Nothing Phone (2a) Review // One Month Later!
Summary
TLDRThe Nothing Phone 2A is praised for its budget-friendly price, sleek design, and impressive 120Hz display, despite being made mostly of plastic. It offers a smooth software experience with a large battery life, but compromises include mediocre performance with a MediaTek chipset, lack of wireless charging, and subpar camera quality. The review suggests the 2A is a great choice for those prioritizing design, display, and battery over high-performance photography and wireless charging.
Takeaways
- 📱 The Nothing Phone 2A is a budget smartphone with a lower price point than previous Nothing models.
- 🔄 The phone uses more plastic in its construction compared to its predecessors, but the overall design is considered the best in the lineup.
- 🎨 The design features a new center camera module, giving the phone a unique look and reducing wobbles when placed on a flat surface.
- 📲 The front of the phone has the thinnest bezels of any Nothing phone to date, with a symmetrical design.
- 🔋 The Phone 2A has the largest battery capacity of any Nothing phone, offering impressive battery life with 25-35% left after a day of use.
- 🖥 The device comes with a 120 Hz fluid display, which is considered top-notch for its price range.
- 🤖 The software experience mirrors that of the higher-end Nothing phones, with the same features and optimizations.
- 🔧 Performance-wise, the Phone 2A is on par with the nearly two-year-old Phone 1, using a MediaTek Dimensity chipset.
- 🔌 A notable compromise is the lack of wireless charging, a feature present in the original Nothing phone.
- 📷 The camera quality is a significant compromise, struggling with motion blur and less-than-ideal performance in various lighting conditions.
- 💰 Despite its shortcomings, the Phone 2A offers great value for the price, especially for those who prioritize design, display, and battery life over camera capabilities.
Q & A
What is the Nothing Phone 2A's position in the Nothing phone lineup in terms of pricing?
-The Nothing Phone 2A is the new budget smartphone in the Nothing lineup, undercutting all of their previous releases.
What material changes were made in the Nothing Phone 2A's design compared to its predecessors?
-The Nothing Phone 2A uses more plastic than its predecessors, with the entire back panel and side rails being made out of plastic instead of metal.
How does the Nothing Phone 2A's design compare to the previous Nothing phones?
-The Nothing Phone 2A is considered to have the best design in the lineup, with slightly rounded edges for comfort and a new center camera module that gives it a distinct look.
What are the standout features of the Nothing Phone 2A's display?
-The Nothing Phone 2A has a 120 Hz fluid display that is brighter than the Phone 1's display, reaching up to 1100 nits in high brightness mode and 1300 nits for HDR content.
How does the software experience on the Nothing Phone 2A compare to other Nothing phones?
-The software experience on the Nothing Phone 2A is identical to that on the Phone 1 and Phone 2, including the Nothing OS widgets, lock screen animations, and Quick Settings panel.
What is the battery life like on the Nothing Phone 2A?
-The Nothing Phone 2A has the largest battery capacity of any Nothing phone to date, and most users can expect to end the day with 25 to 35% battery left after around 5 hours of screen-on time.
What are the compromises made in the Nothing Phone 2A's performance?
-The Nothing Phone 2A uses a MediaTek Dimensity chipset, which results in performance similar to the Phone 1, but with occasional lags in booting up, using the camera app, and handling animations under heavy load.
Why was the lack of wireless charging on the Nothing Phone 2A a significant compromise?
-The lack of wireless charging is a compromise because previous Nothing phones, even at lower price points, included this feature, and its absence may indicate a shift in Nothing's future phone offerings.
How do the camera capabilities of the Nothing Phone 2A compare to its price?
-While the camera capabilities may not be outstanding for $350, they may not meet the needs of users who require high-quality photos, especially in less than optimal conditions or of moving subjects.
What alternative did the reviewer consider to improve the Nothing Phone 2A's camera performance?
-The reviewer resorted to using a GCam port to improve image quality, but noted the lack of support for the ultra-wide camera and the inconvenience of needing to unlock the phone to use it.
What is the reviewer's final verdict on the Nothing Phone 2A for users who prioritize camera quality?
-The reviewer suggests that the Nothing Phone 2A may not be the best choice for users who value high-quality photos and videos, given its camera limitations.
