Nothing Phone 2: everything we know about Nothing so far

The original Nothing Phone 1 is an important independent launch, if only because the phone world is dominated by so few players. With the Nothing Phone 2, company founder Carl Pei hopes that lightning will strike twice, and this time it looks like he is bringing more of his winning original OnePlus formula to the upcoming handset.

Even though Nothing is a smaller player in the phone market, it has some big-name tech investors backing the company, including former Apple and Next executive Tony Fadell. Nothing CEO Carl Pei built OnePlus from the ground up into Oppo's performance brand, and founded Nothing after he left.

OnePlus started as subversive phone company, offering handsets with premium performance. Its phones sacrificed some camera specs and durability features, like water resistance, in favor of faster chipsets and dazzling displays.

The original Nothing Phone 1 looked more like a design concept, and although the head-turning 'Glyph' lighting and software features stood out, performance was seriously lacking. The Nothing Phone 2 looks to change that formula and compete more directly with fully-fledged flagship phones.

The first Nothing Phone also launched with limited global availability, only arriving in the US in an extremely limited capacity well after its debut in Europe, the UK an elsewhere. Even though Nothing offered the phone to the US in a beta program, local carriers were hesitant to sing its praises without proper local testing. This year, we know the Nothing Phone 2 will launch more widely, and Pei has hinted that the US market will be a top priority for the company.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Nothing's sequel to its design stand-out smartphone, now with more power
• When is it out? Unveiled on July 11 at 8am PST / 11am EST / 4pm BST / 1am AEST (July 12)
• How much does it cost? One leak claims it'll start at €729 (approximately $800 / £630 / AU$1,180)

Nothing Phone 2: release date and price

The first Nothing Phone 1 arrived on July 12, 2022, and it looks like the Nothing Phone 2 will launch almost exactly a year later, with the company confirming a launch date of July 11, 2023. It's unknown yet whether the phone will be available to buy on the same day. Fans will be able to keep tabs on developments in the run-up to the launch via Nothing's dedicated events webpage.

The original Nothing Phone 1 was available for £399 / €469 / AU$749 when it launched, with no formal US availability. The phone was briefly available under a so-called 'beta' program in the States, where you could buy the 8GB RAM / 128GB model for $299. The company's site shows no models are currently available to US customers, however.

Nothing CEO Carl Pei has said that not only will the Nothing Phone 2 launch in the US, he expects the US market to be a priority for his company's upcoming phone. What does that mean? It means support for more US 5G bands than the Nothing Phone 1, hopefully; because the original didn't work properly on every US network. 

We don't have specific specs for the next Nothing Phone (beyond the chipset), but after Pei tweeted a link to a French site which published a story claiming to have leaked pricing, we can base additional details off that, until Nothing confirms otherwise.

The story serves up two prices, tied to two memory/storage variants of the phone, with both reportedly coming in black and white. It would appear that there won't be a baseline 128GB model, as there was with Phone 1 – assuming this leak holds true.

Here's the Nothing Phone 2 expected pricing, based on the above story:

• 8GB RAM / 256GB = €729 (approximately $800 / £630 / AU$1,180)
• 12GB RAM / 512GB = €849 (approximately $935 / £730 / AU$1,375)

If these prices hold true, this would mark a 55% price increase over the baseline Nothing Phone 1, which started at €469 for 8GB RAM and 128GB in Europe.

Nothing Phone 2: design and display

The biggest mystery about the Nothing Phone 2 should be the design, because the design of the Nothing Phone 1 and its unique aesthetic features were the standout reason to buy the phone. Based on the event teaser video above, it would appear that Phone 2 sports a similar transparent-backed design, along with enhanced Glyph lighting.

The company has confirmed though that the Nothing Phone 2 will have a 0.15-inch bigger screen than the current model, meaning 6.7 inches. If the resolution doesn't also increase, that would mean the display will be slightly less sharp, but it shouldn't be noticeable. We're also hearing the Phone 2's display will refresh at 120Hz, like the original Nothing.

