The Nothing Phone 2a Plus is similar to the one from this spring Nothing Telephone 2a that it’s almost difficult to review the newer phone without repeating myself. Released just a few months after the Phone 2a, the Phone 2a Plus is virtually the same phone, just with a few improved specs.
That’s not all bad; I liked a lot of things about the older Phone 2a. But the 2a Plus’ improvements – a newer chipset, a higher resolution selfie camera, and slightly faster charging, to name a few – don’t fix the original Phone 2a’s weak points. So it’s pretty much the same story with the Phone 2a Plus: It’s a good mid-range phone with a unique look and disappointing camera performance that – crucially for many of our readers – isn’t made for the US market.
Nothing Phone 2a Plus
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus is another competent mid-range device from Nothing. It’s very, very similar to the Nothing Phone 2a that launched in March, and offers some technical improvements like a new chipset and selfie camera. However, it’s not yet available in retail stores in the US and doesn’t work with US carriers.
- Unique hardware design
- Nothing about the operating system is great
- Sufficiently fast performance
- Good battery life
- Not sold at retail in the US, not fully compatible with US vendors
- The cameras are disappointing
- The glossy plastic back collects fingerprints
Price, availability and specifications
In the US, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus will be available starting August 7 directly from Nothing through the company’s developer program for $399, $50 more than the previous Nothing Phone 2a. However, you won’t be able to get it at retailers like Best Buy or through your carrier.
In the UK, you can grab the Phone 2a Plus for £399. An India-only variant with 8GB of RAM (as opposed to 12GB on models sold elsewhere) is available for ₹27,999. There was no word that information on availability in other markets will be released in September.
What’s good about the Nothing Phone 2a Plus?
Everything that was good about the Nothing Phone 2a
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus has everything the original 2a had. The 2a Plus has the same striking design as the 2a, and Nothing has added a nice visual flair to the decorative elements under the transparent plastic back, which has a metallic sheen on the 2a Plus. I tend to prefer more subtle hardware design, and I think the new finish actually makes the back of the phone look a little more busy. Still, I appreciate Nothing’s unique hardware aesthetic, even if it’s not quite my cup of tea.
I really like the grey colour scheme I’m testing. The matte grey plastic side rails contrast nicely with the darker buttons on the Phone 2a Plus, which have a metallic finish. The lighter colour also helps make fingerprints less noticeable on the phone’s clear plastic back, which is much needed.
The Phone 2a Plus’s Glyph lights are unchanged from the Phone 2a – no RGB upgrade here. They’re equal parts form and function: the light strips are a Nothing trademark that does make the phones look a little more striking, but they also work as notification lights when the phone is face down. You can assign unique patterns to different notifications, and there’s an option to leave one of the lights on if you have certain unread notifications.
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Coupled with a Pixel-inspired feature called “Flip to Glyph,” which puts the Phone 2a Plus on silent when it’s face down, the persistent notification light makes it easy to ignore the phone without worrying that you’ve missed something important. It’s a great setup that you just don’t get on other manufacturers’ phones.
I’m as big a fan of Nothing OS on the Phone 2a Plus as ever. Through unique dot-matrix-style design elements and some thoughtful UI tweaks, Nothing manages to make Android distinctive without adding visual clutter or redundant apps. Nothing OS also offers a range of visually cohesive, nerdy and stylish widgets – a difficult balance to strike.
My only very specific complaint about Nothing OS is that the Weather app – a wrapper for data from AccuWeather – doesn’t have much data on hourly precipitation. While it tells you what kind of weather to expect on an hourly basis, it doesn’t tell you the estimated chance of rain or the amount of precipitation expected. As snazzy as the app looks, it’s not very useful without that information.
The Phone 2a Plus’ display, the same 6.7-inch 1080p AMOLED panel as the standard Phone 2a, is quite attractive. Colors are vibrant and animations look smooth thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate.
The original Phone 2a performed well for a budget phone, so it’s no surprise that the Phone 2a Plus, with its newer chip, an upgrade from the 2a’s, delivers similarly good performance. I’m not the most demanding user, but the 2a Plus never stutters, heats up, or slows down in everyday use.
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus has protection class IP54.
Battery life was also really solid. On a couple of particularly quiet days – I was mostly browsing the web and messaging over Wi-Fi – I got 48 hours of screen time without charging. Depending on usage, you can easily get six or seven hours of screen time in a single day.
What’s bad about the Nothing Phone 2a Plus?
Everything that was bad about the Nothing Phone 2a
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus is a better phone than the Nothing Phone 2a, but unfortunately none of the improvements fix the issues I had with the previous model.
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus’s camera performance isn’t very good. The Plus has a higher resolution selfie camera than the original Phone 2a, but the rear camera experience is unchanged. The Phone 2a Plus really struggles with dynamic range – highlights are often overexposed and midtones tend to be too bright.
The way these cameras handle shadows is a little inconsistent. Often shadows appear unnaturally bright – which doesn’t look good, but at least makes the image content more readable. But I’ve also seen the Phone 2a Plus push shadows into black, even though they weren’t nearly as dark during the day itself. For example, in the photo of my dog below, there’s almost no detail left in his fur.
This isn’t a flagship phone, but I think the bar is set higher for mid-range camera performance in 2024. The Pixel 8a, for example, retails for the same $399 in the US as the Phone 2a Plus, and is leagues ahead in terms of camera performance.
The choice of shiny, transparent plastic for the back of the Phone 2a Plus makes it look cheap. It definitely looks good out of the box, but the highly reflective plastic collects dirt and scratches easily.
Most importantly for our US audience, though, the Phone 2a Plus, like the Phone 2a before it, isn’t available at retail here. You can get the phone through Nothing’s developer program for $399, but it’s not designed to work on US cellular networks. I’ve used the Phone 2a Plus on T-Mobile’s network and wouldn’t notice the difference, but it’s missing several key bands for Verizon and AT&T.
It’s also worth noting that the Nothing Phone 2a Plus ships with Android 14, and Nothing promises three years of OS updates and four years of security updates. You could do worse, but Nothing’s commitment here isn’t impressive. The $300 Samsung Galaxy A25 will receive updates for three years and security patches for four years, and the $500 Pixels 8a is expected to receive updates well into 2031.
Should you buy the Nothing Phone 2a Plus?
If you live in the United States, probably not
Camera complaints aside, I generally like the Nothing Phone 2a Plus. Nothing OS is a delight and for $400, the Phone 2a Plus offers more than adequate performance.
Since the Phone 2a Plus isn’t designed for US networks and won’t be sold through US retail channels, it’s not a very good choice for our American readers. If you’re a developer or enthusiast looking for a mid-range phone to tinker with, it might make sense to grab the Nothing Phone 2a Plus through Nothing’s developer program. However, if you’re just looking for a decent, affordable phone in the US, the 2a Plus probably isn’t for you.
I also don’t necessarily think the Phone 2a Plus is a better buy than other phones in its price range in the countries where it’s officially available. But if Nothing sells it in your country and you’re coming from an older-than-standard Phone 2a, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is an interesting option – assuming you don’t take many photos anyway.
Nothing Phone 2a Plus
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus is another competent mid-range device from Nothing. It’s very, very similar to the Nothing Phone 2a that launched in March, and offers some technical improvements like a new chipset and selfie camera. However, it’s not yet available in retail stores in the US and doesn’t work with US carriers.
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