7.5
Nothing Telephone 2
Like
Flashy design
Highly effective processor
Giant, brilliant show
Engaging interface
Do not like
Disappointing digicam efficiency
Must be cheaper to compete towards rivals
The primary Nothing Telephone impressed us with its strong all-round efficiency, its low worth and naturally its flashing lights. However it by no means formally made it to the US, apart from an uncommon beta program. This second-generation cellphone is right here to vary that.
When it goes on sale in america and the broader world from July 16, the Nothing Telephone 2 may have a spread of upgrades, from the processor to the design. However at $599 and £579 (with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage) it is $100 greater than the primary technology, and the competitors at this worth level has by no means been extra fierce. Particularly as my take a look at mannequin with 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage truly prices $699.
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Google’s Pixel 7A particularly has a barely higher twin digicam, and its pure Android 13 software program is slick to make use of. The Pixel 7A’s processor is not as highly effective because the Nothing Telephone 2’s, however the Google cellphone’s way more reasonably priced $449 price ticket greater than makes up for that. Then there’s the Pixel 7 Professional — Google’s flagship — which has probably the greatest cameras it is doable to search out on a cellphone and is at present on sale (with 128GB of storage) for less than $649 at Finest Purchase. If images is vital to you, I would advocate spending the small quantity additional.
There’s additionally the OnePlus 10T, which boasts the identical highly effective Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor because the Nothing Telephone 2, has an identical digicam setup, and may at present be picked up immediately from OnePlus for less than $400. Even the OnePlus 10 Professional with its excellent digicam system is barely $480.
The Nothing Telephone 2’s flashing LED lights are the principle factor that separates it from the competitors, and whereas they’re definitely an fascinating quirk, they’re arguably one thing of a gimmick and never a characteristic I can see myself genuinely utilizing over time. The cellphone’s giant display, highly effective processor and respectable battery life are higher causes to contemplate shopping for this system, however at $599, it is troublesome to justify the Nothing Telephone 2 over the more and more sturdy competitors.
Watch this: Nothing’s Sequel Will get a Lot Proper
09:34
A well-recognized, flashy design
Visually, there hasn’t been a giant departure from the primary technology. The again continues to be clear, letting you see just a little of what is contained in the cellphone, together with the uncovered screw heads and varied connecting segments. The glass is gently curved on the edges now to present it a barely extra premium really feel once you maintain it.
However it’s the flashing lights — or glyph, as Nothing calls it — that is the large household resemblance right here. These LEDs gentle up the again of the cellphone and may provide you with a warning to incoming notifications. Or you should use them for alarms, to indicate battery cost standing, or just as primary fill gentle once you’re recording video.
The Telephone 2 gives a bit extra customization over the glyph this time round, letting you create customized gentle patterns for sure contacts or apps. There’s additionally a glyph timer that’ll step by step tick down because it reaches zero, and it could possibly additionally give a handy visible cue about different time-related issues, similar to when your Uber goes to reach, so you possibly can put it down and concentrate on checking out your hair whereas keeping track of its progress. Nothing says it will be working with different app builders to combine this performance.
The glyph lights definitely made the unique cellphone stand out towards the competitors, and although they’re arguably one thing of a gimmick, it is good to see a little bit of enjoyable and aptitude in telephones. Particularly in midrange telephones like this, the place fascinating designs are inclined to take extra of a again seat to maintain costs down. The glyph lights have turned heads after I’ve used the Nothing Telephone in entrance of my mates, however curiosity rapidly fades as soon as the preliminary curiosity is glad. Can I genuinely see myself making use of the lights over time? Actually, no.
