Palms On: Nothing Cellphone 2 Is a Gadget Lover’s Dream System

The Nothing Cellphone (2) is a gadget lover’s dream that made even this iPhone fan’s iOS-dedicated coronary heart go pitter-pat. 

I rock an iPhone 12 Professional Max for my each day work, however, as many tech heads do, I often marvel what it is like on the opposite facet. The possibility to check out the brand new Nothing Cellphone (2) for a protracted weekend had me excited. Here is what I discovered. 

First off, the Nothing Cellphone 2 is visually gorgeous. The clear again reveals off the cool newly up to date Glyph interface and simply seems cool. The lighter grey shapes and, nicely, fins, I suppose, do not appear to have any useful use, however they’re actually arresting to have a look at. I received loads of feedback on the sunshine notifications that present up if you flip over the cellphone face-down on a flat floor. In a loud bar, that is tremendous useful to regulate whether or not you’ve got a notification coming in or not.

The rounded glass again is a pleasure to carry and simply feels good in my hand, although it does have a tendency to slide round a bit when on fabric. In any other case, the Nothing Cellphone 2 seems lots like my iPhone—rounded corners, darkish grey partitions with antenna bands embedded, and a stunning show on the entrance. In truth, if it weren’t for the marginally totally different place of the buttons on the Nothing cellphone (together with not having a vibration toggle just like the iPhone), it might match into my iPhone Professional Max case simply high-quality. 

Composing With Glyphs

Let me speak just a little extra about this Glyph interface. There are 11 LED strips on the again that you may see by means of the rounded glass. Flip the Nothing Cellphone over onto its face, they usually all flash in sequence from backside to high. It’s, nicely, flashy enjoyable. Once you get a textual content or different notification, sure glyphs mild up in numerous patterns relying on the app the notification is from. Plug in your cellphone with the Glyph interface up, and the underside strip will mild up with a inexperienced part displaying you the way a lot cost you’ve got. Wiggle your cellphone a bit to activate this; it’s a stunning technique to know when your Nothing Cellphone 2 is able to go. 

There’s additionally a Glyph composer app that permits you to produce and report your personal Glyph notifications for customized ringtones and notifications proper on the cellphone. It’s fairly slick. 

As well as, third-party ride-share and supply apps can reap the benefits of this interface and rely down the time it takes to your automotive or meals supply to indicate up. Up to now, all we might take a look at this with was Uber, however Nothing guarantees extra integration sooner or later. 

Nothing OS: Visually Beautiful

I really like iOS; I am not a lot of a visible tinkerer, I ended jailbreaking my iPhones a number of generations in the past. That mentioned, I actually loved the distinctive look of Nothing OS. It is a black and white monochrome theme set that makes the whole lot distinctive trying. There are pink accents on numerous widgets (just like the clock with its vibrant pink second hand), which provides just a little cool tech vibe to the entire thing.

Including widgets to numerous pages is simple, and it took solely a short time to determine the default gestures (swiping from the precise edge to the left is “return.” That one took some time. I additionally preserve swiping from the highest as you do for Highlight on iOS; I am nonetheless studying to make use of the Google search bar on the backside and to swipe as much as get all of the apps not on the house web page. 

It is a cooler look than my iPhone, although the monochrome apps all begin to look the identical, particularly when logos are too comparable ( you, Google Lens and Instagram). Nonetheless, having this in my pocket was enjoyable, and I’ll have a look at some theming apps for my iPhone once I hop again over to iOS after I am achieved testing. 

The Backside Line

Nothing Cellphone 2 is a powerful contender for an Android cellphone I would change to. It prices tremendous quick on USB-C and wi-fi, has a stunning, cyberpunk-esque feel and appear, and it feels good in my hand and pocket. 

I do miss a few issues from the Apple world, nevertheless. Nothing Cellphone 2 doesn’t have Magsafe, so my pockets and automotive chargers don’t stick. I additionally miss iMessage, and whereas I don’t care about inexperienced or blue bubbles, group chats with iOS customers are complicated and generally cut up into single chats with every particular person particular person within the group chat. That’s annoying. 

I used to be capable of handle the remainder of my app life on Nothing OS with ease, although, and a few apps, like Fb and Messenger, appear to work even a bit higher than they do on iOS. I additionally love the best way I can faucet and maintain a notification and take motion, like replying to a textual content message or going on to a BeReal submit. 

How A lot Will Nothing Cellphone 2 Price, Although?

The Nothing Cellphone 1 was the speak of the tech world due to its $299 worth. The Nothing Cellphone 2 has a extra premium look, really feel, and higher-end specs total, so it is sensible that it could be a bit costlier. Nonetheless, in comparison with my iPhone Professional Max, Nothing Cellphone 2 beginning at $599 is a reasonably nice deal.

The Nothing Cellphone 2 will launch within the US and Canada beginning on the Nothing Cellphone launch date of July 17 at 4 AM ET. You’ll be able to pre-order your very personal proper now (July 11). Nothing can be doing a flowery “Nothing Drop” occasion in Manhattan on July 13, as nicely, letting of us there be the very first to truly purchase the machine.