Nothing Phone (2a) Plus hands-on: So that’s what they meant by ‘nothing’

Ben Schoon | Jul 31 2024 - 2:30 am PT

When “Nothing” hit the scene a few years back, many were curious to know how the company settled on its quirky branding. A few years and a few phones later, we finally have the answer in the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus, a device that, for lack of a better description, seems entirely pointless.

The Nothing Phone (2a) launched early this year as a pretty impressive value for the money. The $349 device offered specs better than the price suggested, with excellent hardware and software too. It also served as a jumping-off point for the CMF Phone 1 which took a lot of the aspects that made Phone (2a) great and brought them to an even cheaper $199 price point. Both have easily been among my favorite phones of 2024 so far.

Today, Nothing has announced the Phone (2a) Plus, an upgraded version of the Phone (2a).

Kind of.

Here’s everything that’s actually new on Nothing Phone (2a) Plus:

Faster MediaTek 7350 Pro chip (10% faster CPU, up to 30% faster GPU)
50MP front-facing camera
50W charging (up from 45W)
0.02mm shorter in height
Updated design with metal accents (under the plastic)

That’s a short list!

It has the same display as Phone (2a), the same rear cameras, the same battery size, and the same IP54 dust/water resistance. It also has the same hardware, though Nothing notes this device is made from a lot of recycled materials, including taking plastic waste from the production of the since-replaced Ear (2) to repurpose it for Phone (2a) Plus which is actually really cool.

The design update is also quite pretty and a huge step up from the Phone (2a) with some flashy metal under the plastic back. Truly, it’s striking, and I wish the original release looked this great.

So why does this exist?

It’s marginally faster, has a marginally better camera, and has some flashy hardware. At a mere $50 upcharge, there’s no reason, at least from my perspective, for both the Phone (2a) and the Phone (2a) Plus to co-exist. Nothing says that Phone (2a) will still be sold and continue to be restocked, but the company did explain that it “saw an opportunity” to improve on Phone (2a) for “power users” by providing better performance and a better camera, still at an accessible price point while Nothing Phone (3) is held back to 2025. But, personally, I’m struggling with that argument just because the list of improvements is so tiny. Performance is the biggest upgrade, but I never really had much to complain about with Phone (2a) in the first place, and a mid-range MediaTek chip isn’t going to please the “power users” Nothing is claiming to build this device for.

Does that mean you shouldn’t buy Nothing Phone (2a) Plus? By no means am I saying that. Based on my very limited use thus far it seems like a fine device. As the specs imply, it’s basically the same as what I experienced with Phone (2a) back in March and April. For the most part quick, but with the occasional hiccup. It also gets the same pretty decent update policy, launching with Android 14 and getting two years of major updates and three years of security patches.

What it really boils down to for me on the Phone (2a) Plus is that there’s such a tiny difference between the Phone (2a) and the Plus that, unless you’ve been waiting for the right time to buy Phone (2a), I can’t imagine anything on this device is new enough to push anyone to suddenly say, “hey, I think I want to buy a Nothing Phone (2a)” if they didn’t feel that way already. It also feels way too soon to launch this device, seeing as Phone (2a) just went on sale in March, merely four months ago.

Ultimately, there’s just nothing here, at least nothing more than there already was.

Nothing Phone (2a) Plus will cost $399 in the US as a part of a “beta program,” and will be sold widely in the UK for £399 and in Europe (a price was not provided) too, also a tiny price bump over the existing, barely different Nothing Phone (2a), and around double the cost of the also shockingly good CMF Phone 1 by Nothing. That’s for the 12GB + 256GB variant. The Phone (2a) Plus will be sold in both gray and black colors, the gray pictured throughout this article – again, this updated design really is stunning.

In the US, the Phone (2a) Plus will have limited carrier support, with the best option being T-Mobile’s network. 5G is unsupported on both AT&T and Verizon.

Nothing says Phone (2a) Plus will be available in Europe and the UK starting on August 3, and in the US on August 7.

What do you think of Nothing Phone (2a) Plus?