Nothing Phone (2a) REVIEW: The Gold Standard for Budget Phones

[Music] [Applause] [Music] can a sub $500 smartphone be any good usually I'd probably say maybe not but nothing just dropped the $350 nothing phone 2A and if it's anything like this guy one of my favorites from 2023 then we're in for a pleasant surprise hi I'm Michael Josh your Gadget Matchmaker and over the last decade I've made it my job to show people around the world that Tech can be easy fun and exciting on this channel I give you special access to the products I review the events I attend and all the interesting people I get to meet along the way so if you're shopping for a new budget phone give this channel a like And subscribe and I'll help you find the right Gadget to match your needs this is our nothing phone 2A review I'm fully aware that as a tech reviewer I sometimes live in a bubble of tech privilege which is why I really enjoy meeting all of you in the real world it really brings me down to earth and I've learned over the years that while the best phones at least for me are all over $11,000 many folks just want to phone that's more like half of that the nothing phone 2A is a third of the price of an s24 ultra or an iPhone 15 Pro Max so instead of me telling you what you're not getting let's focus on what it does well if there's one smartphone brand that I've been rooting for lately it's hip startup nothing not just because of the collective experience of its co-founders or their hustle and drve drive to do things differently but because of their meticulous and thoughtful approach to design I love the look and feel of the nothing phone 2 so it's unsurprising that I feel the same about the nothing phone 2A unlike other phones in this price range that feel uninspired merely cheaper versions of their Flagship counterparts nothing's approach has been to build a budget phone from the ground up so much so that nothing's design philosophy shines through despite giving the phone its own unique personality just like the see-through nothing phone 2 the 2A also has a transparent back accented with Glitz it's Duo of cameras are positioned in the center of the phone surrounded by the phone's NFC coil just like two eyes on a robot on the bottom half are flexible printed circuits connecting the display the SIM card and the USBC port to the motherboard and if they speak to me that's probably because they're inspired by mosimo vigel famous New York City subway map I'm a sucker for those kind of things I mean how can you not who doesn't love a good Design Story to bring down costs the frame and back plate are made of plastic and not glass but nothing did such a great job that one would not immediately notice the phone feels and looks premium and if you ask me if the goal was to use thoughtful design to imbue some warmth into a product who intrinsically is cold and mechanical then nothing knocked it out of the park this phone Sparks Joy depending on where you are in the world it's available in black white and [Music] milk it's been a rainy last few days here in New York but in Barcelona the weather is gorgeous so I did a lot of exploring I even took the nothing phone 2A to the beach and even in those bright conditions the display on this phone was incredible The Phone features a 6.7 in AMOLED display with 1,300 knits of peak brightness and a dynamic refresh rate that goes all the way to 120 HZ then down to 30 HZ to save power and how can I not point out how much I appreciate these symmetrical bezels overall the 2A has been a pleasure to use whether that be everyday scrolling on Instagram watching videos and gaming speaking of gaming I didn't run into to any hiccups playing titles like Pokémon go and Dragon Ball Legends nothing partnered with chip giant mediate Tech to co-engineered dimensity 7,200 Pro and this chip runs like a champ part of it too has to do with software optimizations on nothing side nothing OS is another of the phone's strong suits notice this simple monochromatic look that's designed to pull you in less so that you can be more present out of the box the phone doesn't come with bloatware which is what usually happens on other budget phones and fun fact manufacturers sometimes use this as a way to bring down or subsidize costs nothing OS is built on Android 14 but it also feels more refined subtle touches here and there that subconsciously make the experience better I love all the new widgets and of course there's glyph lighting which aren't just light strips its purpose is so that you can lay your phone face down on a table and still get no notified when something important happens this strip on the right can be set to notifications from a specific app I have it set to telegram while this curved bar on the left shows you volume how much time you have left on a timer or how far away your Uber is nothing is committing to 3 years of OS updates and four years of security updates the nothing phone 2A comes with two cameras a 50 megapixel main camera with an f1.8 aperture and ois and a 50 megapix Ultra wide camera with an f2.2 lens these cameras were a joy to use and shot photos and videos well above its price point here's a montage of photos I took in [Music] [Music] Barcelona [Music] [Music] [Music] followed by a video montage of my day at the [Music] beach [Music] yeah [Music] [Music] during the course of my week in Barcelona and New York a few days after the nothing phone 2A was a battery champ lasting a full day and then some with average use normally I'd have between 10 to 20% left over over before bedtime that's partly thanks to the phone's massive 5,000 milliamp battery the phone supports up to 45 W wired charging as fast as Samsung's top-of-the-line s24 Ultra of course I had to do a gadget match charge test using a 65 wat charger from one of my sponsors a 10-minute charge from zero got the 2A to 18% which admittedly is a slow start but after 30 minutes the phone was already at 61% a full charge took just a minute under an hour which is not super fast but very respectable unlike the phone 2 the phone 2A does not have wireless charging if that's a deal breaker it's important to take note the phone ships with its own cable but like many phones these days does not come with a charging adapter so is the nothing phone 2A your Gadget match the phone is available for pre-order today and starts shipping March 12th in the UK it start it's at £ 319 in the US it's $3.49 with one extra step you'll need to apply to join the developer program you don't need to be a Dev you just need to get accepted and once you do you'll receive a link where you can purchase the phone if you live in a country where the phone is available I highly recommend that you check it out building a phone this good at this price point is a huge accomplishment and the nothing phone 2A has has now set the gold standard when it comes to budget phones it deserves the gadget match seal of approval I've alluded to it many times in this video but I'll say it again if you want a good phone without breaking the bank then I highly recommend that you get the nothing phone 2A and that was our nothing phone 2A review if you'd like to see more content like this one you know the drill folks subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit that Bell icon so that you get notified as soon as we upload follow me on social media for all the behind the scenes fun stuff and for news and updates make gadgetm match.com your daily habit until the next video I'm Michael Josh thanks for dropping [Music] [Applause] by

Channel: GadgetMatch

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Keywords: GadgetMatch, Gadget Match, Michael Josh, michaeljosh, technology, Nothing Phone 2a review, Nothing Phone (2a) review, Nothing Phone 2a, Nothing Phone (2a), Nothing Phone 2a camera, Nothing Phone 2a battery life, Nothing Phone 2a real world use, Budget Nothing Phone

Id: HLLpl7azleQ

Length: 10min 56sec (656 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 07 2024