I have had the absolute privilege of testing Phone (2a) since late December and here are my thoughts.
First of all, the whole process of being an insider and being able to get hands on with a brand new device months before release is just an amazing experience in itself. This isn’t something I had really done previously, and my excitement was at an all time high.
Being part of a small, select group, with knowledge and experience that no-one else had access to, felt like a full on undercover operation, and it felt very strange watching on as many tens of thousands of people clawed for any information they could about potential upcoming releases, while I had it in my hands.
As a disclaimer, the devices we had access to were early units and we used many beta builds of Nothing OS. As a group, we shared our experiences with the device and worked together to report anything that wasn’t quite right. We also had opportunities to put forward any suggestions that we had. As a group, we all worked incredibly well together and this was aided by the fact that we are all very passionate about the brand, but also open enough to point out things that we felt needed improvement. Not only was this about getting to try a product early, but it also came with added pressure, making sure Phone (2a) was a polished as possible before making its way into the hands of potential buyers.
Design
Due to the nature of the device and the confidentiality surrounding it, our units were enclosed in leak-proof cases. While this did hide most of the design, there were small details left open for us to see, such as the camera placement, and a small window on the back of the phone, detailing a very small portion of the design. Glyphs were also completely hidden and we were not aware of the configuration until official details were shared publicly.
One thing that struck me as soon as I picked up the device was the weight. It’s incredibly light, even with the case that I mentioned previously. Generally people tend to have different preferences when it comes to the weight of their phone, some prefer a more heavy and premium feel, while some prefer a much lighter device. Phone (2a) will certainly satisfy those that fit into the latter of the two categories.
Looking at the front of the device, there is a large screen with slim bezels- similar in size to that of phone (2) - with the main difference being that phone (2a) appears to have more rounded corners. Screen size is also a widely debated topic, with some users preferring smaller, more portable screens and others preferring a bigger screen for better productivity and media consumption. My personal preference is a larger screen as it makes productivity apps much easier to use and makes media consumption much more immersive.
Performance
Initially myself and others who were testing phone (2a) were not aware of any details regarding specs, target audience or price point. This made judging the performance of the device quite challenging, and it was hard to compare with devices that I already have experience using. The whole idea of comparison, somewhat went out of the window, and I decided to just judge the device based on how I would normally use a daily driver. For context I usually stick to flagship devices, with my current phones being Phone (2) and iPhone 15 Pro.
Phone (2a) offers the same great Nothing OS experience as Phone (1) & (2), the only difference being that during my time testing the device, I was using beta builds that had optimisations for Phone (2a) as well as some new features - including an AI wallpaper generator, and new widgets, amongst a few others.
With Nothing OS being a sleek, minimalistic, and close to stock Android experience, navigation around the OS has been incredibly smooth, matching the perceived performance of Nothing OS on my Phone (2).
While there have been some misbehaving widgets and some general bugs from time to time, these occurrences have been reported to the team and had later been improved in further firmware updates.
For me, day to day tasks can include - browsing social media, watching short form content such as reels and TikTok, writing emails, listening to music, using Google Workspace apps such as Sheets, Docs and drive and core phone services such as calling and texting. In my experience Phone (2a) has breezed through these tasks with ease and performance across the board has been very reliable. I also didn’t encounter any noticeable issues when multitasking and running multiple apps in the background. Scrolling social media and watching short form content and films has been especially pleasant thanks to the large, bright 120hz display.
While I usually don’t take notice, Bluetooth has also been incredibly reliable, meaning that my podcasts have never been interrupted and my immersion has never been broken while retreating into my favourite playlist.
While I’m not much of a mobile gamer, I did try some games for the purpose of getting the most out of the device. While my experience was stable in most games, there were some occasions where I experienced noticeable performance issues, including frame drops. This seemed to be specific to certain games that either weren’t completely optimised, or were very demanding. Your mileage may vary depending on what types of games you play, how long you play them for, and whether or not more optimisation occurs in the form of firmware and app updates.
Battery Life
When it comes to battery life, I’ll keep it short and sweet, battery life has been incredible. In my experience Phone (2a) has made it through a full day, sometimes even two with ease, achieving an average screen on time around 9 hours. This easily matches that of my Phone (2) and far exceeds that of my iPhone 15 Pro. Battery life will vary depending on usage, but for day to day tasks I’ve found that it’s been incredibly reliable.
Camera
By far the standout feature for Phone (2a) is its cameras. When it comes to smartphone photography, or even just photography in general, I have always been a point a shoot person. I don’t feel like I have ever truly cared for photography as much as I should have and my gallery has been lacking in quality to say the least. Phone (2a) has changed that considerably.
During the early stages of testing, camera performance was a struggle, with regular stuttering and colour inaccuracies - this is the nature of testing a device with early build software. Over time more and more firmware updates were released, targeting camera performance and most noticeably, HDR improvements. I started to notice that major improvements were being made, and very quickly.
In light of this, I wanted to make sure that I was pouring more effort into photography with Phone (2a) to really show what this camera system was capable of. I began really focusing on every aspect of my image, from lighting, to framing, exposure, focus and everything in between. I began exploring the camera in ways that I had never done before with a smartphone. It was then that I discovered that Phone (2a) is capable of capturing some truly stunning images. I also had the opportunity to attend a photowalk in London with a few other community members and members of the Nothing team. This helped me to further understand smartphone photography and also dive a little deeper into Phone (2a)’s camera system. I have included some of my favourite images taken on Phone (2a) below.
In summary, the whole process of testing Phone (2a) has been an incredible experience and I am proud to have played a part in the development of this phone leading up to launch. With reliable performance, great battery life, a camera system that has far exceeded my expectations and a unique design that we have all come to love with Nothing products, I think Phone (2a) is a knockout product and I can’t wait to see what the community think.
