For a finite group $G$ and a non-linear irreducible complex character $\chi$ of $G$ write $\upsilon \left(\chi \right)=\{g\in G\mid \chi (g)=0\}$. In this paper, we study the finite non-solvable groups $G$ such that $\upsilon \left(\chi \right)$ consists of at most two conjugacy classes for all but one of the non-linear irreducible characters $\chi$ of $G$. In particular, we characterize a class of finite solvable groups which are closely related to the above-mentioned question and are called solvable $\varphi$-groups. As a corollary, we answer Research Problem $2$ in [Y. Berkovich and L. Kazarin: Finite...