Beyond the above, we don't know if there will be significant new design improvements. The original Nothing Phone 1 was only IP53 water resistant, which is good for a light splash but not a heavy downpour. It used Gorilla Glass 5, which was Corning's best glass in 2016. Phones today are expected to be much more durable all around.

Nothing Phone 2: camera and battery

One of the earliest leaks we heard about the upcoming Nothing Phone 2 suggested that it would have a new camera lens and sensor, in addition to the two 50MP cameras on the Nothing Phone 1. The next phone should get a third camera at the same resolution, though we don't know anything more about its capabilities. 

The Nothing Phone 1 had a wide and an ultra-wide camera, so it would make sense for a successor to get some level of zoom photography. Even a 3x zoom would be welcome, both for longer reach and better portrait shots. We also haven't heard if the sensors themselves will get an upgrade for the next generation. 

What sensor Nothing chooses for its new addition could make a dramatic difference. In our Nothing Phone 1 review, we noticed that the wide camera, which apparently uses a common Sony sensor, performed much better than the ultra-wide camera. The latter packs the same 50MP, but on a much smaller sensor, so those pixels collect less light. 

In other words, the Nothing Phone 2 could use better sensors on the secondary cameras, not just more sensors. 

The selfie camera is rumored to double in resolution, from the 16MP shots on the Nothing Phone 1 to a new 32MP sensor for the Phone 2. The original phone situated that selfie camera in the upper left corner of the display. We're not sure where the new selfie cam will find itself.

A couple of days after Pei tweeted a captionless picture of what was assumed to be the Nothing Phone 2's USB-C charging cable – sporting a semi-transparent design, in line with the wider Nothing aesthetic – Nothing's official official account followed up with a tweet on June 21 delivering a full breakdown of what it dubbed the 'Nothing Cable C-C'.

The cable reportedly took 20 iterations to perfect and features an "industry-first moulding process" to deliver a near-seamless and scratch free design with durability that's "60% beyond industry standards when it comes to bending, passing our bending test more than 16,000 times."

As for the battery, a bigger display means more room for a bigger battery, and we're hearing the modest screen increase will also bring a modest battery boost. The cell should step up from 4,500mAh to 4,700mAh – a marginal increase that Nothing confirmed would be happening in the above-referenced interview with Forbes. Combined with the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 which delivers excellent performance and efficiency, Nothing seems to be aiming for a sweet spot here without compromising too much on power as it did last year.

Thankfully, we're hearing that Nothing could boost its charging prowess, and the new phone could double the wattage to a 67W wired charging rate. That should provide a full charge in less than thirty minutes, if Nothing Phone 2 charges at a comparable rate to competitors.

Nothing Phone 2: specs and features

While the original Nothing Phone 1 was all about design, delivering middling performance with a low price tag to match, the Nothing Phone 2 will get an upgrade. After some blatant hints from Qualcomm executives, Pei outright told fans that the next Nothing Phone will come running on 2022's most powerful smartphone SoC: the 8 Plus Gen 1.

If you're worried that the Nothing Phone 2 won't stand up against 2023 flagships with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform, remember that powerhouse phones like the OnePlus 10T and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 premiered with Qualcomm's updated Gen 1. It will provide a serious boost over the Nothing Phone 1's Snapdragon 778G mid-range chipset.

“Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 is a proven processor. It has been thoroughly tested and continuously optimised through numerous updates since its introduction a year ago. We prioritise user experience over being first in the specs race," Pei said in an interview. "Also, the latest technology comes at a cost which isn't always justified from a user benefit standpoint. Choosing Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 ensures that Phone 2 remains accessible while delivering a significantly improved experience compared to Phone 1.”

We also know that the Nothing Phone 2 will run Android, presumably with Nothing OS 2.0 on top. The company has confirmed that it will get the same amount of update support as the first entry too, meaning three years of Android updates and four years of security patches.

Aside from all those little bits of confirmed information, the rest is up to speculation. The primary feature on the Nothing Phone 1 is the LED array on the back of the phone – the 'Glyph Interface', which can be lit in a variety of patterns to display specific notifications, show your battery and charging levels, or act as a fill light for the camera.

Based on the teaser image and video for the Phone 2, the general form looks unchanged, save for more segments within the central circular element.