Nothing confirms the Phone (2) and teases release date

Fans of high-design handsets on a shoestring budget will be excited to know that swanky London-based firm Nothing is about to drop its next phone.

It is called the — no prizes for guessing this one — Nothing Phone (2). Nothing confirmed this new phone is on the way alongside one word, “Premium”, on Twitter.

This suggests it may cost more than the £399 Nothing Phone (1), which combined solid mid-range features and an attractive price.

Nothing says the phone is coming in “Summer 2023”. A follow-up tweet from Nothing CEO Carl Pei suggests the phone will launch in the US.

While the Nothing Phone (1) came to the UK in July 2022, it did not launch in the US until January 2023.

Nothing has relied fairly heavily on viral marketing, and this latest launch is accompanied by a typically head-scratching tease.

A three-second video shows what we assume to be the back of the phone, which is home to a blinking red LED.

Nothing website’s sign-up page for those who want to know more about the Nothing Phone (2) offers a wider crop of this view, revealing a slider control. Once again, this must be part of the phone’s back cover.

Nothing Phone (2) versus Phone (1)

The Nothing Phone (1) (Nothing)

At this point, we can only guess what the new phone’s features are, but such posts are similar to those used to generate hype for the Nothing Phone (1) and its partly transparent, LED-laden rear.

The Nothing Phone (2)’s red LED may be a notification indicator and, extrapolating beyond what we see here, may even be a multi-colour LED that can use different shades to denote different types of notification.

The phone’s rear slider is very similar to that seen in OnePlus phones, where it is used to switch between normal and silent/do not disturb modes. As ever, Nothing’s marketing style invites speculation.

Nothing is a relative of OnePlus. Its CEO, Carl Pei, was a OnePlus co-founder, and served as its director and the public face of the company until he left in 2020 to form Nothing.

In December 2022, Nothing announced it had sold a million Phone (1) handsets, less than six months after its release in July.