Nothing Phone 2 hands-on: Pro-repair styling without the functionality
The Nothing Phone 2 all lit up. [credit: Ron Amadeo ]
After spending its first year being limited to Europe, the upstart Android manufacturer Nothing is coming to the US. That means it's possible to buy a Nothing Phone 2 and use it on a GSM carrier, so let's take a quick look at one.
The price starts at $599, which lets it slot into the space that used to be occupied by the now obsolete base-model Pixel 7. At this price, you're getting a device that looks like a flagship on the surface with a big 6.7-inch, 120 Hz display and a last-generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The lack of water resistance is really crippling, though. Even the $349 Pixel 6a has an IP67 rating, so it's submergible, but this phone can only handle light rain. Nothing is the second major company from OnePlus founder Carl Pei, and OnePlus had a very strange relationship with water resistance, too. If the company would just be normal and competitive in this area, its devices would be a lot more desirable. Water resistance is a feature people are used to now and definitely something you would expect at this price.
But there are some good features here. I'm a big fan of the flat front screen, which bucks the pointless, year-long trend of distorted screens that are curved along both edges. Flat screens are hopefully going to be the trend going forward. The metal bands around the sides are also nice if a little iPhone-reminiscent.