Nothing's latest phone is a massive upgrade over the previous model. The Nothing Phone 2 packs a top-end chip — albeit last year's Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 — an upgraded Glyph system, a beautiful OS, and really good battery life.
Quick specs
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
- Face and fingerprint unlock
- 50MP rear dual cameras (wide and ultra-wide), 32MP front
- 12GB RAM+256GB storage, or 12GB RAM+512GB storage
Like the Nothing Phone 1, the Phone 2 has a transparent rear back. This time, however, the back features curved glass for a much more comfortable hold. I really like how it feels in my hand. As mentioned, the Glyph LED lights at the back have been upgraded, with the top left and main lights split into more lighting zones. This allows more patterns, though this is restricted to the built-in ring tones. If you download the Glyph composer app, it lets you record your own patterns, but limited to the Phone 1's zones instead of the multiple splits on the Phone 2. The Glyph system can also be used as a camera fill light or as a torch.
Powered by Android 13, the Phone 2 uses its own Nothing OS 2.0 which doubles down on its retro-pixel design with more widgets to customise your home screen. I love how much more unique the phone looks now, compared to the more standard Android interface of the Phone 1. The 6.7-inch AMOLED display is brilliant, and the adaptive display now goes from 1Hz to 120Hz. This allows for an Always-On Display that will conserve your battery as well. HDR10+ is present, and there's also low blue light to make it easy on your eyes at night.
The only thing that doesn't feel like it got upgrades are the rear cameras. Similar to the Phone 1, it uses dual 50MP sensors, while also having a wide (24mm) and ultra-wide lenses. It also uses pixel binning to combine four pixels together for a larger pixel, which results in a 12MP picture. Image quality is decent, but it's not the best, or even as good as say, the Oppo Reno10 Pro+. I think they could be better, especially given how everything else on the phone feels improved. Battery life is fantastic. In my video-loop test, the phone lasted 23 hours on its 4,700mAh battery. There's also 15W wireless charging, and 45W fast charging.
At S$999, the Nothing Phone 2 is a S$230 jump over the previous model. However, that's for the 8GB RAM and 128GB storage model. It's actually a S$50 jump when compared with the 12GB RAM and 256GB model, which is now the base Phone 2 model in Singapore. If you need more storage, the 512GB version is S$1,099. If you haven't yet settled on an Android phone, the Nothing Phone 2 is a compelling option, and gives the Pixel 7 a run for its money, though the camera isn't as good. Get it from Shopee or Lazada.
Note: Review unit provided by Nothing.
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