Model update at British tech company Nothing: the Phone 2a from March 2024 is now being followed, six months later, by an improved version called Phone 2a Plus. However, it’s not just the name that has changed, the new edition has also made significant technical improvements – including a faster chip, better cameras and faster charging speed. The result is an impressive mid-range smartphone, as our Nothing Phone 2a Plus test reveals.
Technical data
| The product | Phone 2a Plus |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro 5G |
| CPU |
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| Operating system | Android 14; NothingOS 2.6 |
| Display |
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| Camera |
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| Memory | 12 GB RAM; 256 GB flash memory |
| Network | SIM card slot (2x nano SIM); 5G |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6; NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Dimensions and weight | 161.7 mm x 76.3 mm x 8.5 mm (H x W x D); Weight: 190g |
| Battery capacity | 5,000 mAh; 5W charging (cable) |
| Colors | Black, white green |
| Special features | IP54 certification; Glyph interface |
| Prices (RRP) | € 429.00 * |
Nothing Phone 2a Plus Review: New metallic design arrives
- appealing, unique design
- cool Glyph interface
- good workmanship
Visually, the new Nothing Phone 2a Plus hardly differs from the previous 2a. And that’s a good thing, as the familiar model already provided a unique, iconic look that has always characterized the British manufacturer’s products.
However, the new edition has a “metallic” look that sets it apart from the 2a. The smartphone is available in metallic grey and modern black; our test model in the grey version combines the transparent look with grey elements on the back, which looks very classy. The new look is intended to be reminiscent of technical machines – which Nothing has undoubtedly achieved.
The unique glyph interface – the LED lighting on the back – has not changed in direct comparison. This still consists of three elements placed around the centrally positioned dual camera setup. These display notifications, for example, ring to the beat of the music and can be configured in other ways.
The display and back are held in place by a straight aluminum frame, which is grey in color and provides a nice design accent. It is covered with a plastic layer that is slightly roughened and therefore feels good in the hand.
With dimensions of 161.7 mm x 76.3 mm x 8.5 mm, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is by no means small, but it is very comfortable to hold. The weight of 190 grams is well distributed. The smartphone neither looks nor feels like a mid-range device – with its quality, the Phone 2a Plus could also play in the flagship class.
Another positive feature is that the power button on the right and the volume up and down buttons on the left are positioned quite centrally and are easy to reach with one hand. They also offer convincing pressure points. The vibration motor also does a great job and scores with a pleasant feel.
Bright AMOLED display and good features
- Highly colorful, fast AMOLED display
- Up to 1,300 nits
- Dual SIM; NFC and Bluetooth 5.3
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus comes with a 6.7-inch, flat AMOLED display with a resolution of 2,412 x 1,084 pixels (394 ppi) and an adaptive frame rate of up to 120 hertz. It supports HDR10 and HDR10+ as well as HLG.
With a maximum brightness of 1,300 nits, it is also pleasantly bright and therefore very easy to read even in direct sunlight. Although many devices in the upper mid-range are of course noticeably brighter – the Honor 200 Pro (our test) in particular stands out here with up to 4,000 nits, it also costs considerably more than the Nothing Phone.
The PWM frequency of 2,160 Hz ensures very low flickering and is therefore easy on the eyes. All in all, the Phone 2a Plus offers a really great display with rich colors, convincing contrasts and excellent readability.
The rest of the features are also really impressive. The smartphone holds two nano SIM cards and supports a Gigabit 5G dual mode with 4 x 4 MIMO. eSIM support is unfortunately not available.
NFC and Bluetooth 5.3 are also on board. The lower price is noticeable when it comes to the Wi-Fi connection, as only Wi-Fi 6 is available here, but it scores with good speeds. Nothing also installs two stereo speakers that produce a good sound and are pleasantly loud without distorting.
Features, software and performance
An upgrade of the Nothing Phone 2a Plus compared to the 2a is the processor, as the new model relies on the MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro 5G chip with eight cores, which is making its debut in the smartphone. It replaces the Dimensity 7200 Pro from the 2a and offers a higher clock speed of 3.0 GHz, which is said to increase performance by around 10 percent.
It is manufactured using the 4 nm process and is correspondingly energy-efficient. It also has 12 GB of RAM, which can borrow up to an additional 8 GB from the 256 GB system memory.
The operating system is Nothing OS 2.6 based on Android 14, which has quickly become my preferred Android skin. The clear, minimalist design with its black and white look is visually impressive.
The many unique and smart widgets in particular create a look that sits somewhere between classic Android and iOS. Intuitive to use, clearly structured and no bright colors. Very nice. And smooth, too. During my test, there were no stutters, hangs or unclean animations.
Nothing also provides the Phone 2a Plus with three years of Android updates and four years of security patches, which is a rather below-average value these days.
Performance of the Nothing Phone 2a Plus
Nothing has not promised too much in terms of increased performance. In fact, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus ranks slightly above the 2a and makes significant gains, particularly in terms of graphics performance. Nevertheless, the MediaTek chip cannot compete with the Tensor G3 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. At least on paper (and in benchmarks).
