Nothing Phone 2

Technical specifications

Smooth, clean Android with the great minimal Nothing overlay. I tested many Android flagships this year trying to return from iOS. I said to myself, I will take a risk with this one despite it being 6.7 inches compared to the 6.1 inches of my previous iPhone 13. And what came of it? Literally the same feeling as when using my first OnePlus 7. The phone has charmed me. Great battery life. Screen on time of about 7 hours, this LTPO performs very well. Charging in under an hour; remember not to let the battery drop below 30% and it will last much longer. Immediately at the start, there was an update improving the camera. Symmetrical bezels, which is a big plus for aesthetes. You might think this Glyph OS is just an unnecessary gadget, but at my work, it is very effective for staying focused; on the iPhone, I always used to mute it. And here I have the Flip to Glyph function. 3 years of Android updates and 4 years of security patches every 2 months. The cable looks attractive, and there is a protective film applied on the screen from the beginning. Only the lack of a charger and a case is disappointing. Especially since manufacturers are only just starting to create cases for this phone. I can sincerely recommend the phone. Regards!

A small error in the description - namely the screen. Nothing Phone 2 has an OLED screen. It is a pity because that is why I bought it and I am slightly disappointed.
Ok, thank you for pointing this out. Best regards. (jf)

I switched from the Poco X4 Pro 5G in May after two years, and I can confidently say it was worth it, although a few things are short of perfection.

Pros:
-Excellent, clean Android with minimalist proprietary additions. Fast, responsive, and constantly updated, with monthly fixes or minor updates. Plenty of personalization options, which is always a benefit.

-The camera, although only 50MP (compared to 108MP in the POCO X4), produces higher quality photos than I expected, mainly due to the built-in Optical Image Stabilization and, I cannot believe I am saying this, AI that slightly improves photo quality. HDR renders colors very nicely, and video recording increased to 4k60 after one of the updates.

-The screen is legible and clear; the wide color palette and true blacks are the standout features. The AOD also functions effectively, and the fingerprint reader under the screen also proves reliable; it is fast and dependable.

-The battery, although smaller than in my previous phone, easily lasts one working day with a VPN, BT, a watch connection active, and occasional internet or YouTube browsing during work breaks, with some power still remaining. I have not managed to drain it completely even once since I have owned it.

-The Glyph interface is a very interesting feature that not only distinguishes the phone from others but also finds its uses in many situations. It shows the battery charge percentage, volume, how much time is left if we set, for example, a timer, and I actually look at the screen nervously less often. Additionally, we also have Magsafe and inductive charging, which is always useful if we want to, for example, recharge headphones.

But to be balanced, there are also some issues or things that do not quite suit me, so Cons:

-After every update, the system can consume more battery than usual for a day or two. This is nothing extraordinary and is actually logical, however, it can be irritating, especially since after one faulty update, it could consume as much as 80% of the battery in two hours while the phone was simply lying idle and doing nothing heavy. Fortunately, it was a one-time occurrence and such extreme results did not repeat. Nevertheless, after an update, it is worth having a charger nearby.

-The Glyph interface is a wonder but also a nuisance in a sense. For a very long time, I could not find a case that was not just plain transparent plastic that would turn yellow in five days or that did not cover this interface, not to mention armor cases or some kind of stand. The choice of accessories is very limited, so people who enjoy such things face a difficult path.

-Charging with the recommended charger or via induction is completely counterproductive. The battery can heat up to unpleasant temperatures, which affects it negatively. It is also not worth charging it to full capacity or discharging it completely, as even then, the battery is under significant stress. Through trial and error, I concluded that charging the battery from 25% to 85% is healthiest for the phone, and only on the condition that we use a charger with lower power than recommended.

-The lack of, among others, a jack connector, memory expansion, or e-sim is painful, especially the first two. I have always been an opponent of such illogical solutions and my opinion here has not changed.

-The screen is barely visible during the Polish summer. During darker seasons, without intense sun, it is no problem, but the Polish summer has often forced me to hide the screen in the shade to read something, even when the brightness was at maximum. If it were slightly more powerful, I would have nothing to complain about regarding the screen.

-Nothing offers many of its own apps and solutions, but the lack of a default gallery or file browser is problematic. I hope they will appear in one of the major updates.

So, is the Nothing Phone 2 a perfect phone? Not at all.
It is somewhat short of perfection, but what it does, it does very well, and the entire Nothing philosophy is a refreshing change to me in such a uniform smartphone market, where every phone and system looks increasingly similar to each other and the boundary between some brands is slowly blurring.

If, like me, you are bored with your current smartphone and long for the times when every phone had a soul and was different, when every phone tried to have its own identity, but at the same time you do not want to abandon today's solutions that you have already grown accustomed to - then the Nothing Phone 2 is exactly that kind of thing.

