of YouTube streaming on full brightness. For reference, the Pixel 7A dropped to 90% after two hours, whereas Samsung’s Galaxy A54 dropped to 87%. 

As with all telephones, your precise outcomes will come all the way down to how a lot you utilize your machine. 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 whenever you fall asleep every night time. 

It helps 45-watt quick charging, which Nothing says will take it from empty to full in 55 minutes. That is first rate sufficient, although it is a methods behind the 80- or 100-watt charging we have seen on different telephones exterior the US. At this worth, although, I am unable to 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 solely.

Is the Nothing Cellphone 2 a very good telephone to purchase? 

The Nothing Cellphone 2’s flashy LEDs actually make an announcement, and each its processor efficiency and battery life are robust. However the further $100 Nothing needs over its predecessor has modified the sport. It is gone from being an reasonably priced funds choice to fairly a dear midranger, whereas the competitors has been getting stronger. 

The Pixel 7A is arguably its greatest rival, and personally, it is the telephone I might go for over the Nothing Cellphone 2. Its processor is not as highly effective, nevertheless it’ll nonetheless deal with virtually all of your day by day wants, and its digital camera is healthier. Plus it is rather a lot cheaper. I might additionally think about the OnePlus 10T over the Nothing Cellphone — it did not impress me at its full worth at launch, however its present $400 worth makes it a worthy choice. 

In case you love the concept of these flashing lights making your telephone stand out from the gang, then the Nothing Cellphone 2 is actually value contemplating. It is a good telephone, it is nearly $100 too costly proper now. In case you can choose it up with a little bit of a reduction after the launch pleasure has dwindled a little bit, then that’d be a very good use of your cash. However at full worth, you will actually need to like these lights to justify the spend. 

How we check telephones

Every phone tested by CNET’s reviews team was truly utilized in the true world. We check a telephone’s options, play video games and take pictures. We study the show to see if it is shiny, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and construct to see how it’s to carry and whether or not it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor’s efficiency to the extremes utilizing standardized benchmark instruments like GeekBench and 3DMark, together with our personal anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution movies and enjoying graphically intense video games at excessive refresh charges.

All of the cameras are examined in quite a lot of situations, from shiny daylight to darkish indoor scenes. We check out particular options like night time mode and portrait mode and examine our findings in opposition to equally priced competing telephones. We additionally try the battery life through the use of a tool day by day in addition to operating a collection of battery drain exams.

We take note of further options like help for 5G, satellite tv for pc connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus help, quick charging speeds and foldable shows, amongst others that may be helpful. And we steadiness all of this in opposition to the worth, to provide the verdict on whether or not that telephone, no matter its worth is, truly represents good worth.