The best of the best of women’s basketball hit the court Saturday evening in Sin City for the annual WNBA All-Star Game.
Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson and New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart are team captains for the second consecutive year, with the Aces boasting the most number of players represented by one team, with four of their stars set to be involved in the action.
This year’s edition of the midseason showcase will see Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner lining up for Team Stewart as a No. 1 pick, just months after her release from detainment in Russia, while home-turf heroine Chelsea Gray was first pick for Team Wilson.
The game is set to get underway at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT) on Saturday, July 15, on ESPN.
Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the game live wherever you are in the world.
WNBA All-Star Game 2023: When and where?
Team Stewart takes on Team Wilson at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 15. The action is set to get underway at 8:30 p.m. ET, 5:30 p.m. ET in the US(1:30 a.m. BST in the UK and 10:30 a.m. AEST in Australia on Sunday, July 16).
What are the rosters for the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game?
The results of the All Star drafts are as follows.
Team Stewart:
Breanna Stewart (NY)
Brittney Griner (PHX)
Jewell Loyd (SEA)
Satou Sabally (DAL)
Nneka Ogwumike (LA)
Courtney Vandersloot (NY)
Sabrina Ionescu (NY)
Ezi Magbegor (SEA)
Napheesa Collier (MIN)
Kelsey Mitchell (IND)
Kahleah Copper (CHI)
Team Wilson:
A’ja Wilson (LV)
Chelsea Gray (LV)
Jackie Young (LV)
Aliyah Boston (IND)
Arike Ogunbowale (DAL)
Kelsey Plum (LV)
Alisha Gray (ATL)
Alyssa Thomas (CON)
Cheyenne Parker (ATL)
DeWanna Bonner (CON)
Elena Delle Donne (WAS)
How to watch the WNBA All-Star Game 2023 online from anywhere using a VPN
If you find yourself unable to view the game locally, you may need a different way to watch the game — that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it’s also a great idea if you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now.
Livestream the WNBA All-Star Game 2023 in the US
The WNBA All-Star Game is set to be broadcast in primetime on ABC for the first time, with coverage starting at 8:30 p.m. E.T on Saturday.
Livestream the WNBA All-Star Game 2023 in the UK
WNBA rights in the UK are with Sky Sports, which will exclusively broadcast the All-Star Game live in the region on its Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Arena channels. If you already have Sky Sports as part of your TV package, you can stream the game via its Sky Go app, but cord-cutters will want to get set up with a Now account, and a Now Sports membership, to stream the game.
Livestream the WNBA All-Star Game 2023 in Canada
Live coverage of the WNBA All-Star Gamewill be available in Canada via TSN. Cord cutters can watch via the network’s streaming service TSN Plus.
Livestream the WNBA All-Star Game 2023 in Australia
Viewers Down Under can watch this year’s All-Star Game on ESPN via Foxtel. If you’re not a Fox subscriber, your best option is to sign up to streaming service Kayo Sports.
Quick tips for streaming the WNBA All-Star Game 2023 using a VPN
With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming the All-Star game may vary.
If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
If you’re having trouble getting the game after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.
Amazon Prime Day has officially ended, but some of the deals haven’t. Whether you’re looking for a new television or a fresh set of sheets, there are still plenty of deals up for grabs.
We’ve combed through the collection of Amazon Prime Day deals left so that you don’t have to. That entails hours scrolling through page after page to find the best deals out there. Below, you’ll find our list of the best Prime Day savings on items like Apple products, Amazon TVs and so much more. Deals are ending pretty quickly though now that Prime Day is over, so we’ll be updating this list regularly to keep the savings flowing. Be sure to keep checking in to make sure you don’t miss a thing.
Best Prime Day 2023 deals still available
If you’re looking for some of the best bargains available now that Prime Day has ended, keep scrolling. We’ve gone through the sales and have highlighted some of the best deals we’ve seen so far below. We’ll continue to add more deals as we find them, so keep checking back.
Amazon Prime Day 2023 was July 11 and 12 this year, though as in previous years, a steady stream of deals flowed in on the few days preceding the event and many of the deals will continue to be available later into the week, or at least while stocks last. Amazon staggers many of the deals to keep people coming back, so it’s worth checking to make sure you don’t miss out.
