Nothing, the disruptive London-based technology company, has launched the Nothing Phone 2a — stylized as Nothing Phone (2a) — its latest foray into the fiercely competitive midrange smartphone market. The unit will be available globally, and locations include Delhi, Dubai, London, Paris, Berlin, and Singapore.

(Update, May 31: There’s a Nothing phone 2a Special Edition, and it’s coming to the Philippines, too!)

According to Nothing, the Phone 2a aims to subvert expectations, emphasizing important features and an intuitive user experience over the bells and whistles seen on many budget-friendly handsets.

In the Philippines, the Nothing Phone 2a will be sold through its local distributor, Digital Walker, with preorders beginning March 9. Offline and online retail sales start March 12. It comes in Black and Milk colors, and you get two storage variants to choose from. The 8GB/128GB model is priced at P18,990 (around $340), while the 12GB/256GB version costs P20,990 ($376). How about globally? You can find the international pricing below.

₹ from ₹23,999
£ from £319
€ from €329
$ from $349 (Available via the US Developer Program)

— Nothing (@nothing) March 5, 2024

Global pricing details

Beneath its sleek exterior, the Nothing Phone 2a boasts a surprising amount of power, thanks to its MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro chipset. This custom-designed 5G chip is built on TSMC’s highly efficient 4nm process node and offers a snappy octa-core architecture with clock speeds up to 2.8GHz.

Nothing claims the enhancements made in conjunction with MediaTek prioritize real-world performance, squeezing more out of the second-gen node for better multitasking and power efficiency. The company has advertised a 13% performance boost over the original Phone 1.

Perhaps the bigger story here, however, is longevity. Nothing says the handset’s 5,000mAh battery will retain 90% of its capacity after 1,000 charging cycles. This translates to roughly three years of everyday use before degradation is noticeable, and it’s made possible by a range of software optimizations.

With regard to design, it’s strikingly minimalist, which is a key tenet of Nothing’s design philosophy. Visually, the defining feature here is the unique “eyes” camera arrangement on the rear, with the dual sensors positioned within the NFC coil. It’s an undeniably attention-grabbing visual element and lends the Phone 2a a sense of personality.

📍 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 6 March
📍 Singapore – 6 March
📍 Delhi, India – 6 March
📍 Dubai, UAE – 6 March
📍 Hyderabad, India – 7 March
📍 Paris, France – 8 March
📍 Bangalore, India – 8 March
📍 Berlin, Germany – 9 March
📍 Barcelona, Spain – 9 March
📍 London, UK – 9 March…

— Nothing (@nothing) March 1, 2024

Where and when the Nothing Phone 2a will be available or released

Of course, the unique Glyph Interface returns, now with more functionality, allowing users to customize patterns of flashing lights to convey notifications and other status information. The 6.7-inch flat AMOLED display, on the other hand, offers a peak brightness of 1,300 nits for excellent outdoor visibility and adapts its refresh rate between 30Hz and 120Hz to balance smoothness and battery savings.

At the back, the Phone 2a has a dual-camera system featuring two 50-megapixel cameras, with Nothing’s TrueLens Engine computational photography suite baked in. This emphasizes realistic results, particularly in challenging lighting conditions. The brand promises a focus on detail and color accuracy rather than chasing megapixels.

On the software side, the Nothing Phone 2a arrives with Android 14-based Nothing OS 2.5. Nothing has promised three years of software updates and four years of security updates for its latest device, meaning it will receive software support for four years after its release.

Nothing Phone 2a specs

• 6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, 120Hz refresh rate, 1,300 nits peak brightness, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
• 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro 5G chipset
• Mali-G610 MC4 graphics
• 8GB/12GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB storage
• Dual 50-megapixel main and 50-megapixel ultrawide rear cameras
• 32-megapixel front camera
• Under-display fingerprint reader
• 5,000mAh battery with 45-watt wired charging
• NothingOS 2.5 based on Android 14
• Glyph Interface system with three LEDs
• IP54 rating
• Colors: Black and Milk

---