Because to the involvement of Carl Pei, a co-founder of OnePlus, the Nothing Phone 1 debuted in July 2022 with a fair amount of fanfare. It was a quirky phone because of the special light show on the rear that sets it out from the competition, but in terms of software, other Android phones are fairly identical to it. Although there were conflicting opinions, the general consensus was more favorable.
We may anticipate the Nothing Phone 2 this year, as Pei stated during MWC 2023 in January.
Design
There haven’t yet been any leaked renderings of the Nothing Phone 2’s design. There are fan-made ideas, though, and this one from YouTuber 4RMD is among the best-looking ones available. Nothing should take it into account.
The Nothing Phone 2 appears to have flat sides like the current Nothing Phone 1 in 4RMD’s concept film, which is extremely reminiscent to Apple’s iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPhone 14 models. In addition, the wireless charging coil and distinctive LED light strips are still present, along with the transparent glass back. The idea also includes a thin metal frame and front and back Gorilla Glass Victus.
This design prototype has a triple-lens camera system lined up horizontally in the top center, with the LED lights encircling it, as opposed to the Nothing Phone 1‘s dual camera layout in the upper corner. The specifications for this triple camera array call for a 50MP main camera as well as 50MP lenses for both the telephoto and ultra-wide angles, which may not be as likely. It’s uncertain because Nothing does want to make this follow-up more expensive than the original.
Speaking of LED lighting, the proposal replaces the standard white light on the Nothing Phone 1 with colorful RGB illumination, which would be an improvement. Also, it demonstrates configuring the glyph interface to utilize particular colors for particular app notifications.
The idea displays a crisp 6.65-inch display with fewer bezels than the original and a maximum brightness of 1,200 nits.
It should be noted that this is only a concept render created by a YouTuber, but it’s one of the best ones we’ve seen thus far. Perhaps, Nothing will take into account some aspects of this design idea for the Nothing Phone 2.
Specs
A premium mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ processor was used in the first Nothing Phone 1. However, Pei announced that the Snapdragon 8 series flagship Qualcomm CPU will be used in the Nothing Phone 2. Pei did not specify which specific Snapdragon 8 chip will power the Nothing Phone 2 though.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is expected to be used by the majority of other smartphone manufacturers, but Nothing appears to be doing the opposite. Instead, we may presumably anticipate the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which is a midcycle upgrade of the initial Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, in the Nothing Phone 2. Given that the Nothing Phone is more of a low-cost flagship phone than a high-end model like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra or the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max, this could be a cost-saving strategy.
We have great hopes for the Nothing Phone 2, despite the possibility that it uses an outdated chip. Even with a middling processor, the Interface on the Nothing Phone 1 was clear and responsive. We had 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage on the Nothing Phone 1 review device, so we should have a similar configuration with the Nothing Phone 2.
Release date
Pei did not provide a specific release date for the Nothing Phone 2, only that it will occur this year. But since the Nothing Phone 1 was released in the summer, namely in July 2022, we should anticipate that the Nothing Phone 2 will be released around the same time.
Although the Nothing Phone 1 was only made available in the U.K. and not the U.S., the Nothing Phone 2 won’t have that restriction. Making the Nothing Phone 2 available in the United States was, according to Pei, the main priority. This choice was made in part because Nothing, which was just two years old at the time the Nothing Phone 1 was released, was too preoccupied with growing its workforce and its line of goods. Now that the business is on more stable ground, it can take the necessary actions to establish a foothold in the American market.
Price
About the potential price of the Nothing Phone 2, there are no speculations or leaks. Yet, based on the brand’s prior success, we may assume that the Nothing Phone 1 will be less than $500.
Considering the Nothing Phone 1 is often a low-cost flagship, we should anticipate that the Nothing Phone 2 will be priced similarly. It will undoubtedly be more competitively priced than Samsung’s Galaxy S-Series devices and even Apple’s iPhone, more in line with Google’s Pixel devices (like the Pixel 7).