Historically, Amazon has held its Prime Day sales each July with just a couple of deviations from that regular schedule. Notably, in 2020, Amazon pushed its Prime Day sale to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic before returning it to the summer in 2021 in a slightly earlier June spot. Prime Day returned to its July spot for 2022, though Amazon did utilize that October slot once again for an additional Prime Early Access Sale event that acted as a kickoff to the holiday shopping season.
As a reference, here are the Prime Day dates from previous years:
Prime Day 2015: July 15
Prime Day 2016: July 12
Prime Day 2017: July 11 to 12 (first to last longer than one day)
Prime Day 2018: July 16 to 17
Prime Day 2019: July 15 to 16
Prime Day 2020: Oct. 13 to 14 (delayed by COVID-19 pandemic)
Prime Day 2021: June 21 to 22 (the earliest to date)
Prime Day 2022: July 12 to 13
Prime Early Access Sale 2022: Oct. 11 to 12
How long will the Prime Day sale last?
The Prime Day 2023 sale has ended, but many deals are still available.
Amazon’s Prime Day hasn’t been a single-day affair since 2016, spanning two days for the first time in 2017 and continuing to be a 48-hour bonanza since then. Many deals launched at the sale’s opening time are set to last throughout the event, supplies permitting, with other, more limited-time Lightning deals launching and expiring during the two-day period.
Will there be a second Amazon Prime Day event this year?
We don’t yet have any concrete information on a second Prime Day-like event for the fall. Ultimately, if Amazon views last year’s Prime Early Access Sale as a success, it will probably wish to repeat it for 2023, though the event didn’t appear to make as big of a splash as Prime Day usually does. That being said, an October event gives Amazon the opportunity to get out ahead of the competition before Black Friday sales kick off in November.
What countries can participate in Prime Day?
Like in years gone by, Prime Day 2023 will be an international affair with over 20 countries participating. The full list is as follows:
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
China
Egypt
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Luxembourg
Mexico
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
Turkey
UK
US
How does Prime Day work?
The idea behind Prime Day is a simple one: Subscribers to Amazon’s Prime service can get exclusive discounts on thousands of products and services across the site during a limited period of time. The products, while still available to non-Prime members, will have extra savings for members, dropping many of their prices down to new all-time lows.
When you’re logged in to your Prime account and looking at a product landing page, you’ll see the discounted price if it’s on sale. You don’t need any special coupon codes, nor is there a need to use a specific payment method in order to get the discounts. If you spend your money wisely each year, you can easily make back your Prime membership cost in savings during the event.
Do you need to be a Prime member to shop the Prime Day sale?
Yes, Amazon Prime Day requires a Prime subscription if you want to nab any of the Prime-exclusive deals. You don’t have to be a paying subscriber, though, as long as the event falls within your Prime trial period. That means you can start your month-long trial just before the event and get in on the savings for free. For more info on that, check out our guide to shopping Prime Day sales without paying for Prime.
Amazon last year raised prices on Prime membership. It’s now $15 a month ($139 a year).
Will other retailers participate in Prime Day?
Each year, we see other retailers kick off July sales in order to try and compete with Amazon Prime Day and 2023 is no different. Hot on the heels of Amazon’s Prime Day announcement, we saw the unveiling of competing sales like Walmart’s Walmart Plus Week event, Target’s Circle Week sale and Best Buy’s Black Friday in July promotion. We’re covering all of the best deals at all of the major retailers.
Why did Prime Day start?
Amazon has been hosting its annual Prime Day sale since 2015. Originally, it was a 24-hour sales event to celebrate Amazon’s 20th birthday. The “Prime” in the name refers to Amazon’s subscription service, which offers free delivery on many products in as little as one to two days, and which has now expanded to encompass the Netflix-style Prime Video service and various other Amazon-related perks.
Prime Day soon became a version of “Black Friday in July” for Amazon, allowing the retailer to have a branded 48-hour shopping extravaganza in an otherwise sleepy retail season. Unlike Black Friday, however, the Prime Day branding lets Amazon differentiate its summer sale from competitors while selling Prime memberships and Amazon-branded hardware such as Echo speakers and Fire tablets, which encourage customers to stay in the Amazon ecosystem. The fact that the sale also allows Amazon and its partners to clear out inventory and warehouse space ahead of the holiday shopping season doesn’t hurt, either.
