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Edgy. That’s what Nothing has been from the very beginning, and happily continues to be till today. After launching its second flagship last year, the London-based brand has now unveiled the Nothing Phone (2a).
Aesthetics
The design language continues to be authentically Nothing. I wouldn’t expect anything less considering this is one of their biggest strengths. I can see the NFC coil snake through the transparent rear panel. The camera module is center-oriented, instead of being on the top corner. Put together, the two lenses look very Wall-E. Nothing confirms that it’s designed to look like the “eyes” of the smartphones. At 190 grams, the phone feels light, and I like the grip and its rounded corners.
The Phone (2a) sports a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, which offers a peak brightness of 1,300 nits. With a refresh rate of 120 Hz, transitions, animations, and certain videos look smooth on-screen.
The unique UI style and layout on the Nothing Phone (2a)
This time, there’s a three-part Glyph light interface. I have them on throughout. I do like how customisable the Glyph experience is. I’m one of those people whose phone is always in Do Not Disturb mode because I hate hearing the phone ring and the notification tone going off with spam SMSes. So, I really appreciate having non-startling visual feedback to alert me to calls, messages, and more. However, it can get a little annoying while gaming, as the lights go off each time I tap the screen. And even though I’m looking at the display, the light being emitted from the rear panel got annoying quite quickly. The same went for when I was playing back videos shot on the phone. This feels redundant and can get annoying quickly.
Camera
The “eyes” of the Nothing Phone (2a) - its dual camera module bang in the centre of the rear panel.
The Nothing Phone (2a) features a dual 50 MP rear camera that’s powered by a TrueLens Engine, which the company says is “a series of advanced computational algorithms” to capture realistic photographs. This also includes Ultra XDR, which Nothing has co-developed along with Google to capture accurate highlights and shadows in every shot. Accompanying this is a 50 MP ultra-wide sensor with a 114° field-of-view.
The first shots I took with this were indoors with the curtains drawn on a rather stuffy afternoon. The photos in limited light turned out a little too “warm” for my liking, with especially the red hues amped up. The snaps taken outdoors in bright daylight had very well-balanced colours, and offered fairly realistic hues throughout. The snaps were taken from a moving vehicle and didn’t deliver the sharpest results. I took some videos in well-lit indoor spaces where it captured movement and play well!
I could record 4K videos on the main camera, and 1080p videos at 60 FPS with the selfie camera. The front camera is 32 MP, with the same sensor as the Phone (2). In most of my selfies, the camera favours warm tones, and honestly, I don’t mind it. Photos look well-saturated and have a certain pleasing warmth to them.
Performance
The Nothing Phone (2a) runs on MediaTek’s Dimensity 7200 Pro processor. I reviewed a high-specs model with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. The smartphone runs on Nothing OS 2.5 and comes with Android 14 out of the box.
The Weather widget expanded on the Nothing Phone (2a), in its unique dot-matrix style font and UI design
The AI Wallpaper Studio takes Google’s generative image function up another level. I personally loved playing around with visual combinations even more than I do on the Pixel, which works on text-based prompts. There’s also a new Recorder widget, which is especially helpful in my profession, that lets me quickly record an interview on the go. There’s also a new Pedometer and Screen Time widget - two things I desperately need to regulate my penchant for distraction.
The AI Wallpaper Studio on the Nothing Phone (2a) where you can swipe through visual prompts and custom-create wallpapers
There’s minimal bloatware on the Phone (2a), which I love. Multi-tasking was smooth and the device never heated up even while gaming casually. The company promises three years of software updates and four years of security updates.
Battery Life
Nothing Phone (2a) joins the league of affordable smartphones that never disappoint with their battery life. It’s powered by a 5,000 mAh battery, which easily keeps me company for a day and more. My usage includes taking photos and videos, checking e-mails, scrolling on social media, and catching an hour or so of the latest OTT drama. There’s no charger included, but the brand says it supports 45W Fast Charging and is capable of gaining 50 per cent battery in just 20 minutes.
Verdict
Like most of its predecessors, Nothing Phone (2a) continues to impress. Its industrial aesthetics and Glyph light interface might not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, if it is, then an excellent display, long battery life, decent set of cameras and a very affordable price tag to boot, make it a clincher of a deal.
Price
23,999 (8 GB + 128 GB)
25,999 (8 GB + 256 GB)
27,999 (12 GB + 256 GB)
Pros - Glyph interface, unique design, excellent battery life, vivid OLED display, zero bloatware
Cons - No charger supplied, Glyph trigger needs to be toned down for certain functions,
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