Nothing Phone 2 launched globally on July 11, 2023. This is a one month review of it.
Design:
The design keeps the unique nothing factor which we saw in Phone (1). Even though it's a bummer that there wasn't much difference from the previous generation, it has grown on me.
In-hand feel is brilliant with the new curved back, which makes holding the phone for a long time better. Only problem I faced was that there's tendency for it to roll down even if there's a small curve in the surface.
Transparent design is something which is nice to look at and gets noticed easily in public. Bezels are less than Phone (1), yet not that great for the other offerings in the same price.
Software:
This is the X factor of Phone (2) in my experience. NothingOS 2.0 turns out to be one of the best softwares available on the market right now. Its the perfect match of added features on top of stock Android
Customisations are as easy as it gets, with many new features like new widgets for quick settings I find helpful and widgets in lockscreen as well. It's smooth and snappy with improved animations (some credit to 8+ Gen 1).
Performance:
Phone (2) is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, last year's flagship chipset based on 4nm TSMC node and works really great. Played PUBG, COD etc for hours and never experienced any lag or heating issues. Infact the smartphone never heats (even while playing PUBG at HDR Extreme while charging).
Battery:
Nothing Phone 2 gives unreal battery life in my experience. Even at heavy usage, I got 8 hours+ screen on time. LTPO display and Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 deserves the applause
Cameras:
This is the only part of smartphone that disappointed me. Infact the cameras are very basic for the price. Even smartphones priced very less perform better in many conditions. IMX 890 with Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 can perform way better than this. Nothing did try to improve the cameras with the 2.0.2 update but in my experience, it just downgraded the cameras and the pictures were worse. Recieved New 2.0.2a update and it's currently under testing.
Video quality is really great especially with main camera. Selfie camera performance is also good but not having 4K support in front camera kinda disappointed me.
Overall verdict:
At $599, Nothing Phone (2) is a solid smartphone with great software and gaming performance. It gives solid build and some flagship features into this price which makes it different from the rest. But cameras need better optimisation which I hope nothing will in upcoming days.