Where can you find deals right now?
The CNET Deals team covers all of the best price drops, discounts and deals daily from all the top retailers. Whether it’s a one-day sale at Woot, a weekend sale at Best Buy or a coupon code for a product at Amazon, if it’s a great deal, we’ll be covering it.
Be sure to check out all of the great deals each day at CNET.com/deals and sign up for our CNET Deals newsletter for a daily digest of deals delivered to your inbox. You can also sign up for CNET Deals text alerts for curated deals during the event, and install out our new CNET Shopping browser extension to help ensure that purchases you make all year round will be at the lowest price available.
Sony teased its “Project Leonardo” accessibility controller at CES 2023, and on Thursday it formally introduced a new way to play on the PlayStation 5 with the Access Controller, a highly customizable gamepad built for gamers with disabilities that will be released in December.
Sony has lagged for years behind Microsoft in offering an accessible first-party game controller. The rectangular Xbox Adaptive Controller was launched in 2018 for $100.
Read more: Inside Microsoft’s Lab With the Xbox Adaptive Controller
The PS5-compatible Access Controller is cheaper at $90, but also radically different in design, with large interchangeable buttons radially arranged around a circle with an adjacent joystick for directional control.
That design lets the Access Controller be used from any orientation or direction, said Isabell Tomatis, Sony’s hardware and peripherals vice president, in a blog post. The company has been developing the controller for five years and worked with accessibility organizations and experts to refine its design and features.
The controller comes with 19 differently sized button caps and 23 icons to label each button for which traditional input it corresponds to (X, circle, square, triangle, R1/L1, etc.). It also has four 3.5mm aux expansion ports to plug in additional buttons, switches or accessories, and can save 30 profile configurations for different setups.
While Microsoft has kept the lead on accessible gaming with its Xbox Adaptive Controller and a new line of adaptive accessories released last year, Sony’s new controller will be welcomed by disabled PS5 gamers. The Access Controller can be preordered on the PlayStation website starting July 21 and will go on sale on Dec. 6.
Read more: Veterans Who Lost Limbs Learn to Game Again With Adaptive Controllers
The Rakuten Viber chat app is bringing its $2-per-month premium subscription service to the US Thursday, which provides exclusive features and ad-free access to the chat app.
Viber Plus, which launched internationally in May, includes enhancements to the app like transcription of voice messages, access to paid stickers, the ability to change the Viber app icon and customer service access over live chat.
Viber Plus will also receive an Invisible Mode in August, which allows for checking messages privately without other contacts knowing you’ve read a text.
Signing up for Viber Plus is done from within the Rakuten Viber app, with the subscription being charged through either Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store.
Viber Plus joins Telegram in offering a premium tier, with the latter’s premium service focusing on expanding the service’s limits on file uploads and download speeds. Meanwhile, Viber rival WhatsApp recently launched the ability to move chat history from one phone to another without needing to use a third-party cloud backup service.
Netflix, a CNET Editor’s Choice Award pick, is almost synonymous with streaming TV shows and movies. But on top of streaming shows like Black Mirror and Stranger Things, your subscription also gives you access to a library of mobile games you can play on your iOS or Android device.
Netflix adds titles every month. Here are the new games for July.
Too Hot To Handle 2
Release date: July 20
This interactive-story game based on the popular reality-TV dating game show gives players more choices and drama. Chloe Veitch, winner of season 1 of Too Hot to Handle and star of Netflix shows like Perfect Match and The Circle, also makes an appearance in this game.
The Queen’s Gambit Chess
Release date: July 25
This game is for anyone who’s been playing chess for years or was inspired to learn the game after watching the series The Queen’s Gambit. You can take chess lessons, compete against friends and solve challenging puzzles. You’ll also be able to meet characters from the show, like Beth Harmon’s original teacher, Mr. Shaibel, and visit show locations, like Beth’s house.
Here’s how you can access games in Netflix’s library.
1. Download the Netflix app onto your iPhone, iPad or Android device. 2. Open the Netflix app and sign into your account. 3. Scroll down your homepage until you see the Mobile Games carousel. 4. Tap into a game to learn more about it. 5. Tap Get Game to download a game you’re interested in.
An additional pop-up from either Apple’s App Store or the Google Play store will open asking if you want to download the game. After you’ve confirmed that action, the game will start downloading on your device like other apps.
