All time low on the Nothing Phone 2a, powerful device for the price with long battery life and good reviews.
Does it support dual apps for all apps?
Yes it's called Cloned Apps. All apps can be enabled.
Great phone. Bought one during black friday sales. The Nothing OS/launcher feels like old school bare bones Android. It feels very snappy compared to some of the similar price Motorola phones.
Bare bones android should be snappy
Motorola has such poor optimization for their phones its laughable. Made me sell my Moto 40 because of it.
Motorola has been terrible since they were outpaced by Nokia in the 90s. I had Windows SE Motorola 20 years ago that was terrible. I can't understand how it's routinely ranked at the top in this community.
The price and that's the only thing
@wisdomtooth: True, I meant locally cos everyone on Ozbargain seems to cream themselves when there's a deal on Moto phones lol
@wisdomtooth: Me too. Don't get me wrong, the physical side of Motorola's is nice - build quality and looks are nice but I'm just gobsmacked at how they can get things so wrong with the OS - especially when it comes to being so close to stock Android.
In the nearly 10 months I had the Moto Edge 40, had these issues with ROM:
Only the choppy Chrome scrolling got fixed and the camera shutter lag decreased a bit. With just one major update to Android 14 and a bunch of monthly security updates.
It shouldn't have those issues at all because my Poco F3 did all of those properly and it's got a more bloated ROM and roughly equivalent processor.
Motorola is just in name now. They are made by Lenovo.
This VS S21???
Would like to know too
A second-hand S21 would have a degraded battery…
This all the way. Old new stock just isn't worth it after a certain point as batteries degrade.
I picked up a NOS iPAQ PDA phone from 2008 the other day, and bugger me it charged and booted right up.
Half your luck! Couldn't pay me to use Windows Mobile these days. I miss Windows Phone a bit though
@heef: WM was ok in it's day, especially WM6 on capable hardware. But yes i got the iPAQ 912 cheap still sealed, so couldn't pass it up for nostalgia reasons. That battery is old enough to go to the pub, and it still powered up the device right out of the box which surprised me.
similar. nothing phone is newer, s21 is slightly better finished physically) if you have a s21 and there's nothing wrong with it stick with it. mine (s21fe which i paid 399 for a few years back) had a cracked screen (costs more then its worth to fix as its fused to the led screen) and was starting to slow down. picked up the nothing phone in store today. doesn't feel as nice in hand as the s21fe but everything is pretty similar.
depends on functionality you need. this is vanilla android, so it doesnt have a laundry list of extra features like you get on a samsung. eg this cant use Samsung smarttags, smarthings, health features or most importantly for me, stream BT audio to 2 devices simultaneously so I can have music playing inside the house and out side on different systems (great for parties)
Get this if you want a dumb-phone.
get a Samsung if you want a smart-phone.
How does it compare to s24 or iphone 16 standard models?
It doesn't
Those are high end phones. Compared this to something with similar price tag
Thanks. Not sure why i got down voted for asking a question.
The camera specs seemed realy good, which is why i was interested. Currently have s21.
Biggest noticeable difference would probably be camera performance (although I don't know what the Nothing camera is like). Everything else is likely to be pretty close based on my past experience with Xiaomi and Huawei phones in this type of price bracket, as well as "flagship" phones.
One security question of these phones is: are you happy that China Government can access all your personal data? Do you use Tiktok?
Keep in mind the nothing 3a and co is due in February though not much improvement in terms of specs 7s gen3 reported
They should build a flagship
CEO said the flagship nothing phone 3 will be in 2025 but so far nothing in the rumour mill or certification. There are 3 devices with 7s gen3 ( nothing phone 3a and 3a plus and likely cmf phone 2 ) set to release soon
nothing in the rumour mill
Great, got the link please?
Which everyone will then complain is too expensive.
Honestly a phone like this should be a default phone given the greed from big tech selling $2000+ phones.
Don't they , or didn't they all start out like this ⁉️
Agreed. People are conned into thinking they need "flagship" phones when this sort of thing would do the job perfectly well for most.
