The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is a mid-range Android phone announced on July 31, 2024. It first went on sale on August 3, 2024, at Nothing’s London store. It upgrades the Phone (2a) with a faster chip, a 50 MP selfie camera and 50 W charging. In the UK, it cost £399 for 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. In the US, it was sold through Nothing’s Beta Program for $399.
Design and display
The body has the same size as the Phone (2a). It measures 161.74 x 76.32 x 8.55 mm and weighs 190 g. The transparent plastic back gets a new metallic finish in Grey or Black. Three Glyph light strips surround the dual camera, which sits inside the NFC coil. The phone is rated IP54 for dust and splash resistance.
The 6.7-inch flexible AMOLED screen has a 1084 x 2412 resolution. Its adaptive refresh rate goes up to 120 Hz, and the touch sampling rate is 240 Hz. Nothing lists 1,300 nits of peak brightness, HDR10+ certification and 2160 Hz PWM dimming. Gorilla Glass 5 covers the display.
Performance
The phone runs on the Dimensity 7350 Pro. Nothing says this MediaTek chip is exclusive to the model. It is built on a 4 nm process, with CPU cores reaching 3.0 GHz. The Mali-G610 MC4 GPU runs at up to 1.3 GHz. Nothing says the CPU is about 10% faster and the GPU about 30% faster than in the Phone (2a). Every version has 256 GB of storage, with 8 GB or 12 GB of RAM.
Cameras
Both rear cameras use 50 MP sensors. The main camera has an f/1.88 lens with optical stabilization. The ultrawide has an f/2.2 lens with a 114-degree view. The front camera is now 50 MP as well, up from 32 MP on the Phone (2a). Both the rear and front cameras record 4K video at 30 fps.
Battery and charging
The 5,000 mAh battery supports 50 W wired charging. Nothing says a 20-minute charge gives a day of use. The phone also offers 5 W reverse wired charging, but there is no wireless charging. The box includes a USB-C cable but no charger.
Software and updates
The phone launched with Nothing OS 2.6 based on Android 14. Nothing promises three years of Android updates and four years of security patches. It has since moved to Nothing OS 3.0 with Android 15. Connectivity covers 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC, with two nano-SIM slots.
Should you buy the Phone (2a) Plus?
The Phone (2a) Plus fits buyers who like the Phone (2a) design but want more speed. It also adds a sharper selfie camera. It keeps the same screen, main cameras and battery size. There is no wireless charging, eSIM or microSD slot, and IP54 protects only against splashes. US buyers could get it only through the Beta Program, with limited carrier support. Its official listing in Nothing’s European store currently shows it as sold out.
