London-based consumer tech company Nothing on Tuesday, July 11, unveiled its much-awaited Phone (2) — the flagship successor to the well-received Phone (1). Phone (2) is priced at Rs 44,999 for the base variant, which comes with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, with the highest-spec variant (12 GB/512 GB) costing nearly Rs 55,000. Those who bought a pre-order pass will be able to buy the phone starting 9 pm on July 11, while the Phone (2) will go on open sale at 12 pm on July 21.
Nothing has made quirky launch videos its thing and the Nothing Phone (2) launch was no different — co-founder and tech wunderkind Carl Pei rode an actual roller-coaster in the launch video — and catch this, he is deathly scared of roller-coasters and screamed his head off all the way. It was amusing and fun — Nothing does want to "make tech fun again".
While unveiling Phone (2) — replete with an actual roller-coaster Nothing Co-Founder and tech wunderkind Cari Pei said, "With Phone (2), we deliver top-notch features while encouraging a more intentional smartphone usage through hardware and software design innovation ... the smartphone is a vital tool in our lives, but it has increasingly become a distracting force, making us less present and less creative."
| Colour Variant | RAM | Storage | Price |
| Dark Grey | 8 GB | 128 GB | Rs 44,999 |
| White/Dark Grey | 12 GB | 256 GB | Rs 49,999 |
| White/Dark Grey | 12 GB | 512 GB | Rs 54,999 |
Specs and first impressions
I've had the Phone (2) for about a week now, and Nothing seems to have knocked this one out of the park too — but you'll have to wait for my full review to find out exactly how.
The Phone (2) is powered by a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset — which powered many of last year's flagships — making it a more premium offering than the Phone (1), which ran on a mid-range Snapdragon 778G+ processor.
Design-wise, the Phone (2) shares the DNA of its predecessor, with a similarly shaped Glyph Interface at the back, which also houses a vertical dual camera module. However, where the Phone (1) had five LED strips, the Phone (2) has 11, with options for third-party customisation down the road.
The primary camera is a 50-megapixel shooter that takes excellent photos, while the secondary camera is the same lens as last year's — 50 MP ultrawide. The front-facing selfie camera gets the biggest upgrade — the hole-punch cutout is now centred at the top of the screen, and packs twice as many megapixels as last year's 16 MP lens.
The Phone (2) features a larger 6.7-inch LTPO OLED screen that has HDR support and is pleasantly bright, although the adaptive brightness (auto brightness) is a little too aggressive for my taste — but more on that in my full review.
The biggest — and best, for me personally — change is on the back. While last year's Phone (1) had a flat glass back, this year, the back on the Phone (2) has rounded edges that meld into the aluminium frame. The screen is all flat. The result is a phone that, again, in my opinion, has the best in-hand feel of any smartphone I've tested so far this year.
While the same size and dimensions as the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the Phone (2) feels lighter, easier and more comfortable to hold, and consequently, is just a better-feeling phone.
The Phone (2) packs a 4,700 mAh battery — slightly larger than the 4,500 mAh juicer of the Phone (1).
Software
The Phone (2) comes with Nothing OS 2.0 right out of the box. Nothing OS 2.0 has a tonne of new features, quality-of-life updates, and additions compared to the current Nothing OS 1.5.5 which is on most Nothing phones (1) (PSA: Please update your phone).
The new OS has an overhauled always-on display with room now for eight individual 1x1 widgets — though the initial options are limited. There are new ringtones — my favourite being ‘Wings’ — and a new Glyph Composer designed in collaboration with Swedish House Mafia, which is also one of the investors in Nothing. The Glyph Composer will allow you to craft your own ringtone. Nothing said all these features will also come to the Phone (1) with the 2.0 update.
User Interface
The software experience is classic Nothing — a retro-chic design with a modern touch. The iconic dot matrix systemwide font is back, and so are the retro ringtones. The screen refresh rate is dynamic and can vary between 1 Hz and 120 Hz depending on the content on the screen.
All in all, the Phone (2) is a massive step up from the already-impressive Phone (1). Watch this space for the full review.
