Nothing Phone (2a): The new gold standard for budget smartphones?

Nothing Phone (2a) recently debuted in India at a starting price of Rs 23,999. I got to review this budget-friendly smartphone to find out if the third time is a charm? Keep reading to find out.

While unboxing this new Nothing handset, I spotted two cool things: the USB-C-to-C cable that most companies don’t offer at this price point and the tiny sim ejector tool that shows the company’s attention to detail and dedication to transparent design philosophy. 

In terms of design, it is minimalistic and refined. The bezels around the display are quite symmetrical that show keen attention to detail. The hand grip of the phone is also good and feels premium. The dual rear camera placement looks like two eyes staring from a spaceship. Just like other Nothing phones, it also comes with a Glyph interface that has now been moved up to the top. The LED lights on the back can tell you about your battery charging status, your Swiggy/Zomato order status, Uber ride status and so on. Last year, this feature looked like a gimmick to many people, but turns out, it has become almost indispensable with use cases. 

As for the display, it features a 6.7-inch AMOLED display that offers full HD resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate and 1,300 nits of peak brightness. In my opinion, the display is vibrant, and the colours are fairly decent. If you’re watching content on it, it seems crystal clear as well.

Overall, it gets the job done. However, I don’t think this phone is geared towards performance enthusiasts. 

Nothing Phone (2a) is powered by mid-range MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro chipset. In my experience, this smartphone is brilliant for daily use and fairly decent when it comes to gaming and good in terms of battery life as well. If you want maximum performance at this price point and NothingOS features, I think we already have a winner. 

One of my favourite things about NothingOS is what they have done with the Weather app. It is addictive. The way they have played around with just two to three colours describing details like air quality. It comes with a 5,000 mAh battery that supports 45W fast charging. 

As for the camera, Nothing Phone (2a) comes with a dual rear camera setup that includes a 50MP primary sensor and a 50MP ultra-wide angle lens. You will also get a 32MP front-facing camera. When I tested the portrait camera shots, I figured that they are not the best as the background didn’t seem to capture proper subject separation as I expected and it looked like the image was over-processed. 

Click here to see camera samples

The rear camera does not offer flagship camera capabilities but gets the job done. Nothing Phone (2a) looks good. If I am buying this smartphone, I am definitely not a camera enthusiast, it is a lifestyle choice for me. At this price point, I think it is a fairly decent camera performance that Nothing Phone (2a) is offering.

The smartphone also comes with an IP54 rating for water and dust resistance. However, I think they could’ve gone a level up but largely, there is a whole lot of recycled material that is used in this device. It looks and feels quite premium, but at the back, it is a bit plastic-y. The good thing is that a scratch guard, a screen protector has already been installed on the device.

Nothing has promised three years of OS updates and 4 years of security updates which is something that very few manufacturers are giving at this price point. 

Verdict

In terms of pricing, the base model of the Nothing Phone (2a), equipped with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, is priced at Rs. 23,999. For those seeking more storage, variants with 8GB + 256GB and 12GB + 256GB configurations are available at Rs. 25,999 and Rs. 27,999, respectively.

Nothing Phone (2a) is competing with the likes of Realme 12 and Redmi 13 Pro and more devices in the Android system. But what none of these devices give you is NothingOS or the refined design. Carl Pei has really walked the talk by making it an India-focused announcement. The global launch took place in New Delhi this time and on top of that Carl changed his Twitter handle name from Carl Pei to Carl Bhai and made a new Indian brand ambassador. In addition to this, he is giving you a value-for-money product. 

Nothing Phone (2a) comes with fantastic software, brilliant design, super unique approach, refreshing, good battery life, decent chipset and value for money at the right price point.

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