Nothing Phone (2) review: Looks premium, but is it worth the price?

Nothing entered the smartphone business in 2023, and in just a year, the company has made a good name for itself globally, including in India. The first phone from the brand, the Nothing Phone (1), gained wide popularity worldwide primarily due to its design and competitive pricing. The Glyph design stood out in the crowded smartphone space and attracted mostly the younger generation with the lighting patterns. With the Phone (2), Nothing has been improvised on the Phone (1) in terms of design as well as hardware.

From a distance, the Nothing Phone (2) may not look very different from its predecessor, but there are some sensible upgrades. The Phone (2) also comes with upgraded hardware including Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, up to 12GB RAM + 512GB of internal storage, Nothing OS 2.0, a larger battery, and much more. Now, the question is: is the Nothing Phone (2) a good upgrade over the Phone (1)? Moreover, is the Phone (2) worth the price? We will find that in the full review. Before that, a quick look at the prices.

-8GB RAM + 128GB memory is priced at Rs 44999
-12GB RAM + 256GB memory is priced at Rs 49999
-12GB RAM + 512GB memory is priced at Rs 54999

Nothing Phone (2) design and build

Nothing has introduced some sensible design changes to the Phone (2). Unlike its predecessor, the newly launched Phone (2) comes with 33 individually addressable zones, which allows each part of the Glyph to perform different tasks. On the Phone (1), Glyphs were attached, which leads to fewer cases of use. With the Phone (2), Nothing has worked on that bit.

For instance, when you adjust the volume, one of the Glyph sections shows the volume level as you increase and reduce it. Similarly, it is the case when you set the timer. The Glyph will alert you, so you do not need to look at the screen too often. Even when you book an Uber using the Phone (2), one part of the Glyph will show the progress of the trip. Isn’t it super cool? With this functionality, the company is focused on reducing screen time for users and helping them focus on important tasks. While the idea is great, I believe that to some extent this new Glyph pattern needs a lot of practice to get used to. Unless you are already a Nothing Phone user, you will surely take some time, maybe days, to get used to the Glyph interface. So, if you are up for that, the Phone (2) could be exciting for you.

Overall, the new Glyph functionalities appear to be pretty cool and a new user is going to enjoy it. But again, it requires a lot of time to get used to the functionalities. Nothing has added a whole lot of ways to use the Glyph on the Phone (2) like the Composer, which will help you compose your ringtone if you don't like any of the pre-available ones. I tried the feature and was bad at creating a new ringtone. It could be possible that you will be great at creating these tunes, but I believe it also requires a lot of practice and time. I feel that the younger generation customers may find this custom ringtone feature cool, but others may not. So, it varies from one customer to another.

That’s about the back design. On the front, Nothing has moved the punch hole to the middle and also cut the bezels quite a bit. The screen looks big and offers a great viewing experience. The Phone (2) also feels sturdy in the hands but somewhat slippery, possibly due to the curved back, which is also a big upgrade over the Phone (1) with a flat back. Although the curved back feels more premium, it is slippery. So, it is better to use the phone with a case. Another reason to use it with a phone cover is that the glass back registers fingerprints very easily, which kind of spoils the overall look.

The good thing is, despite offering a large form factor, the Phone (2) is easy to use all through the day. Whether it is about social media browsing or gaming sessions, the Phone (2), works well in all those scenarios. The Nothing Phone (2) is also extremely lightweight and the design is sleek, so it can easily fit in a jeans pocket.

Nothing Phone (2) display

One of the biggest upgrades when compared to the Phone (1) is in the display department. The large 6.7-inch display of the Phone (2) looks quite vibrant indoors, but on the outside, the OLED panel looks a bit dull even with maximum brightness during my usage. The phone also offers a 120hz screen refresh rate, which feels extremely smooth and helps the buttery smooth transition from one app to another. There’s also an option to opt for a standard refresh rate in the Settings menu, but in my experience, a 120hz refresh rate didn’t affect the battery much.

As far as the screen experience is concerned, the Phone (2) gets adequately bright at a 60 percent brightness level. The screen looks vibrant and the viewing angles are also good inside a room. But outside, even at maximum brightness, it seemed a bit dull. I realized this issue while capturing photos in daylight situations.

What I liked here is that the punch hole has moved to the top-center and the bezels have also slimmed quite a bit. Overall, a good upgrade in this department as well. Now, there's also an in-display fingerprint sensor, which is quite quick to unlock the phone screen. But it indeed is a delight to watch movies and videos on the Phone (2). Even social media browsing seems great and lag-free on this phone.

The Phone (2) also offers security options. It comes with an optical fingerprint sensor, which unlocks the phone in the blink of an eye. But if your hands are greasy, it is better to wash them first because then the fingerprint may not be identifiable. There’s also FaceID support, which also works smoothly.