The fingerprint scanner on the Nothing Telephone 2.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
However the glyph lights aren’t the one bodily issues to care about. The aluminum body is 100% recycled. There is a fingerprint scanner hidden beneath the show, which works nicely more often than not. And the cellphone is IP54 rated to assist hold it secure when it’s a must to take calls within the rain. The 6.7-inch show is massive and brilliant sufficient to do justice to vibrant video games or to YouTube movies you are watching whereas on the transfer, and its adaptive refresh fee lets it drop all the way down to solely 1Hz to assist protect battery life or ramp as much as 120Hz for smoother gaming.
Older chip with massive potential
Powering the Nothing Telephone 2 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor backed up by both 8GB or 12GB of RAM (as reviewed). That is a barely older technology processor, but it surely’s nonetheless a potent chip that may totally deal with most stuff you’d ever wish to throw at it, from video streaming to photograph modifying to gaming. It chalked up some nice scores on our benchmark checks, and it dealt with demanding video games like PUBG and Genshin Influence completely nicely at max settings.
Nothing Telephone 2 efficiency comparability
Nothing Telephone 2 1,739 4,544 2,778Pixel 7A 1,439 3,560 1,855OnePlus 10T 1,405 3,812 2,773
Geekbench 6 (single core)
Geekbench 6 (multi-core)
3D Mark WildeLife Excessive
Observe: Longer bars equal higher efficiency
Nothing says it used an older chip as a result of it needed one thing tried and examined that may provide a extra secure platform at a extra cheap worth, and I feel that is most likely a good trade-off. Motorola’s foldable Razr Plus is doing the identical factor. It may not be the newest chip Qualcomm makes (that may be the 8 Gen 2), but it surely’s nonetheless one thing of a powerhouse that’ll address virtually something you’d ever wish to do with it.
The Telephone 2 runs Android 13 at its core, however Nothing has completed quite a bit to customise the interface. It is a very monochrome expertise, with a heavy reliance on dot-matrix type texts and icons. There are a number of widgets that use these designs, and even the app icons are black and white to maintain with that minimal monochrome aesthetic. That might make it fairly troublesome to search out the apps you need should you depend on these coloration cues, however you possibly can flip this off within the settings if you’d like.
A characteristic that I can see being fairly helpful is creating folders of apps in your homescreen and hiding them behind an icon — I am imagining filling this folder with my work-specific apps like Outlook, Zoom and Slack after which overlaying them up with the briefcase image so I haven’t got to take a look at them on my weekend. Beautiful stuff.
Nothing’s UI contains a whole lot of its personal type on app icons and widgets.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
I do not typically like UIs that closely customise the look of Android, however there’s one thing fairly trendy concerning the design that Nothing makes use of on its telephones. If you happen to’re into that form of stark minimalism, you then’ll little doubt get pleasure from it.
Nothing guarantees that the Telephone 2 will obtain three years of OS updates and an extra fourth yr of safety updates. That is just a little under the 5 years that Samsung presents on its telephones, but it surely may definitely be worse. Nonetheless, I would hope to see all producers extending their help interval as much as and past 5 years to maintain telephones secure to make use of for longer and subsequently hold extra of them out of landfills.
Identical cameras, higher processing
The again of the cellphone is house to a 50-megapixel predominant digicam and a 50-megapixel ultrawide digicam. {Hardware}-wise, that is just about the identical setup we noticed on the Nothing Telephone 1. However the improved Snapdragon processor permits for lots higher software program processing, with Nothing promising improved colours, publicity and higher HDR methods that can assist you take nicer-looking photographs.
I’ve spent a while testing the digicam, and I am happy to see vibrant, sharp photographs that look higher than those I noticed from the primary technology cellphone. Nonetheless, it is not excellent, with some brilliant skies nonetheless being blown out within the highlights and a heavy-handed sharpening that ends in odd picture anomalies. Towards the cheaper Pixel 7A, I usually desire the photographs from the Pixel.
Nothing Telephone 2, predominant digicam.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Pixel 7A, predominant digicam.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
The Nothing Telephone 2’s colours are OK on this instance, however there are noticeable patches within the white clouds the place it has overexposed the picture, leading to blown-out particulars. And that is regardless of the buildings themselves trying darker. The Pixel 7A’s HDR abilities have resulted in a a lot nicer-looking picture total right here.
