Nothing is adding a new member to its budget line of phones, announcing on Wednesday its new Phone 2A Plus. The device will be available in the US as part of Nothing’s “beta program” for $399 as well as the UK for £399.
Brits will be able to get the device — which has 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage — in either black or grey while Americans will be limited to just grey. Those in the UK will also be able to get their hands on it first at a “limited drop” at Nothing’s London Soho store. Users in the US can place orders starting August 7 at 9 am ET before the rest of the world gets the device in September (with exact worldwide regions and pricing still to be revealed).
Unlike other “Plus” phones, the 2A Plus will keep the same 6.7-inch display as the regular 2A that was priced at $349 when it was introduced in March. The improvements for this Plus phone will be in the rest of its specs. It sports a faster MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro 5G processor, improves the front camera to a 50-megapixel Samsung sensor (compared to the 2A’s 32-megapixel Sony shooter) and has slightly faster charging speeds (50W versus 45W).
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Nothing’s “glyph interface” of lights remains on the rear of the device, with the company also keeping other specs like the 5,000-mAh battery that it says “can deliver up to two days of use on a full charge and retains over 90% of its full capacity, even after 1,000 charging cycles.”
The Phone 2A Plus runs on Android 14 with Nothing promising three years of software updates and four years of security updates.
As with its prior phones, however, Nothing users in the US should be mindful of limited 5G support. The carrier has confirmed to CNET that “not all carriers will fully allow Phone (2a) Plus to operate on their network” and that even the ones that do may be limited.
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On AT&T, the Phone 2A Plus is limited to just 4G LTE while Verizon compatibility will be even tighter. Not only is there no 5G support but you will need to contact Verizon prior to using your phone and have them add the IMEI for the Phone 2A Plus to its database. Even then, you’ll be limited to only some of the carrier’s 4G LTE bands (bands 4/5/66, with similar limitations on AT&T’s 4G LTE network).
Nothing’s new phone will have limited 5G on T-Mobile, though the one 5G band it supports is at least the carrier’s N41 — the integral piece of spectrum for its faster “Ultra Capacity” network (also known as “5G UC”). While better than the nothing you’ll get in 5G support on AT&T or Verizon, the Phone 2A Plus is still missing important pieces of T-Mobile’s 5G network like its low-band 5G that’s crucial for coverage.
Those concerned about being connected may once again need to look for something else.
Nothing Phone 2A Is an Affordable Option With Better Specs Than Style