For more, check out what games are coming to Apple Arcade in July and the best game subscription services.
Google made its Bard AI chatbot available to the public in May, during Google I/O 2023, but only in English, Japanese and Korean to start, with more promised. Two months later, the tech giant’s ChatGPT competitor now supports more than 40 total languages.
Bard’s supported languages include Arabic, Chinese, German, Hindi and Spanish, according to a blog post announcing the expansion. And though the chatbot was initially available only in 180 English-speaking countries, usage has been expanded across Europe, South America, Africa and elsewhere — here’s a full list of supported languages and countries.
Bard has a few new features, like vocalizing responses so you can hear them aloud if you’ve prompted poems or a dialogue scene, or if there’s tricky pronunciation. To hear responses, just press the button that looks like a sound icon, next to a message.
A different Google I/O promise is also being fulfilled: dropping images into Bard to help you analyze, create a caption or find more information on the internet. This feature is available only in English right now.
Another new feature lets you change Bard’s responses to suit a desired tone or length — for instance, you can make them longer, shorter, simpler, more professional or more casual. And if you want to pick up Bard conversations where you left off, you can pin responses and save them to a sidebar.
For the coders out there, a new Bard feature allows you to export Python code to Replit in addition to Google Colab. You can also share your responses or even entire Bard chats with others via shareable links.
Read more: ChatGPT vs. Bing vs. Google Bard: Which AI Is the Most Helpful?
On Thursday, Netflix rolled out its next game, Sonic Prime Dash, to coincide with the release of the second season of the animated series Sonic Prime. This game is available for free and without ads or paywalls with a Netflix subscription (starting at $7, 7 or AU$7 a month) on Android and iOS devices.
Sonic Prime Dash is almost identical to 2013’s Sonic Dash, the popular endless running game. More than 100 million people downloaded Sonic Dash, and the game’s success spawned the 2015 sequel Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom.
Welcome to the Shatterverse! Sonic Prime Dash launches on Netflix Games today! pic.twitter.com/12tOcpwN24
Sonic Prime Dash maintains most of the mechanics of Sonic Dash and has you jump, dodge and avoid obstacles and enemies as you collect rings — like any good Sonic game.
However, the main difference between Sonic Prime Dash and Sonic Dash is that the former features some new designs and character skins from the show Sonic Prime, like cyborg versions of Tails and Amy Rose. This is more like a fresh coat of paint on an older game, but that doesn’t make it any less fun.
You can access this game and others with any of Netflix’s subscriptions, which start at $7 a month. To access Netflix games, open the Netflix app on your Android or iOS device, scroll down the homepage until you see the Mobile Games carousel, and tap into the game you want to play.
Amazon Prime Day has come and gone, but it’s not too late to score a bargain. Whether you’re looking for a new pair of headphones or a fresh set of sheets, there are plenty of deals to be had.
We’ve scoured the collection of Amazon Prime Day deals left so that you don’t have to. That entails hours scrolling through page after page to find the best deals out there. Below, you’ll find our list of the best Prime Day savings on items like Apple products, Amazon TVs and so much more. Deals are ending pretty quickly though now that Prime Day is over, so we’ll be updating this list regularly to keep the savings flowing. Be sure to keep checking in to make sure you don’t miss a thing.
Best Prime Day 2023 deals still available
If you’re looking for some of the best bargains available now that Prime Day has ended, keep scrolling. We’ve gone through the sales and have highlighted some of the best deals we’ve seen so far below. We’ll continue to add more deals as we find them, so keep checking back.
Amazon Prime Day 2023 was July 11 and 12 this year, though as in previous years, a steady stream of deals flowed in on the few days preceding the event and many of the deals will continue to be available later into the week, or at least while stocks last. Amazon staggers many of the deals to keep people coming back, so it’s worth checking to make sure you don’t miss out.
Historically, Amazon has held its Prime Day sales each July with just a couple of deviations from that regular schedule. Notably, in 2020, Amazon pushed its Prime Day sale to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic before returning it to the summer in 2021 in a slightly earlier June spot. Prime Day returned to its July spot for 2022, though Amazon did utilize that October slot once again for an additional Prime Early Access Sale event that acted as a kickoff to the holiday shopping season.