Nothing Telephone 2, ultrawide lens.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Pixel 7A, ultrawide lens.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Switching to the ultrawide lenses on each telephones, the story is far the identical, with the Nothing Telephone 2 managing to once more overexpose sections of the sky whereas underexposing the buildings subsequent to the river. The Pixel 7A’s shot is way more balanced.
Nothing Telephone 2, 2x digital zoom.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Pixel 7A, 2x digital zoom.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Neither cellphone has a devoted telephoto zoom lens, however each provide 2x digital zoom modes, utilizing cropping and picture sharpening to get nearer to your topic. I usually desire the general look of the picture from the Nothing Telephone 2, however although the high quality particulars are sharper, the software program sharpening has prompted some points.
Nothing Telephone 2, 2x digital, 200% crop.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Pixel 7A, 2x zoom, 200% crop.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Zooming in to 200% on the 2x zoom photographs, it is clear that the Nothing Telephone 2’s shot seems to be usually sharper. Nonetheless, look the place I’ve circled in purple — on the Pixel 7A the vertical slats are clearly rendered, whereas the Nothing Telephone 2’s heavy-handed processing has turned this right into a bizarre spiral mess. So whereas it is artificially added extra element in some areas, it is critically decreased it in others. At full display it’s possible you’ll by no means discover this, but it surely’s value preserving in thoughts, particularly should you typically digitally crop into photographs later.
Nothing Telephone 2, predominant digicam.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Nothing Telephone 2, predominant digicam.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Nothing Telephone 2, predominant digicam.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Nothing Telephone 2, predominant digicam.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Different photographs from the Nothing Telephone 2 are usually brilliant and vibrant, albeit with that overexposure drawback typically noticeable.
Nothing Telephone 2, selfie digicam.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Pixel 7A, selfie digicam.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Ignoring the default mirroring on the Nothing Telephone 2, each telephones have taken usually well-exposed, sharp photographs right here. I desire the white steadiness and richer yellow of my jacket within the Pixel’s shot, but it surely’s a detailed name.
General, although, I feel the Pixel 7A takes the higher images, which is spectacular contemplating it is fairly a bit cheaper than the Nothing Telephone. If images is vital to you, then you must think about trying towards Google — both the 7A or splashing a bit extra on the 7 Professional.
Respectable battery life
Powering all the things is a 4,700-mAh battery that with cheap use ought to get you thru a full day. It put in a good effort on our rundown checks, dropping to 91% after two hours of YouTube streaming on full brightness. For reference, the Pixel 7A dropped to 90% after two hours, whereas Samsung’s Galaxy A54 dropped to 87%.
As with all telephones, your precise outcomes will come all the way down to how a lot you utilize your system. Hammer it with video streaming and demanding gaming all morning and you may want to present it a lift within the afternoon. Most of you’ll most likely simply get away with giving it a full cost once you fall asleep every evening.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
It helps 45-watt quick charging, which Nothing says will take it from empty to full in 55 minutes. That is respectable sufficient, although it is a methods behind the 80- or 100-watt charging we have seen on different telephones exterior the US. At this worth, although, I am unable to argue an excessive amount of. It has 15-watt wi-fi charging too, in addition to reverse wi-fi charging if you wish to use your cellphone’s battery to energy up your headphones, or one other cellphone completely.
Is the Nothing Telephone 2 a great cellphone to purchase?
The Nothing Telephone 2’s flashy LEDs definitely make an announcement, and each its processor efficiency and battery life are sturdy. However the additional $100 Nothing needs over its predecessor has modified the sport. It is gone from being an reasonably priced funds choice to fairly a dear midranger, whereas the competitors has been getting stronger.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
The Pixel 7A is arguably its greatest rival, and personally, it is the cellphone I would go for over the Nothing Telephone 2. Its processor is not as highly effective, but it surely’ll nonetheless deal with virtually all of your each day wants, and its digicam is best. Plus it is quite a bit cheaper. I would additionally think about the OnePlus 10T over the Nothing Telephone — it did not impress me at its full worth at launch, however its present $400 worth makes it a worthy choice.