Outlines
📱 Nothing Phone 2A: Budget Design & Display
The Nothing Phone 2A is praised for its design and display, despite being made mostly of plastic. It features a more affordable price point compared to previous Nothing phone models, with a design that is considered the best in the lineup. The phone has slightly rounded edges for comfort, color contrast volume and power buttons, and a sleek look that differentiates it from previous models. The display is a fluid 120 Hz screen, brighter than the Phone 1's, reaching up to 1300 nits for HDR content. The software experience is consistent across all Nothing phones, providing a clean and minimal interface with unique Nothing OS widgets and animations.
🔋 Impressive Battery Life & Performance Trade-offs
The Nothing Phone 2A boasts the largest battery capacity of any Nothing phone to date, offering impressive battery life that lasts through a full day with significant screen-on time. However, there are trade-offs in performance due to the use of a MediaTek Dimensity chipset instead of a Qualcomm option. While the phone performs similarly to the Phone 1, it may not meet expectations for a 2024 release, showing occasional lags and glitches. The lack of wireless charging is also noted as a disappointment, especially after it was included in the Phone 1. Despite these compromises, the phone's core features such as design, display, and battery life remain strong.
📷 Compromises in Camera Quality & Overall Value
The Nothing Phone 2A makes significant compromises in camera quality, which may not satisfy users looking for high-quality photos and videos. While the camera performs adequately in good lighting conditions, it struggles with motion and low light, leading to blurry images. The need to use a GCam port for better image quality highlights the phone's limitations. Additionally, the lack of wireless charging and slightly subpar performance are noted as drawbacks. However, for users who do not prioritize these features, the Phone 2A offers great value for its price, with a sleek design, excellent display, and long battery life.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Nothing Phone 2A
💡Budget Smartphone
💡Design
💡Display
💡Software Experience
💡Battery Life
💡Compromises
💡Performance
💡Wireless Charging
💡Cameras
💡Price Point
Highlights
The Nothing Phone 2A is a budget smartphone that undercuts previous Nothing releases.
Design is a strong point, with a mostly plastic construction but a premium feel.
Despite using more plastic, the 2A's back panel feels similar to previous Nothing phones.
The 2A features a new center camera module, giving it a distinct design.
The phone has the thinnest bezels of any Nothing phone to date.
Software experience is consistent across all Nothing phones, including the 2A.
The 2A has the largest battery capacity of any Nothing phone released.
Battery life is impressive, with most days ending with 25-35% battery left.
The 2A lacks wireless charging, a feature present in previous Nothing models.
Performance is similar to the Nothing Phone 1, using a MediaTek Dimensity chipset.
The phone may show occasional performance lags and glitches.
Camera quality is a compromise, struggling in less than optimal conditions.
The 2A may not be suitable for those valuing high-quality mobile photography.
For $350, the 2A offers a good balance of design, display, software, and battery life.
The lack of wireless charging and slightly subpar performance are notable compromises.
The 2A stands out for its price-to-value ratio, especially for those not prioritizing top camera performance.
Transcripts
[Music]
this is the nothing phone 2A a brand new
device from nothing that perhaps
somewhat surprisingly undercuts all of
their previous releases making it the
new outright budget smartphone in their
phone lineup and given that their
previous two smartphone releases already
fell in or around that mid-range pricing
category the question I found myself
asking was what did nothing have to
sacrifice to get the price of this phone
even lower than those and I got to say
after using this phone as my main
everyday device for about a month I feel
like I have a really good grasp on
exactly that and some of the compromises
they made make a heap of sense and will
leave you tipping your hat to the
company but there are some compromises
that might actually make you think twice
before picking one up yourself and so
with that being said let's dive
in okay let's start with the great Parts
about this phone the first of which
without a question has to be the design
now admittedly this phone does use a
heck of a lot more plastic than the two
previous phones from nothing in fact the
entire back panel and the side rails are
completely made out of plastic but to be
honest the only really noticeable
difference in the hand if you're
comparing this phone with nothing's
previous offerings are those side rails
on the phone one and phone two the side
rails have that sort of cool to the
touch metal feeling whereas you can
definitely feel that they are plastic on
the phone 2A but in terms of the
backpack panel honestly it feels very
very similar to The Back panels on both
the phone 1 and phone 2 I always felt
like there were a bit plasticky feeling
with those phones anyway so to me it
hardly feels any different here with the
2A and so aside from the plastic I
actually think that the design of this
phone is the best of the entire linup we
still have those slightly rounded edges
on the back similar to those found on
