Nothing Phone 2a Plus is here: Slightly better, slightly more expensive

While Nothing has yet to fully prove itself as the next “flagship killer” brand, one thing it has proven in spades is that it makes some of the best budget phones right now. The Nothing Phone 2a was terrific, and the recent CMF Phone 1 (a Nothing sub-brand) is probably the best sub-$200 phone we’ve ever seen. The company’s newest Nothing Phone 2a Plus continues on with that tradition, albeit with a price tag that inches ever upward.

Below, you’ll find everything you need to know about the Phone 2a Plus, including its complicated availability in the United States. Let’s dive in!

Nothing Phone 2a Plus release date, price, and availability

• Nothing Phone 2a Plus 8GB RAM + 256GB ROM: Rs. 27,999 (~$335)
• Nothing Phone 2a Plus 12GB RAM + 256GB ROM: $399  / £399 / Rs. 29,999

Nothing launched the Phone 2a Plus on July 31, 2024. Leading up to that date, the company went through its usual month-long drip feed of information on the device, but July 31 is the date we officially learned everything about it.

Like the Nothing Phone 2a, the Phone 2a Plus will be available in an unrestricted format in the United Kingdom, Europe, and India. It will also be available in a limited fashion in the United States (it’s complicated; we’ll get to that in a bit). Online orders in the US and India open on August 7. The rest of the world — including in Nothing’s native UK — will see online orders open at some point in September. Unfortunately, Nothing didn’t provide anything more concrete than this.

There is an exception, though: in London, on August 3, Nothing’s store in Soho will have a limited stock of Phone 2a Plus models for you to grab. If you live in the UK and can’t make it to London on this date, though, you’ll need to wait until sometime in September to place your order.

In India, you’ll see an exclusive version launch with 8GB of RAM, but all other models in all other areas have 12GB of RAM. Notably, there is no version with 128GB of storage — all models have 256GB. This is an interesting move, as even Samsung and Google have yet to move on from 128GB as a starting option for storage.

In the UK, the 12/256GB model will cost £399 (~$513) and come in either Grey or Black. Nothing said it would announce pricing and availability for Europe in September.

Nothing Phone 2a Plus availability in US (read carefully)

Starting on August 7, 2024, at 9:00 AM ET, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus will be available to order in the United States. Note that this is not a pre-order — it’s a regular order with immediate shipping. The 12/256GB model will cost you $399. This is $50 more than the Nothing Phone 2a.

However, like the Phone 2a, the Phone 2a Plus is only available through a semi-complex developer program. To get one, you need to sign up for this program at Nothing.tech and agree to terms stating that you understand the Phone 2a Plus is not optimized for use in the US. Once you agree, Nothing will send you a link to buy a 12/256GB model in Grey (shown throughout this article). Unfortunately, the Black model is unavailable in the US.

Note that the Phone 2a Plus won’t work the same way on all US carriers. Here’s how it breaks down:

• T-Mobile: 3G and 4G are fully supported. 5G has limited support only on band N41.
• AT&T: 3G and 4G are fully supported. 5G is not supported at all. Additionally, VoLTE and VoWifi will not work.
• Verizon: Verizon 5G and CDMA networks are not supported, so the Phone 2a Plus is 4G-only. Additionally, you will need to contact Verizon support to add Phone 2a Plus to your account by providing its IMEI. Due to these complications, Nothing does not recommend using the Phone 2a Plus on any Verizon networks.

Be sure to read this carefully, as it could have a huge impact on how usable this phone will be for your daily life in the US. If these are deal-breakers but you still want a Nothing phone, we recommend checking out the Nothing Phone 2 ($699 at Amazon), which has full US carrier support. Otherwise, take a look at some of our best Nothing Phone 2a alternatives.

Nothing Phone 2a Plus specs

The Phone 2a Plus, despite its name, is the same size as the regular Nothing Phone 2a. The main differences between the two phones are the processors, cameras, and charging speeds. There are also some minor aesthetic changes. Here are the core specs for the phone; read on to find out more context.

Nothing Phone 2a Plus: Features

All in all, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is not really a new phone. It’s more like a slightly better (and slightly more expensive) version of the Nothing Phone 2a. Below, we’ll give you all the info you need, but some familiarity with the Phone 2a would likely be helpful. You can read more about that phone at the link. Otherwise, here’s the info you need!

Camera

The Phone 2a was notable for having two 50MP shooters on the back arranged in a strange configuration resembling a pair of eyes. The Phone 2a Plus keeps the same layout and hardware on the back but takes things a step further by bringing 50MP sensors to all three cameras: the primary and ultrawide on the rear and the selfie camera on the front. This means you should see very similar photo/video results to the Phone 2a when using the rear cameras, but you might see slightly better results when using the selfie camera.

To be clear, in our review of the Phone 2a, we found the camera system to be fine in ideal scenarios. It’s only when you bring it into challenging environments that you see cracks in the seams, such as low-light situations or spots where things are moving very fast, like sporting events. We also felt the digital zoom was pretty weak. Given that we don’t have really significant upgrades here, we’d expect to see similar results with the Nothing Phone 2a Plus.