If you happen to love the thought of these flashing lights making your cellphone stand out from the gang, then the Nothing Telephone 2 is definitely value contemplating. It is a good cellphone, it is nearly $100 too costly proper now. If you happen to can decide it up with a little bit of a reduction after the launch pleasure has dwindled just a little, then that’d be a great use of your cash. However at full worth, you may actually need to like these lights to justify the spend.
How we take a look at telephones
Each cellphone examined by CNET’s opinions staff was truly utilized in the true world. We take a look at a cellphone’s options, play video games and take images. We study the show to see if it is brilliant, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and construct to see how it’s to carry and whether or not it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor’s efficiency to the extremes utilizing standardized benchmark instruments like GeekBench and 3DMark, together with our personal anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution movies and enjoying graphically intense video games at excessive refresh charges.
All of the cameras are examined in quite a lot of circumstances, from brilliant daylight to darkish indoor scenes. We check out particular options like evening mode and portrait mode and evaluate our findings towards equally priced competing telephones. We additionally try the battery life through the use of a tool each day in addition to working a sequence of battery drain checks.
We take into consideration further options like help for 5G, satellite tv for pc connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus help, quick charging speeds and foldable shows, amongst others that may be helpful. And we steadiness all of this towards the worth, to provide the verdict on whether or not that cellphone, no matter its worth is, truly represents good worth.
Nothing Telephone 2 specs comparability chart
Nothing Telephone 2Pixel 7AGalaxy A54 5G Show measurement, decision, refresh fee 6.7-inch OLED; 2,412×1,080 pixels; 1-120Hz6.1-inch OLED; 2,400×1,080 pixels; 60/90Hz 6.4-inch Tremendous AMOLED; 2,340×1,080 pixels; 120HzPixel density 394 ppi361 ppi403 ppiDimensions (inches) 6.38 x 3.00 x 0.33 in6.00 x 2.87 x 0.35 in6.23 x 3.02 x 0.32 inDimensions (millimeters) 162.1 x 76.4 x 8.6 mm152.4 x 72.9 x 9.0 mm158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2 mmWeight (grams, ounces) 201g (7.09 oz)193g (6.81 oz)202g (7.13 oz) Cell software program Android 13Android 13Android 13Camera 50-megapixel predominant. 50-megapixel ultrawide64-megapixel predominant, 4K at 6fps. 13-megapixel ultrawide, 4K at 30fps50-megapixel vast, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 5-megapixel macroFront-facing digicam 32-megapixel13-megapixel, 4K@30fps32-megapixel Video seize 4K at 60fps4K4KProcessor Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1Tensor G2Exynos 1380RAM, storage 8GB + 128GB. 12GB + 256GB8GB + 128GB6GB + 128GB. 8GB + 256GB Expandable storage NoNoMicro SDXCBattery, charger 4,700 mAh; 45W wired charging4,385 mAh; 18W quick charging, 7.5W wi-fi charging5,000 mAh; 25W wired chargingFingerprint sensor In-displaySideIn-displayConnector USB-CUSB-CUSB-CHeadphone jack NoneNoneNoneSpecial options 5G-enabled, IP54 water resistance, flashing rear lights5G (5G sub6 / mmWave ), IP67 rating5G (mmw/Sub6), IP67 ratingPrice off-contract (USD) $599$499 / $549 (mmW)$449 (6GB/128GB) at launchPrice (GBP) £579£449£449 (6GB/128GB) at launchPrice (AUD) AU$1,120 convertedAU$749AU$649 (6GB/128GB) at launch