One of my biggest pleasant surprises of 2023 was living with the Nothing Phone (2) – the second-gen handset from the UK upstart and one of my favourite phones of the year (I've certainly seen no better sub-flagship Android phone, if you can even call it that). Now there's even more good news: the Phone (2) has suddenly dropped in price as part of the best Black Friday deals.
So why is this such a good deal? For me, Nothing is onto Something as Not only does the Phone (2) deliver the Android basics really well, it adds additional fun features – primarily its Glyph lighting system on the rear of the phone, which can be used to show specific notifications in pre-programmed ways, or a decreasing light trail when tracking your Uber's progress.
Nothing Phone (2): was £579, now £499 at Nothing
Save £80: Nothing's 8+128GB second-gen model finally sees a price drop to under £500 for Black Friday. That makes this the best sub-flagship I've used in 2023 – and I think many others will agree.
As I wrote in my Nothing Phone (2) review from July of this year, which scored a rare 5-stars: "it impresses threefold: first it's so comfortable to hold and use, with a distinctive design; two, the improvements to everyday essentials (compared to Phone (1)), such as battery life and screen quality, are a real mark of quality; third, it adds a dollop of fun on top all of that, with features such as Glyph lights not just being a throwaway gimmick."
Take all that on board and what you've got here is ultimately a contender for one of the best Android phones on the market. Sure, its cameras can't quite compete with the top-tier models on the market, but then Nothing's handset is not nearly as pricey as the best flagships. In all other areas of performance, though, it holds its own.
If I was looking to buy a phone as part of the best Black Friday deals then this one would be a strong contender. There are others, from the half-price Google Pixel 7, to the £100-off Google Pixel 8, or if you're really creative (with trade-in) then you could nab a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra for £499. How about that for variety?
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Mike is T3's Tech Editor. He's been writing about consumer technology for 15 years and his beat covers phones – of which he's seen hundreds of handsets over the years – laptops, gaming, TV & audio, and more. There's little consumer tech he's not had a hand at trying, and with extensive commissioning and editing experience, he knows the industry inside out. As the former Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint for 10 years where he furthered his knowledge and expertise, whilst writing about literally thousands of products, he's also provided work for publications such as Wired, The Guardian, Metro, and more.
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