Nothing Phone 2

The Nothing Phone 1 was one of the most impressive phones launched in 2022. Although the device didn’t make it to our list of best budget phones, it stood out for its unique and premium design. Since the Phone 1 was Nothing’s first smartphone, the company was able to tout a lot of things, including a bloatware-free experience and performance. However, this does not mean that the phone is perfect: its inferior camera performance, limited availability and other small problems negatively affect the overall user experience.

In 2023, the company founded by Carl Pei is preparing to launch its second smartphone, the Nothing Phone 2. Learning from his mistakes, nothing much more should have been done this time. This could make the Phone 2 one of the most impressive phones this year. With an announcement finally on the horizon, here’s what we know about the Nothing Phone 2 so far and what you should expect from it. Nothing Phone (2) will be released worldwide on July 11. Ahead of the official launch, details like India price, camera, display and more were announced online. Nothing has confirmed that the smartphone is “Made in India” and will come with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. Leaked images reveal that the device has a robust Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, a powerful 50MP camera system with 50MP rear cameras and a front-facing camera of 32MP, and impressive storage options of 12GB and 512GB. The phone also has a 6.7-inch OLED display and runs on  Android 13-based NOTHING OS 2.0.0.

Oneplus Nord 3

The OnePlus Nord 3 is finally here now! It’s been over two years since the Nord 2 hit the shelves, and it looks like the wait was worth it. The third Nord brings the flagship Fluid AMOLED, the most advanced chip Dimensity 9000 5G  and an improved main camera with the most advanced Sony IMX890 sensor. OK, we’re not going to pretend the Nord 2T doesn’t exist, but it was such a minor upgrade that offered faster 80W Super VOOC charging and, well, not much else. Fortunately, this charging solution made it to the Nord 3. The OnePlus Nord 3 may keep the dual glass design and the dual ring camera setup, but it has been tweaked a bit. There’s no protruding rectangular camera body, which makes for a cleaner design, and the phone is now officially IP54 resistant to dust and splashes. Fluid AMOLED is now bigger, faster and more colourful – it’s a 6.74-inch panel with a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, 10-bit colour depth, up to 1000Hz touch sensitivity and HDR10 support with Netflix and Prime support. The OnePlus Nord 3 is easy to like, with an impressive high-resolution display with even more impressive thin bezels and a notch. The flagship hardware is a real boon at this price, as is the flagship battery life and charging. We can’t help but appreciate the IP54-rated housing, which is a thoughtful step that provides additional peace of mind.

 

Design

Nothing Phone 2

Nothing Phone 1’s unique design is its main key selling point. The transparent back glass lets you see inside the phone, but unlike the Nothing Ear 1, the company has covered all the individual components with white or black tiles. This is a better approach than exposing all the internal components, as it gives the back a cleaner look. And then there are the LED strips that Nothing added to the back of the Phone 1 to make it stand out. As for the Phone 2, we expect the company to continue with the same design language without major changes. So far, there have been no rumours or leaks on that front. In a January 2023 interview, Nothing CEO Carl Pei revealed that the Phone 2 will be “superior.” Of course, this does not mean that there is nothing new this year. Rather, Nothing focuses on improving the look and feel that debuted last year. Considering that most American consumers have never seen the original model, this makes sense. If you compare the original model to the leaked images of the Nothing Phone 2, you’ll notice a few small changes, including two LED slots around the camera placement – compared to the single C-shaped LED on the original – and several glyphs. centre phone, presumably for additional colour effects. But if you’re looking for something new,  consider this USB-C cable, which this year has become transparent to better match your phone.

OnePlus Nord 3

The OnePlus Nord 3 looks a lot like the Nord 2 and 2T, alert slider included, but it has been improved in a few thoughtful ways and we think many people would love the tweaked design. The Nord 3 is still a dual-glass smartphone with a plastic frame. The screen protection is completely flat and it’s now a Dragontrail glass instead of a Gorilla Glass 5. The plastic frame is also flat with a matt finish, and our Misty Green model has a glossy Gorilla Glass 5 back panel with a 2.5D edge. The new camera housing is the first and obvious major design change – there are still two black circles that accommodate all cameras, but there is no extra rectangular housing. The second one is the official IP54 rating for dust and splash resistance. While this is not completely waterproofing like the Galaxy A models, but also splashes water for 5-10 minutes. The two camera housings are jutting out of the back, but not abruptly, and manage to still look nice. They make the Nord 3 wobble a bit on a desk, but not as much as the previous models. The plastic frame is flat and matte and is a big grip booster. There is an IR blaster, a secondary microphone, and a speaker outlet at the top. The bottom of the Nord 3 accommodates the USB-C port, the dual-SIM tray, the primary microphone, and the second stereo speaker. The Nord 3 looks and feels premium when handled, and we appreciate the IP54 rating as it gives extra peace of mind.

