Nothing Phone (2) Review: This Is 2023's Most Unorthodox Smartphone

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Nothing has officially revealed the Phone (2), its first smartphone available in the U.S. Here's what we think.

Editor's note: We originally published this story as a "first look." We've since updated the post as a review with new copy and original photos.

Up to this point, my experience with Nothing — the young tech company started by Carl Pei, one of the co-founders of OnePlus — has exclusively been with its wireless earbuds. The Ear (stick) and Ear (2) are mid-range wireless earbuds that cost $99 and $149, respectively, with the standout feature of both being their see-through design. Simply put: They look cool.

But the brand makes other types of tech, too. Nothing did release its first smartphone last year, the Phone (1), which had a translucent design and an innovative lighting system built into its back; depending on the type of notification you got — be it a call, text or push notification or email — a different pattern would light up on the back of the Phone (1) to let you know what it was without you having to lift it up. Again, it was cool. The problem was that the smartphone was never released Stateside and I never got my hands on one.

Fast forward a year and Nothing has officially announced its second-generation smartphone, the Phone (2), which is basically a more premium version of the Phone (1). The new model has a revised design, runs a new-and-improved version of Android and an even more advanced lighting notification system. (Yes, it has more lights.) The most interesting thing about it, however, is that it's actually going to be available in the U.S.

The Nothing Phone (2) is a really fast, really pretty, really unique and really big Android smartphone. I love its design and its monochrome layout, and I've had a really fun time playing around with the different lighting schemes that its Glyph interface offers.

I do have some doubts, however. As somebody whose smartphone of choice for the last year has been the iPhone 13 mini, the Phone (2) does indeed feel massive — it's a big change. The Glyph interface is undoubtedly unique and cool at times, but I do wonder how much I'll actually use it; most of the time, I have my phone's screen facing up, as I assume a lot of people do, so the Phone (2)'s light show doesn't always come into play.

And as for price, the Phone (2) sits firmly on the border between midrange and flagship phone. It starts at $599, but most people should opt for the upgraded capacity model; if you go one step up and configure it to 256 GB of storage, the price jumps to $699. All in all, it's not terribly expensive, especially for a smartphone this big. (Remember, it's the same size as iPhone 14 Pro Max, which starts at $1,099.)

The Nothing Phone (2) will come in white or dark gray (as seen in photos) finishes. It's available for preorder now and will officially go on sale online starting on July 17.

Nothing has definitely raised the stakes with the Phone (2). It starts at $599 for a 128GB model, which is quite the increase from the Phone (1), which the same 128GB model started at £399 (roughly equivalent to $425). The vast majority of people shopping for a smartphone, however, should upgrade to the 256GB model, which bumps the Phone (2) up to $699.

Nothing has also given its new smartphone a more premium look. The Phone (2) has a "pillowed glass" back to make it more comfortable to hold. It has a thinner body made mostly out of recycled aluminum. And despite its rather large size, I have to admit that it does have a rather nice hand feel.

The Phone (2) packs a number of other "more premium" features compared to its predecessor. It's decked out with a higher-end processor — a Snapdragon 8 + Gen 1 — which Nothing claims gives it an 80 percent boost in performance over the Phone (1). It has a significantly brighter screen (1,600 nits compared to 900 nits). And it has a slighter larger battery, which you'd kind of what you'd expect in a larger smartphone.

Nothing's standout and signature feature is what it calls the "Glyph" interface — it's the LED lighting system that's integrated into the back of the smartphone. And the gist of it is that when the Phone (2) is face down, the back of the phone will light up to let you know you have a notification. Nothing's Phone (1) also had this, but the big upgrade with the Phone (2)'s Glyph interface is that there are:

The LED lighting strip in the right-center of the Phone (2)'s back has received arguably the biggest upgrade. It now can work as a progress indicator for info like volume; when you adjust volume of music, this lighting strip fills up or down accordingly. This lighting strip also takes advantage of the Glyph interface's new timer feature, so the light fills less and less of the strip as time winds down. After using the Nothing Phone (2) for the past week, these are the two features that I've found most useful. It's really nice setting a timer, place my phone down for a 45-second workout and see the light strip diminish.

