Nothing Phone (2): Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, US Launch, and a Step Into the Near-Flagship Tier

July 11, 2023. The Nothing Phone (2) is here, and for the first time, it is officially available in the United States. Not through T-Mobile. Not through Best Buy. Direct-to-consumer, unlocked, online, at $599 for the 8GB/128GB model. The US launch is the bigger news than the phone itself, but the phone is also genuinely better than the Phone (1) in ways that matter.

Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 replaces the 778G+ of the Phone (1). This is the jump from mid-range to near-flagship tier: the 8+ Gen 1 is the same chip in last year’s Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the OnePlus 10 Pro. 6.7-inch LTPO OLED at 1-120Hz adaptive refresh. 4700mAh battery. 45W wired charging. IP54 rating. The Glyph Interface has expanded from 900 to 33 addressable zones, and the companion app now allows third-party developers to assign custom Glyph patterns to their applications. The price is £599 in the UK, making this a direct competitor to the OnePlus 11 and a step below the Samsung Galaxy S23.

The US launch and what it required

Nothing has obtained full carrier certification for the US network bands. The Phone (2) is compatible with T-Mobile and AT&T in the US. The direct-to-consumer model is deliberate: Nothing is not chasing carrier shelf space or subsidized pricing. It is going after the same audience that bought OnePlus phones unlocked through the company’s website in 2014 and 2015, which is the right audience for a brand at this stage. The question is whether that audience is large enough to justify the US market as a meaningful revenue contributor in 2023.

What is different about the Phone (2)

The most meaningful upgrade from the Phone (1) is the chipset. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 enables the Phone (2) to compete in reviews against devices that the Phone (1) could not. More importantly, it enables the higher sustained performance that content creators, mobile gamers, and power users need. The Phone (1)’s 778G+ was perfectly adequate for daily use and genuinely limited in sustained performance under load. The Phone (2) removes that limitation.

The Nothing OS 2.0 software layer continues to be the cleanest Android skin on the market outside of stock Android. Fast updates, minimal bloat, nothing pre-installed that does not need to be there. The company has committed to three years of Android OS updates and four years of security patches for the Phone (2), which is the minimum I would expect from a device at £599 but which many Android OEMs still do not match.

The Phone (2) is the most complete version of the Nothing argument to date. The design is exceptional, the software is clean, the specifications are competitive rather than just adequate, and for the first time, Americans can actually buy one without importing. Whether the community it earns in the US proves to be significant, and whether $599 unlocked is a price point enough people will pay without carrier subsidy, we will know over the next few months. The foundation is right.

Part of Nothing Company: The Complete Story, my running diary of Nothing from founding to global expansion.