the phone 2 which makes the phone just
that little bit more comfortable in the
hand compared to the phone 1 but then if
you get the white or milk variants in
particular then you actually get these
really cool color contrast volume and
power buttons which I think look super
slick and then on top of that I actually
just prefer the look of the phone 2A
compared to the first two now that's not
to say that I didn't rate the designs of
the first two phones in fact quite the
opposite but if we're being honest one
could definitely argue that despite the
transparent design language they both
still somehow had a bit of an iphony
look about them well thanks to that new
center camera module the phone 2 now
definitely stands on its own 2 feet in
the design Department oh and those
Center align cameras also help in
reducing side to side wobbles when the
phone is lying flat which I personally
really appreciate now on the front of
the phone we actually now technically
have the thinnest bezels of any nothing
phone to date and they're still
symmetrical which is amazing
particularly on a phone at this price
but I will say the plastic frame is ever
so slightly thicker than the metal frame
on the phone 2 so technically the bezels
are pretty much the same size oh and by
the way you may have noticed that I
haven't mentioned anything regarding the
glyphs and yeah that's intentional cuz I
literally do not use them at all and in
fact I spoke at length about them in my
review of the nothing phone 2 so if you
want some more detailed thoughts on the
matter then I'll just link that video up
in the cut but yeah in terms of the
design Department nothing has absolutely
nailed every single Choice with the
phone 2A and the fact that we have a
phone at this price point with this
design that is seriously
amazing all right the next great thing
about this phone is the display much
like the phone 1 and phone 2 the 2A
still rocks a beautifully fluid 120 HZ
display and for me at this price point I
don't think you're going to find a
better display it's actually quite a bit
brighter than the phone On's display to
where it can now reach a peak of 1100
nits when high brightness mode is
activated and 1300 nits for viewing HDR
content and although it's not quite as
bright as the phone 2's display it's
still really impressive that we've got
this combination of fluidity and
brightness on a phone at this price real
quick one other fantastic aspect of this
phone that I truly appreciate is that
the software experience is the exact
same as what you'll find on the phone 2
and phone one so all of those fancy
nothing OS widgets the lock screen
animations the neat Quick Settings panel
with these big toggles up the top here
all of that stuff is here on the phone
2way and that's one of the great Parts
about nothing phones right now is that
unless there are some sort of Hardware
limitations nothing appears to have an
overarching goal of providing all of its
phones with the exact same software
experience regardless of price which is
a very Apple thing to do and is not
something a lot of other phone
manufacturers do like I know for a fact
that Samsung does not place the same
version of one UI on its lower end
phones that it gives to its Flagship
phones and even Google have been guilty
of this recently where the pixel8 pro
had features not available on the
regular pixel 8 simply due to Google
just blocking them and just to keep the
praise train moving along the battery on
this phone has been another standout
feature in fact it's actually got the
largest battery capacity out of any of
the nothing phones released to dat which
is really cool now the phone certainly
doesn't have Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 or gen 3
levels of efficiency so it's not a
battery champ by any means but I have
not been able to kill it in a single day
in the entire month that I've been using
it in fact most days I'm ending with
roughly 25 to 35% battery left with
around 5 hours of screen on time and as
far as I'm concerned that is pretty
great going and so for me if you're
looking for a phone with a slick and
eye-catching design a really great
display clean and minimal software and
really great battery life then this
phone ticks every single one of those
categories in Spades and I've got to tip
my hat to the nothing team for how they
haven't compromised any of these core
features despite the price drop but of
course when a phone is as cheap as the
phone 2A is there has to be some
compromises right well yes and after
using this phone for a full month I
reckon there are two mediumsized
compromises and one pretty large
compromise so buckle up and let's unpack
them so the first mediumsized compromise
is the phone's performance now firstly
when I saw that nothing had opted for a
mediate Tech dimensity chipset for this
phone as opposed to the tried and true
options from Qualcomm I was very
intrigued as to how that would impact
things but as far as I'm concerned this
phone performs pretty much identically
to the phone one now I always raved
about how solid the phone one was in
terms of performance despite it using a
mid-range chip and so for a lot of
people the phone 2a's performance is
going to be more than adequate enough
that being said the phone 1 is now
nearly 2 years old and so for a phone
released in 20124 to perform like a
nearly 2-year-old phone that may be
cause for some concern now I will say it
handles most things I personally throw
at it without issue and again the OS
