Wow! That was my first response when pulling the Nothing Phone (2) out of the box. It’s the first smartphone in years that impressed me from the second I opened the box. Sure, the front of the phone has a typical bright 6.7″ OLED screen (that looks fantastic by the way) but the backside is where it’s at! The clear plastic backing reveals the insides of the Nothing Phone (2) and man do they look cool. There are also light strips strategically placed inside the back of the phone, they call these Glyphs, and those lights can be used for various functions and notifications. You can setup different flashing patterns for different people and apps. Call me a geek but I think the back of this phone is SOOOO cool. It’s nice to see something super unique in a world where many smartphones have started to look the same.

The translucent back reveals an insanely cool look at the inside of the Nothing Phone (2)

The Phone (2) runs Nothing’s flavor of Google Android that they call Nothing OS 2. I really like some of the touches that Nothing added to the software but it’s also nice that they make it super easy to switch the look of the OS back to vanilla Android. Many pixel users will feel comfortable with vanilla Android while the rest of us will fall in love with Nothing OS 2’s look and feel.

Nothing OS 2 adds a level of customization that you can choose to turn on or turn off

The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 8 gen 1 processor. Technically it’s not the latest and greatest, the gen 2 was just released, but in my testing this thing flies through Android. The interface feels snappy, apps loaded without hesitation and it’s pairs perfectly with the high-end feel of the hardware.

Cameras are everything in 2023! Many have called smartphones “a camera with a phone attached to it.” Nothing didn’t skip out in this department. On the back you have two 50 Megapixel cameras, a standard camera and an ultra wide-angle camera. On the front there is a 32 Megapixel selfie camera. All of these cameras take great pictures and crystal clear 4k video at 60 frames per second. I really like how Nothing leaned into the Glyph lights on the back of the phone, allowing you to use them as a “fill” light for those moments when you don’t need a full flash but it would be nice to have some extra fill on your subject’s face. Nice touch guys!! Overall, the cameras on the Nothing Phone (2) impressed me and definitely held their own against the likes of Samsung and Apple.

The level of detail on the Nothing Phone (2) is downright impressive

Bottom line, the Nothing Phone (2) feels premium, looks premium and acts like it doesn’t know it’s the underdog in a Samsung/Apple world. I love it. The build quality is downright awesome and the software impressed me. Best of all, it comes in at a price that won’t break the bank. Nothing is onto something.

I give the Nothing Phone (2) 4.5 GEEKS out of 5. If you’re budget is $600 or less, you can’t go wrong with the Phone (2)

The Nothing Phone (2) starts at $600 and you can buy it directly from the Nothing website.