There are two other new things with the Glyph interface. First, there's a new "Essential Notifications" setting that allows you designate notifications from your most-important apps, such as Messages or Instagram — and if you get a notification from one of those apps the back of the Phone (2) will stay lit until you turn it over and check the notification. Secondly, there's a new Composer app that basically lets you create custom lighting (and sound) configurations for the Glyph interface and set it up as your default ringtone.

Admittedly, this is where the Glyph interface can feel a bit a gimmicky — mostly because I'm not sure how much people will use it. Maybe it's just me, but I'm not sure I have enough friends or contacts to need to designate one as "Essential." Same is true with apps. And while it's cool to be able to create a customized light show for a ringtone, it's not really a game changer.

The other real unique thing with the Nothing's Phone (2) is its operating system. It runs Nothing OS 2.0, which is a special version of Android that gives the Nothing smartphone a monochrome layout. You can switch between light or dark modes to adjust the vibe, but when navigating the Home screen it's entirely monochrome. When you open an app, the monochrome vibe fades and colors appear just as you'd expect.

The idea behind the monochrome layout is that the normally colorful vibrant apps like Instagram, Twitter and Spotify don't stand out as much. The result is that you're less likely to subconsciously get distracted by them and maybe not open them. It's sort of avant-garde for a smartphone to try and help you spend less time on said smartphone. And I have to admit — it kind of works.

At the end of the day, the monochrome layout of Nothing OS 2.0 is just an Android skin — something to help one manufacturer's smartphone stand out from the rest. It's not a game changer, though I have to admit that I like it.

One of the first things I noticed about the Phone (2) — it's big. It has a 6.7-inch OLED display, which is basically the exact same size as the biggest iPhone that Apple currently sells, the iPhone 14 Pro Max. So if you're somebody like me who is used to using a smaller smartphone like the iPhone 13 mini, then the Phone (2) is going to feel like a big upgrade.

As for the display, the Phone (2) has a bunch of pretty cool features in line with today's flagship smartphones. It has an always-on display, so you can see things like time and notifications even when you're not touching the phone. It has a 120Hz refresh rate so it feels super slick and fast. It has an in-screen fingerprint reader that also works really well. And there's even a type of Face ID, as well.

As far as the camera capabilities of the Phone (2), Nothing gave it the same rear camera system — consisting of a 50-megapixel main camera and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera — as the Phone (1). They did upgrade it with some software upgrades that elevate its photo and video shooting abilities, however. It has been upgraded with "2x Super-Res Zoom" capabilities and an "Action Mode" for shooting stabilized videos.

Maybe the bigger upgrade in the camera department has to do with the selfie camera. The Phone (2) has a 32-megapixel selfie camera, which is a big bump from the Phone (1)'s 16-megapixel selfie camera.

I've tried my best to show off the camera capabilities of the Nothing Phone (2). Below you can see similar photos shot on the Phone (2) compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max. In general, Apple's premium (and more expensive) smartphone captures the more realistic-looking photos that aren't quite as color saturated — and the zoom capabilities of the iPhone 14 Pro Max are obviously more powerful — but Nothing's Phone (2) does a pretty decent job comparatively.

Note: If you're reading on desktop, the Nothing Phone (2)'s photos are on the left and iPhone 14 Pro Max's photos are on the right. If you're reading on mobile, the Phone (2)'s photos appear first, followed by the photo shot on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Left: Nothing Phone (2) ; Right: iPhone 14 Pro Max

Left: Nothing Phone (2) ; Right: iPhone 14 Pro Max

Left: Nothing Phone (2) ; Right: iPhone 14 Pro Max

Left: Nothing Phone (2) ; Right: iPhone 14 Pro Max

Left: Nothing Phone (2) ; Right: iPhone 14 Pro Max

The Nothing Phone (2) is a midrange big-screen Android smartphone with some borderline flagship features. If you're looking for other big-screen Android smartphones at a similar price to the Nothing Phone (2), your best bet is the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra ($965+, 6.8-inch display), OnePlus 11 ($699, 6.7-inch display) or Google Pixel 7 Pro ($899, 6.7-inch display). That said, the Phone (2) is pretty unique in terms of its see-through design and light show (aka Glyph interface) on its back.