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British GQ has already called the Nothing Phone (2a) the phone of the year for 2024.
If you think that’s a bit premature, keep in mind that you’re now reading a review written by a guy who crowned the Samsung S24 Ultra the phone of the year – in January.
We’re all at it, aren’t we?
I’m a huge fan of Nothing phones, and I therefore understand the excitement that followed the announcement of their brand-new budget smartphone. Priced at just £319 and featuring a typically iconic design – not to mention specs that will grab even the most ardent smartphone expert’s attention, the Nothing Phone (2a) seems to tick a lot of boxes.
I’ve only been using it for a few days, but I’ve made my mind up already. Spoiler: if you’re thinking about buying a new phone this year, you should absolutely consider the Nothing Phone (2a).
Let’s get into it.
Pricing and specs
The Nothing Phone (2a) is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro 5G chip and comes in two configurations. The first features 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage (that’s the one I’m testing), and the second bumps the RAM up to 12GB and increases the storage to 256GB.
For those who want to push things a little further, Nothing offers a RAM Booster feature which combines memory with a portion of storage to increase the total RAM to 20GB.
Powering everything is Nothing OS 2.5, which is based on Android 14. On display duties, there’s a 6.7” AMOLED unit with 1,300 nits of peak brightness and a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate.
Stamina is taken care of with a 5,000mAh battery that promises two days of use and 29 hours of video playback. The Nothing Phone (2a) can fast charge at 45w, but there’s no wireless charging.
IP54 water resistance and a dual 50MP camera system complete a rather impressive spec list for just £319 of your hard-earned money (£349 if you opt for the higher spec).
It’s worth noting that if you live in the US, you’ll need to register as a developer with Nothing to buy the Nothing Phone (2a). Anyone can do it, apparently, but it’s one extra step which illustrates the tempered availability of this phone globally.
Nothing Phone (2a) design
The Nothing Phone (2a) was apparently designed in London, which is nice to hear. It’s a lovely-looking thing, too. In my opinion, a far better and more interesting-looking phone than either the Phone (1) or Phone (2).
However, I must confess at this juncture. When I ordered my Nothing Phone (2a) I completely neglected to pay attention to the colour choice. That left me with the black edition which has a couple of issues. Firstly, it’s an absolute smudge and dust magnet. Secondly, you can barely make out any of the unique detailing that has always set Nothing phones apart from the rest. Given my time again, I’d have opted for the Milk or White version – and I’d urge you to heed my advice on this.
Stupid colour choice aside, the Nothing Phone (2a) is “built on a canvas of transparency” and fuses “human warmth with innovative engineering”.
I’m quoting directly from Nothing’s website if you haven’t guessed. It takes you on quite a journey.
That unique camera placement has been christened the ‘Eyes’ of the device, and we’re told that behind them lies a “hub of intelligence that powers the phone like a brain”. Oh, and the NFC coil is apparently what that circular thing is surrounding the lenses. Because of course it is.
The visible flexible printed circuits on the rear of the Nothing Phone (2a) draw inspiration from Massimo Vignelli’s New York subway map, which is all well and good. Still, I do wonder why it isn’t the London Underground, given that this phone was allegedly designed in London. Curious.
Nothing has also achieved an industry first with the Nothing Phone (2a) design. It features a 90° infinity back cover. I have no idea what this means, or how I’m supposed to identify it on the rear of the device, but we’re told that to assemble it, the Nothing team had to use “an innovative dual compression and injection process that enables a thickness ratio of 2.2:0.8 (thickest to thinnest) compared to the industry standard of 2:1”.
Again, I have no idea what any of that means. But this is Nothing all over; they’ll spend – or waste, depending on your viewpoint – acres of the product’s landing page waffling on about design decisions and how they’re redefining smartphones forever. Curiously, they never seem to point out what this means for the user, but that doesn’t matter.
In fact, none of this matters.
Like every Nothing product, the Phone (2a) is just a really cool-looking phone. That’s it. And, yes, it has the glyph interface – this time, with just three lights. Those lights can flash to indicate incoming calls, timers, music playback, and your self-composed glyph ringtones. You can even set the glyph interface to indicate the volume level as you click the buttons on the side to adjust. The latter illustrates why the glyph interface is so brilliantly daft – why would you ever need to see the volume level on the rear of the phone?
