The Nothing Phone (2a) is like a breath of fresh air, offering a smooth and bloatware-free experience in the competitive sub-₹25,000 price segment, which is a rarity. The design is polarising but gutsy, showcasing Nothing’s desire to set itself apart. Adding to that, an impressive primary camera, decent battery life, and smooth performance, the Nothing Phone (2a) could easily appeal to Indian masses.
It’s been a mere four years since the inception of Nothing. However, the hype surrounding this company’s product portfolio makes it seem like they’ve been around the block much longer. The company recently launched the Nothing Phone (2a), which is only the third smartphone in its lineup. The design language remains as idiosyncratic as before, if not more. Nothing’s design goal has always been to break down the barriers between technology and real life – and of course, to stand out in the sea of options in the market. The Nothing Phone (2a) marks the company’s first foray into the mid-range smartphone market, after primarily dabbling in the high-end market with the Nothing Phone (2) (review) and Nothing Phone (1) (review). The product makes some sacrifices to bring down the price (the phone is priced starting ₹23,999), but do these sacrifices hamper the user experience? Let’s find out in my Nothing Phone (2a) review.
Nothing Phone (2a) Review: Quirky design, plastic build
In signature Nothing style, the Nothing Phone (2a) houses a transparent rear panel – only this time it is polycarbonate instead of glass. Don’t fret about this detail though, because the rear panel still looks deceptively like glass and quite premium.
The Glyph Interface makes a comeback with three distinctive strips that illuminate to signify certain events such as notifications, timers, ringtones, and more.
The camera hump is placed in the top centre and looks like a pair of robotic eyes; hence the slogan “Fresh Eyes”. However, this camera bump makes the device’s design super polarising. The S-shaped wire pattern, screws, and Nothing branding that peaks out from under the transparent rear panel look super cool, however, the positioning of the cameras causes the phone to look a bit odd to some.
Moving on from the peculiarities of the rear panel design, the frame of the Phone (2a) has a matte texture that feels a bit like the texture of eggshells. It is plastic once again and houses the power button on the right and the volume buttons on the left. The bezels around the 6.7-inch display up front are nice and even, giving it a premium aesthetic.
Overall, the Nothing Phone (2a) sports a very peculiar design; some swear by it while others hate it. So, this one is purely subjective. All I can say is that the materials feel premium despite being plastic, which is nice at this price. The phone also is rated IP54 dust and water resistance for added protection against external elements.
Nothing Phone (2a) Review: A fine display with one issue
The Nothing Phone (2a) sports a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution and 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate. The company says the refresh rate intelligently switches between 30 – 120 Hz as per the app’s requirements, however, this didn’t work as seamlessly as I expected. For one, the display constantly stayed at 120 Hz on the home screen and lock screen, which is unnecessary and causes battery drain.
Refresh rate aside, the phone’s display comes with 10-bit colour depth and HDR10+ support. Content on Netflix and YouTube looks pretty impressive, with accurate enough colours and good viewing angles. The display is rated up to 1,300 nits of peak brightness. In my testing, the Nothing Phone (2a)’s display touched 1,209 nits under bright sunlight on Auto Mode, which is pretty decent for the price. The display is also protected with Gorilla Glass 5 for added security against drops and scratches.
How does the Phone (2a) perform?
The Nothing Phone (2a) resides mid-range segment and the company has fitted the phone with a pretty capable processor for the price. Nothing has collaborated with MediaTek for a tweaked version of the Dimensity 7200 dubbed the Dimensity 7200 Pro. It has the same maximum clock speed of 2.8 GHz; so the tuning seems to be more on the efficiency side. This processor is paired with up to 12 GB LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256 GB UFS 2.2 storage.
Yes, UFS 2.2. And the speeds are sluggishly slow compared to competitors with UFS 3.1. For example, the Realme 12 Pro, which costs ₹25,999, is capable of Sequential Read Speeds of 1596.18 Mbps. On the other hand, the Nothing Phone (2a) only managed 768.45 Mbps in the same.
That aside, the chipset’s performance is quite snappy. I tested the Nothing Phone (2a)’s Dimensity 7200 Pro SoC extensively, starting with synthetic benchmarks. The phone scored over 700,000 in AnTuTu v10, surpassing the Realme 12 Pro but falling short of the incredibly powerful POCO X6 Pro. Similar results were observed in GeekBench numbers.
However, in PCMark Work, the Nothing Phone (2a) fell behind the POCO X6 Pro and Realme 12 Pro. Although, the variance between the Phone (2a) and Realme 12 Pro’s scores is negligible and falls within the margin of error. In the CPU Throttling Test, the Nothing Phone (2a) excelled, experiencing only a 7% performance drop in 15 minutes.
These throttling test results were mirrored in real-world performance. The Phone (2a) exhibited minimal throttling in my tests, even when running intensive games like Call of Duty: Mobile and BGMI. Additionally, the phone remained relatively cool even after gaming for half an hour. Therefore, while the Nothing Phone (2a) may not be the most powerful in its price segment from a specifications and performance standpoint, it offers exceptionally smooth and snappy performance, primarily due to its UI. Let’s delve into that.
