Nothing Phone 2 Continues to Surprise Me

In all the right ways

I’ve written about the Nothing Phone 2 a couple of times already, most recently on how it had stolen my Pixel 7 Pro’s job. Even after writing that post, it was on my mind that I’d probably feel tempted to swap back to the 7 Pro very soon. I’ve enjoyed using the last two Pixel Pro models so much, and appreciated their baked-in AI elements that made phone things and life things just a little easier while using them.

Note: I’m going to refer to the Nothing Phone 2 as the NP2 for the rest of this post, because I’m a very lazy typist, and I hope the Nothing team (if they were ever to see this) will forgive me.

Over this past weekend that temptation hit me and it didn’t take long for me to switch over a few things to make the Pixel 7 Pro my “primary” again - just swapping back the SIM card and my Pixel Watch mostly. I never thought I’d get rid of the NP2, but I did think it would stay around as a backup and maybe if I saw news of an update to it that was compelling to me, I’d think about switching again. If I’m coming across as a terrible flip-flopper here, I can say this is not my usual practice. I enjoy trying out flagship smartphones, but it tends to be one switch or maybe two in a year - and often I’ll try out a new phone, realize quickly that it’s not for me, and ship it back within its return period.

Here’s the surprising part. My return to the Pixel 7 Pro only lasted around 24 hours - by Sunday afternoon I had switched back to the NP2. There isn’t anything I like less about the Pixel 7 Pro; it hasn’t lost any of its charm or any of its features. I just discovered that there were a few things about the NP2 that I immediately missed, and even some ways that I feel like it outperforms the 7 Pro. Those include:

• The different vibe, the “has a personality” vibe of the NP2 is a big draw - but that would just be a side note if not for …

• Speed, across the board speed while using it. One day back with the 7 Pro - which is absolutely no slouch in this area - made it clear that unlocking with face or fingerprint is notably faster on the NP2. The same goes for using biometric sign-in to apps, and apps opening times.

• As fast and smooth as the 7 Pro is, I almost feel like I struggle to keep up with how fast the NP2 is.

• Phone call quality is significantly clearer and better on the NP2.

• I love the pairing of very near pure Android with minimal tweaks that are a pleasure to use - things like double-tap to wake or sleep the phone and all the extra levels of customizations for icons, folders, and widgets that the NP2 offers.

I’m also impressed that the NP2 is getting Android security updates almost as quickly as the Pixel phones, and has already had multiple feature updates. I’m excited to see what upcoming updates to the phone will bring, given the creativity and smart thinking of the Nothing team.

Getting back to the flip- flopping that I’m sure you are accusing me of while you read this, I’ll admit I will be taking a long look at the Pixel 8 Pro when it is released in just a few weeks. For right now though, the NP2 feels like home.

One more surprise to share here: it is glorious to see that 86, or said better 14 degrees below 100, up there in the weather widget today - after what seemed like two hunrded 100+ days this summer in Texas.