As a reference, here are the Prime Day dates from previous years:
Prime Day 2015: July 15
Prime Day 2016: July 12
Prime Day 2017: July 11 to 12 (first to last longer than one day)
Prime Day 2018: July 16 to 17
Prime Day 2019: July 15 to 16
Prime Day 2020: Oct. 13 to 14 (delayed by COVID-19 pandemic)
Prime Day 2021: June 21 to 22 (the earliest to date)
Prime Day 2022: July 12 to 13
Prime Early Access Sale 2022: Oct. 11 to 12
How long will the Prime Day sale last?
The Prime Day 2023 sale has ended, but many deals are still available.
Amazon’s Prime Day hasn’t been a single-day affair since 2016, spanning two days for the first time in 2017 and continuing to be a 48-hour bonanza since then. Many deals launched at the sale’s opening time are set to last throughout the event, supplies permitting, with other, more limited-time Lightning deals launching and expiring during the two-day period.
Will there be a second Amazon Prime Day event this year?
We don’t yet have any concrete information on a second Prime Day-like event for the fall. Ultimately, if Amazon views last year’s Prime Early Access Sale as a success, it will probably wish to repeat it for 2023, though the event didn’t appear to make as big of a splash as Prime Day usually does. That being said, an October event gives Amazon the opportunity to get out ahead of the competition before Black Friday sales kick off in November.
What countries can participate in Prime Day?
Like in years gone by, Prime Day 2023 will be an international affair with over 20 countries participating. The full list is as follows:
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
China
Egypt
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Luxembourg
Mexico
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
Turkey
UK
US
How does Prime Day work?
The idea behind Prime Day is a simple one: Subscribers to Amazon’s Prime service can get exclusive discounts on thousands of products and services across the site during a limited period of time. The products, while still available to non-Prime members, will have extra savings for members, dropping many of their prices down to new all-time lows.
When you’re logged in to your Prime account and looking at a product landing page, you’ll see the discounted price if it’s on sale. You don’t need any special coupon codes, nor is there a need to use a specific payment method in order to get the discounts. If you spend your money wisely each year, you can easily make back your Prime membership cost in savings during the event.
Do you need to be a Prime member to shop the Prime Day sale?
Yes, Amazon Prime Day requires a Prime subscription if you want to nab any of the Prime-exclusive deals. You don’t have to be a paying subscriber, though, as long as the event falls within your Prime trial period. That means you can start your month-long trial just before the event and get in on the savings for free. For more info on that, check out our guide to shopping Prime Day sales without paying for Prime.
Amazon last year raised prices on Prime membership. It’s now $15 a month ($139 a year).
Will other retailers participate in Prime Day?
Each year, we see other retailers kick off July sales in order to try and compete with Amazon Prime Day and 2023 is no different. Hot on the heels of Amazon’s Prime Day announcement, we saw the unveiling of competing sales like Walmart’s Walmart Plus Week event, Target’s Circle Week sale and Best Buy’s Black Friday in July promotion. We’re covering all of the best deals at all of the major retailers.
Why did Prime Day start?
Amazon has been hosting its annual Prime Day sale since 2015. Originally, it was a 24-hour sales event to celebrate Amazon’s 20th birthday. The “Prime” in the name refers to Amazon’s subscription service, which offers free delivery on many products in as little as one to two days, and which has now expanded to encompass the Netflix-style Prime Video service and various other Amazon-related perks.
Prime Day soon became a version of “Black Friday in July” for Amazon, allowing the retailer to have a branded 48-hour shopping extravaganza in an otherwise sleepy retail season. Unlike Black Friday, however, the Prime Day branding lets Amazon differentiate its summer sale from competitors while selling Prime memberships and Amazon-branded hardware such as Echo speakers and Fire tablets, which encourage customers to stay in the Amazon ecosystem. The fact that the sale also allows Amazon and its partners to clear out inventory and warehouse space ahead of the holiday shopping season doesn’t hurt, either.
Where can you find deals right now?
The CNET Deals team covers all of the best price drops, discounts and deals daily from all the top retailers. Whether it’s a one-day sale at Woot, a weekend sale at Best Buy or a coupon code for a product at Amazon, if it’s a great deal, we’ll be covering it.
