Nothing’s Phone 2a Plus is the smallest of upgrades, but I’m still a big fan

Transparent tech specialist Nothing has given the cheapest of its cheap phone duo a spit shine in record time. The Phone 2a hasn’t even been on shelves for six months yet, but already has a bigger brother aimed at those wanting a little more gaming oomph. This isn’t a successor, though: the new Phone 2a Plus will live alongside Nothing’s most popular model.

You don’t need to consult the spec sheets to spot a Phone 2a Plus: it’s rocking a new grey colour scheme, with see-through elements that’ve been given a shiny silver treatment. The overall styling stays the same, with the pared-back glyph lighting system and polycarbonate case first seen on Phone 2a. Those eye-like dual rear cameras have made a comeback, too. I’m in two minds: the silver is a lot more distinctive, but arguably a bit blingy for a firm that prides itself on minimalist design.

The biggest internal upgrade is a new MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro chipset, which promises more power for both apps and games than the Dimensity 7200 Pro used in Phone 2a. The benchmarks (805,721 in Antutu, 1209 and 2663 in Geekbench 6) put it ahead of the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion and Samsung Galaxy A35, and see it open up much more of a gap to the bargain basement CMF by Nothing Phone 1.

Nothing reckons it shouldn’t sap the 5000mAh battery any faster, so you can expect all-day life away from the mains. I’ve not had enough time with my review unit to confirm just yet.

A modest boost to wired charging speeds should mean less time spent tethered, too; Phone 2a Plus can suck down volts at 50W from a compatible power brick, versus 45W in the Phone 2a. Not that either model includes an adapter in the box, mind.

You’re still getting a 6.7in AMOLED with skinny, symmetrical bezels and rounded-off corners. The Full HD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate and 1300 nit peak brightness are a match for Phone 2a, which was very easy on the eye for an affordable phone.

The two 50MP rear snappers are unchanged, but the front-facing selfie cam has been upgraded to a matching 50MP unit, instead of the 32MP one used on Phone 2a. All three sensors come from Samsung, which should mean greater image processing consistency – something the mainstream 2a was hardly lacking. I’ve been snapping away for a few days, but need more time to deliver a full verdict.

On the software front, Phone 2a Plus arrives running Nothing OS 2.6; the firm’s minimal, widget-based take on Android 14 is still comfortably one of my favourite mobile skins, with its monochrome UI being entirely free from bloat. A new News Reporter widget is available here for the first time, using AI to aggregate daily news from categories including business, entertainment, science, sports and tech. The one minute audio chunks are convenient, but the voice that reads them out sounds incredibly bored; it’s not going to be replacing my Feedly RSS reader any time soon.

At £399 for a 12GB+256GB variant, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus is still refreshingly affordable. It undercuts the Pixel 8a and OnePlus Nord 4, while leaving enough of a hardware gap to leave the Nothing Phone 2 as the firm’s flagship offering. It’ll be going on sale in the UK first, with a limited drop at Nothing’s London Soho store on the 3rd of August. A US developer programme will also open then, with pricing and availability for the rest of the world set to be confirmed in September.

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