Is NothingOS 2.5 any good?
The Nothing operating system has undergone significant evolution over the past couple of years, making it one of my favourite Android skins currently available in the market. The Nothing Phone (2a) comes with NothingOS 2.5 pre-installed, which sits atop Android 14. Nothing offers three years of software updates and four years of security patches, which is quite decent for its price range.
The user interface is minimalist yet feature-rich; animations are lightning-fast, daily operations run smoothly, and additional features such as Nothing Widgets, AI Wallpaper Generator, and Glyph Composer are well-implemented.
The absence of bloatware in the form of third-party apps and ads is a significant advantage; users only encounter a couple of Nothing apps along with the standard Google apps. This is a rarity, especially in the mid-range segment. Motorola has achieved a similar level of cleanliness, but some of their budget to mid-range phones do include a few third-party apps now.
I particularly appreciate the small touches Nothing has incorporated. Whether it’s the recognizable Nothing shutter sound when taking a photo or the attention to detail in the screen lighting up from the point of touch when unlocked, all of these subtle enhancements contribute to a more premium user experience.
Nothing Phone (2a) Review: Cameras are better than I expected
The Nothing Phone (2a) packs a dual rear camera setup consisting of a 50 MP main sensor with OIS capabilities and a 50 MP ultrawide sensor with a 114-degree FOV. For selfies, Nothing has added a 32 MP camera, which is the exact same sensor as used on the more expensive Phone (2). Nothing has also implemented an advanced HDR software which they have co-developed with Google dubbed Ultra HDR.
There’s also a feature called Motion Capture that is particularly useful for capturing moving objects, however, this was just mediocre in my testing. Nothing needs to tune the software better for this feature to actually work well with particularly difficult subjects such as dogs or kids.
Now, let’s talk about the camera performance. The primary 50 MP camera is capable of clicking some pretty good-looking pictures in ideal lighting conditions. The detail retention is fantastic; all without looking artificially-sharpened. The colours are pretty close to natural as well. The dynamic range, while decent, can falter at times. There are instances where the highlights are not controlled enough.
One of the biggest disappointments is portrait shots. Most portraits have poor edge detection and the skin tones don’t look very accurate. Additionally, in shots with harsh backlighting, the subject can look very washed out.
Low-light shots are surprisingly good though. You get crisp details and good colour reproduction. The dynamic range in the shadows and highlights could be better, but for the price, these are fantastic low-light shots. The 32 MP selfie camera takes impressive pictures with good detail and colour, not surprising as it has the same sensor as the Phone (2).
Nothing Phone (2a) Review: One-day battery life with ease
The Nothing Phone (2a) houses Nothing’s largest battery in a phone to date. It is a massive 5,000 mAh cell with support for 45 W fast wired charging. Sadly, there’s no charger in the box, which is a massive disadvantage for Nothing since all other similarly-priced phones come with their charging bricks in the box. There is also no wireless charging support.
The Phone (2a) is easily a one-day phone. During my testing, the phone would be left at about 20 per cent battery at the end of the day. My day consisted of some benchmarking, social media, camera usage, and watching content on YouTube. In our 4K video loop test, the phone lasted over 13 hours, which is a pretty decent score. Charging the Phone (2a) to full isn’t the fastest affair though; it took 62 minutes to top up to full.
Should you buy the Nothing Phone (2a)?
The Nothing Phone (2a)’s price in India is INR 23,999 and it feels like a breath of fresh air, offering a smooth and bloatware-free experience in the competitive sub-₹25,000 price segment, which is a rarity. The design is polarising but gutsy, showcasing Nothing’s desire to set itself apart. Adding to that, an impressive primary camera, decent battery life, and smooth performance, the Nothing Phone (2a) could easily appeal to Indian masses.
Nothing has claimed that the new Nothing Phone (2a) is an upgrade over the original Phone (1) at a more affordable launch price. While this is largely true due to an upgraded processor, slightly brighter screen, and a larger battery, there are some areas where it still lags behind. These include a plastic body, slower UFS 2.2 storage speeds, and the absence of wireless charging. So, while I don’t think the Nothing Phone (2a) is a total upgrade over the Phone (1), it remains a fantastic option for those who want to experience a Nothing smartphone at just ₹23.999, which is far lower than the Phone (1) was priced at. The Nothing Phone 2a launched in India on 5th March 2024 and Nothing is putting up pop-up stores across 12 locations in India. The phone will go on sale on Flipkart in the near future.
Nothing Phone (2a) Key Specs, Price and Launch Date
| Release Date: | 05 Mar, 2024 |
| Market Status: | Launched |
Key Specifications
Storage
128 GB
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Battery capacity (mAh)
5000
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Rear Camera Megapixel
50 + 50
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Screen size (in inches)
6.7
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Dhriti Datta
Perpetually sporting a death stare, this one can be seen tinkering around with her smartphone which she holds more dear than life itself and stuffing her face with copious amounts of bacon. View Full Profile
