Nothing Phone (2), analysis: is unique design enough to stand out from the rest?

A few months ago, Nothing went from a mystery company to a tech company focused primarily on audio devices and smartphones. The London-based firm founded by Carl Pei, co-creator of OnePlus, actually has a total of four products with an important addition: Nothing Phone (2)model that this time arrives to compete in the high range and in hypertext we were able to conduct in-depth testing.

It comes to compete in the high range because Nothing has made an interesting leap in some of the functions of this smartphone. Starting with the processor, which turns out to be snapdragon 8, from the line of the most powerful SoCs from Qualcomm. Also for the camera, with the new sony IMX890 sensor, as well as other small additions such as higher brightness or more powerful fast charging.

All this, moreover, with the same philosophy that the company has been proud of since its founding: to create technological products that improve the user experience. That’s why such a transparent design and this lighting system at the back. They are conspicuous, but enough to opt for this smartphone?

transparent and backlit

Without a doubt design – main character of Nothing Phone (2), despite the fact that it is practically no different from last year’s model. The company has kept this transparent back panel so bright and different from the rest of the smartphones on the market. It also supports this characteristic lighting system; although in both cases there are corresponding changes. The back panel, for example, now has slightly curved glass around the edges, while the Nothing Phone (1) was completely flat.

It supports glass as a material, although I must confess that it doesn’t look like it. In fact, the back of the Nothing Phone (2) feels plastic in hand, making the terminal feel a bit less “premium” than the others. Thankfully, the aluminum frames, which have a matte finish that contrasts nicely with the rear end, have a more solid build.

But let’s continue talking about the back where Nothing is calling glyph, a system of lights that surrounds some of the components of the device, such as a wireless charging coil or camera, and which, in addition to a different aesthetic along with this transparent design, offer some additional features. In fact, Glyph of the Nothing Phone (2) now offers more options than Glyph of the Phone (1) thanks to the new lighting layout. Now, for example, we can activate a timer in which we can see the lights counting down through one of the lanes.

Nothing also opened up Glyph for developers so that they tailor their applications with features that take advantage of the lighting system. Uber is currently the first, with an option that allows you to check the distance of an order from an address when the light fills in the gap.

Another interesting feature of Glyph in Nothing Phone (2) is a feature developed in collaboration with Swedish House Mafia called Glyph Composer. This allows you to customize the ringtone with different melodies and light distributions. This is nothing more than a curious addition, which is really of little use, although the presence of such options does not hurt. There are other interesting Glyph features; some of them also reach the Telephone (1).

Non-phone phone (2), by the way, now has an ambient light sensor rear to automatically adjust the brightness of the light; something that is appreciated in some situations and can help save battery life. In any case, this can be done manually through the system settings.

The million dollar question Is Glyph of the Nothing Phone (2) useful given the new features? In my opinion, this is still an aesthetic element, not a functional one. In fact, some features, in my opinion, are poorly developed. For example, to activate the Glyph timer, you need to access the system settings, which cannot be done from the Clock app. The same goes for adjusting the brightness.

Jump to high range?

Nothing Phone (2) can be considered a high-end smartphone, mainly due to the new processor. The company has opted for Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ 1st Genlast year’s SoC, which aims to avoid a massive price increase for this device while offering additional performance and additional features over the Snapdragon 778G+ that the phone was powered by (1).

The terminal also comes with two versions of RAM: 8 and 12 GBas well as with three options for internal memory: 128, 256 and 512 GB. This is the configuration that Noghing has chosen to ensure the good performance of this smartphone. They weren’t wrong.

Insignificant phone (2) works great both in non-demanding situations such as playing videos or browsing social networks, and in those tasks that require more use of the GPU, such as high-graphics games, etc. On the other hand, I hardly noticed that the terminal overheated.

Attached to the processor 4700 mAh battery which, in general, works well even with more intensive use. Of particular note is the compatibility with 15W wireless charging as well as 45W fast charging. The larger battery is partly due to the larger screen. This Nothing Phone (2) measures 6.7 inches. It’s a flexible OLED panel with Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate that only enhances the user experience. All this, in addition, with a typical brightness of 1200 nits and peak 1600 nits, which allow you to view content correctly in almost any situation.

SoftwareIncidentally, this is another area that deserves to be mentioned in this analysis, as it is, in my opinion, one of the most discreet in Android. Nothing OS 2.0, the company’s level of customization, running on Android 13, is visually very appealing. It is very well thought out in terms of design, in addition, with features that can be very interesting for those users who like customization.

It’s Camera Phone Nothing (2)

Nothing decided to keep the camera configuration of the phone (1) but with an important change in the main sensor, which now changes the model for 50 megapixel camera Sony IMX890.; The same component we see in other high end mobile phones. The second camera is a 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle sensor; This is exactly the same sensor as last year’s model.

It is rare to see a mobile phone with two cameras in the upper range. However, in this case it makes some sense. Nothing prefers to include additional sensors such as depth or macro so that they do not affect the price. In addition, these are very useless cameras, so, in part, This phone (2) is welcome. Don’t turn them on. What we usually see in these smartphones is the telephoto lens, which I missed on some occasions as this smartphone’s zoom is digital and while it doesn’t give bad results, the quality is not as good as other mobile phones.

However, How does the main camera behave? The truth is that the results are very good. Yes, without being superior, or outperforming other high-end mobile phones. But in terms of detail and exposure, it does a good job. The colors are, yes, a bit saturated for my taste.

Ultra wide camera manages to offer very similar results in terms of color and detail. As usual with this type of lens, we lose some detail in the farthest areas of the image. Again, this is a common thing with ultra-wide-angle cameras, even high-end smartphones.

The Nothing Phone camera (2) also allows you to record video in 4K at 60 fps. The camera app, for its part, has some interesting modes; like the one that lets you use Glyph as a flash, or the rather intuitive pro mode.

Should I buy the new Nothing Mobile?

I already foresaw this from the first contact with the smartphone: Nothing Phone (2), available from 649 euros, is the mobile phone I would buy in this price range. Mainly because the terminal has practically the same functions as any other high-end mobile phone, with the payoff that although it does not offer anything different in terms of functions, it is more beautiful than, for example, a Xiaomi or Redmi mobile . .

Moreover, Nichtofon (2) matches in each of its sections, despite the fact that some of them have small weaknesses. This is a good terminal, despite the fact that its rear end does not stand out for its quality. On the other hand, it offers good performance and a matching battery. Both its screen and software make the user experience very satisfying.

Should I switch from Nothing Phone (1) to Phone (2)? While there are major changes in areas such as performance and camera. In my opinion, this is not a jump where you will notice huge differences. The layout is almost the same; as well as the functions of the lighting system. Although the camera is improving, it retains the previous configuration, and although it makes a significant jump in the processor, better performance, a priori, is not a reason for change.