[REVIEW] Nothing Phone (2) Nails The Balance Between Simplicity And Performance
A minimal, well-rounded performer.
By Calvin Khor — 26 Jul 2023, 03:04 PM
The Nothing Phone (2) has arrived in Malaysia, featuring its iconic minimalist design
As the successor to a phone that took the world by storm, the Nothing Phone (2) had the odds stacked against it. But now that it's out, it manages to keep to its popular design while improving a lot on other aspects, such as a faster processor, better camera, and refined look and feel with the Nothing OS 2.0.
However, these upgrades come at a cost – having a not-so-insignificant increase in pricing. Compared to the Nothing Phone that was released at RM2,299, the all-new Nothing Phone (2) retails for RM2,999 for the 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM variant, and it goes up to RM3,499 for 512GB.Design-wise, very little has changed between the Nothing Phone (1) and Phone (2)
The transparent back and Glyph Lights were what made Nothing Phones stand out among every other phone that’s out there right now. And the design is simply too distinct to not keep.
The Nothing Phone (2)'s retro-futuristic design harkens back to see-through tech from the Y2K era, while keeping it streamlined and modern for the current age. Its sturdy aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass front and back give the overall phone its durability.
Of course, the Glyph Interface is the cherry on top. For the Phone (2), the number of LED strips has increased to 11 from the previous five. There are also more Glyphs customisation options this time.
The Phone (2) sports a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, 12GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of storage
If you're a tech enthusiast, you'd know that the chip is a year old. But it still handles gaming and intense photo-taking like a champ.
Games like Genshin Impact, notorious for being a graphically demanding game, run smoothly on the Nothing Phone (2).
For those with a more competitive spirit, Mobile Legend: Bang Bang and PUBG Mobile run smoothly even at 'High' settings. The 120Hz display and 240Hz touch sampling rate will certainly give you the needed edge for your victories.
The processor isn't just for gaming, it's also for processing the photos you take
The time between taking 20 photos in burst mode and checking out the finished product is basically non-existent. The same could be said for the time between each series of bursts.
If you're an avid photographer, long story short, the Nothing Phone 2 does great in the camera department.
With 50-megapixel sensors for both the wide and ultra-wide cameras, the quality of the photos from both ranges is equally good. In daylight, the Phone 2 captures vibrant colours and sharp details.
The Night mode performs surprisingly well, but the balance between noise reduction and preserving details can definitely be improved. Fingers crossed for software updates for the camera.Here are some photos we shot on the Nothing Phone (2):
The Nothing Phone (2) comes with the Nothing OS 2, and along with it, a number of improvements
First off, a monochrome option that includes new widgets, wallpapers, and icon packs which aligns it with the phone's design.
This unified design language looks great, but there's a caveat – not all apps are included in the icon pack. So what ends up happening is you’ll have a page with some apps having their regular logo and some with the monochrome logo.
Then, there's the Glyph feature which is a huge part of the Nothing Phone experience. The Flip to Glyph feature is a convenient way to silence notifications and only receive alerts through the glyphs.
Another feature is the Essential Glyph. You can choose certain notifications as 'essential', and when one of those notifications arrives, a Glyph light will remain lit to notify you. This is extremely useful when you want to stay focused but still waiting on something important.
This feature can be very specific in its customisation. For example, for WhatsApp, you can choose to only be notified for a particular ongoing conversation. For Slack, you can be notified only for direct messages or mentions. These are two of many examples that demonstrate the flexibility and customisation of the Essential Notifications feature
The Nothing Phone (2), with its 4,700mAh battery, is certain to last you the day
In our use case of a decent amount of browsing, scrolling through YouTube Shorts, and a few game sessions here and there, the battery was left with around a respectable 40% at the end of the day.
The Nothing Phone (2) supports 45W fast wired charging with a compatible adapter and cable. Nothing's phone is advertised to fully charge in 55 minutes. This claim is almost accurate — the full charge took slightly over an hour, which is still impressive.
Overall, the Nothing Phone (2) is a good choice for those looking for a stylish, powerful mid-range smartphone with a fast-charging battery
The phone's Glyph interface is a distinctive feature with a lot to offer. Its dual-50MP camera system takes amazing photos in good lighting conditions.
With all said and done, the Nothing Phone (2) is just an exceptionally cool phone.