 

Performance

Nothing Phone 2

Inside, the Phone 1 is a mid-ranger with a Snapdragon 778G SoC, 8GB of RAM and a 4500mAh battery. This year, Niio confirmed its plans to use the Snapdragon 8 series chipset in the phone 2. While the company did not reveal the exact name of the chip in its announcement, a Qualcomm executive casually referred to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 on LinkedIn a bit afterwards. confirmed by Carl Pei himself. While 8 Gen 1 isn’t Qualcomm’s latest and greatest SoC, it’s the company’s flagship for 2022  and is still found in some of the best Android phones, including new devices like the Moto Razr. In addition, it performs significantly better than the Nothing Phone 1 Snapdragon 778G. The move also allows Nothing to price the Phone 2 much more competitively than if it used Qualcomm’s latest flagship  Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The phone promises 3 years of OS updates and four years of security updates. Other notable features include an optical in-display fingerprint sensor, an aluminium frame for added durability, and an IP rating that indicates water and dust resistance. Leaked images reveal that the device has a robust Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, a powerful 50MP camera system with 50MP rear cameras and a 32MP front camera, and impressive 12GB and 512GB storage options. The phone also has a 6.7-inch OLED display and runs on  Android 13-based NOTHING OS 2.0.0. The Nothing Phone (2) has a 6.7-inch FHD display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and can offer up to 12 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of internal storage. It runs on Nothing OS 2.0.

OnePlus Nord 3

The OnePlus Nord 3 runs Android 13 with the latest OxygenOS UI v.13.1, which is largely identical to  Realme’s UI 4.0 and Oppo’s ColorOS (the basis of all BBK launchers). Don’t expect to see  Android 13 as usual. However, the custom UI version implemented battery optimization, media drivers, colour customization and privacy updates, among other improvements. OxygenOS 13.1 is a minor update to version 13 for OnePlus 11 phones – it expands the Omoji library and adds new wellness features like Zen Space, O-Relax, and two separate Zen relaxation modes, Deep Zen and Light Zen.  OnePlus Nord 3 also supports the RAM expansion feature. As the name suggests, this feature allows you to expand your smartphone’s RAM – albeit practically –  using the smartphone’s internal memory. You can add 4 GB to 12 GB of virtual RAM. This feature is enabled by default and OnePlus has set 4GB as the default. The OnePlus Nord 3 uses the flagship Dimensity 9000 4nm chipset, just like the OnePlus Find N2 Flip. The processor configuration includes one ARM Cortex-X2 core up to 3.05GHz, three Cortex-A710s up to 2.85GHz and four Cortex-A510 cores up to 1.8GHz. The Nord 3 also has 128GB or 256GB of UFS3.1 storage and  8GB or 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. As usual, we start with Geekbench, the most popular CPU benchmark. The Nord 3 and its Dimensity 9000 chipset achieved competitive scores in both single- and multi-core tests. The 10-core Mali-G710 is the best GPU in its class, easily outperforming all other phones and easily outperforming the flagship.

 

Camera

Nothing Phone 2

The Nothing Phone 1’s cameras have never been its strong point. While the young company has released several software updates to improve camera performance, it’s not as good as the Phone 1’s main competitors, the Google Pixel 6a and  Samsung Galaxy A53, let alone their newer successors. Rear shooters break if you shoot in difficult conditions, including low light. Since Nothing plans to turn the Phone 2 into a  premium offering, the company needs to focus on its camera performance. There is no information about the phone’s camera settings yet. However, the more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset,  faster ISP and optimized image processing should allow the Phone 2 to take significantly better photos than its predecessor.

Oneplus Nord 3

On the back of the OnePlus Nord 3 is a familiar triple setup with a high-resolution 50-megapixel OIS primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. On paper, they look the same as the  Nord 2 cameras, but the main sensor has been swapped for the flagship Sony IMX890. The main camera of the Nord 3 now has a 50MP Sony IMX890 1/1.56″ with 1.0µm pixels and all pixels with omnidirectional autofocus (or Octa-PD AF). It is paired with a stabilized (OIS) 24mm f/1.8 – ultra – the wide-angle camera is based on an 8-megapixel Sony IMX 355 sensor behind a 16mm f/2.2 lens. No autofocus. the selfie camera is a little disappointing – it’s identical to what we’ve seen on some previous Realme phones – it uses a 16MP Sony IMX 471 1/3-inch Quad-Bayer sensor with 1.0µm pixels and a 24mm f/2.4 lens focus is set.

 

Price

Nothing Phone 2

According to consultant Kamila Wojciechowska, the Nothing Phone (2) is likely to be launched in India at a starting price of Rs 42,000 or Rs 43,000. At this price point, the Nothing Phone (2) competes with phones like the  Pixel 7a and OnePlus 11R. The price of the Nothing Phone (1) was around 30,000 rubles at the time of its launch, after which it was significantly reduced in just a few months. Thanks to the more powerful chip, the phone (2) is expected to cost around 40,000 rupees, making it at least 30 per cent more expensive than the phone (1).

Oneplus Nord 3

OnePlus is now all set to launch the “OnePlus Nord 3 5G” in the Nord series, yes, its third smartphone in the Nord series. The OnePlus Nord 3 5G will go on sale in India on Amazon on July 5, 2023. It will be available in two colour options: Gray Shadow and Blue Haze. OnePlus Nord 3 5G is priced at Rs 33,999 on Amazon. It will go on sale on July 15, 2023, during the Amazon Prime Day sale. According to reports, the upcoming OnePlus Nord 3 will be launched at a starting price of Rs 32,999 for the base model with 8GB  RAM and 128GB  internal storage. The phone has support for up to 16GB RAM and 256GB storage.