00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 When the Nothing Phone 1 was released last year,
00:05 it was a big attention grabber
00:07 because of its transparent design,
00:09 of course the glyphs, the lighting system.
00:10 It was great that you could use it
00:12 for different notifications, you could personalize it.
00:14 However, it was really underwhelming with its camera.
00:18 It just wasn't great for low light.
00:19 The photos it took were pale, washed out
00:21 compared to some of the others out there.
00:23 Now with the Nothing Phone 2,
00:24 they've actually upgraded the cameras.
00:26 It's still a 50 megapixel main camera.
00:28 They have a 50 megapixel wide camera,
00:30 but it uses the new Sony IMX890 sensor.
00:33 So hopefully it's gonna perform a lot better,
00:36 especially in low light.
00:37 But with the Pixel 7a, it's a 64 megapixel main camera,
00:40 13 megapixel wide angle camera,
00:42 but it has some exclusive features
00:44 that you'll only find on Pixel,
00:46 like magic eraser and photo and blur.
00:48 Knowing all that, I'm kind of curious
00:49 about how well these new cameras perform
00:51 in the Nothing Phone 2.
00:52 So I'm gonna take it out on the road,
00:54 take a bunch of photos,
00:55 and compare the shots against the Pixel 7a.
00:58 The first thing that strikes me is just the larger screen.
01:02 It actually looks a lot like the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
01:05 I put it side by side,
01:06 and at first I thought it was the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
01:10 So it's a 6.7 inch OLED display, and it looks nice.
01:14 So one of the most important things
01:19 is having a great main camera.
01:21 That's your go-to camera for everything,
01:24 everyday situations, whether it's taking landscapes,
01:26 you wanna make sure that captures great details
01:29 and has excellent dynamic range.
01:30 Because the last thing you want is for the main camera
01:33 to have the highlights blown out
01:34 when you're taking a photo like this on a sunny day.
01:37 So here's that first shot.
01:41 And at first they look almost identical,
01:44 but the Nothing Phone 2 tends to produce
01:46 warmer looking colors.
01:47 It's not bad, depending on your taste,
01:49 but the Pixel 7a definitely has more details.
01:52 I notice it especially with the sign on the left.
01:55 When I punch in, I could read the text a lot more.
01:57 It's sharper and clearer.
01:59 Up next, I'm gonna talk about
02:02 the portrait mode on both cameras.
02:04 Now I checked it out here on the Nothing Phone 2,
02:06 it only uses the main camera.
02:08 There is a slider where you can adjust the aperture,
02:09 so you can go really wide or very narrow.
02:12 And of course there's all the post-processing
02:14 it does to apply it.
02:15 There's only one camera that does it all.
02:16 Whereas with the Pixel 7a,
02:18 you get the option to punch in up to two times.
02:20 Still uses that regular main camera,
02:23 but there's no option from the camera app
02:25 to adjust the aperture.
02:26 It just does it all on its own.
02:28 To me, I like the Pixel 7a a lot more
02:31 because it's realistic looking
02:32 compared to Nothing Phone 2.
02:34 Even though it has a tighter crop
02:35 when you actually take the photo,
02:37 I just like how it just adds that perfect amount of bokeh.
02:41 Whereas with the Nothing Phone 2,
02:42 I know you could dial back down the bokeh,
02:44 but it just doesn't look real.
02:47 It looks a little bit too artificial.
02:49 People love taking selfies.
02:50 So here on the Nothing Phone 2,
02:52 it's a 32 megapixel camera.
02:54 Using the app,
02:55 you actually have the option to do also portrait.
02:58 You have the slider here as well,
02:59 where you could actually adjust the aperture,
03:01 so you can get just the amount of bokeh to the background.
03:05 With the Pixel 7a,
03:05 you also have the option for portrait mode,
03:08 but there's no slider with it.
03:09 It's a tough call here with selfies
03:12 because I do like how there's more detail
03:14 with the Nothing Phone 2's front-facing camera.
03:16 But on the other hand,
03:17 the Pixel 7a does a better job of handling dynamic range,
03:21 and it's also wider with the front-facing camera.
03:23 So you'll be able to capture more of yourself.
03:26 So another thing you want to think about
03:28 is the ultra-wide camera.
03:30 You find in today's phones, even mid-rangers,
03:32 and it's important
03:33 because you're gonna be able to capture more of the scene.
03:36 For example, a scenery like this,
03:38 where you have a landscape,
03:40 also wonderful if you're taking a group shot
03:42 with people in it,
03:43 so they don't have to be all scrunched up.
03:45 They can be just in one area,
03:46 and you'll capture everyone perfectly.
03:48 So the ultra-wide camera here on the Nothing Phone 2
03:51 is a 50-megapixel camera with a 114-degree field of view,
03:56 so you'll be able to get more of the shot into the scene.
03:58 Over here on the Pixel 7a,
04:00 it actually has a wider field of view.
04:02 It's a 120-degree field of view,
04:04 so you're gonna get more of the scene
04:06 with the wide-angle camera.
04:08 Just like the main cameras,
04:10 I'm liking the Pixel 7a's ultra-wide camera more in the shot,
04:14 especially because it covers more of the scene.
04:16 You can see it on the sides with the buildings,
04:18 but on top of that,
04:19 it handles dynamic range a little bit better.
04:21 I can see in the shadows
04:23 where you can see more of the details.
04:25 While it's pretty obvious which phone does better
04:38 when it comes to low-light photography,
04:40 it's the Pixel 7a.
04:42 Nightside mode just makes it a lot brighter.
04:44 It draws out more of the detail.
04:46 You can see it in the leaves in the tree,
04:48 versus the Nothing Phone 2.
04:49 It's dark, and it's not properly exposed.
04:52 Finally, there's video recording.
04:54 With the Nothing Phone 2,
04:55 it tops out at 4K, 60 frames per second.
04:58 Same thing here on the Pixel 7a,
05:00 but I will tell you,
05:01 if you wanna use the wide-angle here with the Pixel 7a,
05:03 you gotta switch it down to 1080p.
05:05 You have the option to use the wide-angle
05:07 with the Nothing Phone 2 at the full resolution.
05:13 This one's a close race,
05:14 because when you look at both videos,
05:17 they handle stabilization pretty well.
05:20 But I do notice some micro jitters
05:21 on the Nothing Phone 2.
05:23 It's not terrible,
05:25 but side-by-side against the Pixel 7a,
05:27 it does stand out a little bit,
05:28 and that's why I'm gonna give it to the Pixel 7a.
05:31 So there you go, guys.
05:33 Let me know what you think about the photos
05:35 in the comments below.
05:36 Which one did you like better
05:37 when it came to taking portrait shots,
05:39 low-light photography?
05:41 I'm gonna be testing out more
05:42 so you can check out my full review
05:43 over at tomsguide.com.
05:45 Check us out on social @tomsguide.
05:48 You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
05:51 I'm John B., and I'll see you in my next video.
05:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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