Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus Full Overview

Costs and availability

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus is offered in France from September 6, 2024. It is available in a single reminiscence configuration of 12/ 256 GB. It sells for 449 euros on Nothing’s official retailer and on Amazon.

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus is a mid-range smartphone. The producer’s flagship stays the Nothing Telephone (2) we examined just a few months in the past. Nothing has taken the specs of the Nothing Telephone (2a) (which we additionally examined) and made just a few adjustments. A brand new SoC, a glass again as a substitute of plastic, and some further megapixels for the digital camera module.

Design and display screen

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus is equivalent to the Nothing Telephone (2a). There are new colours with the seen parts inside extra metallic. This creates some good reflections with the Glyphe interface LEDs.

Execs:

• Cool, polished design,
• Good grip with flat, grippy edges.
• Nicely-calibrated display screen.
• Symmetrical display screen edges.

Cons:

Design

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus is available in two colours: grey and black. I selected the grey model for my check. The body is manufactured from aluminum with straight edges coated with a grippy materials. The again is manufactured from clear plastic somewhat than glass. The smartphone is licensed IP54 for water and mud resistance.

I all the time appreciated the Nothing smartphone design. The plastic on the again of the Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus feels much less “plasticky” than on the Telephone (2a). The truth is, I needed to ask the press division to substantiate that it wasn’t a glass plate. The rounded corners and gripping edges supply an excellent grip.

The display screen

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus display screen is a 6.7-inch AMOLED slab. Decision is 1084 x 2412 pixels, refresh fee 120 Hz, and most brightness 1300 nits peak and 1100 nits HBM (max brightness in full daylight). The display screen is flat and the perimeters are pretty skinny, in addition to being symmetrical. It is protected by Gorilla Glass 5.

I might simply forgive the Telephone (2a) for not having an LTPO panel. I discover it somewhat more durable to do the identical for the Telephone (2a) Plus, which is 100 {dollars} dearer. Colorimetry appears to me to lean in direction of heat tones, however I did not discover any main saturation issues. And brightness is appropriate in all circumstances. The truth is, it hasn’t modified in any respect in comparison with the Nothing Telephone (2a). I additionally like the truth that the perimeters are symmetrical, with no large chin on the backside of the display screen.

Interface and OS

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus runs on Nothing OS 1.6, primarily based on Android 14. The producer guarantees three Android updates and 4 years of safety updates. There are just a few new widgets and a somewhat unusual AI perform.

Execs:

• Nothing OS interface is as clear as ever.
• Virtually no bloatware.

Cons:

• The “Information Reporter” AI perform is comparatively ineffective.

For an summary of Nothing OS 1.6, please see my evaluate of the Nothing CMF Telephone (1), through which I invite you to learn my evaluate of Nothing OS 2.5. Briefly, the Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus interface has not undergone any drastic adjustments.

There are two primary new options. The primary is a “Date” widget that reveals you… at present’s date. Nevertheless it additionally acts as a shortcut to your reminders and different each day occasions in your Google Calendar.

The second new function is the “Information reporter” widget. Maintain on to your hats, as a result of that is an unique AI perform. Once you press it, the light voice of Nothing CFO Tim Holbrow summarizes the day’s most essential information.

Nothing makes use of an open-source aggregator known as Information API. At present, solely English-language articles from English-language sources are supported. And you may’t select which sources the widget ought to use. You possibly can merely select from completely different themes.

It is enjoyable, and if you do not have the time or the means to scroll by way of Google Information or no matter, it may be useful. However I discover this type of function somewhat tendentious. Our pricey Tim Holbrow by no means tells us the supply of the information he is telling us in his suave, British-accented voice.

Every information abstract lasts a most of 1 minute. And the widget can learn as much as eight summaries a day. You possibly can change from one information merchandise to a different through the media participant within the quick-access menu. However the checklist of stories summaries is just up to date each day. You possibly can’t have a number of alternatives a number of instances a day.

Efficiency and SoC

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus will get a brand-new SoC. It is the MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Professional, completely optimized for Nothing by TSMC.

Execs:

• Good stability and no overheating.
• 30 fixed FPS for gaming.

Cons:

• Not essentially the most highly effective on this worth vary.