Nothing’s design decisions are wonderfully silly – endearingly so. In a world of dull smartphones that have reached peak innovation, physically, they continue to be a breath of fresh air.
Nothing Phone (2a) display
Nothing has knocked it out of the park when it comes to the display on the Phone (2a).
We must remember that this phone costs just £319 if you opt for the base model. For that, you get an iPhone 15 Pro Max-sized display with 120Hz of dynamic refresh rate loveliness and 1,300 nits of brightness.
It even has rounded corners, just like the iPhone, yet there’s no silly Monkey Island to get in the way of what is a beautifully expansive display. An under-screen fingerprint reader (which is, at times, a little sluggish, admittedly), caps off an incredible package for the price.
Performance and battery life
A lot has been said about Nothing’s decision to switch from the Qualcomm Snapdragon chip found in the Phone (2) to the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro powering the Phone (2a).
It’s a marginally interesting conversation, but there’s so little between these chip manufacturers in 2024 that it makes any performance coverage in my reviews barely worth talking about.
If you don’t know by now, I should highlight that I don’t undertake benchmarks, nor do I game on my smartphones – or do anything remotely strenuous (I’m still not sure how you’d push a modern smartphone, to be honest).
All you need to know is that the Nothing Phone (2a) feels as fast and snappy in everyday use as an S24 Ultra. If you have concerns about it from a gaming perspective or any other form of industrial use, you might be surprised – or you might just need to spend a bit more money and get something else.
The differentiating factor for the Phone (2a) remains Nothing OS 2.5. It is, when all is said and done, ‘just’ another Android 14 skin, but it has been developed with real care and attention. Nothing clearly loves its operating system, and it shows; this is an abundantly fun device to use and look at, and, once again, we do need that in 2024.
Battery life is superb. The two days of use claim is spot on, and the fact you can fast charge (Nothing promises “a day’s power in just 20 minutes”) is the icing on the cake.
So, regarding performance and battery life, the Nothing Phone (2a) battles valiantly with the big boys.
Nothing Phone (2a) camera
To find out what the camera is like on Nothing’s budget phone, I decided to take it on a somewhat wet and overcast walk through Warwick (sorry about the absence of blue skies – but I’m afraid I live in the UK).
The Phone (2a) uses the TrueLens Engine, which has been co-developed with Google.
As always, this is the most subjective part of any smartphone review, but I’d welcome your comments on these photos.
The Phone (2a) promises to deliver “more accurate contrasts between highlights and shadows by capturing 8 frames at different exposure levels in RAW format”.
These are taken with either the 50MP main camera or the 50MP ultra-wide.
Everything beyond 1x is taken care of with a digital zoom, I’m afraid. At 2x, things are pretty good.
Move up to 5x, and it starts to get a bit rough.
And if you’re thinking about 10x – well, I just wouldn’t bother.
There are clearly concessions to be had with the Nothing Phone (2a) camera system, but I’m happy to report that for everyday use, it’s impressive.
I like the images this phone spits out, and, most importantly, it dealt admirably with my ‘dog and small person’ test in a low-light environment at home.
There were a few misses, but it got it right more often than not.
I think we’ve reached a point where Nothing smartphones deliver consistent, reliable photos that look decent in most conditions.
If you want better optical zoom or fancy AI features, you need to spend more money – it’s that simple.
Video-wise, the Phone (2a) shoots up to 4K at 60fps on the rear camera system and maxes out at 1080p on the selfie camera. Video quality on both cameras is really impressive for the price, and reveals, once again, that Nothing has done an awful lot to stamp some authority in the camera department – even at the bottom end of the scale.
Conclusion: is the Nothing Phone (2a) worth it?
The Nothing Phone (2a) is the best budget phone I’ve tested thus far. It’s not the phone of the year, in my opinion – that crown still rests on the head of the S24 Ultra.
However, if your budget doesn’t stretch to the increasingly astronomical realms of the flagship smartphone, Nothing has proven that you can get an awful lot for your money elsewhere.
Strip away all of the marketing guff about the design, and you’re left with an incredibly characterful, interesting phone that can punch well above its weight class in terms of performance, battery life, and the camera system.
The Phone (2) was Nothing’s difficult second album, but the Phone (2a) reveals that they still have it in them to produce incredibly high-value smartphones for anyone who’s fed up with the price of devices from other manufacturers.
The Nothing Phone (2a) is going to take some beating this year.
