Nothing Phone 2a Plus Review

Key Takeaways

The Nothing Phone 2a Plus is available with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for an asking price of $399.
The unique and rather fun glyph interface is included here, and the phone is well-constructed overall.
The handset comes with a clean and bloat-free Android experience and snappy performance, but its camera output is only just ok.

After making waves in the tech scene with its glyph-powered Phone lineup of devices, the London-based Nothing manufacturer is back at it with a new model — the Phone 2a Plus.

The Phone 2a Plus builds upon the foundations laid by the existing Phone 2a, an affordable midranger that gave even the likes of the Google Pixel 7a a solid run for its money.

Recommended

Nothing Phone 2a Plus

The Nothing Phone 2a Plus brings the now-iconic Glyph Interface, a refreshingly clean Android experience, and surprisingly thin display bezels to a package that costs a cool $399.

Pros

Excellent fit and finish
Includes the fun glyph interface
Clean and slick software

Cons

No wireless charging
Camera quality is nothing special
Won’t get Android 15 as quick as a Pixel device

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Price, availability, and specs

Starting off with the specifications, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus crams solid tech into its sleak chassis. $399 nets you a generous 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is the only configuration currently on offer. Overall dimensions come in at 6.37 x 3.00 x 0.33-inches (161.7 x 76.32 x 8.55mm) and a weight of 6.70oz (190g).

The device itself ships with a roomy 6.7-inch AMOLED display, running at FHD+ resolution (1080 x 2412). Its peak display brightness reaches a modest 1300 nits, which is far from class-leading, but I found it to be suitable enough for outdoor use under sunny conditions.

Refreshingly, the Phone 2a Plus includes an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate display, which can ramp down to 30Hz to preserve battery life during times of idle. Considering the iPhone 15 still ships with a 60Hz display in 2024, I consider this a big win on the part of Nothing.

Speaking of battery, the phone is outfitted with a 5,000 mAh cell, which is coupled with speedy 50W fast charging capabilities. Unfortunately, as expected, there’s no charging brick included in the box itself — you’ll have to shell out additional cash to unlock the privilege of quick top-up speeds. Powering the unit itself is the MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro 5G processor, which Nothing proudly touts as a world exlusive for the company. The chip is an octa-core solution that’s built on 4nm technology.

Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 are both on board, as is NFC. Unfortunately, wireless charging is not included here, which is unfortunate for those like myself that use the tech on a regular basis. There’s also no microSD card slot or headphone jack, which are sometimes still included on other mid-range phones.

As mentioned, the Phone 2a Plus is available at an asking price of $399 in the United States. If you spring for the device, it’ll arrive in Nothing’s new metallic grey color. A colour is also available, but currently it isn’t currently available in the United States. The handset will be available for purchase through Nothing’s U.S. Beta Program on August 7 at 9am EST.

Nothing Phone 2a Plus

Brand: Nothing
SoC: MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro 5G
Display: 6.7-inch Flexible AMOLED 1084 x 2412 pixel resolution, 120Hz, 1,300 nits peak brightness
RAM: 12GB
Storage: 256GB
Battery: 5,000 mAh
Ports: USB-C
Operating System: Android
Front camera: 50-megapixel
Rear camera: 50-megapixel f/1.88, 50-megapixel 114° field-of-view
Connectivity: USB-C
Colors: Grey, black
Weight: 190g
IP Rating: IP54
Release date: August 17, 2024

Build and design

The Phone 2a Plus is a beautifully mid-range device

Pocket-lint

Nothing has done a bang-up job when it comes to the fit and finish of the Phone 2a Plus. The mid-range phone market is flooded with generic and uninspired design languages, but the unique translucent rear and LED glyph arrangement provides a pop of personality here.

Nothing talks up the bezels on the Phone 2a Plus, describing them as the thinnest the company has shipped on a smartphone to date. They come in at 0.8-inches (2.1mm), which certainly isn’t as thin as higher-end phones, but the big deal here is that they’re perfectly symmetrical. This creates the impression that the device is more high-end than it really is, as bezel symmetry is usually reserved for high-end flagships.

The phone’s sides are made out of plastic as opposed to metal, but it feels well constructed with tight tolerances and clicky buttons that are satisfying to press.

The Phone 2a Plus is fairly durable, as well. The display and selfie camera are covered by Gorilla Glass 5, and the unit itself is IP54 certified. This rating means that the phone is protected against dust and splashes of fresh water, but hasn’t been certified for total submersion. For the odd time when you get stuck out in the rain, the Phone 2a Plus should hold up without a hitch.

The fairly big 6.7-inch display naturally means that this handset is on the larger side, which might make one-handed usability somewhat difficult depending on the size of your hands. I tend to prefer more compact devices, but this is a personal preference, and many will appreciate the extra screen real estate for watching multimedia content.