Overall, I recommend the phone. After 2 months of getting used to iPhone 12PRO (I do not recommend it for one simple reason - lack of anti-SPAM protection in iOS), I returned to Android. It is known that the premiere was recent (that is when I bought it) and they are fixing many bugs, such as the fact that until recently notification sounds were twice as loud as the ringtone, which could be quite surprising. But the problem is gone after the update. PROS: - Great BATTERY - with my usage, the iPhone 12PRO was nearly out of power by evening, while here we still have an average of 50% battery!! - Great fast processor and it does not heat up like in the previous version, Nothing Phone 1. Samsung Galaxy S21 on Exynos would heat up in my hands when browsing regular reels on FB or Insta (Nothing Phone 1 also heated up significantly during such use). - CAMERAS are simply outstanding!! I previously had a Mi9 and I knew that SonyIMX is the best, and here is an even more pleasant surprise in the form of great algorithms for taking photos. I will give an example. We take a selfie, for example, but we have a sunset behind us, so it is known that normally only the face would be visible while the rest in the background would be maximally brightened. And this one takes 2 or several photos (I do not know) but you can see us and everything behind us in very nice colors. - Stereo SPEAKERS! For comparison, iPhone 12PRO performs significantly weaker with that earpiece in the screen. I did not have such speakers in Xiaomi Mi9, but they were already in Galaxy S21 and they are just as good. - APPEARANCE - I bought the grey version. For me, it is fantastic because black or white were not as good because one heated up in the sun and on the other, dirt from use was more visible. Cons (minor): SCREEN - although it is one of the better OLED screens, the depth of black and the brightness level in full sun do not match the 4-year-old flagship Xiaomi Mi9. It is interesting that some programs on PC detect this phone as ASUS...[something]. OVERALL I RECOMMEND it because the next phone I would buy would be Galaxy S23 PLUS, but that is a different price range.

I am getting used to it. The phone is very fast; I will not say it was intuitive for me right away. It is only now becoming intuitive. I am surprised by the battery. It is supposedly only 4700mAh, but it performs excellently. Much better than the 5000mAh in my previous Xiaomi or Samsung devices. Nothing Phone 2 has a great display. It reminds me of the Retina display on my wife's iPhone. The volume buttons on the left side of the phone, right in the middle of the frame, annoy me because I often accidentally mute or increase the volume. The appearance of the phone is of secondary importance to me; however, if I were to evaluate it in this category, I like it only moderately. The transparent back is slippery and feels more like plastic than glass to the touch. Without a case, the phone constantly slips out of the hand. And those pointless LEDs on the back become annoying over time, which is why I covered them with a Nillkin case. The camera is of good quality. It takes really good photos. Better quality than those from the Poco F3, and that is enough for me. It is also nice that you can change all the icons to monochromatic, which creates a very pleasant, orderly impression and also prevents the visual overwhelm associated with millions of rainbow colors and shades on the display. Overall, the phone is interesting, refined, built with top-tier components, excellently personalized, and has a good main camera. Nothing lags, nothing freezes. The refresh rate is excellent. Style is a matter of taste, and one must get used to the software overlay. It is difficult to find anything to criticize. I have come to like it, despite those foolish, glowing LEDs on the back, reminiscent of police cars in Zimbabwe. Perhaps it is a bit expensive. It cost 2900. If I were to compare it to the Poco F3, there is no massive leap in quality in favor of the Nothing Phone 2. Only the battery is significantly better. If I had waited for the premiere of the Poco X6 or F6 on the European market, I would probably have chosen one of those Chinese phones, which does not mean I regret the purchase.

I have owned the phone for about half a year, so I am now able to say something specific about it. I found the Nothing brand completely by accident on the internet, as I was looking for something truly powerful in the mid-price range to replace my previous Samsung S20FE. Overall, I am very satisfied (and demanding, because I do not like to change my phone more often than once every 3-4 years); the phone works as smoothly and quickly as few of my previous ones. The battery lasts a little over 24 hours with intensive use. The illuminated back is generally an interesting additional feature and sometimes creates a positive impression on people, although with time one can even forget about it. The illumination itself is intense enough that the lack of vibration in the phone is not a problem. The camera takes average photos and unfortunately, after zooming in, noise is visible on them regardless of lighting conditions. In manual mode, the photos are phenomenal (I would even compare them to those from an iPhone), but there is not always time to manually adjust settings for every single photo, so the camera overall is rated rather negatively (especially the front camera). Regarding sound, speakers, and overall phone volume, I have nothing to complain about and have never encountered any problems here. The screen could indeed be a bit brighter at full brightness - it is not impossible to read anything from it in full sun, but sometimes it is indeed necessary to go into the shade with the phone to ensure comfort and avoid squinting.
There are occasional errors and minor stutters in the system, but it seems to me that this is a matter of Android itself (and basing the system on it) rather than the phone.
I highly recommend the phone and suspect that if I were to buy a phone in this price range again now, I would not even consider anything else. I only do not recommend it to avid photographers who need to have photos with a high level of sharpness in their phone, because to obtain such with this model, it is unfortunately necessary to switch to manual mode.

