What's selling me is the baked-in app cloning support for all apps, and the icon theming to help with distractions
I know the hardware is lacking a bit, but if I'm not looking to game hard-core, are there other necessary features Nothing is missing compared to other androids?
...and just so it's perfectly clear: I am VERY happy with Nothing OS and the 2a. Like, happy enough that my next phone will likely be a Nothing phone as well. It's been the best out-of-box user experience I've ever had with a phone
Primarily I just think the difference is overall good design between the OS and the phone itself. There are a lot of little thoughtful details that improve the experience.
The 'glyph' lights are a good example. When I was researching the phone I thought they were just a gimmick. Like sure they're neat and all but I didn't really see much value added. However, in practice you start realizing how valuable they are.
The notifications lights can be customized so important ones turn on a light until the phone is checked. This makes ignoring your phone so much easier. The Glyph Timer is really useful, especially if you need a silent timer. There's also a Glyph flashlight. This seems redundant at first because there's already an LED flashlight on the back of the phone, like every other phone. However, the Glyph flashlight is much softer which is perfect for navigating a dark room where someone is sleeping.
People will point out that most of Nothing's features can be replicated in some capacity on any Android phone. This is absolutely true, but I think they're discounting how thoughtfully these details are implemented by Nothing on their phones.
yeah that's what I'm liking with Nothing. a lot of cool niche features that other androids can technically do via third party apps and other tinkering, are just baked into a stock Nothing phone
also the notification lights complimenting the OS's color scheme to help with distractions is such a huge plus for people (me) who struggle with that
Not exactly. Nothing's sub brand CMF has SD card support in it, so Nothing could have provided it if they really wanted. It also misses a headphone jack, but Carl Pei would rather have you sell his earpods than give a jack. I don't think any phone in mid to high range segment except Sony retains headphone jack now, which is a pity.