Nothing Phone (2a) review

Summary

The nothing phone 2A is a mid-range smartphone that offers a unique design, competitive OLED display, solid chipset, and impressive battery life. With a see-through back, glyph LEDs for notifications and charging, and a 6.7-inch 1080P OLED screen with Gorilla Glass 5, it stands out in the market. Powered by a customized mediatech dimensity 7200 Pro chipset, it provides smooth performance for everyday use and casual gaming. The phone also features a 5000mAh battery with 45W charging and a reliable under-display fingerprint reader. The camera setup includes a 50MP main and 50MP ultra-wide camera, delivering good photo and video quality. Overall, the nothing phone 2A is a solid mid-ranger with a distinctive appeal and strong performance at a lower price point.

Takeaways

• 📱 The nothing phone 2A is a mid-range device that offers similar features to the flagship nothing phone 2 at a lower price point.
• 🔋 It comes with a large 5000mAh battery, which, combined with a power-efficient chipset, provides excellent battery life.
• 🖼 The phone features a 6.7-inch 1080P OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 5 protection, but lacks LTPO tech for dynamic refresh rate switching.
• 🎶 It has a stereo speaker setup that offers good loudness and decent sound quality.
• 👍 The under-display fingerprint reader is snappy and reliable.
• 📸 The 2A has a 50MP main camera and a 50MP ultra-wide camera, with the main camera performing well in various lighting conditions.
• 📹 The main camera is capable of capturing 4K video with good detail and low noise, and the ultra-wide camera also performs well in video capture.
• 🌟 The phone has a unique design with a see-through back that exposes the inner workings of the device, and a horizontal camera bump.
• 💡 It includes the glyph LED feature for notifications, ring lights, and visual feedback, with a dedicated interface for controlling their behavior.
• 🔌 The phone supports 45W charging but does not include a charger in the box, and unlike its predecessor, it lacks wireless charging support.
• 📊 The nothing phone 2A runs on a customized version of the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 chipset called the 7200 Pro, which is less powerful than the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 1 in the original model but provides decent mid-range performance.

Q & A

What is the nothing phone 2A and how does it differ from the original nothing phone?

The nothing phone 2A is a mid-range smartphone that aims to offer similar features to the original flagship nothing phone at a lower price. It includes a large battery, a competitive OLED display, and a solid chipset for its class, along with the unique design and light setup.

What is special about the design of the nothing phone 2A?

The nothing phone 2A features a see-through back that exposes the inner workings of the device, a horizontal camera bump, and a grippy back that collects smudges and dust easily. It also has an Ingress Protection rating of IP54 against dust and splashes of water.

How does the Glyph LED feature on the nothing phone 2A work?

The Glyph LEDs on the nothing phone 2A light up for different purposes such as notification alerts, a ring light for the cameras, or a countdown timer. They also provide visual feedback for volume control and charging, and users can control their behavior through a dedicated Glyph interface and create custom patterns/ringtones with the composer app.

What are the specifications of the nothing phone 2A's display?

The nothing phone 2A has a 6.7-inch 1080P OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 5 protection. However, it lacks LTPO tech, meaning the refresh rate switching is less dynamic, offering a smooth 120Hz that drops to 60Hz when idle.

How does the nothing phone 2A perform in terms of audio?

The nothing phone 2A features a stereo speaker setup with a loudness rating of good and sound quality that is decent with clean mids and highs. There is also an under-display fingerprint reader that is snappy and reliable.

What is unique about the nothing OS 2.5 on the nothing phone 2A?

The nothing OS 2.5 running on top of Android 14 is quite close to stock Android in functionality but offers heavily customized aesthetics, including custom-looking monochromatic icons, pixelated fonts, and plenty of custom nothing widgets. Users can even turn the whole interface monochrome.

What kind of software support can users expect from the nothing phone 2A?

The nothing phone 2A will receive 3 years of software updates and four years of security patches, ensuring ongoing support and improvements for the device.

What is the chipset of the nothing phone 2A and how does it perform?

The nothing phone 2A uses a customized variation of the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 called the 7200 Pro, which is supposed to bring extra power efficiency. While it doesn't match the performance of the Snapdragon 8cx1 on the original nothing phone, it offers decent CPU and GPU scores for the mid-range class.

How does the battery life of the nothing phone 2A compare to its competitors?

The nothing phone 2A has a larger battery than the original at 5000mAh versus 4700mAh, and with the power-efficient chipset, it dominates battery life tests with an overall active use score of 15 hours and 53 minutes.

What are the charging capabilities of the nothing phone 2A?

The nothing phone 2A supports 45W charging, but there is no charger included in the box. With a proper adapter, it can charge from 0 to 59% in half an hour, and a full charge takes an hour and 3 minutes. Unlike the original, it does not support wireless charging.

What are the camera specifications and performance of the nothing phone 2A?

The nothing phone 2A features a 50MP main camera and a 50MP ultra-wide camera. The main camera captures 12.5MP photos with good detail and color saturation. In low light, it uses night mode processing for detailed and low-noise shots. The ultra-wide camera also captures 12.5MP stills with decent detail and dynamic range. The phone can record 4K video with good detail and low noise.

How does the selfie camera on the nothing phone 2A perform?

The selfie camera on the nothing phone 2A captures 32MP images that look very good overall, but up close, the skin may appear a bit artificial.