Nothing has officially lifted the lid on the Nothing Phone 2a Plus, a souped-up version of its recently released (and surprisingly popular) mid-ranger, the Nothing Phone 2a.
The Nothing Phone 2a launched in March this year as an affordable alternative to the flagship Nothing Phone 2, and with the Nothing Phone 3 not set to arrive until 2025, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is intended “for those who are excited about Phone 2a but are seeking even higher performance,” Nothing CEO Carl Pei said in a statement.
So, what’s new? Well, unlike other Plus-branded phones, the ‘Plus’ moniker in the 2a Plus’ name doesn’t refer to screen size. Instead, the 2a Plus boasts a slightly more powerful chipset, slightly faster wired charging and a slightly better selfie camera than its sibling, as well as two new colors: metallic Grey and updated Black.
The repetition of ‘slightly’ in the above paragraph is intentional, though Nothing is confident that the world-exclusive MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro 5G chipset in the 2a Plus will bring tangible performance improvements over the standard 2a, which uses a Mediatek Dimensity 7200 Pro chipset. Specifically, Nothing says the newer chipset has a 10% faster CPU and a 30% faster GPU, which should deliver a smoother gaming experience in the 2a Plus.
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Also new is a sibling-beating 50MP front camera and 50W wired charging (the 2a sports a 30MP front camera and 45W wired charging), but the rest of the phone remains unchanged. You’ll get the same 6.7-inch AMOLED display, the same 50MP rear wide and ultra-wide cameras, the same 5,000 mAh battery and the same IP54 water resistance rating.
That’s not a problem, by any means – we described the Nothing Phone 2a as “a breath of fresh air in a market saturated with mundane cheap smartphones” in our Nothing Phone 2a review – but it does put the 2a Plus in reserve for mobile gaming fans almost exclusively (unless you’re desperate to benefit from its superior selfie snapper).
We say this because the 2a Plus is more expensive than the standard 2a. It costs £399 in the UK (international pricing will be revealed in September) and comes in one RAM/storage configuration: 12GB of RAM with 256GB of storage. The standard 2a costs a tad less, at $349/ £349 /AU$675 for the same RAM/storage configuration, though a cheaper 8GB/128GB model is available in the UK for £319.
Is that £50 (and likely $50) premium for the 2a Plus worth paying for those who aren’t keen mobile gamers? The jury is out on that front, though we’re currently putting the new device through its paces for a full review, so we’ll have a definitive verdict on this potential best cheap phones contender soon.
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus will launch via a limited London store drop on August 3, at which point the phone’s US Developer Programme will open, too. As mentioned, further pricing and availability will be revealed in September, so stay tuned to TechRadar for the latest.
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axel.metz@futurenet.com (Axel Metz)
