Nothing Phone 2a Review | Delivers bang for the buck
| Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
Nothing is back with its third smartphone – the Nothing Phone 2a. A relatively new player in the Android space, the company made waves with its first phone, the Nothing Phone 1, which offered a unique transparent design and near-clean software experience in the premium segment. The Phone 2a succeeds too, but in the mid-segment, where value for money is key. Does Phone 2a have enough to stand out? Let’s dive into this in-depth review.
Design
Much like its predecessor, the Nothing Phone 2a highlights a transparent back panel, allowing you to peek at some of the phone’s internal components. The phone comes in two colours – Black and White. The rim of the black variant which we reviewed bends very nicely with the front and the rear sides giving a mono design. The PCB used at the back is prone to smudges and fingerprints. The cameras are placed in a circle, resembling human eyes, surrounded by three glyphs showcasing the company’s unique design choices. You get to see the power button on the right side while on the left lies the volume rockers. The bottom side houses the SIM tray, USB Type-C port and a speaker grille.
Nothing Phone 2a design
| Photo Credit:
Haider Ali Khan
Display
The Nothing Phone 2a sports a 6.7-inch AMOLED display that supports HDR10+ so you get to take full advantage of an expanded dynamic range and excellent contrast when viewing compatible content on Netflix or YouTube. It also hits an impressive 2,160Hz PWM frequency for dimming, which significantly reduces on-screen flicker at lower brightness levels. Brightness levels are excellent, with the maximum at 1,300 nits, and ensuring decent outdoor visibility under harsh lighting. The 120Hz refresh rate completes the package by enabling smooth system animations and scrolling along with responsive touch.
Software and UI
On the software front, the Phone 2a runs Android 14 out-of-the-box with the company’s Nothing OS 2.5 on top. It’s a light skin that retains the stock Android look and feel while adding some quirky customizations and personalization options. You get fun Stuff and Glyphs sections that allow applying custom ringtones and notification sounds, along with lighting effects on the transparent Glyph interface located on the phone’s back.
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Performance and Hardware
Nothing Phone 2a is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 7200 Pro chip with 8 cores. For graphics, it relies on Mali G-610 GPU. Our 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage review unit felt consistently zippy when pushing the Phone 2a to its limits with heavy multitasking. Apps stayed resident in memory for longer and system animations remained smooth even with several apps running simultaneously. Gaming performance was solid as well for the most part, although we did notice the occasional dropped frame and stutter in graphically intensive titles with maxed settings.
For a mid-range phone, the Phone 2a delivers impressive processing muscle whether blazing through mundane smartphone tasks or handling moderate loads. Average users are unlikely to find themselves wanting more power during daily usage. Only the most demanding of power users might feel constrained on rare occasions. The Phone 2a posted good benchmark numbers that translate to smooth real-world usage. It managed Geekbench scores of 1137 (Single-Core) and 2606 (Multi-Core) while its Mali G610 GPU scored 3294 in graphics tests.
Camera
Imaging is an area of focus for the Phone 2a, with it featuring a dual 50MP camera setup on the back. Selfie duties are handled by a 32MP lens. The main 50MP shooter captures impressive levels of detail with near accurate colours. Dynamic range is also good and the contrast levels in the pictures turn pretty well. The ultra-wide does exhibit slightly lower contrast and muted colours by comparison but is acceptable overall.
Phone 2a camera sample
| Photo Credit:
Haider Ali Khan
Switch to low light and the primary camera leverages pixel binning to output crisp 12MP shots with vivid colours. Noise is well controlled too. The Night Mode delivers brighter images with boosted colours and detail at the cost of minor artefacts. The selfie cam produces social media-ready shots in the daytime, hitting the right balance of skin textures and bright colours.
Nothing Phone 2a camera sample
| Photo Credit:
Haider Ali Khan
Battery
The Phone 2a ships with a 5,000mAh battery pack which provides a nice battery backup even with heavy usage. In our testing, the phone lasted a day and a half of mixed-use including social media, messaging, browsing, streaming, and gaming before needing a recharge. When you do need to top up, a supported 45W fast charger gets you from 0 to 65% in just between 30-35 minutes. The phone does not come with an adapter which might pinch the mid-range users a bit.
Verdict
With a fresh design in its segment, great display quality, smooth software experience, reliable battery life and a capable camera, the Nothing Phone 2a checks off most boxes expected from a 2024 mid-range smartphone priced at ₹23,999. Performance is good, not necessarily chart-topping, but considering the package, the Phone 2a clearly delivers bang for the buck.