Nothing was already claiming that the Nothing Telephone (2a) Dimensity 7200 Professional was an unique. In actuality, it is the “Professional” model that is unique. And it is unique as a result of Nothing and TSMC have collaborated to optimize the chip for the producer’s smartphones. However that does not imply that different producers will not be capable of use the identical primary SoC. Xiaomi, for instance, makes use of its personal “unique” model of the Dimensity 7200 Extremely.

I assume the identical applies to the Dimensity 7350 Professional within the Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus. In any case, it is an eight-core, 4nm SoC. There are two Cortex-A715 efficiency cores clocked at 3 GHz and 6 Cortex-A510 effectivity cores clocked at 2 GHz.

On benchmarks, the Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus is certainly extra highly effective than the Nothing Telephone (2a).

In sensible use, you may need to make do with enjoying at 30 FPS within the overwhelming majority of circumstances. Enviornment Breakout launched with graphics set to “medium” by default. The framerate remained pretty fixed at round 30 FPS.

I did not discover any overheating issues. And the benchmarks attest to excellent efficiency stability. Logical, there was no overheating, neither an excessive amount of throttling. However on this worth vary, there are far more highly effective fashions. The Poco F6 examined just a few months in the past, for instance.

Picture high quality

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus incorporates a double picture module on the again. It is extremely just like that of the Nothing Telephone (2a), itself similar to that of the Nothing Telephone (2). The actual novelty is the selfie digital camera, which will increase from 32 to 50 MP.

Execs:

• Good daytime picture high quality.
• Considerably improved selfie high quality.
• Clear portrait mode.
• No pointless sensors.

Cons:

• Restricted digital zoom.
• Dynamic vary not all the time balanced.
• Nonetheless somewhat an excessive amount of sharpening.

Predominant lens high quality and ultra-wide angle

By day, the primary lens presents an excellent stage of element. I discover that the sharpness is somewhat too accentuated. It is laborious to clarify, but it surely’s as if the perimeters of sure parts stood out an excessive amount of, with out including element to the scene. Colorimetry is okay. However I discover the dynamic vary typically badly managed (typically an excessive amount of publicity).

The ultra-wide-angle lens is appropriate. Not an excessive amount of distortion on the edges of the picture. Colorimetry is in line with the primary lens. And the slight digital smoothing did not actually trouble me.

Zoom high quality

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus has no devoted telephoto lens. It will possibly function a digital zoom as much as x10. At x2, outcomes are respectable. The lack of element in comparison with x1 appears negligible. At x10, digital smoothing reduces sharpness and element.

Selfie high quality and portrait mode

The 50 MP selfie digital camera takes pictures at full 50 MP decision, so there is no pixel-binning. Selfies are excellent. There’s good element in pores and skin texture and general textures. Portrait mode additionally works very nicely, with the selfie digital camera as the primary lens. The one fault with the selfie digital camera is its lack of autofocus. However I did not have any main focusing issues throughout my check both.

Evening-time high quality

In comparison with the Nothing Telephone (2a), low-light pictures are far more pure with the Telephone (2a) Plus. The principle lens does somewhat nicely, at x1 and even x2. There’s not a lot in the way in which of lens flare, which cracks up the picture. The evening sky is neither blue nor artificially brightened. And digital noise stays contained.

With the ultra-wide-angle lens, it is clearly not pretty much as good. I would not use this lens each day. Evening selfies are okay, however I had just a few focus issues.

The Nothing Telephone (2a) can shoot in 4K at 30 FPS with its two lenses on the again, but in addition with the selfie digital camera. This was not the case with the earlier mannequin and is a welcome enchancment.

Battery and recharging

The Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus battery has a capability of 5000 mAh. The smartphone accepts 50 W wired charging, however not wi-fi charging.

Execs:

• Strong battery life.
• Environment friendly 50 W charging.

Cons:

On the PC Mark battery life benchmark, the Nothing Telephone (2a) Plus lasted 16h32 earlier than dropping beneath 20% battery. It is a excellent rating. Logical and anticipated on this worth vary and with a 5000 mAh battery. Nonetheless, it is not fairly pretty much as good because the 17:02 achieved by the Nothing Telephone (2a).

In sensible use, you may simply final two days earlier than having to attach the smartphone to its charger. A charger shouldn’t be included within the field.

The 50 W wired charging takes you from 0 to 100% in simply over an hour. In my check, I used to be in a position to get well 60% after half-hour of recharging. It is a large enchancment on the fundamental Nothing Telephone (2a), which wanted 1h30 for a full cost.

Technical information

Conclusion