The one problem is that from the principle Glyph settings web page it’s not instantly clear how granular you possibly can go in notifications. You may definitely choose notifications from, say, Instagram Direct Messages (and not Direct Message Requests), however in apps like Telegram and Fb Messenger, you possibly can select particular conversations. These don’t at all times present up within the Glyph settings, so when a notification comes by, you’ll have to press and maintain the down arrow on the notification itself to mark it as an “Important Glyph” notification.
Glyph lights additionally work with the Glyph Timer, which you’ll set to your most well-liked size and begin by turning the telephone face down. One of many LED strips will mild up and start fading in correspondence with the timer. No want to take a look at your telephone! The LEDs can now even be built-in with third-party apps, though Nothing solely labored with Uber at launch. Proper now, should you name an Uber driver, you received’t must preserve checking the app to see how far-off they’re—simply have a look at the LED strip to see the driving force’s progress. It labored completely on the few rides I booked final week, although I inevitably needed to examine my telephone to ensure I knew my driver’s title and license plate.
Nonetheless, these little options are intelligent methods that will help you keep current and keep away from unnecessarily checking your telephone. One downside? It’s arduous to erase years of muscle reminiscence of placing a smartphone face up. Too typically I simply … forgot that Glyph lights are a factor. You’ll want time to get used to it. Additionally, if Nothing needs me to place its telephone face down on each floor possible, the least it may do is embrace a transparent case that may preserve the Gorilla Glass 5 display contact-free. I don’t see any scratches but, however they appear inevitable.
Not utilizing the telephone is a giant a part of Nothing’s ethos—the corporate needs to make its software program and {hardware} extra “intentional” so that you simply’re solely utilizing your handset whenever you want it. Its new monochrome interface is a part of that play. It takes a web page from Google’s “Bedtime Mode” in Android, which converts the telephone’s software program to grayscale to discourage you from doomscrolling earlier than mattress. There are not any app labels both.
Nevertheless, after utilizing a completely grayscale interface for just a few weeks, I don’t suppose this works. I’m already utilizing my telephone much less as a result of my favourite third-party Reddit consumer shut down (and I can’t be downloading Reddit’s official app, thanks very a lot), however when your entire telephone is monochrome on a regular basis, I don’t essentially get that Pavlovian jolt that it’s bedtime and I ought to actually fall asleep. As an alternative, it simply looks like a very elegant design.
Appears to be like are the place I’ve to provide Nothing props. Nothing OS 2.0 is attractive, notably with a lot of Nothing’s personal widgets. Much more amazingly, you possibly can put these widgets on the lock display, and it appears much better than something I’ve ever seen on some other Android telephone. The notification and ringtone sounds are additionally distinctive. Nothing has additionally launched a “Glyph Composer,” and I spent far too lengthy making just a few customized ringtones and notification alerts. It jogs my memory of the great previous days of Android, which fostered a “do-whatever-you-want-with-your-phone” mentality.
All or Nothing
The basics of the Nothing Cellphone (2) are fairly nice total. The 6.7-inch AMOLED display has a fluid 120-Hz display refresh charge that appears glorious and will get comfortably brilliant on sunny days. The 4,700-mAh battery cell simply lasted me a full day—after 4 hours of display time, I normally had over 40 p.c left within the tank. It could possibly simply final a full day and a half.
It’s now powered by final 12 months’s flagship processor, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, with 8 GB of RAM (128 GB of inside storage). It’s snappy and looks like probably the most responsive telephones I’ve ever used, with speedy animations and fast app launches. It’s tremendous clean.