Nothing CEO Carl Pei has explained, in his own words, why the Nothing Phone (2) is missing from the Nothing OS 5.0 update list. Nothing confirmed on August 25 that the Phone (2), the original Phone (1), and the CMF Phone 1 would not receive Android 17. Pei’s explanation, given during a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session, adds the reasoning that Nothing’s own rollout chart never spelled out.
“The kernel is unfortunately too old,” Pei said, responding to a user asking why the Phone (2) was cut off. He added that Android 17 also won’t be supported by the phone’s chipset vendor — a practical ceiling that applies to older Qualcomm silicon regardless of what a phone maker wants to ship.
Nothing Phone (2) update policy: what buyers were actually promised
Pei also addressed the update count directly, and got it wrong on his first attempt. He initially told the AMA that the Phone (2) had received four major Android upgrades. It received three: Android 13 at launch, then Android 14, 15, and 16. Nothing’s original promise at launch was three major OS updates, and Pei corrected himself afterward to acknowledge that the company met that promise rather than exceeded it. Security patches continue separately, running through July 2027 under Nothing’s update policy.
That distinction matters because the Phone (2) launched in July 2023 as Nothing’s flagship device at the time. Three major OS versions is a policy more typical of a budget phone today — Samsung now promises six years of OS upgrades on some of its mid-range Galaxy A-series phones, and Google matches that on Pixels. Within Nothing’s own lineup, only the Phone (3) gets five major updates; nearly everything else, including phones launched well after the Phone (2), tops out at three.
What this means if you own a Phone (2)
Nothing kept its word on paper. But a three-year software ceiling on a phone sold as a flagship is a promise that looked generous in 2023 and looks thin against 2026’s mid-range standard. If you’re still on a Phone (2), Android 16 is as far as the major-version updates go — security patches are the only thing left, and those run out in mid-2027.
Nothing has not said whether future flagships will get a longer commitment than the three-year floor most of its current lineup sits on.
Sources: Carl Pei, Nothing CEO, via Gizmochina and Android Authority (originally from a Reddit AMA).
