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Nothing’s newest smartphone looks like a case of déjà vu

Nothing Phone 2a Plus top rear.
Nothing Phone 2a Plus render Nothing

The Nothing Phone 2a was a unique, affordable phone that stood out due to its unique Glyph Lights, customizable software, and colorful photos. When Digital Trend’s Andy Boxall reviewed it, he recommended it highly, saying, “The Nothing Phone 2a’s low price, fun design, colorful photos, strong performance, and masses of customization make it a brilliant buy.”

All this may have given you high hopes for something really unique with Nothing’s newest smartphone, the Nothing Phone 2a Plus. Unfortunately, the company has just teased the device, and it looks virtually identical to the Nothing Phone 2a — down to the transparent back that shows the wireless charging coils and the distinctive Glyph Lights that give you customizable LEDs.

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The color option here is a sleek and shiny silver; Nothing calls it “silver surfer,” which seems like a fitting comparison. Overall, it’s not a bad-looking phone; it’s just not very distinctive in appearance, and it’ll be easy to confuse the Nothing Phone 2a and Nothing Phone 2a Plus if you see them in the wild.

Nothing 2a Plus rear.
Nothing Phone 2a Plus Nothing

On the plus side, there are significant spec changes that will be a step up from the Nothing Phone 2a. According to Nothing, the Plus model will have the new MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro processor with 8 cores that can clock to 3.0Ghz. In theory, that should make the Nothing Phone 2a Plus 10% faster than the Nothing Phone 2a and 30% faster for gaming/graphics with the Mali-G610MC4 GPU.

It appears we’re also looking at 12GB RAM with an 8GB RAM booster, which turns some of your storage into memory for more intensive tasks, though this seems like something of a gimmick, with many users of the Nothing Phone 2a recommending that you turn the feature off.

Nothing 2a specs.
Nothing Phone 2a specs Nothing

Cameras are also getting a bump up, with an upgraded 50-megapixel selfie camera replacing the 32MP front sensor on the Nothing Phone 2a. You can expect similar camera performance as the Phone 2a since it seems like neither of the dual 50MP rear sensors has gotten an upgrade, which isn’t a bad thing since the Nothing Phone 2a took solid, colorful photos and was enjoyable to use.

The Nothing Phone 2a Plus is expected to be officially launched on July 31, so we’ll soon have all the details about the phone, including its availability and pricing.

Ajay Kumar
Freelance Writer, Mobile
Ajay has worked in tech journalism for more than a decade as a reporter, analyst, and editor.
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