In practice, however, you don’t notice much of this, as the everyday performance in normal use, intensive multitasking and also in games is really impressive, which once again underlines the excellent price-performance ratio.
| Benchmark | Result |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 11.289 points |
| Geekbench 6 Multi-Core | 2,233 points |
| Geekbench 6 Single-Core | 1,056 points |
| Geekbench 6 GPU | 4,038 points |
| Geekbench AI | 696 / 697 / 1,261 points |
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme | 1,376 points; 8.24 FPS |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad Light | 531 pts; 3.94 FPS |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad Light stress test | 99.1 percent |
Nevertheless, more could have been achieved in terms of performance. Samsung’s Exynos 1480 chip, which is also used in the Galaxy A55 (our test), delivers better results in the benchmarks.
Glyph interface: Nice gimmick with little added value
The glyph interface of the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is the same as that found in the Phone 2a. It consists of three LED strips that can light up individually or together in white.
A cool detail and a nice gimmick, but its added value is limited. For example, it is possible to assign individual light patterns to different contacts and thus directly recognize who is calling. The timer, which is located in the top left glyph, is also practical: the light strip decreases as soon as the timer tends towards zero.
The glyphs can also be synchronized with your own music, while the composer can be used to create your own ringtones with matching lighting. There are seven different categories to choose from (including Fantasy, Modem and Swedish House Mafia), but there are also some pre-installed ringtones with matching lighting.
It all looks pretty cool, but it’s just a nice gimmick. But one that is not available from any other manufacturer.
Cameras of the Nothing Phone 2a Plus
- Three 50-megapixel sensors
- Main camera with good image quality
- Zoom and ultra-wide angle somewhat disappointing
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus also improves on the cameras and comes with three 50-megapixel sensors. Specifically, you can expect a main camera with f/1.88 aperture with optical image stabilization, an ultra-wide-angle camera (f/2.2) with 114° field of view and a 50 MP selfie camera (f/2.2) – an upgrade compared to the selfie cam in the Phone 2a, which only had a resolution of 32 megapixels.
Also new: all three cameras now allow video recording in 4K at up to 30 frames per second. For photos, you also have the choice between two modes:
Natural uses the TrueLense engine to capture the most true-to-life colors and details, while Vivid comes with richer colors and a generally brighter image. Which you like better is certainly a matter of taste – I find the natural mode more visually appealing. There is also a whole range of effects that you can use to add your own style to photos.
The images from the main camera are particularly impressive and score points with a high level of detail, but sometimes appear somewhat over-sharpened, especially with finer textures.
The digital zoom, on the other hand, is not necessarily one of the Nothing Phone 2a Plus’ strengths, as the level of detail decreases very quickly as soon as you go beyond the 2x zoom realized by crop. The maximum 10x zoom in particular disappoints with a blurred, poorly detailed image.
The ultra-wide-angle camera also delivers decent results, but quickly lacks clear details on closer inspection and when zooming in. It is also a shame that zooming is no longer possible if you switch from 12-megapixel mode to the full 50 megapixels.
I really like the results of the selfie camera, which takes clear, sharp and detailed pictures in good lighting conditions – even with beauty filters that make wrinkles and the like disappear if desired.
However, I noticed a bug during testing: If you set the focus manually in the camera app, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus tends to overexpose the photos, resulting in a pale, low-color and low-contrast image. This does not happen if you use automatic focusing.
But: Nothing is wrong. Two major firmware updates have already been released during my test, which – in addition to many other improvements – have noticeably increased the performance of the cameras.
Excellent battery life
- 5,000 mAh
- 50 watt charging speed
- Excellent battery life
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus has a 5,000 mAh battery, which is just as large as the one in the Phone 2a. However, the new model has increased its charging speed and now charges with up to 50 watts. This means that the battery is fully charged in 56 minutes and charging up to 50 percent takes 21 minutes. Unfortunately, wireless charging is not possible.
The smartphone’s battery life is very good, thanks in part to the energy-efficient chip. In the PCMark Work 3.0 battery benchmark, an excellent 17 hours and 28 minutes were achieved before the test ended at a battery level of 20 percent.
That’s a whopping six hours more than the Honor 200 Pro and three hours more than the Xiaomi 14 Ultra (our test). In practice, you can easily achieve one and a half to two days of use.
Nothing Phone 2a Plus test: Conclusion
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus is a convincing upgrade for the already available Phone 2a, although the question naturally arises as to why there has to be a new edition after just six months.
For a surcharge of 100 euros over the RRP of its quasi-predecessor, you get a more powerful and efficient chip, a better selfie camera, a slightly faster charging time and a slightly customized design with a metallic look.
While buyers of the Phone 2a should consider switching several times, the new Nothing Phone 2a Plus delivers a coherent overall package in the mid-range smartphone class, including a design and finish that are far above its price class. The bright and colorful AMOLED display and the outstanding battery life are also impressive.
But of course not everything is rosy: eSIM support and wireless charging are missing. In particular, the ultra-wide-angle camera and the zoom capabilities of the main camera fall short of expectations, while the updated selfie cam in particular delivers great results.
The performance also lags somewhat behind, at least in benchmarks. However, you don’t notice much of this in everyday use: the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is smooth to operate and doesn’t slip up in games either.
This makes the Phone 2a Plus a thoroughly coherent overall package for all those who want their smartphone to stand out from the crowd.
Nothing Phone 2a Plus
Workmanship
Hardware
Multimedia
Performance
Battery Life
Value For Money
90/100
Elegant and rather unique smartphone in terms of design with a great battery life, impressive display and fast everyday performance. However, the cameras and features are a little behind.
