Nothing launches its second smartphone, Phone 2, building on its predecessor’s transparency. Phone 2 jumps in with a better processor, an improved main and selfie camera, enhanced battery, and more Glyph functionalities. The handset is targeted at premium phone buyers with the price starting at ₹44,999 for the 8GB/128GB model.
Design
The smartphone uses a metal and glass finish, and has a transparent back design with round edges. The rounded edges provides the holder a good grip. Despite transparent glass design, the phone neither attract smudges not slips from the hand. The back has seven visible screws along with a symmetrical whirlwind coil design, LED flash, Nothing’s branding, and dual camera lenses. But Phone 2 is 7.7 grams heavier than Phone 1.
The Phone 2 features 11 Glyph interfaces customisable with 33 zones. With more LEDs, they’re much brighter this year. You can assign personalised light and sound sequences to contacts and apps. It also works as progress tracker for ride or delivery, besides offering additional functionalities like showing charging progress.
The power button is on the right whereas the volume rockers are on the left. There are nine antenna lines on the frame. The SIM tray, USB port and mic are at the bottom. The Phone 2 display has thin bezels uniformly spread, offering extra space for your content. A note of caution: the display can get scratched if used without a layer, even though it is made of Corning Gorilla Glass.
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Display
The Phone 2 has a LTPO AMOLED panel which is 6.7 inches wider than the Phone 1. With 2412x1080 pixel resolution at 394 ppi, the display can hit up to 1,000 nits of peak brightness in outdoor conditions and goes up till 1,600 nits in the HDR mode.
The Phone 2 nears the peak display performance of the iPhone 14. The display can show more than 10 billion colours and has an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz.
The Phone 2 works well both under shade and the sun. The details are vivid, lifting the viewing experience drastically. There is HDR10+ support for content and games. Surprisingly, Phone 2 doesn’t have Dolby Vision support.
Overall, the Phone 2 display matches the expectations of a premium segment phone with its adaptive performance.
Processor
Nothing has taken a leap of faith and used the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in Phone 2. The 4nm processor is a huge upgrade from the Phone 1’s Snapdragon 778G+. Although the Gen 1 is bit dated (over a year old), it is still efficient enough and processes effectively.
The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 has shown a fluent performance in other premium devices and Phone 2 is no different. The octa-core chipset is backed by Adreno 730 GPU to assist in gaming. The 12GB variant has 512GB storage space. The RAM is in sync with the 8+ Gen 1 even in extreme scenarios, whether it’s browsing or intense gaming.
The Phone 2 operates on Nothing OS 2.0.1 as per the last update we received. The OS is based on Android 13 and is clean. The Nothing OS matrix theme is definitely fresh and catches your attention. The monochrome layout adds more flavour to the dot matrix theme. The redesigned OS provides more customisation to widgets on the home and lock screen. You can even remove app labels.
The Phone 2 is bloatware-free, which provides a lot of space and freedom to its users. Overall, the Nothing OS has become more practical and minimalistic.
Camera
The phone has dual rear lenses and a single selfie camera. The main camera stands at 50MP, but the sensor is different from the Phone 1; the Sony IMX766 has now been replaced by the time-tested Sony IMX890. Many premium segment phones have been using this sensor and it has proved its mettle.
The pictures taken were realistic with detailing. The colours remain intact and come out vividly in shots. The camera performs impressively even in challenging scenarios. The OIS comes handy while capturing moving subjects.
Nothing Phone 2 OIS in play | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
The secondary 50MP sensor is unchanged; it is the Samsung JN1 sensor present in Phone 1 as well. Our open-air tests of the phone showed good results, up to a point. The ultrawide lens is solid, bringing subjects closer to the eyes. The zoom works fine up till 2x but fades quickly as we go further. The autofocus on the ultrawide sensor helps frame the subject quickly.
Nothing Phone 2 ultrawide lens sample image | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
Phone 2 gets a 32MP selfie camera, double the resolution on the Phone 1. The Sony IMX615 sensor on the front does its job. Facial textures are neatly captured in daylight, and selfies are sharp with colour accuracy. But avoid using the retouching option for a realistic view. The front camera offers up properly defined portraits with good background separation. Under artificial lighting, the front camera polishes your skin texture, which we didn’t like.
Nothing Phone 2 sample image | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
Overall, Phone 2 sees a huge jump in the optical department thanks to the enhancement of the main and selfie sensors.
Battery
This phone sees a 200mAh upgrade over the Phone 1, shipping with a 4,700mAh cell. The charger is not included in the box. The battery is sufficient for everyday tasks and easily lasts for a day. It doesn’t drain quickly, thanks to the top tier processor. Even when we played video and used the camera for recording 4k videos, it lasted a day.
It can easily sustain a casual user for a day and half. Interestingly, the Phone 2 does not heat, at least we did find the review device heating up. Charging takes an hour, and Nothing offers wireless charging for Phone 2, although it takes longer than when connected to a wired charger.
Verdict
The Nothing Phone 2 has found the right spot between the premium and luxury segment. With its clean and improved performance, the Phone 2 takes on OnePlus’s premium series as well as the Oppo Reno models. The design is unique, which remains its USP; the Nothing OS makes it even more distinct. The camera has been improved with better sensors, and computing is smoother. Battery is sufficient, but the device lacks fast charging.
Overall, Nothing Phone 2 is package of necessities, fulfilling the needs of most buyers. If you consider its starting price point of ₹44,999, Phone 2 gives the feel of a Google Pixel with its clean OS and the look of an iPhone while targeting OnePlus flagship buyers.
Published - July 26, 2023 12:40 pm IST
