Nothing’s Phone 2a costs just $349, and it’s very impressive for the price. You’ll just have to jump through a few hoops to get it.
The 2a is basically a budget version of last year’s Phone 2 and is the phone Nothing hopes users of the Phone 1 will upgrade to, but it will only be sold in the United States through a developer program, not a traditional sales channel. Meanwhile, those in markets like the United Kingdom and India can go and buy it right from Nothing and other retailers.
It’s no secret that the US is a hard market to penetrate when it comes to shipping a new smartphone, so it doesn’t surprise me that the Phone 2a won’t officially go on sale here. Still, it’s a killer smartphone for the price, and I can’t help but think about how cool it would be to have it in the States.
Speaking of cool features, Nothing includes its Glyph Interface on the back of the Phone 2a. It’s not as complex as previous Nothing phones, but you can still do things like set timers, track your Uber status, play special light patterns for specific notifications, and — most importantly of all — sync the lights to your music through Glyph Composer. It’s one of the most unique features on a smartphone I’ve ever used, and it makes the experience a lot more fun than a typical handset.
Inside the Phone 2a lives a custom Dimensity 7200 Pro processor that MediaTek engineered in partnership with Nothing. Together, the companies were able to optimize the Phone 2a’s performance to the point where you get reliably fast speeds and solid battery life.
