This $350 Android phone nearly made me forget about the flagships

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Nothing Telephone 2a is simply obtainable within the US by way of a GitHub developer program.
• It is a slick-looking smartphone for the worth, with a singular interface, a light-up again cowl, and stable battery.
• The digital camera high quality may not lower it for some customers, and it lacks retail presence within the US, making it laborious to accumulate.

Nothing, the corporate based by ex-OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, has a brand new smartphone out known as the Telephone 2a. It prices $349, and it is top-of-the-line finances telephones I’ve ever used. So you’ll be able to think about my disappointment that it isn’t coming to america, not less than not in the way in which you assume.

Additionally: Nothing Telephone 2 evaluation: If ‘being further’ was an Android cellphone

The 2a is principally a finances model of final 12 months’s Telephone 2 and is the cellphone Nothing hopes customers of the Telephone 1 will improve to, however it’ll solely be offered in america by way of a developer program, not a standard gross sales channel. In the meantime, these in markets like the UK and India can go and purchase it proper from Nothing and different retailers.

It is no secret that the US is a tough market to penetrate in terms of transport a brand new smartphone, so it would not shock me that the Telephone 2a will not formally go on sale right here. Nonetheless, it is a killer smartphone for the worth, and I am unable to assist however take into consideration how cool it will be to have it within the States.

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When speaking about its design, it is a very full package deal, one thing that is often not a spotlight on telephones underneath $400. Nothing consists of its signature clear glass on the again with the intention to see the elements beneath, together with the NFC coil within the prime behind the digital camera sensors (giving the cellphone “eyes,” as Nothing says). You may additionally discover a bunch of different design cues as ribbons of sunshine, an interface that makes use of shapes similar to squares and rectangles, and a tiny purple accent on the fitting, all of which give the Telephone 2a an explicitly distinctive character. I received the black mannequin to evaluation, however the white mannequin appears particularly cool, as the interior elements are extra seen.

Additionally: I examined 40 telephones over the previous 12 months, and these are the perfect

Talking of cool options, Nothing consists of its Glyph Interface on the again of the Telephone 2a. It is not as complicated as earlier Nothing telephones, however you’ll be able to nonetheless do issues like set timers, observe your Uber standing, play particular gentle patterns for particular notifications, and — most significantly of all — sync the lights to your music by way of Glyph Composer. It is probably the most distinctive options on a smartphone I’ve ever used, and it makes the expertise much more enjoyable than a typical handset.

The show is without doubt one of the greatest I’ve seen on a finances cellphone. Nothing features a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh charge and 1,300 nits of brightness. Sometimes, you’d discover specs like this on a cellphone that prices not less than $600, so to search out them on a cellphone that is almost half the worth is uncommon. Plus, there is a fingerprint reader underneath the display screen that works in addition to any flagship cellphone.

Contained in the Telephone 2a lives a customized Dimensity 7200 Professional processor that MediaTek engineered in partnership with Nothing. Collectively, the businesses have been capable of optimize the Telephone 2a’s efficiency to the purpose the place you get reliably quick speeds and stable battery life. I used to be notably stunned by this, not as a result of I do not belief Nothing to optimize a chipset, however as a result of each finances MediaTek chip I’ve ever used has been gradual and unreliable. This chip, nevertheless, is a stable performer for the worth.

Paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, the Telephone 2a delivers stable on a regular basis efficiency for each rudimentary duties and even some gaming. I’ve loved multitasking loads on this cellphone as apps have a tendency to remain open within the background for some time, and the optimizations Nothing has made to the software program make it straightforward to zip round and never run into any main slow-downs. I’ve solely skilled a handful of hiccups throughout my testing, however that is to be anticipated from a cellphone at this worth level.

Battery life can also be stable. There is a huge 5,000mAh cell inside that may simply final a full day of heavy use. In the event you use your cellphone a bit much less through the day, it could actually even float into the second day on the identical cost. When it is time to recharge, there’s 45W quick charging that may prime it up in a short time, which could make up for the shortage of wi-fi charging.

As for software program, the Telephone 2a ships with Android 14 out of the field with Nothing OS 2.5. Nothing’s customized interface embraces the model’s dot matrix design philosophy, to the purpose the place you’ll be able to swap out fonts and app shortcuts with a boatload of dots and black-and-white iconography. All of it performs into Nothing’s mission that can assist you use your cellphone extra deliberately as an alternative of impulsively (as an illustration, you are much less tempted to examine TikTok “actual fast” if the icon is black and grey). The distinctive UI is not for everybody, however it feels a lot lighter and friendlier to make use of than one thing like Samsung’s One UI or OnePlus’ OxygenOS.

Additionally: The $400 OnePlus 12R would be the best-value Android cellphone this 12 months

Nothing is promising three years of main OS upgrades and 4 years of safety updates for the Telephone 2a, which is not less than a 12 months greater than what most sub-$400 telephones get. This makes it a no brainer for those who plan on utilizing the cellphone for 2 to a few years, the most typical lifecycle for many new smartphones these days.

There aren’t many downsides to the Nothing Telephone 2a, however there are some. As an illustration, it would not work on Verizon, it has weak IP54 waterproofing, and as I discussed earlier than, there is not any wi-fi charging. However the largest draw back is the digital camera high quality, which is to be anticipated from a finances smartphone.

The 50MP foremost digital camera on the again is first rate sufficient in good lighting, however with the considerably restricted f/1.88 aperture and a disappointing evening mode, the sensor falls aside as soon as the lights get low. The 50MP ultra-wide is similar story; I am a fan of the 114-degree subject of view, however with a scarcity of element and the lack to stay constant at nighttime, the digital camera is simply good at well-lit landscapes.

Additionally: 5 straightforward methods to take higher movies on Android

The digital camera on the Telephone 2a does have some tips up its sleeve, although. It makes use of Extremely HDR which mixes Nothing’s HDR algorithms with Google’s HDR chops in Android to ship cleaner, extra lifelike processing after tapping the shutter button, whereas Movement Seize helps to seize pictures of transferring topics and Portrait Optimizer makes your portrait pictures extra interesting. These options do not add as much as a considerably higher digital camera expertise than different $350 smartphones, however not less than in well-lit environments, you’ll be able to see them working.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

In the event you’re procuring within the $400 vary for a brand new cellphone, you may come throughout units just like the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G, the OnePlus 12R, and even the Google Pixel 7a when it is on sale. Every of these telephones will undoubtedly have one or two huge benefits over the Telephone 2a, just like the Pixel’s digital camera or Samsung’s show high quality.

However the Telephone 2a is such a stable, distinctive system that I believe it is price taking an opportunity on. Whereas Nothing is not probably the most established participant within the smartphone area, I am wildly impressed by what the Telephone 2a is able to. Its mix of specs and distinctive design make it top-of-the-line finances telephones you should purchase. So so long as you are in a market the place it is obtainable, it is undoubtedly price contemplating.