Be sure to check out all of the great deals each day at CNET.com/deals and sign up for our CNET Deals newsletter for a daily digest of deals delivered to your inbox. You can also sign up for CNET Deals text alerts for curated deals during the event, and install out our new CNET Shopping browser extension to help ensure that purchases you make all year round will be at the lowest price available.
This year’s Amazon Prime Day has officially come to an end (although there are plenty of deals still floating around), and the retail giant on Thursday touted it as “the biggest Prime Day event ever” in the company’s history.
Like past years, Amazon didn’t release total sales figures but said shoppers worldwide bought more than 375 million products and “saved” $2.5 billion over the two-day event. That tops last year when Amazon said Prime members purchased more than 300 million items worldwide.
“The first day of Prime Day was the largest sales day in Amazon’s history, and Prime members saved more this year than any other Prime Day event,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Amazon Stores, in a blog post on Thursday.
US e-commerce sales jumped as a whole thanks to Prime Day, according to data from Adobe Analytics. Online shoppers spent $6.3 billion across sites on Wednesday, up 6.4% compared to last year. Combine that with Tuesday’s online sales of $6.4 billion, Adobe said a total of $12.7 billion was spent online during the two-day Prime Day event.
The top seller for Prime Day, according to Amazon, was its Fire TV Stick (3rd Gen) with Alexa Voice Remote. The company said it sold millions of Alexa-enabled devices during the sales event. Other top-selling items were Laneige Lip Glowy Balm, Apple AirPods and Bisselll’s Little Green Portable Deep Cleaner.
Of course, Amazon wasn’t the only retailer to have big deals this week. Walmart, Best Buy and Target ran their own competing sales events that are still going on.
The first Nothing Phone impressed us with its solid all-round performance, its low price and of course its flashing lights. But it never officially made it to the US, aside from an unusual beta program. This second-generation phone is here to change that.
When it goes on sale in the United States and the wider world from July 16, the Nothing Phone 2 will have a range of upgrades, from the processor to the design. But at $599 and 579 (with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage) it’s $100 more than the first generation, and the competition at this price point has never been more fierce. Especially as my test model with 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage actually costs $699.
Google’s Pixel 7A in particular has a slightly better dual camera, and its pure Android 13 software is slick to use. The Pixel 7A’s processor isn’t as powerful as the Nothing Phone 2’s, but the Google phone’s much more affordable $449 price tag more than makes up for that. Then there’s the Pixel 7 Pro — Google’s flagship — which has one of the best cameras it’s possible to find on a phone and is currently on sale (with 128GB of storage) for only $649 at Best Buy. If photography is important to you, I’d recommend spending the small amount extra.
There’s also the OnePlus 10T, which boasts the same powerful Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor as the Nothing Phone 2, has a similar camera setup, and can currently be picked up directly from OnePlus for only $400. Even the OnePlus 10 Pro with its superb camera system is only $480.
The Nothing Phone 2’s flashing LED lights are the main thing that separates it from the competition, and while they’re certainly an interesting quirk, they’re arguably something of a gimmick and not a feature I can see myself genuinely using over time. The phone’s large screen, powerful processor and decent battery life are better reasons to consider buying this device, but at $599, it’s difficult to justify the Nothing Phone 2 over the increasingly strong competition.
A familiar, flashy design
Visually, there hasn’t been a big departure from the first generation. The back is still transparent, letting you see a little of what’s inside the phone, including the exposed screw heads and various connecting segments. The glass is gently curved at the edges now to give it a slightly more premium feel when you hold it.
But it’s the flashing lights — or glyph, as Nothing calls it — that’s the big family resemblance here. Those LEDs light up the back of the phone and can alert you to incoming notifications. Or you can use them for alarms, to show battery charge status, or simply as basic fill light when you’re recording video.
The Phone 2 provides a bit more customization over the glyph this time around, letting you create custom light patterns for certain contacts or apps. There’s also a glyph timer that’ll gradually tick down as it reaches zero, and it can also give a convenient visual cue about other time-related things, such as when your Uber is going to arrive, so you can put it down and focus on sorting out your hair while keeping an eye on its progress. Nothing says it’ll be working with other app developers to integrate this functionality.
