Nothing Phone (2a) Plus: subtle facelift with an effect

A little better, a little more expensive, a little redesigned – The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus only differs in nuances from the model without the "Plus" in its name, which is just a few months old. However, the changes are still noticeable in a positive way, and for 450 euros you get a durable smartphone with a great display and plenty of stamina.

The design of the Phone (2a) Plus is very similar to that of the original model, but the back is now silver-grey under the transparent plastic layer instead of black or white as before. Nothing is currently experimenting more with different color variants to add some variety to the minimalist style. The matt frame is also gray. The workmanship is successful, the materials are not quite as high quality as in the more expensive price ranges. IP54 ensures protection against dust and splash water.

Nothing continues to place its LED element called Glyph around the camera element, which consists of three parts on the Phone (2a) Plus. It serves as a visual notification for incoming messages and calls as well as a video and photo light and a visible countdown and charging indicator. With the Glyph Composer, you can create your own flashing patterns and share them with others.

New chip from Mediatek

The processor is new and slightly faster than on the Phone (2a). At 3 GHz, the Mediatek Dimensity 7350 5G achieves a clock rate almost ten percent higher than the 7300 in the (2a). It can access 12 GB of RAM, and the phone can also store a further 8 GB in the 256 GB internal memory if required. There are no other storage options, nor is there space for a memory card.

In addition to the main camera, the front camera now also has a 50-megapixel sensor, which should benefit selfies. The ultra-wide-angle camera also takes photos with up to 50 megapixels. All three cameras support 4K video recording and HDR. The Phone (2a) Plus also comes with the Ultra XDR photo enhancer developed by Nothing together with Google.

Nothing has changed the display, but that was not necessary. The 6.7-inch OLED screen supports frame rates of up to 120 Hz and is around 1000 cd/m² bright. The resolution is standard for the class at stretched Full HD with 1084 x 2412 pixels. Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protects the screen against scratches.

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus has a 5000 mAh, non-removable battery. It is charged exclusively by cable with up to 50 watts of power. With an appropriate charger, which you also have to buy from Nothing itself, it should go from zero to one hundred in just under an hour. The Phone (2a) Plus can also supply other devices with power via reverse charging, with a maximum of 5 watts flowing through the cable.

ChatGPT firmly integrated

The Android interface Nothing OS 2.6 has a clean and minimalist look. If desired, all icons can remain monochrome, which looks uniform, but also makes it harder to distinguish the icons quickly. There are plenty of widgets to choose from for the home screen and lock screen. The AI helper ChatGPT is also baked into the system. Nothing plans to provide the Phone (2a) Plus with three Android updates and four years of security patches.

(sht)