After months of teasing, Nothing’s Phone 2 has a launch date

We knew that the Nothing Phone 2 would arrive next month, and now we have a precise date: July 11th, a day shy of the Phone 1’s first birthday. It’ll include a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset and a bigger battery, and it will launch in the US this time. We know all of this because Nothing has said so in a series of spec teasers, a tactic that founder Carl Pei loved to employ at the last company he helped found: OnePlus.

Based on a teaser image accompanying today’s news, the Phone 2 looks like it will continue to offer the “glyph” notification lights featured on the back of the Phone 1. On that device, they’re partly a style flourish and partly practical since they can indicate different types of incoming notifications by flashing in different patterns. Underneath the blinky lights, the Phone 1 was a good midrange phone that only sort of launched in the US.

That’s set to change with the Phone 2, which Pei says will launch here later this year. When it does, Nothing will have its work cut out for it. The US Android market is dominated by Samsung, leaving Google, Motorola, and everyone else to fight over the scraps. Although the Phone 2 will look undeniably different — at least from the back — which could serve as an advantage if it winds up on carriers’ retail shelves next to Galaxy and Pixel phones.

Still, it’s going to need much more than just a light show to compete with those established players, and we’ll find out on July 11th exactly what the Phone 2 will bring to the table. If you want to watch along at home, you can tune in at 11AM ET on nothing.tech to see for yourself.