Key Takeaways
- Nothing Phone (2a) is expected to launch at Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona on February 26.
- The phone is rumored to be priced at $400 and will be available in multiple regional variants.
- The Nothing Phone (2a) will feature a centered design with a punch hole selfie camera and dual rear cameras. It will run on Nothing OS 2.5 and be equipped with MediaTek’s Dimensity 7200 chipset.
Nothing has made something of itself in just a couple of years. While its first products were all earbuds, founder and OnePlus alumini Carl Pei‘s first love was phones. The upstart’s rookie effort in the Phone (1) seemed to play its cards right with the Glyph, a focus on features over specs, and mid-range pricing. Its success has enabled Pei to grow the Nothing team and put out a premium Phone (2) the following year.
Nothing phone (2) vs Nothing phone (1): What’s the difference?
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But as the company heads into its sophomore phase, it may want to address the needs of the cost-conscious bloc of its audience who became fans because of the Phone (1). And it may do so with something that isn’t just be a cut-down version of the original, but an evolutionary step. That’s where the Nothing Phone (2a) is reportedly going to come into play. And, supposedly, we don’t have to wait long to see it in action. Here’s what we know so far.
Nothing phone (2)
The Nothing Phone (2) may end up costing more than the Phone (2a), but if you need something sooner, you might want to check around for deals.
Nothing Phone (2a) release date: How soon is “soon”?
- MWC Barcelona, February 26 to 29, 2024
From the information that has leaked so far, we’re betting that Nothing has tipped its hand here. Multiple sources are pointing to a launch event at Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona starting Feb. 26, but no word on when sales could begin. If true, the Phone (2a) would be the first prominent, honest-to-goodness product launch from the show floor (or at a nearby venue) in years. We’ll have a crew on the ground for complete coverage.
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Nothing Phone (2a) pricing and availability: Back to square (1)?
Two sources seem to agree on pricing: WinFuture editor Roland Quandt and Indian leaks blogger Yogesh Brar are calling for the Nothing Phone (2a) to hit $400/€400. For reference, the Phone (2) was priced at $699 while the Phone (1), which was available only in Europe and India, was £399 in the UK.
As for potential availability, Pixel leaker Kamila Wojciechowska has claimed that Nothing is developing four regional variants for Europe, Japan, India, and the rest of the world. Supposedly, the Japanese SKU was added on from the three that were made for the Phone (2). While that’s an encouraging sign that North America might be included in Nothing’s scope for the Phone (2a), Quandt expressed some doubt about US availability when asked by a commenter – though that may just be a function of his site’s (and sources’) Europe-focused remit.
Nothing Phone (2a) design and features: Glyph v2(a)
We don’t have any visuals on the Phone (2a) proper just yet, but knowing how the brand runs itself, there’s a good chance it won’t be long before renders appear online.
In any case, we’re hearing that the 2a is going big on centering itself. Like, seriously: the punch hole selfie camera moves from the top-left corner to the center, the dual rear cameras move from the top left to the center, and even the characteristic Glyph lights are now centered around the rear cameras (which have moved down slightly so that they can accommodate the new design).
Gone is the ‘G’ shape with extraneous strokes – Android developer and 9to5Google contributor Dylan Roussel posted up pieces of demonstrative animation depicting the Glyph as a simpler three-section circle-esque shape. There’s a straight, vertical line at the 90-degree position, a curved stub section at 120-degree, and a long curved filament at 315 degrees.
We’re not sure if this will be a design that’s carried forward into all future Nothing phones or, perhaps, just the A-series phones which Nothing may be intent on iterating. If the latter’s the case, remember to keep your A-series sorted between the Nothing Phone and Google Pixel.
As with the previous Glyph, LEDs will continue to show different statuses such as volume and alert modes.
With the glyph integral to the software experience, we’ll take this opportunity to mention that the 2a is meant to launch with Nothing OS 2.5 on top of Android 14. Among the mundane bugfixes and optimizations, users will find new home screen widgets, customization options and UIs, wallpapers, volume controls, gesture controls, and shortcuts that weren’t on board the last major update. We’ll have to see if a dot-dot update is due when the Phone (2a) comes around with its new glyph design… assuming everything above checks out. Funnily enough, new wallpapers for the Phone (2a) have been leaked by Smartprix/Wojciechowska.
If you’re wondering about the colors on offer, it’ll almost certainly be black and white.
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The Phone (2a) is reportedly codenamed both Pacman and Aero with model number of A142. The Phone (2) was put down as Pong with model number A065. The Phone (1) was Spacewar with model number A063.
Whereas Nothing’s first two phones ran with Snapdragon 8 series chipsets from Qualcomm, the 2a is reportedly running with MediaTek’s Dimensity 7200, released in February 2023 and meant to go up against the Snapdragon 7 series.
Smartprix (on behalf of Kamila Wojciechowska) claims that it will be equipped with a 120Hz AMOLED display with resolution of 1,084 × 2,412 from Chinese manufacturers Visionox and BOE. Numbers from a photo posted by Yogesh Brar of what’s been said to be some sort of manufacturing validation unit claims the panel spans 6.7 inches. These are the same specs for the Phone (2)’s screen, in case you wanted to know.
Roland Quandt reports the Phone (2a) will come in two memory configurations: 8GB of RAM with 128GB of storage and 12/256.
Nothing Phone (2a) cameras: New location, same great taste
Smartprix and Wojciechowska are saying that the two center-staged cameras feature 50MP sensors: the Samsung S5KGN9 is a 1/1.5-inch sensor that will be fitted under a wide-angle lens — this replaces the ever-so-slightly smaller 50MP Sony IMX890 on the Phone (2) — while the S5KJN1 will be 1/2.76 inches across and be used for ultrawide shots. Sony does stick around to provide its 32MP IMX615 for the selfie side.
Nothing Phone (2a) rumors: What’s happened so far
Here are the stories we’ve been tracking about the new budget phone:
December 28, 2023: Configurations, colors, pricing, but a question about the US
Roland Quandt of WinFuture posts to X some intelligence and some uncertainty. This is your obligatory reminder that X was once known as Twitter.
December 23, 2023: Firmware dump
Developer Kamila Wojciechowska shares wallpapers, specs, and other findings via Smartprix as well as supposed firmware from the Phone (2a) on her X account.
December 16, 2023: Validation unit leaked in detail
Indian blogger Yogesh Brar shows off a production validation testing unit and some specs of the Phone (2a) on X (via Tom’s Guide).
December 15, 2023: Nothing going MediaTek on Phone (2a) with new Glyph design
Android developer Dylan Roussel shares clips of animation illustrating the Nothing Phone (2a)’s new Glyph design on X. There’s also word about the company’s first MediaTek chip order (via The Verge). Brar also talks about seeing a prototype unit.
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