The Nothing Phone 2a Is Official With Big Budget Value

Nothing, the young company co-founded by former OnePlus man Carl Pei, has released its third smartphone today: the Nothing Phone (2a). We've lived through teaser after teaser, leak after leak, and it is finally official in all its glory.

As expected, Nothing brings sensible specs, an unorthodox design, and a very competitive price to the table, making this phone hard to look away from if you're looking for a budget device.

The Nothing Phone 2a Is Here And It's Surely Something Too

The Nothing Phone (2a) was launched globally today after a lot of hype was drummed up by the young, forward-thinking company. Just looking at the phone, there's a whole lot to like, so let's get into what you need to know about the latest Nothing device.

The Pricing

Normally, we'd talk about the pricing at the very end, but the Nothing Phone (2a) is a budget smartphone, and that informs a lot of the choices the company made regarding its specs. The base model starts at about $400, but the top-specced model can be bought through the US Developer Program at $349.

The Screen

The Nothing Phone (2a) might be budget, but it brings a similar screen as the Nothing Phone (2), though obviously cutting some corners. They're both 6.7-inch OLED displays with FHD+ resolution and a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. Both are HDR10+ certified.

However, the Nothing Phone (2a) has a peak brightness of 1300 nits (300 less than the Phone (2)) and isn't a LTPO display. But it matches up pretty well, considering it is significantly cheaper. There's an optical fingerprint scanner under the screen too!

The Design

The Nothing Phone (2a)'s design is surely different. Hate it or love it, it is instantly recognizable and it will set itself apart from the rest of the slabs out there. The front has a screen, a punch-hole selfie camera, and equal bezels all around. That's the boring part.

Flip the device over though, and that's where the fun happens. The back panel is made of transparent plastic (which is bound to scuff easily, but at least it won't be as fragile) and shows off PCB-style internals similar to the way the other Nothing devices did. It is IP54-certified, so don't rush to dunk this in the pool.

The pill-shaped camera cutout, with two cameras, sits horizontally in the middle of a concentric circle (which is the NFC coil!) in the top third of the back panel. Around that concentric circle are three Glyph lights: two on the left, and one on the right. There's also an eye-catching tiny red square near the right side of the back for no reason besides looking cool. The frame is also made of plastic, though it has a metal-like finish to it.

The Internal Hardware

Inside the phone, the specs are pretty interesting. Nothing walks away from Qualcomm for what is supposedly a cheaper but equally capable chip for its price point: the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro, which was custom-designed specifically for the Phone (2a). Nothing says you'll get 13% more power than you do with the Phone (1) chipset.

The phone comes in three configurations: 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB, and 12GB/256GB.

You will also get a 5,000 mAh battery, which is the largest that Nothing has ever put in a phone, along with 45W wired charging. You don't get wireless charging, but that's just another place where corners hard to be cut, unsurprisingly.

The Cameras

Now then, the cameras. At its price, you really shouldn't expect too much from the Phone (2a) in real-world usage, but on paper, it seems good enough.

You get two cameras on the back, and both are 50MP. One is a regular wide lens with OIS and the other is an ultrawide with a 114° FOV. You'll be able to record at 4K and 30fps, or up to 1080p and 120fps. The front camera is 32MP and can record at 1080p and 60fps.

The Software

The Nothing Phone (2a) unsurprisingly comes with Android 14 out of the box, skinned over with the company's Nothing OS 2.5. You'll be entitled to three years of major OS updates, which is great for a budget device. You'll get an extra year on top of that of just security updates.

You get the usual Nothing vibe with the software, including apps that make use of the Glyph lighting on the back panel of the phone — whether for timers, notifications, or even music — and a new Wallpaper Studio that can create AI-generated backgrounds on the fly.

When And Where Will The Nothing Phone 2a Be Available?

Pre-orders for the Nothing Phone (2a) start today, so if you want to get the phone, you can via nothing.tech. Orders will start shipping from March 12th, and the phone will be available in most major global markets.

However, as we reported earlier, the Nothing Phone (2a) will not be available publicly in the United States. Instead, interested parties will need to sign up through the Developer Program starting from March 12th to get access to the phone. Only the 12GB/256GB model will be available.