Nothing’s Phone 2a Plus offers its Glyph Interface in a price-conscious package

The anticipated Phone 2a Plus from Nothing has landed, with a release date of August 7.

Display

The screen is perfectly serviceable

Nothing has outfitted the Phone 2a Plus with a pleasant AMOLED panel, which features the perfect black levels and punchy contrast typical to OLED technology. The 120Hz fast refresh rate and HDR10+ support are welcome additions, as is the inclusion of an always on display (AOD).

At FHD+ resolution, the device has a pixel density of 395 pixels per inch (PPI). It’s far from best-in-class, but I believe this sacrifice was well worth it — it’s next to impossible to tell apart individual pixels on the screen from a normal viewing distance.

Hidden beneath the display is an optical fingerprint sensor, which I found to be quite accurate in my time with the device. I found the placement of the sensor to be a little bit lower on the screen than I would have liked, but otherwise it gave me no trouble at all.

9:51

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Camera

A perfectly ok shooter that’s probably the weakest link

The Phone 2a Plus ships with a dual rear camera setup, with both a 50-megapixel main camera and a 50-megapixel ultrawide lens. The main shooter includes optical image stabilization for steady shots and footage, and the setup can record video at up to 4K resolution at 30 frames per second or full HD at 60 frames per second.

I found both photos and videos shot with the Nothing Phone 2a Plus to be pretty average. Mid-range phones these days are capable of some incredible shots, though much like other handsets in the price bracket, things start to break down and become noisy when there’s less light available to the sensor.

I found shutter speed to be consistently quick, and I appreciate the inclusion of other shooting modes like time-lapse, panorama, slow motion, and even a full-blown ‘expert’ mode. Switching this mode on gives you access to exposure value, ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and manual focus.

As for the selfie shooter, it also comes in at 50-megapixels, which is high for a mid-range device, and can shoot in 4K at 30 frames per second. Despite the higher than average resolution, I found it to take comparable shots to the competition, mainly Pixel A series devices.

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Performance

The phone is by no means a gaming powerhouse, but the interface is smooth

Nothing has opted to go for a MediaTek Dimensity processor on the Phone 2a Plus, as opposed to the more commonly found Qualcomm Snapdragon chips used in a lot of other devices. The specific chip model here is the Dimensity 7350 Pro, which includes state-of-the-art 4nm architecture for efficiency, as well as the Mali-G610 MC4 graphics processing unit on board.

The processor benchmarks with a Geekbench 6 single-core score of roughly 1,119 and a multi-score of about 2,206. In terms of raw power, it can’t hold a candle to the processors found in higher-end flagship phones. That being said, outside of gaming, you won’t notice an appreciable difference in everyday performance. I found navigating through the operating system to be both fluid and responsive to the touch, and apps launching felt snappy.

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Software

A lovely take on Android

Pocket-lint

My favorite aspect of the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is the handling of software. Out of the box, you’re greeted with a stock Android-like interface, but infused with a little bit of Nothing character. I’m fond of the dot-matrix aesthetic consistently upheld throughout the system, which is subtle but unique.

I’m happy to report that the phone ships without a barrage of bloatware, coming preloaded only with the essentials, and leaving the downloading of apps at your own discretion.

The only ‘value added’ software included in the package pertains to the glyph interface mentioned earlier. Nothing gives you a number of settings to play around with here, such as LED brightness, a fun music visualizer option, and the ability to create your own Glyph sequence for use as a ringtone. None of it is particularly groundbreaking, but it’s also far from offensive, and serves as a clever and unique gimmick that’s fun to experiment with.

The phone arrives with Nothing OS 2.6 running atop Android 14. The next major version of Android is expected to arrive in a matter of weeks, and I’m hopeful that the Phone 2a Plus will receive the update without much delay. The company promises years of major OS updates, in addition to four years of security patches.

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Should you buy the Nothing Phone 2a Plus?

If you’re looking for a mid-range device, this is great option

In short, yes, but only if you’re in the market for a midrange handset. Nothing has crafted an attractive and performant package that punches above its weight. The glyph interface is a fun, but superfluous addition that does a stand-up job of injecting some personality into the device.

“You won’t be getting the latest-and-greatest camera setup or highest resolution display on the market, but if you temper your expectations, Nothing’s latest offering is pretty great.”

Fans of clean and bloat-free Android interfaces will feel right at home with the Phone 2a Plus, and the hardware running the show is pretty reasonable for the asking price of $399.

You won’t be getting the latest-and-greatest camera setup or highest resolution display on the market, but if you temper your expectations, Nothing’s latest offering is pretty great.