Nothing Phone 2 Review - why worst cameras

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India Price • 8/128 GB: ₹44,999 • 12/256 GB: ₹49,999 • 12/512 GB: ₹54,999

Europe: • 8/128 GB: €679 • 12/256 GB: €729 • 12/512 GB: €849

United States: • 8/128 GB: $599 • 12/256 GB: $699 • 12/512 GB: $799

United Kingdom: • 8/128 GB: £579 • 12/256 GB: £629 • 12/512 GB: £699

Review

Yes, the Nothing Phone 2 is worth buying but it comes with a premium price tag, so if you’re okay paying premium for Nothing Brand then this is the best option but if you want a value-for-money device and you don’t care much about the design then look around because you have tons of better options available.

Display

The 6.70-inch 120Hz LTPO OLED display looks amazing, it's still a flat display. The 1600 peak brightness will ensure that you see everything outdoors.

What it means is you won’t face any sort of issue when using the phone under the sunlight. The fingerprint sensor is fast but it's the same as the last gen, Nothing has changed here. I wish they had gone with a different and fast fingerprint sensor.

For those who are wondering, The Phone 2 is not waterproof. It only has an IP54 rating, which means it is only protected against splashes of water. Kind of sad. Overall, the display quality is solid while the same can be said for the build as well. It's a well-built smartphone by Nothing.

Design

I have said many times that Design is subjective, some will like how Nothing Phone 2 looks and some will hate it. So I will leave the design up to you, decide whether you like it or not.

Nothing has made few changes in design compared to the Nothing Phone 1. The volume buttons are moved slightly down while on the rear side, the entire frame is made from glass which has curved.

By the way, glyph lights have gotten a new update. Now along with the charging integrator, you can also see the Uber driver progress and you can set different ringtones for different calls.

This feels more useful but still, I feel, it looks cool but you will forget about the lights after a few weeks. This is what happened with Nothing Phone 1, so expect the same here too.

Performance

You’re wondering why Nothing used last year’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor in Nothing Phone 2?

The answer is very simple, it's cheaper now compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. By going this, the Nothing Phone 2 should have been priced reasonably but that didn’t happen.

Nonetheless, the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 is a powerful processor and it can handle almost everything without any sort of problems whether you want to play games like PUBG, COD Mobile, or even Genshin Impact.

Nothing OS 2.0

Nothing has promised only 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security updates. It means the phone will get Android 14, 15, and 16.

Nothing OS is more polished compared to the last gen, the speed is visible when using the phone in day-to-day life. The animations are not as close as Samsung’s premium phones but Nothing is getting there. They have added lots of new features that we didn't get with Nothing OS 1.0.

Now, just like Asus Zenfone 10, Nothing gives you the option to choose from Stock Android or Nothing OS 2.0 customization.

Whatever you choose, you won’t get any ads in the UI or bloatware. It's a clean OS with handy features.

The cool thing is, you can even add system widgets like DND, Airplane mode, and many other widgets on the home screen as well as on the lock screen.

Camera

The Phone 2 has a 50MP Primary sensor + 50MP ultra-wide lens while there is a 32MP selfie shooter on the front. The rear cameras can shoot videos up to 4k@60fps while the front can only shoot at 1080p@30fps.

Again, no telephoto lens which is a bummer as this is a sort of premium smartphone in many territories. Now, this will be a very simple camera review of any smartphone because this is after all Nothing Phone 2.

The dynamic range is spot on, no problems at all. The problem is "HDR" The HDR issue doesn't happen too often but when it happens and if you don't look at the image then you will get aggry because it will ruin that image and movement. 

This is where Nothing needs to work a lot. This is a premium smartphone in many territories and I don't think night photography needs to be this worst for the price it comes. The night photos do come out bright but most of the time, it comes with either too much noise or soften which isn't a wonderful experience to have.

The phone has a 50MP ultra-wide lens that takes good images under sunlight but when it comes to low light, it forgets about the details and softens almost everything.

The 32MP front sensor is doing a better job in HDR compared to the primary sensor. You will love how you look in selfies because the selfies come out with a saturated look and white tone.

The end story with Nothing Phone 2 cameras is, there is nothing extraordinary with the cameras, so don't look at the phone and say, this will have a good camera because the cameras are not good at all, as you're expecting.

Let me put it in a simple way, 

This is Rs 44,999 smartphone and by going to the price tag, it doesn't have good cameras at all. It's almost the same as OnePlus 11R and no, it's not as good as Pixel 7 or Pixel 7A.

The speakers are the same as Nothing Phone 1, nothing has changed here. It has dual speakers and there is no 3.5mm audio jack.

Audio

The call quality is solid too, you won't have a hard time talking to someone even if you’re in a public place. Nothing has also added a whopping 19 5G Bands which are n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n28, n30, n38, n40, n41, n66, n71, n75, n77, and n78.

The 4,700mAh battery will last for a day without any kind of problems because the phone has a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 which is a power-efficient processor.

Battery

Now, keep in mind, if you're a power-hungry user who loves to play games, take calls, do video calls, and even use social media for long hours then you will have to charge the phone twice a day. It supports 45W wired charging which you have to buy separately from Nothing. There is also support for 15W wireless charging and 5W reverse wireless charging.

Nothing Phone 2 would have been a killer phone at Rs 39,999 price tag but that didn’t happen, so now, you’re paying a premium for Nothing. 

Verdict

So think twice because you will also need to buy a 45W charger too which means the price will go up. In conclusion, this is an overpriced phone compared to its competition.

PROS:

1. Smooth 120hz LTPO OLED Display 2. Super Bright 1600 nits brightness 3. 45W Wired Charging Support

4. 15W Wireless Charging Support 5. A good option for gaming 6. Polished Nothing OS 2.0 7. A good option for gaming

8. Good looking Design 9. Rock Solid Build Quality 10. 19 5G band

1. No mmwave in United State 2. No Telephoto lens 3. Average Camera 4. HDR issues in Rear Camera

CONS:

5. Not So Good Ultra-wide lens 6. Average portrait shot 7. Low Light Photography needs lots of improvement 8. Pricey in many territorie