Nothing Phone 2a Plus would be the Nothing Phone I'd buy... if I didn't live in the US

Although Nothing has only been around for a short while, it’s already found the time to launch four phones (really, it’s launched five, if you count the one from its sub-brand CMF by Nothing). While none of them have cracked the elite spots on our rankings of the best Android phones you can get, they have been truly unique devices that deliver a lot for a low price. This all started with the Nothing Phone 1 in 2022, followed by the Nothing Phone 2 in 2023. Since then, we’ve had two very similar phones launch: the Nothing Phone 2a in early 2024 and the Nothing Phone 2a Plus, which landed in July.

On paper, the Nothing Phone 2 ($699 at Amazon) is still the best phone of the bunch. It has the best specs, the most features, and is most widely available around the world. And that’s why, as much as I want to tell people to buy the more affordable Nothing Phone 2a Plus instead to save some cash; unfortunately, I can’t do that for folks like me in the US (for reasons we’ll get to). But in this review, I’ll explain why anyone outside the US might want to pause before hitting the “Buy” button on the “better” Nothing Phone 2.

A beauty to behold

Let’s face it: one of the most appealing things about Nothing phones is not something they do but how they look. Like other phones from the brand, the Phone 2a Plus looks stunning with its transparent back, uniform display bezels, flat sides, and, of course, the unique Glyph light strips surrounding the camera module.

I’ve said the same thing about every Nothing phone I’ve touched: “This phone feels way more expensive than it actually is.” Even the Phone 1 from CMF by Nothing — a sub-$200 device — feels like it costs twice as much. The Nothing Phone 2a Plus is no different. It feels like a premium flagship, not a mid-ranger.

The overall size of the phone is also great. Make no mistake: this is a big phone. That 6.7-inch display could never be thought of as compact, but this is the phone size most Android users seem to want. There’s a reason, after all, that most premium Android phones come in a 6.7-inch+ form factor, so Nothing is just giving the public what it knows the majority of them want.

There are some caveats, of course. There are far fewer Glyph lights here, for example, than there are on more premium Nothing phones. For example, the Nothing Phone 2 has 11 lights and 33 LED zones, while the Phone 2a Plus has just three lights as it carries over the same overall design as the regular Nothing Phone 2a. Granted, one of the lights does have multiple zones that allow for things like visual countdown timers and the like, so you’re not losing out on everything.

It also has a plastic back. However, there are different grades of plastic out there, and the grade Nothing uses here feels just fine. When I hold it, the back doesn’t have the same coldness/smoothness as glass, but it is more than adequate. Besides, the lack of glass means one doesn’t need to worry as much about dropping the phone, which makes me more comfortable with the idea of going case-free, though the aging Gorilla Glass 5 display glass and a fairly basic IP54 rating would give me a little pause before doing so.

Finally, Nothing only offers two colors: Grey (shown throughout this article) and Black. While two choices is better than only one, it might be disappointing for those who would have hoped for something more colorful or, at least, not so monochrome. Still, for a phone that costs under $400, it’s difficult to find many faults with the Nothing Phone 2a Plus’ overall design.

Software, performance, and features

Like other Nothing phones, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus has Nothing OS skinned over Android. Although Nothing OS is one of the more aggressive Android skins you can get nowadays when it comes to entirely revamping the look of stock Android, I love it. I love Nothing’s attention to detail and how the software and hardware work together to create a fully immersive experience in the Nothing style. Very few smartphone brands do this, with even Google only fully embracing software/hardware harmony with the Pixel 9 series (the rear camera module pulls from the design of Android 14’s Quick Tiles).

Remarkably, Nothing OS on the Phone 2a Plus not only comes with every applicable feature of Nothing’s more expensive mainline phones but also saw the debut of one feature: a News Reporter widget. This silly gimmick uses generative AI to read news reports to you in the voice of Nothing’s CFO, Tim Holbrow. The feature is now available on all Nothing phones (and even non-Nothing phones through the Nothing X app), but it goes to show that Nothing isn’t artificially limiting software features for phones outside of its flagship roster.

Out of the box, the Phone 2a Plus has Android 14, but Nothing promises three years of Android upgrades and a fourth year of security updates. Theoretically, that means the phone should get Android 15, Android 16, and Android 17, making this a decent investment for the long haul, though not quite as well-supported as affordable phones from Google and Samsung.

You’ll interact with Android through the Nothing Phone 2a Plus’ display, which is undoubtedly one of the best displays you can get for under $400. It’s bright, it’s beautiful, it has a refresh rate of between 30Hz-120Hz, and I love it. Once again, the display makes this phone feel more expensive than it actually is.

Powering the phone is a very unique processor: the MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro. At the moment, this 4nm chipset is only available on this phone since it was custom-designed by MediaTek in partnership with Nothing. It’s essentially a souped-up version of the Dimensity 7200, which is an early 2024 chipset. This CPU helps the Phone 2a Plus be more powerful than the Nothing Phone 2a and even the Nothing Phone 1.

