The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is official: is that a surplus from the Phone (2a) hype?

This comic book quote is not as random as you might think. I'm using one of Marvel's Silver Surfer quotes because the Phone (2a) Plus was referred to as the Silver Surfer by the Nothing team itself in recent weeks.

The nickname fits like a glove: just take a look at that silver beauty:



These are the two new colors introduced with the Plus – metallic Grey, and the other one being an updated Black hue. "Reminiscent of machinery, the metallic finish offers a new premium expression of Nothing’s design language", its makers say. And they're not at all wrong.

There are three key areas that the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is being amplified, compared to the non-Plus Nothing Phone (2a):

• Performance
• Camera
• Design

Let's take a deeper dive.

Nothing Phone (2a) Plus: design changes

Apart from the new color options that are like a fresh aesthetic breeze to the smartphone market, the Phone (2a) Plus inherits the design language established with the original Phone (2a). It's like blending engineering and machinery with artistry and poetry.

If you like what Nothing phones have been looking like so far, you won't be disappointed by the exterior of the latest handset as well.

The cameras, positioned within the NFC coil, evoke the image of eyes set above a brain-like hub, symbolizing the device's intelligence and communicative capabilities. To me, they give it an almost android-like look (as in: a "humanoid robot", not the OS). The circular grid system centralizes the camera, offering a cohesive and appealing design that ensures the Phone (2a) Plus stands out as an iconic addition to Nothing's lineup.

Performance promises with a brand-new chipset

The Phone (2a) Plus is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro 5G processor, an exclusive chipset designed specifically for Nothing. This processor is said to have been developed to enhance gaming performance, so all you gamers out there – rejoice!

The chipset utilizes advanced TSMC 4 nm Gen 2 technology and features 8 cores running at speeds up to 3.0 GHz, making it nearly 10% faster than the previous model. It also includes an ARM Mali-G610 MC4 GPU, which operates at 1.3 GHz and offers a 30% improvement in gaming performance compared to the Phone (2a). Sounds great, but we'll test that on our own, too!

To maintain high performance, the Phone (2a) Plus includes Nothing's Smart Clean Technology, which automatically clears unused system files. Additionally, NTFS optimizations provide quick file transfers, and the RAM Booster feature allows for up to 20 GB of effective RAM, ensuring smooth multitasking and enhanced user experience.

A new 50MP camera for better selfies

Since the launch of the "original" Phone (2a) in March, Nothing has released seven software updates focused on improving the camera experience. These updates have refined color accuracy, saturation, and color consistency, as well as improved blur accuracy, camera app loading speeds, and overall performance.

By the way, one of these seven updates got the flagship Nothing Phone (2) owners a bit mad several months ago.

But, back to the Phone (2a) Plus: here we have a new triple 50 MP camera system. The selfie camera now captures 4K video at 30 FPS, an upgrade from the previous 32 MP sensor. The main sensor features a large 50 MP resolution with an f/1.88 lens, complemented by an ultra-wide 50 MP sensor with a 114-degree field of view, and a 50 MP front camera. All three sensors support direct 50 MP photo output, HDR photo capture, and 4K video recording.

The main camera excels in low-light conditions, delivering detailed and vibrant night shots. It also supports 4K video recording with Optical Image Stabilization, Electric Image Stabilization, and Action Mode for smooth footage.

The TrueLens Engine, equipped with AI Vivid Mode, uses algorithms to create lifelike photos rich in color and detail. The Ultra XDR feature, co-developed with Google, enhances lighting in challenging conditions by adjusting pixel brightness up to five times for realistic images. Additional features include Motion Capture for sharp action shots, Night Mode for better low-light photography, and AI Portrait Optimizer for perfect group photos.

Sounds great for a budget-friendly device, if you ask me!

The rest of the specs: OS, battery, display… and price!

The Phone (2a) Plus comes with Android 14 out of the box, and an impressive three years of software updates and four years of security updates. Its Nothing OS 2.6, the custom-made Android skin from Nothing, offers "functional widgets for mindful interactions" on your home and lock screens.

Following its earlier ChatGPT integrations, Nothing has introduced the News Reporter Widget, a daily news digest that uses AI technology to curate and present news in a simple format. The news summaries are read aloud by Nothing CFO Tim Holbrow and are accessible on all Nothing smartphones via the Nothing Widgets app, available on the Google Play Store.

The widget offers news from eight selectable genres: business, entertainment, general, health, science, sports, and technology. The AI system aggregates and summarizes articles from English-language sources based on the chosen categories, converting them into audio. Each summary is one minute long, with a total of eight stories updated daily. The widget refreshes every morning with new content. Users can skip stories using the Quick Settings Panel or the Media Player widget, and the service does not require any sign-up to use.



The battery is impressive, offering a 5,000 mAh capacity and rapid 50W Fast Charging, which means it can be charged to one day’s power in under 20 minutes, nearly 10% faster than Phone (2a). Nothing claims that the new Plus retains over 90% of its full battery capacity, even after 1,000 charging cycles.

The display is the same FHD+ 6.7” AMOLED panel found on the Phone (2a) that delivers nice, saturated colors without being too aggressive on the eyes. It also has color temperature settings, dark mode, and blue light filter, as is standard nowadays.

With Active Matrix technology (the "AM" part of "AMOLED"), the Phone (2a) Plus display has precise control over each individual pixel, contributing to better image quality – all without draining battery life.

Phone (2a) Plus retains the thinnest bezels in Nothing’s smartphone line-up, measuring just 2.1 mm symmetrically on all four sides of the screen. This achievement results in an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 91.65%, made possible through the combination of a flexible panel with structural engineering.

Interactions are smooth thanks to the 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate, seamlessly adjusting to content, and a 240 Hz touch sampling rate for instant responsiveness.

Of course, there's the iconic Glyph interface: this is what got you interested in Nothing in the first place, admit it!

This is like a new way to interact with a smartphone that encourages people to put their screens down and refer to light and sound patterns for key information. The focused Glyph Interface holds on to all the capabilities of Phone (2a), including the Glyph Timer and Glyph Progress that utilizes third party integrations, whilst illuminating the distinct new metallic aesthetic of Phone (2a) Plus.



And finally, let's talk about price and availability:

• Phone (2a) Plus is available in Grey and Black in the UK: 12/256 GB (£399 GBP);
• In London, Nothing Store Soho will be the first place in the world where people can buy the new device: from 11:00 AM BST on Saturday, August 3;
• In the US, Phone (2a) Plus is available in Grey with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage for $399 through the US Beta Program. Users will be able to purchase Phone (2a) Plus through the US Beta Program on August 7 at 9:00am ET.

Is this move by Nothing – to release the same phone with a new, slightly better chipset, another color option, and an updated selfie camera – a surprise to you?