Nothing Phone (2a) is an affordable product. The phone, which starts at $349/£319/€329/Rs 23,999, is available in several countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and attempts to help spread Nothing’s unique design, including a “glyph interface” with special LED lights back.
A week ago, we asked you what you thought of the phone and if you had any lingering questions after our hands-on experience with the Nothing Phone (2a). It turns out that our readers are very curious about the new best budget phones of 2024.
We’ve collected all the questions you’ve asked on our social media channels and compiled them here for your reference. Here’s everything you want to know about Nothing Phone (2a)!
What are the specs and release date?
According to Nothing, the Nothing Phone (2a) will be publicly available starting March 12 in “most markets around the world.” The phone starts at $349 / £319 / €329 / Rs 23,999, but US customers will have to sign up for the developer program to buy the phone.
As for the specs, the processor and plastic make it definitely a mid-range offering. Still, its camera, display, and IP54 water and dust resistance are higher than some similarly priced mid-range Android phones. Here’s the full spec sheet.
| No phone 2a | Glasses |
|---|---|
| processor | MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro |
| exhibit | 6.7-inch flexible AMOLED equipped with Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Display specifications | 30-120Hz, 1,300 nits peak brightness, 2,160Hz PWM |
| Camera 1 | 50MP Samsung GN9, f/1.88, 1/1.56 inch, OIS, PDAF |
| camera 2 | 50MP Samsung JN1, 114-degree FoV |
| Front camera | 32MP Sony IMX615 |
| Battery | 5,000mAh, 45W wired charging |
| Connectivity | 5G, Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth, NFC |
| Protection level | IP54 |
| size | 161.74mm x 76.32mm x 8.55mm |
| weight | 190g |
| color | white, milk, black |
| starting price | $349/£319/€329/Rs 23,999 |
Will it work on T-Mobile?
Juan Carlos on Facebook wants to know if this is a good option on T-Mobile.
I’ve been using this phone on the T-Mobile 5G network (with 5G connectivity) in the US for over a week and haven’t noticed any coverage issues, so it’s a good choice if you’re interested.
How big is the system file size?
Thanks to Rahul on Facebook for asking this question!
The system partition size on Nothing Phone (2a) is 18GB. Nothing Phone (2a) comes with Android 14 pre-installed.
After installing all my usual apps and using the phone for a week, I still had 206GB of free space. This measurement is completely subjective, but I think it has enough storage space for my personal needs.
What is the performance of Dimensity 7200 Pro?
Some readers are concerned about the performance inside the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro processor, especially compared to Snapdragon processors. Since Nothing thought it would make sense to compare it to the original Nothing Phone 1 and list it as an upgrade, I’ll use that for comparison.
The Nothing Phone 1 is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor, which gave it an above-average performance profile at the time of launch. Meanwhile, the Nothing Phone 2a uses the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro. While Nothing claims that the Phone 2a performs better than the Phone 1, that’s only partially true.
Geekbench 6.2.2 scores show that the Nothing Phone 2a has a weaker CPU but a stronger GPU compared to the Nothing Phone 1. So games are generally better on the Phone 2a, but day-to-day tasks are smoother on the Phone 1.
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For example, I noticed the 2a occasionally stuttered when opening menus or browsing apps or pages for the initial load. The phone was very smooth most of the time and I didn’t experience any performance issues, but the occasional stutter reminded me that this is a mid-range chip.
Gaming performance is similarly poor, although it’s not noticeable when playing most games. However, more graphics-intensive games will reveal the performance gap between the Snapdragon 778G and Dimensity 7200 Pro.
Will the phone degrade performance?
Manav asked us a few questions, but he’s not alone
All phones have to lose performance over time, unless you invest in one of the best gaming phones with active cooling. That said, all other phones experience performance degradation when running processing-intensive tasks like gaming.
Using the Burnout Benchmark on the Google Play Store, the Nothing Phone 2a performed significantly better than the Google Pixel 7a during testing, but the Nothing Phone 1 performed significantly better than both phones.
The scores show that the Nothing Phone 2a’s Dimensity 7200 Pro is the most power-efficient chipset, meaning the phone will offer better battery life for heavy users. However, the ratio of performance per watt to throttling performance favors the Nothing Phone 1.
The Pixel 7a got the best compute score, but only slightly better than the Nothing Phone 1. As you’ll notice from the gray chart in the screenshot above, not only does the Pixel 7a throttle the most, it’s also the fastest throttling phone of the three tested.
Is this an upgraded version of Pixel 6a?
The Tensor G1 in the Pixel 6a is about 30% faster than the Dimensity 7200 Pro in the Nothing Phone 2a, but as you can see above, this only works for a short time.
Of course, CPU performance isn’t the only metric that defines an upgrade, but depending on what you’re looking for, I wouldn’t necessarily consider the Nothing Phone 2a an upgrade from the Pixel.
The display is certainly much better than the Pixel 6a’s, as it’s brighter — 1,300 nits vs. 800 nits — and easier on the eyes. It uses DC dimming at higher brightness levels and 2,140Hz PWM dimming below 50%. The Pixel 6a uses 240hz PWM at all brightness levels, which I personally find very uncomfortable.
The Nothing Phone 2a also has twice the refresh rate of the Pixel 6a’s display, making the phone feel smoother even though the processor isn’t quite as fast. I also noticed that the Nothing Phone 2a’s Wi-Fi performance and network signal were stronger than those of the Pixel 6a or 7a.
The Nothing Phone 2a has longer battery life and charges faster—the Pixel 6a charges at 18W, while the Nothing Phone 2a charges at 45W. Neither phone supports wireless charging.
But the Pixel camera will beat the Nothing Phone 2a camera any time of day. The Nothing Phone 2a’s camera system isn’t bad at all, but it doesn’t compare to the Pixel camera in this price segment.
Is the bootloader unlocked?
Can’t. Nothing Phone 2a’s bootloader is locked.
Is the plastic back easily scratched?
Abhinav on the X is worried about the plastic back, especially since it scratches easily.
After a week of use, I didn’t notice any flaws with the phone at all. That being said, after I read your question, I can easily scratch a corner of the back with a key.
Since this phone uses a transparent back, scratches on this phone may not be as noticeable as on other plastic phones. If you’re worried, you can purchase the official case during checkout on the Nothing.tech website. Nothing also offers its own insurance plan to cover damage, which can also be purchased during checkout on the website.
To me, the most annoying thing about the plastic back is that it’s a huge dust magnet. I feel like I have to wipe my phone clean every time I take it out of my pocket, which is annoying. On the plus side, the plastic makes it a very light phone.
How good is the camera?
Manav keenly wonders if this camera is worth using, and my general answer is yes. Its camera often surprises me, and I find it performs better than the Phone 2. It’s also on par with the Pixel 7a in some tests, but I’d say the Pixel 7a’s overall camera system is better.
The camera comes with a main 50MP sensor and a 50MP ultrawide sensor on the back, so it’s a pretty versatile camera. You can zoom in up to 2x without losing detail, but quality degrades beyond this range.
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The photo above compares the Nothing Phone 2a, Nothing Phone 2, and Google Pixel 7a. The Nothing Phone 2a’s main camera performs better in low-light conditions than the Nothing Phone 2, and is on par with the Pixel 7a in the same conditions.
The ultra-wide-angle camera is slightly softer than the Pixel 7a. Likewise, the front-facing camera seems slightly softer than the Nothing Phone 2’s. Otherwise, it’s an admirable camera, very impressive for a $350 phone.
It’s the first affordable phone with a bright, eye-friendly display, great battery life, smooth all-day performance, and impressive dual 50MP cameras.