Nothing Phone 2A Cuts the Price and the Lights
The phone will cost only $349 when it goes on sale in the US later this month.
- Shortlisted for British Photography Awards 2022, Commended in Landscape Photographer of the Year 2022
The Nothing Phone 2A.
We liked the Nothing Phone 2 because of its solid overall performance and unique flashing lights on the back of the phone. The Nothing Phone 2A inherits some of that flashiness but strips back the specs to make the price tag even more affordable.
In the US, the Phone 2A with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage will cost $349, while the same configuration in the UK will set you back £349. That's half the price of the Nothing Phone 2 with the same storage and memory.
So what do you get for your money? Two rear cameras, a generously large 6.7-inch display -- which seems bright and vibrant enough to do mobile games and YouTube videos justice -- and a 5,000-mAh battery that should provide at least a full day of use.
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The main 50-megapixel camera takes decent photos in most conditions, capturing plenty of detail and colors that seem generally accurate. There's also a 32MP ultrawide camera that also does its job perfectly well. Is it a camera to catapult you into photography stardom? Probably not. But it's fine for quick snaps of your friends.
Here are some photos I've taken with the phone so far.
A photo taken with the Nothing Phone 2A.
A photo of the inside of a store taken on the Nothing Phone 2A.
Another image shot on the Nothing Phone 2A.
An outdoor shot taken on the Nothing Phone 2A.
The phone runs on the Mediatek Dimensity 7200 Pro chip, rather than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 found in its pricier sibling. It's nowhere near as powerful on benchmark tests as the Nothing Phone 2, but that's to be expected given its lower price. I found it fairly nippy in everyday use with no noticeable lag or stuttering.
The Nothing Phone 2A's flashing lights.
So what about Nothing's signature flashing glyph lights? Well, there are a small number of them on the back, though apparently you need to spend bigger bucks on the regular Nothing Phone 2 if you want the complete light show. The LEDs it does have can alert you to incoming calls or act as a small fill light when shooting video at night.
We've spent only a short amount of time with the phone, so we'll reserve judgement on whether it's worth the money for the full review. But so far, it certainly seems like a decent and affordable alternative for those who don't want to spend more on the Nothing Phone 2.
