The Nothing phone (2a) is Carl Pei’s most important phone since OnePlus One

We live in a world of smartphone saturation where the market is dominated by a few players. In the west, that’s Apple and Samsung, in the east Huawei, Xiaomi and Vivo have a much larger foothold. Some brands are trying – like Google with its Pixel phones – to break into the mainstream.

OnePlus was the darling of tech fans for many years: from the viral launch of the OnePlus One, to the experimental finishes like the ceramic of the OnePlus X. It was a brand that wanted to do things differently. That reduced as OnePlus moved closer to Oppo and it was no surprise when Carl Pei left the brand.

Nothing’s rise has resembled the playbook used for OnePlus. It’s about creating a viral buzz and we’ve seen that through a number of different plays – selective leaking, using high-profile YouTubers like Marques Brownlee to reveal details, and so on. Carl Pei is playing right to his audience of tech fans. Launching a phone with a transparent rear casing induces a geekgasm like Cyanogen did on the OnePlus One.

What was impressive about the OnePlus One at the time – apart from the waitlist and the community buzz – was the price. Current OnePlus phones are priced to compete with those big brands mentioned above, but when the Nothing phone (1) launched, it was back to an impressively low price.

Welcoming the Nothing phone (2a)

The Nothing phone (2) stepped up both in terms of positioning and price, leaving space for the Nothing phone (2a). Priced at £319, the Nothing phone (2a) is a phone that’s firmly in the mid-range, undercutting the likes of the Pixel 7a and Samsung Galaxy A54 both at £449. But it’s more likely that Nothing wants to compete with the likes of the Redmi Note 13 Pro, a phone that costs £339 in the UK.

What the Nothing phone (2a) has, though, is individual character, something you don’t normally get on a £319 phone. The transparent back was one of my favourite features of the previous phones from Nothing, and having that at an affordable price, paired with good hardware specs, could make this the mid-range phone for the masses.

That, certainly, will be the intent. Hosting the launch in India will be a play to that market, where Redmi is popular, OnePlus widely known, and Carl Pei is popular. Nothing Tech has spoken about the importance of the Indian market previously, and the Nothing phone (2a) will be manufactured in India.

Nothing phone (2a): Under the translucent skin

The Nothing phone (2a) has a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with 2412 x 1084 resolution, a 30-120Hz refresh rate and peak brightness of 1,300 nits. It’s powered by a custom MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro, adapted by Nothing and MediaTek and promising to keep device storage optimised for smoother running.

There’s a 5000mAh battery, which should last through the day easily, along with 45W charging – it’s not the fastest out there, but Nothing says this is designed to preserve battery health.

There are two 50-megapixel cameras on the rear, sitting in that round island, with Nothing suggesting that it’s giving the phone eyes.

But all that anyone will talk about is the Glyph Interface. I’ve found this to be a real conversation starter on the Nothing phone (2), because you’ll be holding the phone and the rear Glyphs will flash. The Nothing phone (2a) has seen these reduced, so there are only three Glyph elements, but I suspect that most people will still find that’s enough to stand out from the crowd.

The phone launches on Android 14 and comes with 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security updates; that doesn’t match the 7 year promise we’ve seen from Google or Samsung on flagship devices recently. Mid-range phones typically don’t get the software support that more expensive devices do and it remains to be seen exactly what Google will offer for the forthcoming Pixel 8a or Samsung for the soon-to-be-announced Galaxy A55.

The Nothing phone (2a) is available to pre-order now for £319, with shipping from 12 March 2024.