Nothing is not slowing its roll. After launching the Ear 2 in March and promising to sell a beer (yes, really) this summer, the tech startup announced today that its second-generation Android smartphone, the Phone 2, is launching this summer as well.
Not much is known about the Phone 2 other than the fact that it’ll be powered by a Snapdragon 8 series chip. Our guess is the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that’s used in other 2023 flagship phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra and OnePlus 11.
It’s very likely the Phone 2 will have a transparent design with an LED “Glpyh” interface on the rear that’s similar to the Phone 1. As usual, Nothing shared a sliver of the device in a three-second video posted on its Twitter account.
The extremely short teaser clip shows what appears to be a white version of the Phone 2. Specifically, the upper-right corner where a diagonal LED strip sits next to what seems to be a new red LED.
Nothing co-founder and CEO Carl Pei has expressed before that he wants to expand the Glyph LED interface to do more beyond acting as a way to show incoming notifications and as fill-flash for photos and videos.
Aside from what’s likely to be a transparent design and the backside LEDs, Pei told Inverse in an exclusive interview earlier this year that the Phone 2 will be “more premium” than the Phone 1 and the Android software will be a top priority. And unlike the Phone 1, the Phone 2 will be launching in the U.S.
“When we started Phone (1) we only had about five engineers on the mobile team so a lot of the work had to be done by other companies,” Pei said about its mostly vanilla Nothing OS software. “Now our team is close to 100 people on software, and I brought in a lot of people that I used to work with before in my past life.”
Phone 2 Competition
So the Phone 2 is coming this summer. That also means it’ll be landing smack in the middle of several major phone releases.
Next week at Google I/O, Google is expected to announce the Pixel Fold and Pixel 7a, both rumored to ship either this month or in June. In the fall (likely October), Google will mostly launch the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro.
Word on the street is that Samsung is moving its annual summer Unpacked event from August to the end of July. That’s the event where we’re expecting to see Galaxy Fold 5 and Galaxy Flip 5.
And the elephant in the room, Apple, is likely to reveal the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro (and maybe an iPhone 15 Ultra?) in September.
Aggressive pricing will be the key to making the Phone 2 stand out. The Phone 1 sells for under $500, but it also uses a mid-range Snapdragon 778G+ chip, far from the flagship performance its predominantly enthusiast following prefers. The premium Snapdragon 8 series chip could mean a higher price tag. Timing and social marketing (Nothing’s specialty) will also be key to making the Phone 2 stand out.
2023 Nothing device lineup
Here’s what the current Nothing lineup looks like for the year (so far):
- Ear 2 ($150)
- Phone 2 ($500+?)
- Beer 5.1% ($TBD)
Launch Date Details
Other than launching in “summer 2023” the only additional info Nothing has shared is a sign-up page on its website. I’m sure the company will start drip-feeding teasers in the weeks ahead as it’s done for all of its previous products.
