It is very tough these days to make a phone look different. But that is exactly what Nothing has been doing with the phones it has launched so far. The Nothing (2a) takes this out-of-the-box design thinking to a whole new level by rethinking the camera module as something that gives the phone a unique identity. And that is not all.
After the initial surprise, I now think the idea of placing the camera module at the top centre of the phone instead of the corner is both inspired and practical at the same time. This gives the phone a very distinct identity, almost like a robot staring at you. At the same time, it also makes the phone much more stable when kept flat compared to any other phone.
Overall, the Nothing (2a) has a refreshing, young feel to it with a thin chassis, the Wall-E like camera module and of course the Glyph interface, which is a bit truncated on this budget phone. The phone offers a good grip with the matte edges and despite its glassy back. I got the black version for review, though the white is the one that stands out more with its styling. However, I have over the years become convinced that white is not a colour for Indian conditions.
The phone’s uniqueness is evident when you power it up with Nothing’s proprietary dot matrix-inspired UI and typeface playing up all the way from the start screen. If you are in college you will love this interface which sets you apart from the rest of the Android club, if you are old like me then you have to fight muscle memory for a bit to figure out what is what and where. But the UI is still loveable, especially for someone like me who loves anything black. And Nothing has evolved beyond this and now offers AI-generated wallpapers too.
The 6.7-inch always-on display is quite bright even when you are using colours and really shines through when you use the fingerprint scanner giving the phone another distinct feature. The phone’s speaker is also loud and clear complementing the display. Also, the haptics of the phone is something that adds to the experience of using it.
The Nothing (2a) is powered by Mediatek’s Dimensity 7200 Pro and can handle most tasks quite well. It also does not heat up with multitasking or continuous camera use.
I took the phone on a recent trip to New York as I thought it would be a good opportunity to put the camera to test. The camera does well in most conditions, but I got a sense that it was over-exposing photos a bit even when the settings were not tweaked. However, it handled sharp reds and pinks quite well as I stopped for some shots at a florist Downtown. Then near Wall Street, I could use the 2x zoom to capture details of an imposing American Indian Museum building. The camera also manages decent bokeh.
I felt that at times the camera app was a bit sluggish and struggled to keep up when I tried to move from 0.6x to 2x zoom. Also, when switching to the app, there is a slight moment where the camera is overexposed before it regains its composure. I am expecting camera app updates soon to fix these niggles.
Nothing has not abandoned the Glyph interface though on the (2a) it is limited to the top half of the phone. You can set it up to vibe with music or as a timer or to show the progress or an order from Swiggy, with the right third-party integrations. I also like how it doubles up as a ring light of sorts to help with the portraits.
The Nothing (2a) is the kind of phone that will impress a lot of people, especially the younger folks considering this will be a phone well within their budgets. This is the sort of phone I would recommend for my nephews and nieces as it ticks all the boxes and does not come with any major issues from what I have seen. Yes, there are compromises on power to keep the prices low, but then this is not targeted at the power user in any way. The Nothing (2a) has the potential to become the first mass play from the startup, one that makes this new take on phones popular with more users.
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First uploaded on: 05-03-2024 at 18:19 IST
