Nothing Phone (2a) Plus review: a speedy phone with unique looks

For less than $450, the Phone (2a) Plus is a fun option if you want something different

(Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

🏆 Review score: 3/5

✅ Pros

• 🏎️ Good performance

• ✨ Unique design with stand-out aesthetics

• 🔋 Solid battery life

• 🤖 Clean software with a delightful UI

❌ Cons

• 📷 Cameras need work

• 🛟 Limited software support

• 📐 Plastic build feels cheap

• 🛍️ There are better alternatives for the same price

The Shortcut review

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus does its best to stand out in the ever-changing mid-range smartphone market, and it does a decent job. An upgraded version of the regular Phone (2a), the (2a) Plus comes with slightly better cameras and a faster chip, all packed into an eye-catching design that’s as fun to use as it is to look at.

But the phone is far from perfect, and where it falls flat is where phones like the Pixel 8a excel. For example, camera performance is far from great, as is software support and security. Its design also feels cheap, which is becoming less and less a rarity in the sub-$500 category.

It’s a fine phone if you want something that stands out, but if you value a fundamentally great smartphone that you can depend on for years to come, the Phone (2a) Plus isn’t the one you should buy.

• More: Google Pixel 8a review: the $500 AI phone

Pricing and where to buy

• Starting at $399

• Available at Amazon and Walmart

(Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

Full review

📐 Nothing’s signature design language stands out. It’s hard to deny that Nothing’s transparent design stands out from the competition like a flower in the middle of a football field. It immediately catches your eye and forces a double-take, even from nerds like me who see crazy phone designs daily. Much like the Phone (2) and every Nothing Phone in the past, the (2a) Plus is a stunner and is perfect for anyone who wants something totally different.

💡 Glyph it up. Part of the reason the Phone (2a) Plus is so striking is because of the Glyph interface, which uses a series of LEDs to light up the back of the phone to show things like notifications, incoming phone calls, timers, Uber time estimates, and more. Like the regular (2a), the (2a) Plus’ Glyph interface isn’t as complex as the Phone (2), but it’s still plenty functional and looks super cool. My favorite trick? Syncing party music with the flashing lights - boom, instant party speaker.

🤷 The plastic build feels cheap. My only complaint about the Phone (2a) Plus’ design is the fact it feels really cheap. It’s built well with an IP54 rating for water resistance, but the frame and back of the phone are made of plastic, making it feel much cheaper than it is. Granted, you’ll probably put a case on it anyway, so you won’t notice this all the time, but it’s worth mentioning since other similarly-priced phones I’ve tried have had more premium designs.

📱 Solid screen, solid performance. The 6.7-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display on the Phone (2a) Plus is really nice. Nothing used a high-quality OLED with a 120Hz refresh rate so everything is crisp and smooth, and the size isn’t too unwieldy. Similarly, I like the performance of the device. Nothing included the exclusive MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro, which offers better CPU and GPU performance than most phones in this price range, and in my testing, I haven’t run into any major hiccups. It’s not going to give you anything like the speeds of one of the Snapdragon 8 Elite phones, but paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, it handles my everyday tasks well. And that’s despite my coming from the top-of-the-line iPhone 16 Pro Max.

(Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

📷 The cameras need work. Camera quality has never been Nothing’s strong suit, so it isn’t surprising that the Phone (2a) Plus doesn’t pull off a set of reliable shooters. The rear 50MP main and ultra-wide cameras are passable during the day, but any sort of light degradation can made these sensors freak out and load up pictures with noise and unbalanced colors. The upgraded 50MP selfie camera is soft and unflattering, and video quality across each is disappointing. If you take a lot of pictures with your phone, you can skip the Phone (2a) Plus.

🔋 It’ll last all day and charge up fast. If you need your phone to last all day, the Phone (2a) Plus can do just that. The 5,000mAh battery inside easily cruises through a full day in my testing, and I never find the need to charge it up in the evening. What’s more, it supports 50W fast charging so it takes very little time to juice back up. There is no wireless charging here which sucks, but you get what you get at this price point.

🤖 The software is great, besides support. I really like Nothing’s skin on top of Android 15. Nothing OS 3.0 has been a great upgrade for the Phone (2a) Plus with its new widgets, lock screen customization options, redesigned quick settings UI, and more. It all uses Nothing’s dot matrix design language that helps it stand out from the rest, and it’s a delightfully clean, responsive experience. I just wish the phone would get more than three years’ worth of software updates, one of which has already been used for Android 15. You’ll also get up to four years of security patches (now three), but that’s still well behind the 7+ years Android phone makers have been promising lately.

👀 The Pixel 8a is sitting… right there. After spending time with the Phone (2a) Plus, I couldn’t help but think about the Pixel 8a and how much more sense it makes to buy over Nothing’s phone. It comes with a better screen, better performance, far superior cameras, all-day battery life, and much longer software support. Plus, Google always has it on sale for $100 off, bringing the price down to the same $399 the (2a) Plus costs. Of course, Nothing’s flashy design might appeal to you enough to buy, but most people should just stick with the Pixel for an overall better experience.

(Credit: Max Buondonno / The Shortcut)

Should you buy the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus?

Yes, if…

• ✅ You like to stand out with a good-looking phone

• ✅ You need all-day battery life

• ✅ You want a big screen for cheap

No, if…

• ❌ You need good cameras at a budget price (buy the Pixel 8a)

• ❌ You need extended software support (buy the Pixel 8a)

• ❌ You want a more premium-feeling phone (buy the Pixel 8a or OnePlus 13R)

• ❌ You really want a new iPhone at a cheap price (wait for the iPhone SE 4)

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Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop.