Nothing’s marketing for its Phone (2) has been a classic shell game, full of misdirection and showmanship. Its founder and CEO Carl Pei’s guerilla campaign for his upcoming phone has consumers looking where he wants, chasing the shiny object without revealing much or anything about his upcoming flagship product. Now Nothing has revealed the Phone (2) release date: July 11, a year and a day past the Nothing Phone (1)’s initial outing.
Other than the vague message of “Come to the bright side” and a vague glowing outline of Nothing’s telltale Glyph LEDs surrounded by tentacles, we still have no idea how much the thing will cost, even though the sequel phone will likely be aiming for the high-end phone market.
According to recent interviews and rumors, the new Phone (2) will run on the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, which would point to a more capable, though more expensive device. It will also include a bigger battery capacity at about 4,700mAH, up from the previous iteration’s 4,500. CEO Pei, a former exec at OnePlus, also claimed the new phone would have an 80% performance boost compared to the Phone (1), but we’d have to see it to believe it. In a recent Forbes interview, Pei wouldn’t even say whether the new phone would retain the glyphs—one of the few things that set the Phone (1) apart from its contemporaries—though the teaser images indicate they will be returning.
The Phone (1) was a mid-range Android device that was rather middling in more ways than one. It ran on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+, which, combined with its other specs, put it decidedly in the mid-range category alongside other phones priced at around $500. It was only available in Europe and Asia to start, though it later came to the U.S. via a beta program.
If Pei is aiming his phone for the premium market, he may be positioning the new phone just below top-of-the-line devices like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Other brands like Motorola have tried a similar tack with the recently-announced Razr+ flip phone, which also runs on the Gen 1 and costs around the same price as the similar Galaxy Z Flip4. Motorola wants to set its phone apart through its massive front screen.
In that vein, what will differentiate the Phone (2) from other similar devices? Will it fold? Will it flip? Will it be cheaper than its fellows? Will Pei personally give each person who buys his phone a foot massage? We simply don’t know, and even come July 11, there’s little reason to believe we’ll become any wiser.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory.
