It’s hard to compare any Android phone to Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro, in part because iOS users tend to value different things than Android users do. But in the past few years, even some of the most loyal iPhone fans have gotten upset with the way the company has changed its products.
So, iPhone users who want to try something new might look to Nothing Phone 2, which tries to spice up a type of phone that can sometimes seem boring. The second version of the Nothing Phone gets closer to being able to compete with top-of-the-line smartphones with its flagship chip and other changes. But will the improvements be enough to beat one of the best iPhones in 2023?
Price, features, and availability
Throughout the summer, there were hints about Nothing Phone 2, which came out on July 17 in North America, the U.K., Ireland, India, and Hong Kong. It’s the second phone from Nothing Technology, a new company run by Carl Pei, who also started OnePlus. Unlike the Nothing Phone 1, the new Nothing Phone 2 can be bought in the U.S., but it’s not yet in shops. On the other hand, if you happen to be near the Nothing store in London, you can buy the company’s newest smartphone in person.
Everyone else can only get the Nothing Phone 2 from Nothing’s website. The base model of this phone costs $599 and comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. If you need more memory and storage space, you can pay $699 or $799 for the 12GB/256GB or 12GB/512GB versions. The new Nothing phone can be set up in either white or gray. Both colors use Nothing’s transparent design style.
Design
If you ignore the Nothing Phone 2’s clear design and built-in LEDs for a second, you might think it looks a little bit like an iPhone. Even though they are both built in a similar way, the Phone 2 and the iPhone 14 Pro look very different. The second one is heavy and has hard sides and sharp edges.
In contrast, the Nothing Phone 2 feels light in your hand and is much easier to hold thanks to its smooth edges. The iPhone 14 Pro is one of the most uncomfortable top phones I’ve used this year from Apple, Samsung, Google, and Nothing. The Phone 2, on the other hand, is one of the most comfy phones. The Pixel 7 series might be the most comfortable, though.
The Nothing Phone 2’s camera bump is only slightly higher than the rest of the back case. Because of this, it doesn’t have much of an effect on how the phone is used every day. The iPhone 14 Pro, on the other hand, has the biggest camera bump of all the major flagships. It sticks out 4.1 mm from the back of the back case. Since the whole iPhone 14 Pro is 7.85mm thick, this is something you will feel.-
Display
The display on the new iPhone 14 Pro is one of the most noticeable changes. It has a brand-new feature called Dynamic Island. It has a 6.1-inch OLED screen with LTPO technology, which lets the panel’s update rate change from 1Hz to 120Hz. So, it is possible to have a screen that is always on. And unlike most Android phones, the iPhone 14 Pro’s always-on display shows the lock screen background even when the phone isn’t being used. You can also change the look of the whole lock screen and add apps, many of which work with the always-on feature.
Apple finally got rid of the notch and replaced it with Dynamic Island. This is a software feature that combines the hole-punch camera cutout and the pill-shaped opening for the Face ID sensor into a single “island.” The small space between the two holes is used by the company to show progress indicators, such as an orange dot when the microphone is being used and a green dot when the camera is being used.
Dynamic Island will also show information, such as the songs that are played and updates to Maps navigation. When you first use this function, it’s impressive, but that effect wears off over time. I think Dynamic Island is more useful than the Glyph Interface, but right now, both are more like toys than game-changers.
Performance and software
The iPhone 14 Pro is one of the most powerful smartphones on the market. It has Apple’s A16 Bionic chip and 6GB of unified memory. Even though it has less storage than the Nothing Phone 2’s 8GB or 12GB, the experience will probably be better on an iPhone.
Apple has done a great job of making sure that its A-series chips and iOS work well together, so the experience is very smooth. On the other hand, the phone gets hot after being used for a long time, and the battery life isn’t very good. My iPhone 14 Pro often needs to be charged twice a day, which isn’t ideal.
The processor in Phone 2 didn’t get any better, which might be the biggest difference between Phone 1 and Phone 2. It now has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, which puts it fully in the flagship category.
This chip is fine for everyday use with Android 13, but it’s not as good as the A16 Bionic. In fact, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 platform already has a Gen 2 version that is used in other phones. But if you look at how most people use their smartphones, the processor and speed of the Phone 2 should be fine for $600. Also, the battery life is great, easily lasting a full day.
Cameras
We’ve already talked about how camera bumps are different. Now, let’s talk about the tech inside the camera. The 50MP Sony IMX890 sensor in the camera system is another way that Phone 2 is better than the Phone. This main camera has an image sensor size of 1/1.56 inches and an aperture of f/1.9. Nothing has some quality-optimization tools that make the most of this lens.
The ultra-wide camera, on the other hand, is still the same as it was on Phone 1. Phone 2 has the same 50MP Samsung JN1 camera with a 1/2.76-inch image sensor and an f/2.2 aperture. Phone 2 works well most of the time when there is enough light, but when there isn’t enough light, it has problems like overexposure.
This year, Apple also updated the iPhone 14 Pro’s camera technology. Instead of the old 12MP main camera, it now has a new 48MP quad-pixel sensor. This main sensor has an aperture of f/1.78, and it works by combining each of its four pixels into one larger image.
This lets the camera pick up more information and details, which makes the photos better. There is also a 12MP ultra-wide lens and a 12MP macro lens with a 3x optical zoom. Plus, the A16 Bionic chip has new computational photography features that make the raw pictures captured by these sensors look better when they are processed.
Which one is right for you?
When deciding between the iPhone 14 Pro and the Nothing Phone 2, there are many things to think about. If you don’t care about money and like the iOS operating system, the iPhone 14 Pro has more features and better specs than the Phone 2.
It has a great screen, a fast A16 Bionic chip, and better gear for the camera. If you have a lot of other Apple goods, you’ll also find that the iPhone 14 Pro works well with them. At $1,000, the iPhone 14 Pro can keep up with the best Android phones, and, on paper, it’s clear that it’s better than the Nothing Phone 2.