After a year of using this phone, I can confidently say that it is a fairground piece of junk for over 2,000 PLN that is completely useless.
First, after a year, it started interrupting the charging process, meaning it charges for a moment, then stops, and then starts again; meanwhile, it only charges for a while in fast charging mode. Is this an intentional move by the manufacturer? Perhaps, because it only charges without issues on the original cable, and on any other, it gets interrupted.
Another issue is the photo quality. There has been no improvement in photo quality for a year; you can see that the software unsuccessfully attempts to improve the quality of the photos taken, but even a toaster probably takes better photos than this junk for over 2,000 PLN.
After a year, two major updates appeared that brought nothing and, most importantly, fixed nothing – errors that were there from the beginning still occur. The phone can get stuck in pocket mode, making it impossible to unlock at all. The system itself freezes. Even automatic screen dimming does not work.
The battery barely lasts less than a day, so it is necessary to go everywhere with a charger and pray that this miracle of Chinese technology actually charges; and regarding charging without fast charging mode, you could leave the phone on the charger, ride a bike to another province for milk and come back, and the phone might graciously be charged.
You can forget about silent mode, as well as vibrations, which do not exist in this phone. After muting the phone, they are imperceptible, and perhaps that is why the manufacturer provided its "customers" with fairground lights on the back, but I ask myself: why do I need them in my pocket? Unless someone likes to have their pants shine from afar.
I definitely recommend the phone to those who like to get irritated and angry at their phone or want to stand out on a date with a fairground gadget.
P.S. The name of the phone is appropriate for what it offers.

I have owned this phone for a month. What convinced me to buy it were its specifications and appearance. However, that is not all that matters in a phone. After a month of use, I can sincerely state that at this price, it is not worth purchasing or considering. The phone is very much overrated. The advantages I can mention are only the fact that it has a Snapdragon processor, clean Android, and long battery life. It has significantly more downsides. Firstly, for this price, the phone has a very weak camera. Photos in good lighting look mediocre and lack detail. After zooming in, the quality is terrible; even a slight zoom causes blurring. Attempting to take a photo of a document also results in a blur. For this price, phones costing up to 1000 PLN have a significantly better camera. It is evident that the photos are software-enhanced for "better quality", but this does not yield any results. Another downside is the tragic quality of phone calls. The other person can practically not hear us or hears us very quietly. It is impossible to talk through this phone without shouting into it. The strangest thing is that the upper microphone, which is allegedly for noise cancellation, captures sound better than the microphone intended for calls. Another disadvantage is the lack of vibration. The phone is not felt in the pocket when it rings. One cannot feel it vibrating at all; it only makes a slight buzzing sound, so the phone volume must always be turned up. The phone is typically for show, good as a gadget. For daily use, it is mediocre. I would definitely not buy it again.

After over 2 years of using Nothing Phone 2, I switched to the Galaxy S25 and I will be comparing this phone specifically to the Samsung.
The display in the Nothing Phone 2 is acceptable, but the peak brightness is poor. On sunny days outdoors, it was difficult to see anything. Generally, for an LTPO OLED, it is mediocre. Samsung surpasses it in every way.
The speakers are comparable, but there is a slight advantage in favor of the Galaxy S25 in terms of sound clarity.
The battery in the Galaxy S25 is supposedly 700mAh smaller, but in terms of operating time, it is similar to the Nothing Phone 2. It lasts me an average of about 1,5 days.
The cameras are much better in the Samsung in terms of quality, details, consistency, and functionality.
The processor cannot even be compared. The Samsung operates more smoothly when it comes to multitasking. In the Nothing Phone 2, when you were doing several things, it could experience performance issues, while the Galaxy S25 has a large power reserve.
The fingerprint reader is slightly better in the Samsung in terms of sensitivity. However, face unlock is much faster in the Nothing Phone 2.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the Galaxy S25. I purchased it new for 2800zł 256GB and I believe this is a very good price for this smartphone.
I was most concerned about the small battery, but Samsung met the challenge and optimized the system well.
As they say, one mAh is not equal to another mAh. Chinese brands install huge cells, but they perform poorly in terms of optimization.

The button layout in NP2 is really nonsensical. Every time I turn off the screen with the button on the right, I unintentionally press the volume down button on the left and take a screenshot. The title of the most incompetent person for the one who invented this. The phone also tends to freeze for no known reason and you can not do anything, you have to turn it off and on again. The system is clean, yet such freezes occur while browsing the internet. I do not know, maybe the next update will fix it? The speaker in this phone sounds like a 10 złotych mono radio from the sixties. The screen also leaves a lot to be desired. LTPO is supposedly good but the brightness is weak and on a sunny day you have to look at the screen through a night vision device to see anything. Of course the phone has many advantages but I made a mistake because I replaced the Poco F3 Pro with the Nothing Phone 2 and I do not see any leap in quality, either in speed or the screen being better. Maybe the battery actually lasts longer in the NP2 and the camera actually takes better photos and videos are of higher quality? The rest is a tie. And also the Poco never froze on me while the NP2 has already failed several times. For such a price I would not buy it a second time.