The best Nothing Phone 2a alternatives: 5 phones to consider before you buy

When it comes to sheer novelty, Nothing’s smartphones are in a league of their own. The cool glyph on the back is a real conversation starter, but if you’re looking for something more practical (or live in North America where the phone isn’t officially available), there are plenty of other options. With that in mind, here are the best Nothing Phone 2a alternatives you can buy.

Google Pixel 8a

The Nothing Phone 2a isn’t a bad camera phone by any means, but if you want the best budget camera phone you can get, the Google Pixel 8a is it. Much like the Nothing Phone 2a, it’s a cheaper version of Google’s mainline Pixel series, but it keeps the same Tensor G3 SoC as the Pixel 8, which gives it far more AI smarts than any other phone in its price bracket.

That translates into unique software features like better camera processing, an upgraded Magic Eraser, live translations, and other machine learning applications. Of course, we also found it to perform flawlessly for standard apps, and Google seems to have mostly solved the heat issues from the Pixel 7a. However, given the SoC’s focus on machine learning over raw power, don’t expect the best performance on demanding mobile games.

Size-wise, it’s significantly smaller at 6.1-inches. That makes it much easier to use with one hand, earning it a spot among our favorite small phones. It does have sizable bezels, but it uses the same bright, speedy display as its more expensive sibling, the Pixel 8. The biggest sacrifices you’re making with the Pixel 8a are in build materials, so you’ll definitely want to slap a case and probably a screen protector on it if you want to get the most out of Google’s promised seven years of updates.

Although the battery life and charging speeds of the Pixel 8a don’t hold a candle to the 45W charging on the Nothing Phone 2a, it does have wireless charging if that’s your thing. It retails for $499, although you may be able to get it for free via your phone carrier. If you can find the Pixel 8 on sale (currently $699 at Amazon) it’s a better buy, and if you want to save more money, the Pixel 7a ($477 at Amazon) is still a good buy in 2024.

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

Samsung is still the king of the Android world, and the best Nothing Phone 2a alternative it makes is the Galaxy A54 5G. The mid-ranger is one of our favorite devices under $500, and it’s a solid smartphone for just about anyone. It doesn’t have any keystone features like the Nothing Phone 2a’s Glyph, but it has just about everything else you could want and then some.

Although it isn’t quite at the same level as its flagship cousins, the Galaxy A54 5G’s Exynos 1380 was a great performer in our testing. We’ll have to run our benchmarks on the Dimensity 7200 Pro to see how it stacks up against the Nothing Phone 2a, but suffice it to say that for daily use it’s more than sufficient.

The screen is smaller than the Nothing Phone 2a at 6.3-inches, which we found to be a nice size. Like the Nothing Phone 2a, the AMOLED display is very bright and sharp with a 120hz refresh rate. We were also impressed with the main camera sensor, although it did tend to oversaturate colors.

At the end of the day, the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G is a very safe pick, making it the complete opposite of the Nothing Phone 2a. It won’t blow you away, but it won’t disappoint, either. If you want to save a bit more, the Galaxy A34 5G ($244.49 at Amazon) is also a great pick.

Motorola Moto G 5G (2023)

The Nothing Phone 2a is certainly an affordable phone, but the Motorola Moto G 5G (2023) offers an even better value, provided you can give up the Glyph.

Motorola has been making fantastic budget phones in the Moto G lineup for years now, and they’ve always been solid picks for people who want something simple that just works. The biggest change for the 2023 iteration is a $150 price cut, which really tips the scales. It now retails for just $249 (currently $199 at Amazon), and it still ticks nearly every box.

It won’t win any speed contests, but the Snapdragon 480 Plus SoC performed just fine in our testing, and the low-power processor helped push battery life well into two-day territory. The Moto G 5G also has a few creature comforts like a headphone jack and expandable storage, which are a rarity in today’s smartphone landscape.

That said, the cameras are decidedly mediocre, and Motorola only promises a single Android version update, while even smaller players like Nothing are offering three years or more. Still, if you don’t need the latest it’s an absolute bargain.

POCO X6

If you haven’t heard of the POCO X6 we won’t blame you, but the reskinned Redmi Note 13 Pro has a lot going for it. It’s quite a bit cheaper than the Nothing Phone 2a, making it an attractive option for anyone on a budget.

Hardware-wise the POCO X6 has some impressive specs, with a mid-range Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chip, a 5,100mAh battery, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of base storage. If that isn’t enough for the $249 asking price, it also includes a headphone jack.

Software is another story. While Nothing’s trademark minimalism seeps into the Phone 2a’s OS, POCO has taken the opposite approach with HyperOS. It’s mostly an offshoot of Xiaomi’s MIUI, but it comes with an unpleasant amount of bloatware. You also shouldn’t expect many years of updates, which will hurt the overall value of the phone over time.

Nothing Phone 2

Our list of Nothing Phone 2a alternatives wouldn’t be complete without at least mentioning the phone’s older sibling. The Nothing Phone 2 really impressed us during our review period, with flagship power and improvements to its trademark Glyph on the back. Although it’s several hundred dollars more expensive than the Nothing Phone 2a, it might be worth the extra expense.

The Nothing Phone 2 has a more traditional flagship processor in the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, which has serious power but some thermal issues when compared to newer flagship processors. We’ll benchmark the Nothing Phone 2a’s Dimensity 7200 Pro soon, but suffice it to say the Nothing Phone 2 packs more overall power.

Both phones feature the same camera sensors, so photos and videos should be similar. However, the build quality is significantly better on the Nothing Phone 2, which not only makes it more durable but also makes it feel better in the hand. Considering you’re not very likely to cover the Glyph on the back with a case, this is a huge selling point.

The other key thing to mention is that it’s officially available in the US. The Nothing Phone 2a is only available via a developer program at launch, so you’ll have to jump through some hoops to get one.