Android is a great operating system, but how good it is depends on the device you’re using. Google Pixel phones have long been lauded for their software experience, but the Nothing Phone (2) is a reminder that the Pixel went a little way off.
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Nothing Phone (2) runs an Android skin known as “Nothing OS 2.0”. Skins are fairly lightweight and feature a fairly standard Android experience, with an overall customized design and some special features and settings such as icon tweaks and lock screen widgets. This is unlike Samsung’s One UI, which effectively rebuilds the platform from the ground up.
It doesn’t have a sober approach that feels painted on, but it goes beyond aesthetics.
Somehow none really managed to create one of the most stable Android experiences I’ve ever tried. Fast, fluid and always excellent. Even coming from Pixel, which tends to outpace the likes of Samsung and Motorola when it comes to software feel, I was simply blown away by how well Nothing OS did.
A few years ago, so did the Pixel. Things were stable and consistent, but over time it got worse. Pixels seem to ‘rot’ faster than most other smartphones, have weird bugs over time that result in poor performance, and really crazy issues with updates too. We’re talking Android makers here. It’s very interesting to see a young startup surpass Google itself at this.
I sincerely hope that the Nothing example and Google’s continued efforts to improve Tensor will make a difference over time.
Top stories of the week
Added some new tweaks to Google Messages
Google Messages, which has been rolling out over the past week, has introduced some notable tweaks. It started with the rollout of animated emojis in chat. These are similar to Emoji Kitchen and are really fun. Additionally, Google has rolled out a new badge for his RCS messages more widely.
Android 14 beta 4
Google released the fourth beta of Android 14 this week, which mostly includes iterative tweaks to the OS. Our coverage includes:
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