The glyph lights certainly made the original phone stand out against the competition, and though they’re arguably something of a gimmick, it’s nice to see a bit of fun and flair in phones. Especially in midrange phones like this, where interesting designs tend to take more of a back seat to keep prices down. The glyph lights have turned heads when I’ve used the Nothing Phone in front of my friends, but interest quickly fades once the initial curiosity is satisfied. Can I genuinely see myself making use of the lights over time? Honestly, no.
But the glyph lights aren’t the only physical things to care about. The aluminum frame is 100% recycled. There’s a fingerprint scanner hidden beneath the display, which works well most of the time. And the phone is IP54 rated to help keep it safe when you have to take calls in the rain. The 6.7-inch display is big and bright enough to do justice to vibrant games or to YouTube videos you’re watching while on the move, and its adaptive refresh rate lets it drop down to only 1Hz to help preserve battery life or ramp up to 120Hz for smoother gaming.
Older chip with big potential
Powering the Nothing Phone 2 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor backed up by either 8GB or 12GB of RAM (as reviewed). That’s a slightly older generation processor, but it’s still a potent chip that can fully handle most things you’d ever want to throw at it, from video streaming to photo editing to gaming. It chalked up some great scores on our benchmark tests, and it handled demanding games like PUBG and Genshin Impact perfectly well at max settings.
Nothing says it used an older chip because it wanted something tried and tested that would offer a more stable platform at a more reasonable price, and I think that’s probably a fair trade-off. Motorola’s foldable Razr Plus is doing the same thing. It might not be the most recent chip Qualcomm makes (that would be the 8 Gen 2), but it’s still something of a powerhouse that’ll cope with almost anything you’d ever want to do with it.
The Phone 2 runs Android 13 at its core, but Nothing has done a lot to customize the interface. It’s a very monochrome experience, with a heavy reliance on dot-matrix style texts and icons. There are a variety of widgets that use these designs, and even the app icons are black and white to keep with that minimal monochrome aesthetic. That could make it quite difficult to find the apps you want if you rely on those color cues, but you can turn this off in the settings if you want.
A feature that I can see being quite handy is creating folders of apps on your homescreen and hiding them behind an icon — I’m imagining filling this folder with my work-specific apps like Outlook, Zoom and Slack and then covering them up with the briefcase symbol so I don’t have to look at them on my weekend. Lovely stuff.
I don’t often like UIs that heavily customize the look of Android, but there’s something quite stylish about the design that Nothing uses on its phones. If you’re into that kind of stark minimalism, then you’ll no doubt enjoy it.
Nothing promises that the Phone 2 will receive three years of OS updates and an additional fourth year of security updates. That’s a little below the five years that Samsung offers on its phones, but it could certainly be worse. Still, I’d hope to see all manufacturers extending their support period up to and beyond five years to keep phones safe to use for longer and therefore keep more of them out of landfills.
Same cameras, better processing
The back of the phone is home to a 50-megapixel main camera and a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera. Hardware-wise, that’s pretty much the same setup we saw on the Nothing Phone 1. But the improved Snapdragon processor allows for a lot better software processing, with Nothing promising improved colors, exposure and better HDR techniques to help you take nicer-looking shots.
I’ve spent some time testing the camera, and I’m pleased to see vibrant, sharp images that look better than the ones I saw from the first generation phone. Still, it isn’t perfect, with some bright skies still being blown out in the highlights and a heavy-handed sharpening that results in odd image anomalies. Against the cheaper Pixel 7A, I generally prefer the shots from the Pixel.
The Nothing Phone 2’s colors are OK in this example, but there are noticeable patches in the white clouds where it has overexposed the image, resulting in blown-out details. And that’s despite the buildings themselves looking darker. The Pixel 7A’s HDR skills have resulted in a much nicer-looking image overall here.
Switching to the ultrawide lenses on both phones, the story is much the same, with the Nothing Phone 2 managing to again overexpose sections of the sky while underexposing the buildings next to the river. The Pixel 7A’s shot is much more balanced.
Neither phone has a dedicated telephoto zoom lens, but both offer 2x digital zoom modes, using cropping and image sharpening to get closer to your subject. I generally prefer the overall look of the image from the Nothing Phone 2, but though the fine details are sharper, the software sharpening has caused some issues.
