Nothing Phone (2a) Plus smartphone test

The camera island is two-component, the phone does not even wobble when typing on the table.

The overall effect of the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus looks very high quality, the frame is made of reinforced concrete, it doesn't even squeak when twisted and that's it IP54 standard also performs, that is, it is resistant to drops and dust. In addition, problems such as glossy glass back that does not collect fingerprints. In return sliding like ice because of this, I was often worried that I would drop it. The buttons are not organized on one side, the volume adjustment is on the left and the unlock/power off button is on the right.

It's quite imprecise if you deviate even a little from the "perfect eye" angle, but you can get used to it after a few dozen unsuccessful attempts, but it will never be really good. There are two loudspeakers, one is located at the bottom of the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus, next to the dual-cell nano SIM card. The backup storage cannot be expanded with a Micro SD card, but maybe with 256 GB this is not such a problem. The upper element of the stereo speaker hides at the edge of the display, however, it is quite easy to hide this during games. By the way, this is located on the right side compared to the Type-C port in the middle, which is responsible for fast charging, which in this case is 50 W.

That's quite a lot of performance in the mid-range, but not so much in this price range. For example, the Little X6 Pro It has 67 W, and not only does it beat Nothing, but there are also several products from the CEO's former company, such as OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite, it can charge 80 W VOOC. It still charges the (2a) Plus 5000 mAh battery in 56 minutes, while the 50% sprint takes 21 minutes. It lasts for 2 days, but if you turn on the 120 Hz screen refresh, the electrons disperse quite quickly.

In return, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is quite strong on the sensor front,

has NFC-with, 6 WiFiwith BT 5.3, 5Gwith, fingerprint reader, gyroscope, accelerometer, satellite positioning - alias GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS - but for example not with jack connector, infrared port and eSIM.

The differences between the two devices are not significant:

• one instead of the MTK Dimensity 7200 Pro 7350 Pro
• the GPU is the same, but from the (2a) Plus 30% higher clock speed go
• the main camera 32 MP instead of 50and (4K 30 FPS)
• fast charging From 45 W to 50 rose
• The 20 Plus also comes in new colors
• in principle, the haptic display has become better

At first glance, this is quite a lot of changes, but in fact the MTK Dimensity 7350 Pro is an overclocked 7200, I found this here information. Fast charging is practically the same as the GPU, that is, you get a slightly better camera, plus the aforementioned little things, in exchange for an extra charge of roughly 30-40 HUF - 000 USD, although this is true only against the 100/2 variant of =(8a).

The benchmarks could come because I wanted to know what the advantage of the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is compared to the cheaper version and, of course, compared to its competitors:

• Antutu V10: point; 764 294 points;
• GFX Bench, T-Rex on-screen/off-screen test: 89 / 164 FPS;
• Antutu storage tester, write/read (sequential): 1045/975 MB / s;
• 3DMark (PCMark did not go up): 4731 (average FPS: 28,33);
• PcMark Work 3.0: 13;

The Poco X6 Pro is almost impossible to beat in this price range, but for example, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G also costs the same, which, however, is surpassed by the test subject in terms of hardware, so it is neither a good nor a bad value proposition. The hardware is enough for almost everything. With 12 GB of RAM you won't have to complain about the speed for years to come, the hard drive is fast, and the SoC is enough for most games. Of course, there are resource-demanding games - ZZZ, Genshin Impact - with which you can push everything, here just take it back from the graphics settings, but apart from that, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is perfectly suitable for gaming.

But in return there is no macro, which I don't think too many people will miss, because it's usually a low-resolution sensor that's rarely easy to use, even in the case of competitors. Since it was either snowing or cloudy when I took photos, the light conditions were practically never ideal, but the camera still took great pictures. In many places, the background is quite grey-white, but this is mostly due to the cloudy sky, nevertheless the main camera takes detailed, pleasant pictures. What is striking, however, is that there is some blurring near the edges, and the ultra-wide camera somehow measures light differently, because the images will be darker, as if HDR is active.

The colors are bright, the dynamic range is quite large, and overall the daytime materials are quite good.

What is much more surprising than this are the night pictures of the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus.

I went out right after it snowed, so everything was either gray or white, so again I was far from ideal conditions. Compared to that, he took particularly good pictures, it didn't suffer too much in backlight, the detail was preserved. In some places, there is a slight tempera effect due to the warm-white lights, and the tone is strongly yellowish, a plus when zooming, a slightly shaking hand also causes blurring. Apart from that, everything is fine, for example the colors are very good. Look at the picture of the Christmas tree hidden in the column, where the cold and warm-white lighting is visible at the same time, it is easy to measure what the sensor can do if there is enough light.

As for videos, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus stabilizes here as well, with a resolution of 4K at 30 FPS.

Unfortunately the electronics intervene quite aggressively in the process, as he tries to get the bounce and bounce out of the material. This results in the image undulating as if you were sitting in a boat, plus the electronics are pulled in from the side, which causes transverse stripes. This is quite a disturbing effect, despite the fact that the resolution itself is good. At night, the phenomenon continues to intensify, more bounce, more aggressive correction. I watched the videos at 32-inch while editing, and when I used the camera at double zoom, the image "floated" so much that it actually made my stomach turn.

So, as much as the 2a Plus exceeded my expectations in the field of pictures, it didn't deliver on the same level in the case of videos.