I’ve been very impressed with the performance of this phone. With the SoC and its 12GB of RAM, there’s simply no lag at all when doing everyday tasks. Even apps and games that require a good amount of processing power work just fine here. Sure, you’re not going to see the same multi-tasking smoothness or super-solid framerates as you would on something with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, for example, but you’re also spending about half as much money for it. That’s a solid deal from any vantage point.

Finally, battery life has also been exemplary. I would need to actively try to kill this phone in one day of use. And, when the battery does get low, charging is a snap with the 50W wired speeds available here with a compatible USB Power Delivery PPS charger. The lack of wireless charging is a sore spot, though more tolerable considering the price tag and the rapid wired charging.

A good enough camera

When compared to the Nothing Phone 2a, one of the Plus model’s most notable upgrades is in the camera department. The two lenses on the back — a 50MP primary and 50MP ultrawide — remain the same, but now there’s a 50MP selfie camera. That means all lenses on the phone are 50MP, which is not too shabby in this price category. However, this is by no means one of the best camera phones you can get today — you’ll need to spend a lot more money for that.

In a nutshell, the cameras on the Nothing Phone 2a Plus will give you great results as long as you are a) not zooming in and b) in good lighting conditions. Unfortunately, digital zoom on this device is really bad, and it will also broadly deliver sub-par results in low-light scenarios. Outside of that, though, I had a perfectly good time with this budget camera phone.

Here’s a standard 12MP outdoor shot on the primary lens:

Everything here looks crisp and clear, with plenty of range and no outrageous overprocessing. In this series of photos below, you can see how the ultrawide looks great, but zoom quickly falls apart beyond 2x:

The selfie camera doesn’t disappoint. Once again, under ideal lighting conditions, your selfies are going to come out great the Nothing Phone 2a Plus:

Portrait mode is also pretty good here. With these white flowers, you can see a fairly natural-looking bokeh effect. The upper left quadrant of the flower is a little wonky, but it’s not too bad.

By default, the camera bins your shots down to 12MP. However, you can take full control and jump into 50MP mode. When you combine this with the Expert mode, you can get precise shots if you know what you’re doing. Check out two examples below of a 12MP shot next to a 50MP shot (note that 50MP shots work on both the primary and ultrawide lenses, but you lose 2x zoom).

By default, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus shoots photos in a “Natural” setting. Nothing does offer a “Vivid” setting if you want to use it. This really punches up the photos, making them more Samsung-esque. You can see the difference in the examples below. Note the trees in the background to see how the Vivid mode really punches.

Finally, Nothing’s camera app also offers a series of artsy filters. If you want to get creative and don’t mind that you can’t take off the filters after you’ve captured your shot, they can be pretty cool. Below are examples of what’s on offer.

You can check out uncompressed versions of all our test photos in this Google Drive folder.

As for video, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is the same as its Plus-less sibling, with support for up to 4K recording at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps, as well as Action Mode for heavily stabilized clips at 1080p/30fps. The real upgrade, though, is that the Phone 2a Plus’s selfie camera can record 4K video! This is something we criticized the flagship Nothing Phone 2 for not having, so it’s great to see it here for vlog-lovers.

Nothing Phone 2a Plus review verdict: Terrific, but mind the disclaimers

At a list price of $399 here in the United States, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus delivers a lot of value. It’s an absolutely gorgeous piece of tech, its performance is pretty stellar for this price category, battery life is terrific, and wired charging speeds are plenty fast. The cameras aren’t incredible, but they will be more than satisfactory if you can stop yourself from pinching to zoom. You also get some basic spec bumps over the vanilla Nothing Phone 2a, such as 256GB base storage and the improved selfie shooter.

Really, the only major thing bringing the phone down is its confusing availability. Here in the US, the Phone 2a Plus is only available through a developer program. You need to sign up for this program, agree to some terms, and then you can buy the phone. The terms essentially create a waiver saying that you understand this phone is not designed to work well in the US. It will work okay on T-Mobile but won’t support all 5G bands, won’t have 5G at all or many other features on AT&T, and will barely work on Verizon. This makes the phone a very limited prospect for many buyers here.

Outside the US, though, this phone is a stellar deal. Competition in this price category is pretty fierce, but even then, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is a worthy contender. For example, the Google Pixel 8a ($499 at Amazon) is $100 more and doesn’t offer the same battery life, charging speeds, or display quality. You’ll get a better camera, though, and Tensor G3 might give you a slight leg up in performance. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G ($387 at Amazon) will get you slightly better specs across the board (except for charging speeds) but will push you very close to the $500 mark if you don’t grab a good sale. Notably, the Galaxy A55 5G also doesn’t work properly in the US either as it didn’t officially release here, so keep that in mind if you’re thinking of importing one — the Galaxy A35 5G ($359.99 at Amazon) is Samsung’s best alternative in the US right now.

In other words, this phone is not only the best Nothing phone but also one of the best budget Android phones, in general, for people outside the US. Unfortunately, us folks living in the US are left out. For us, the Nothing Phone 2 is the best choice, at least until the Nothing Phone 3 launches in 2025.

Regardless, people who want to test out the waters of the Nothing brand should absolutely start here, as there’s no better way to see what it’s all about.