Do note that thanks to the 50MP selfie camera upgrade, you can now shoot front-facing video at 4K/30fps, a nice upgrade over the 1080p limit of the Nothing Phone 2a.

Performance

One of the key upgrades for the Nothing Phone 2a Plus, when compared to its predecessor, is the processor. In the Phone 2a, we had a MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro, which is a solid mid-range processor. We found that it exceeded expectations when compared to other phones in this price tier but couldn’t hold a candle to processors in more expensive devices, such as the Tensor G3 in the Pixel 8a or the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 in the Nothing Phone 2.

The Nothing Phone 2a Plus, though, has an upgraded processor in the MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro. This processor — which is, as of now, exclusive to the Nothing Phone 2a Plus — is nominally better than the Dimensity 7200 Pro. It has a faster clock speed (3.0GHz compared to 2.8GHz) and a faster GPU (1.3GHz compared to 1.0GHz). Given all that, we would expect the Nothing Phone 2a Plus to perform better than the Phone 2a but still not reach the same heights as more expensive phones with Qualcomm/Tensor chips.

One thing to note, though, is that the Nothing Phone 2a had a very consistent gaming performance. This made gaming on the device an enjoyable experience because even though you weren’t seeing the ultra-high performance of flagship chips, you still had stable frames/temps as you played. Hopefully, we’ll see the same from the Nothing Phone 2a Plus. Stay tuned for our full review!

Screen quality and size

For all intents and purposes, the screen on the Phone 2a Plus is identical to the one on the Phone 2a (and the Phone 2 as well). That means it’s 6.7 inches in size, has a flexible AMOLED design, and has a dynamic refresh rate from 30-120Hz. It also has a peak HDR brightness of 1,300 nits and a typical brightness of 700 nits. Covering the display is flat Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

By any metric, this is a terrific display for a phone under $400. Other phones in this price range simply can’t compare, especially when you take into account the aesthetic details of having symmetrical bezels around the entire screen. If the display is the most important thing in your shopping decision, you’ll be very, very happy with this one.

Design, colors, and build quality

Design-wise, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is almost note-for-note the same as the Phone 2a. Remember that even though the word “Plus” is in the name, the phones are identical in size.

The most notable difference between the Plus model and the regular model is the cabling accents on the back. On the Nothing Phone 2a, these accents blend in with the rest of the phone. But on the Phone 2a Plus, they have a metallic sheen. On the Grey model, the cabling accents have a mirror-like finish, which looks pretty cool.

As with the Phone 2a, the build quality of the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is astounding. In brief, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus feels like a phone that costs twice as much as it does. Although the back is made of plastic, it’s of high quality, so it doesn’t feel at all cheap. The matte plastic rails are also solid, and the construction feels tight and professional.

The phone also has an IP54 rating, meaning it is protected from semi-fine particles (like large grains of sand) and can handle some water splashes. I would keep it away from beach sand and water to be on the safe side, but you don’t need to baby it, either.

Finally, there are two colors available: Grey (which you see throughout this article) and Black (which is more like a darker gray, not pure black). Unfortunately, there’s no white model this time around.

Battery and charging speed

Just like the Nothing Phone 2a, the Phone 2a Plus has a 5,000mAh battery. This is very large (the same size cell in the Galaxy S24 Ultra) and should help the phone last for well over one full day of heavy usage.

However, the Phone 2a Plus isn’t a carbon copy of the Phone 2a when it comes to power. This new version has a wired charging speed of 50W, a 5W boost over the 45W speed of the Phone 2a. While this won’t be a game changer, it will allow you to shave a few minutes off overall charging time, which is always good. Of course, as is ever the case with phones these days, you’ll need to provide your own 50W charging brick, as one does not come in the box. We have a guide to picking the best charger for your phone if you need help with this.

Unfortunately, wireless charging is not present on the Nothing Phone 2a Plus. For that, you’ll need to upgrade to the Nothing Phone 2, Nothing Phone 1, or any of the best phones with wireless charging.

Glyph lights

As mentioned earlier, there are no significant differences between the physical designs of the Phone 2a and Phone 2a Plus. As such, the Glyph lights on the back of the phone are unaltered from that older device. Notably, this includes the Glyph Progress feature, in which the curved light at the top left slowly depletes to signify an app’s status. This works for timers, Uber rides, and, new for Nothing OS 2.6, events in Google Calendar.

The Glyph lights are also just white again. Sorry, RGB lovers.

Software and updates

Out of the box, the Nothing Phone 2a comes with Android 14. Skinned over this is Nothing OS 2.6, which, for now, is exclusive to the Nothing Phone 2a Plus (it will make its way to other Nothing phones in time).

Obviously, Android 15 is right around the corner, so the Phone 2a Plus won’t be on Android 14 for long. Nothing says this phone will get three Android upgrades, which would mean Android 15, Android 16, and Android 17. It will also get four years of security support, which means it will stay up-to-date until 2028, making it a good choice if you like to hold onto your phone for a long time.

Nothing has also done a great job offering beta programs for its phones. The Phone 2a Plus should be no different, so if you like testing out early versions of Android, this is a good phone for that.

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