Nothing Phone (2) performance, software, battery

The Phone (2) is also a big upgrade in terms of performance and battery when compared to the Phone (1). It is powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor coupled with up to 12GB RAM + 512GB of internal storage. The Phone (2) not just looks great on paper when it comes to performance, but it also offers smooth performance and manages multitasking and gaming pretty well.

The Nothing Phone (2) not just offers a smooth experience for multitaskers and gamers, but also manages extreme social media browsing well. The Phone (2) can keep up with day-to-day tasks without any hiccups. Whether it's switching between apps, browsing social media, sending emails, or chatting on WhatsApp, the smartphone is capable of handling all of that very easily. Overall, the second-generation Nothing phone can manage to multitask pretty well. The same goes for gaming. What is even better is that the phone doesn’t heat up even after extending gaming sessions or watching videos for hours. Another interesting bit is that, despite having multiple apps and browsers open on Chrome, the phone didn't slow down at any point in time during the review period.

The icing on the cake is the clean Nothing OS 2.0 software built on top of the latest Android 13 operating system. The stock Android experience will make anyone get used to the phone pretty easily. The camera app was also super easy to use with options and modes displayed right on the main screen. So, this is something that may attract a lot more customers, since most other devices at this price point offer bloatware, which can get extremely annoying after a point.

In terms of battery life, the Nothing Phone (2) does a pretty good job. It is backed by a 4700 mAh battery with support for 45W fast charging, but unfortunately, the charging brick isn’t available in the box. Nothing, however, has added a transparent-themed SIM ejector and Type-C cable. But I wish the charging brick was also available given the price Nothing is charging. As for the overall battery performance, the Phone (2) lasts one full day of regular usage very easily. It takes around an hour to charge from 0 to 100 percent, so that is one department I believe could have been better. The competition devices promise full battery charging at half the time.

Nothing Phone (2) camera performance

The Phone (2) includes a dual rear camera system and a single sensor on the front. It includes a 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 sensor + 50-megapixel Samsung JN1 sensor with smart tuning effects. Some of the features that Nothing has included in the Phone (2) are - Motion Capture 2.0, which uses AI-based technology to accurately detect a moving subject in real time, 2X Super-Res Zoom, and more. On the front, the phone includes a 32-megapixel Sony IMX615 sensor for selfies and video calls, which sits inside the hole punch display.

During the review period, I clicked several photos using the Nothing Phone (2) in mixed lighting conditions. Most of the time, the phone clicks good looking photos with lots of details and decent colors. Shots clicked in daylight looked the best and sharp but colours seemed a bit saturated sometimes. I should also mention that details looked good when you see the photos without zooming in, but when you zoom into the photos some details go missing. But if you want photos for social media, the Phone (2) captures good-looking pictures. Now, photos clicked in indoor situations looked decent but missed some details and looked somewhat grainy.

The secondary or ultrawide camera also clicked photos with vibrant colors and great detail. There's a portrait mode that captures pretty good-looking shots with great edge detection, which separates the subject from the background quite clearly. The macro mode, though, could have been better, in my opinion, since it misses out on details most of the time. Low-light photos, though, look decent with a good number of details and look worth being posted on Instagram without any editing. The Night mode helps brighten the low-light shots.

Now, selfies shot with the Nothing Phone (2) also look good but there is some smearing of details. However, what I liked about this phone is that it doesn't make the face too white and there is also not that much skin smoothening. The portrait selfies also look good and so is edge detection. I believe Nothing will be able to solve these minor camera issues through the next software updates.

Nothing Phone (2) review: should you buy?

So, is it worth buying the Nothing Phone (2)? Well, the answer to that is tricky. But let me try to simplify the answer.

The Nothing Phone (2) is built upon the Phone (1) and looks more or less the same with some sensible tweaks here and there. These tweaks include - curved glass at the back, a larger form factor, a modified Glyph design and so much more. Overall, the design looks more premium than the Phone (1) for sure.

The Phone (2) is also a big upgrade in terms of specifications, with a powerful processor, larger battery, and cleaner software experience. So, overall, the Nothing Phone (2) looks quite good and is a decent upgrade over the Phone (1). While all is well, the price of the Phone (2) could have been a bit modest.

The Phone (2) starts at Rs 44,999 and goes up to RS 54999 in India, which is much higher than the Phone (1) price. For a brand so new, it is tough to gain customers’ attention and faith. While Nothing is trying its best to woo customers with cool offerings, the competition is tough and a bit more reliable. So, I believe, considering India is a price-sensitive market, I do believe that the price of the Nothing Phone (2) could have been slightly on the lower side. That would have made the Phone (2) a much better deal. However, for interested buyers, Nothing is offering some bank discounts as part of the launch offer.