GSMArena Team, 13 July 2023

Nothing Phone (2) review

6. The competition, our verdict, pros and cons

Alternative offers

The Nothing Phone (2) launches at €679 for the 8/128 variant as a flagship alternative to the €469 Nothing Phone (1). The Glyph pioneer is still relevant, powerful, and capable as it was last year, and it is noticeably more affordable. On the other hand, the Phone (2) will offer you faster hardware, speedier charging, and improved display and cameras for the extra €210.

The direct competitor to the Nothing Phone (2) should be the Poco F5 Pro with the same chipset. It offers an even better Dolby Vision display with higher resolution, HFR gaming is doable, and there is faster charging, but its cameras are no match to Nothing's, and there are no Glyph LEDs. Still, the Poco F5 Pro is about €80 cheaper, so you should think about it.

The €650 Zenfone 9 has the same chipset as the Phone (2), a smaller yet similar panel, and offers great photo and video quality from three cameras with matching lenses. This Zenfone 9 may not have Glyph and wireless charging, but it will replace them with a better selfie camera and IP68 ingress protection. The gimbal stabilization for the main camera is not something to overlook, too.

Nothing Phone (2) • Nothing Phone (1) • Xiaomi Poco F5 Pro • Asus Zenfone 9

The recently launched Nord 3 is also an interesting alternative for its IP54-rated glass body, excellent Fluid AMOLED with Netflix HDR10 support, powerful Dimensity 9000 chipset and good enough camera experience. The Nord 3 is €200 cheaper, and it's an eye-catching alternative if your budget is lower than what the Phone (2) requires.

Moto Edge 40 is about €150 cheaper, but it will trump the Nothing Phone (2) with an even faster and brighter OLED, better selfie experience with 4K videos, and faster wired charging. It is also a fully water-resistant phone with an IP68 rating.

The Realme GT Neo 3 150W can be found at about €650 in Europe, and that's an interesting offer for its snappy hardware and display and super-fast 150W wired charging. We don't think the loss of performance and camera prowess is worth the much faster battery charging, though.

Finally, the Google Pixel 7a is worth considering for the vanilla Google OS and the renowned Pixel photo quality, selfies included. The Pixel 7a has a slower 90Hz OLED, but it's an IP67-rated phone with better cameras and a lot of processing power, so you may want to add it to your short list. It is currently priced about €500.

OnePlus Nord 3 • Motorola Edge 40 • Realme GT Neo 3 150W • Google Pixel 7a

Our verdict

The Nothing Phone (2) is an excellent sequel and a tempting offer in a pretty over-saturated market, especially around the €600 range. The phone has something that no other phone, well, except Phone (1), has, and that's the Glyph UI. Even better, the LED functionality has been expanded, and it's a really cool and convenient way to see what's happening on your phone without looking at its screen.

The Phone (2) has a larger and brighter LTPO OLED display, with a much more adaptive refresh rate, a welcome update over the Phone (1). The most notable upgrade is the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 flagship chipset, which makes working with the Phone (2) a breezy experience, gaming included.

Then there is the improved battery life. The richer audio from the stereo speakers. And better photo and video quality across the board. Let's not forget the faster 45W charging speed.

The Nothing Phone (2) also impressed us with the fluidity of its Nothing OS 2.0 - it's so clean, simple, and fast.

The Nothing Phone (2) is not without its issues, though. First - it does not support High Frame Rate gaming, which is a bit disappointing considering the capable hardware platform. The Phone (2) is still not water-resistant despite the now higher ingress protection rating.

The Glyph UI remains the most important thing of any Nothing Phone. You either love it and use it, or you don't, and then the Phone (2) becomes an offer like any other. If you have no use for Glyph, we've explored plenty of alternatives and are sure some will fit your needs and budget.

But if you do, or you just want a breath of fresh air, an innovation of sorts in an otherwise boring market, the Nothing Phone (2), or (1), will not disappoint you. On the contrary, the Phone (2) offers a thoughtful pick of features with a pinch of premium and two of innovation, and that's why we do recommend considering the Phone (2) and even buying it. Because "they just don't make them like the old times" does not fully apply here.