Zooming in to 200% on the 2x zoom images, it’s clear that the Nothing Phone 2’s shot looks generally sharper. However, look where I’ve circled in red — on the Pixel 7A the vertical slats are clearly rendered, whereas the Nothing Phone 2’s heavy-handed processing has turned this into a weird spiral mess. So while it’s artificially added more detail in some areas, it’s seriously reduced it in others. At full screen you may never notice this, but it’s worth keeping in mind, especially if you often digitally crop into images later.
Other images from the Nothing Phone 2 are generally bright and vibrant, albeit with that overexposure problem often noticeable.
Ignoring the default mirroring on the Nothing Phone 2, both phones have taken generally well-exposed, sharp shots here. I prefer the white balance and richer yellow of my jacket in the Pixel’s shot, but it’s a close call.
Overall, though, I think the Pixel 7A takes the better photos, which is impressive considering it’s quite a bit cheaper than the Nothing Phone. If photography is important to you, then you should consider looking toward Google — either the 7A or splashing a bit more on the 7 Pro.
Decent battery life
Powering everything is a 4,700-mAh battery that with reasonable use should get you through a full day. It put in a decent effort on our rundown tests, dropping to 91% after two hours of YouTube streaming on full brightness. For reference, the Pixel 7A dropped to 90% after two hours, while Samsung’s Galaxy A54 dropped to 87%.
As with all phones, your actual results will come down to how much you use your device. Hammer it with video streaming and demanding gaming all morning and you’ll need to give it a boost in the afternoon. Most of you will probably just get away with giving it a full charge when you go to sleep each night.
It supports 45-watt fast charging, which Nothing says will take it from empty to full in 55 minutes. That’s decent enough, though it’s a ways behind the 80- or 100-watt charging we’ve seen on other phones outside the US. At this price, though, I can’t argue too much. It has 15-watt wireless charging too, as well as reverse wireless charging if you want to use your phone’s battery to power up your headphones, or another phone entirely.
Is the Nothing Phone 2 a good phone to buy?
The Nothing Phone 2’s flashy LEDs certainly make a statement, and both its processor performance and battery life are strong. But the extra $100 Nothing wants over its predecessor has changed the game. It’s gone from being an affordable budget option to quite a pricey midranger, while the competition has been getting stronger.
The Pixel 7A is arguably its biggest rival, and personally, it’s the phone I’d go for over the Nothing Phone 2. Its processor isn’t as powerful, but it’ll still handle almost all your daily needs, and its camera is better. Plus it’s quite a lot cheaper. I’d also consider the OnePlus 10T over the Nothing Phone — it didn’t impress me at its full price at launch, but its current $400 price makes it a worthy option.
If you love the idea of those flashing lights making your phone stand out from the crowd, then the Nothing Phone 2 is certainly worth considering. It’s a good phone, it’s just about $100 too expensive right now. If you can pick it up with a bit of a discount after the launch excitement has dwindled a little, then that’d be a good use of your money. But at full price, you’ll really need to love those lights to justify the spend.
How we test phones
Every phone tested by CNET’s reviews team was actually used in the real world. We test a phone’s features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it’s bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor’s performance to the extremes using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.
All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions, from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using a device daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests.
We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds and foldable displays, among others that can be useful. And we balance all of this against the price, to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever its price is, actually represents good value.
Nothing Phone 2 specs comparison chart
Nothing Phone 2
Pixel 7A
Galaxy A54 5G
Display size, resolution, refresh rate
6.7-inch OLED; 2,412×1,080 pixels; 1-120Hz
6.1-inch OLED; 2,400×1,080 pixels; 60/90Hz
6.4-inch Super AMOLED; 2,340×1,080 pixels; 120Hz
Pixel density
394 ppi
361 ppi
403 ppi
Dimensions (inches)
6.38 x 3.00 x 0.33 in
6.00 x 2.87 x 0.35 in
6.23 x 3.02 x 0.32 in
Dimensions (millimeters)
162.1 x 76.4 x 8.6 mm
152.4 x 72.9 x 9.0 mm
158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2 mm
Weight (grams, ounces)
201g (7.09 oz)
193g (6.81 oz)
202g (7.13 oz)
Mobile software
Android 13
Android 13
Android 13
Camera
50-megapixel main. 50-megapixel ultrawide
64-megapixel main, 4K at 6fps. 13-megapixel ultrawide, 4K at 30fps