itself is so clean and so well optimized
that you probably won't notice any
significant issues with performance in
day-to-day tasks but you know things
like the phone taking longer than usual
to boot up or the camera app lagging a
bit when taking lots of photos and even
some videos showing signs of lagginess
after they've been captured which I
can't go back and fix or check out this
weird glitch that happens when I try and
open a timer via the lock screen those
are the sorts of things that you'll
notice in terms of performance suffering
a bit with the phone 2A there have also
been some other little occasional
glitches in animation when I've been
pushing the phone just that little bit
too hard so that is also something to
keep in mind but my Counterpoint to this
specific compromise is that anyone
buying a phone in this pricing category
probably won't be able to find a phone
that performs much better and again I
largely think that this is thanks to the
phone's beautiful software experience
but with that being said it is important
to highlight that if you were hoping
that somehow nothing had pulled off some
sort of miracle in terms of performance
with this phone yeah that ain't quite
the
case all right the second medium-sized
compromise in my opinion which actually
some people might not see as much of a
compromise at all but it is the lack of
wireless charging and I got to be honest
during my briefing calls before this
phone was announced this one probably
hit me the hardest for some reason given
that the nothing team chose to include
wireless charging on the phone one
despite its ridiculously low price point
I thought that this was always going to
be a non-negotiable with nothing phones
forever
into the future but alas that has
obviously been proven not to be the case
and I think my disappointment doesn't
necessarily relate to the phone 2way
itself but more to the fact that now
nothing has made the call to remove
wireless charging from their Baseline
phone it means they're probably going to
be more willing to get rid of it in
future phones as well like who knows
maybe they'll eventually only Reserve
wireless charging for their Flagship
phones in the future now obviously don't
know if this is going to be the case at
all but as far as I'm concerned I
actually really hope that this is the
first and last nothing phone without
wireless
charging okay and so then we come to the
last pretty large compromise that this
phone makes which is as you might have
guessed the cameras now again for $350
can I really complain about the cameras
not being that great no not really but I
think the point needs to be made that if
you're the sort of person who loves
having at least one great camera on your
phone then I don't think that this is
the phone for you now to be clear in
very good lighting conditions with
subjects that are unnerving such as you
know pictures of architecture or
Landscapes even pictures of adults who
know how to stand still for more than
half a second then with the mainlands
you can capture okay to decent photos
but if like me you're someone who has
kids and you want to take some quality
pictures of them playing and having fun
or perhaps you have pets and you take
lots of photos of them even in decent
lighting you'll struggle to capture
photos without an emotion blow and then
in less than optimal conditions yeah
probably not even worth your time in
fact to paint a bit of a picture I was
struggling so much with the cameras on
this phone that for the first time in
about 2 years I had to resort to using a
gcam port which did help a bit with
producing better looking images but I
couldn't find one that supported the
ultra wide Camera Plus although you can
remap a double press of the power button
to open the gcam mod your phone needs to
be unlocked to use it which can be a
little bit annoying depending on the
scenario on top of that I also had a
recent overseas trip during which time I
was using the nothing phone 2ay and
whilst I was away I wanted to be able to
capture some quality photos and videos
with my phone and whilst I did capture
some photos and videos with the 2-way as
you're seeing on screen right now I was
not at all confident to take it as my
only camera so I actually ended up
taking the iPhone 15 Pro as well just so
that I could guarantee that I was going
to be able to get some quality shots an
iPhone for goodness sake I am an Android
user and if I was using any other
Android phone like my pixel 8 Pro or the
Galaxy s24 or s24 Ultra there's no way I
would have felt the need to pack an
iPhone for shooting photos and videos
now again it's 350 bucks so can I really
complain particularly given how many
good things there are about this phone
no not really that being said I think
this is where Google and Apple's
impressive computational photography
truly shines because no matter how much
you spend on a pixel or iPhone whether
it's 1,000 bucks or 500 you know you're
going to be able to produce fantastic
images and I think that's really the
best place to end this video because
ultimately if you are someone who holds
a lot of value in being able to capture
quality photos and videos using your
phone then the phone 2A is probably not
the phone to get but if not and you also
don't care about the lack of wireless
charging and the slightly subpar
performance then as far as I'm concerned
you are not going to find a better phone
for the
[Music]
price
[Music]
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