7 years on Xiaomi $300 phones, and never looked back.
Salute 🫡
@wisdomtooth: Do you think the X6 you linked to is a better buy?
Also, where do you get the Xiaomi phones from? Are they useable in AU these days? I remember people buying them from overseas sellers as I was considering one a couple of years ago, but it seems that a lot of those might not work in AU anymore?
I also see via your link that they have 3 OS upgrades which is a good thing. I see Nothing phone also has the same amount of years, which is good too.
Anyone know what brands besides Apple, Google, Samsung are next best as far as operating system upgrades (length of years for major OS upgrades) and security upgrades go after purchase?
I bought a moto e32 a few years ago when woolworth were selling them for $69. Still running like black cigar
posted this a few months back, still relevant..
I've had this phone (in white as well) for 2 weeks (7 months now), did that JBHIFI $50 3G phone credit trade in thing, got it for $479…
Pros
- Excellent screen (120Hz OLED, 6.7" and 1200+ nits)
- Haptics and build quality are nice (design subjective)
- Glyphs on the back actually useful for notifications
- Battery life is actually insane, overnight I will lose 1% in 9-10 hours, it's a 2-day phone for me with 6-8 hours screen on time
- Camera is probably iPhone 12 good.. video is great and very stable, night video is impressive too!
- Software is the best part of this phone for me, already had 3 updates in 2 weeks… my old Xiaomi had 3 updates in 9 months lol
- Symmetrical bezels
- 4 years of updates from Google/Nothing
- Don't be fooled by MediaTek, its not 2019 anymore, this is an incredibly efficient chip with a 750K antutu score.
CONS
- Camera is good, but it's not a flagship, it is a $500 phone though
- Glyphs can feel gimmicky after a while
- No charger in the box
- Get a case, this thing is 100% plastic and will scratch
- It's huge/wide phone, may be uncomfortable to hold for some.
Just my 2c… 9/10 for me given its price.
EDIT: Since I posted this comment 4 months ago, the updates are something phenomenal. They listen in the forums and update things people want. 10/10 support, now running android 15 buttery smooth!
Cheers for the write up may get this phone as a backup phone. I had a Moto Edge 40 that was absolute rubbish, came from a Poco F3 that got shut down cos of the whole 3G debacle. Then moved to a Poco F6 which is way better (apart from updates but that doesn't phase me)
Nice ,so will mine cos of vouchers I got for free ;)
Is the F6 working on Optus network? Where did you buy it?
Yes working on Vodafone and Optus. Bought it off AliExpress
I'm tethering through my daily driver Poco F3 to write this - what was the problem for you with the 3G shutdown?
I had to enable VoLTE manually but I think that's all … I'm on Voda though. They were no help getting it sorted as it wasn't on their supported list.
I tried everything including trying to enable it but it didn't work. Even got a hold of James Parker and he tried helping but to no avail. There were some lucky people who didn't get shut down but the vast majority did I think
On the camera is there noise? Or it's just not fast enough?
The camera is fine but is slow (takes a couple of seconds for the first shot) when using the 50mp option especially outdoors. The 12mp work quick enough though.
No eSIM, only dual physical sim could be a negative as well (it is for me)
Should note that the US$12 option only supports two activations. Additional activations are billed at US$3 for 3, US$4 for 5, and $US5 for 10.
The US$25 option is unlimited uses, which is a better option for the frequent traveller. For the infrequent, the cheaper option is probably fine.
I second the battery life aspect - know a family member who has this and the battery standby time is so good compared to pixel 7 pro . Obviously I am not a phone tester, it was a feature of the phone that anecdotally stood out for me.
Appreciate this write up thanks muchly 🙏
Eyed off the Nothing line since came out as liked the different approach & look/feel of them.
So ace to hear the devices back up the looks irl usage.
Nothing phone definitely top of the list when my beloved OnePlus 7T Pro packs it in as not sure I want to go grey route again for OnePlus - let alone pay 'flagship' price for a device nowadays.
As folks have rightly said - something like this is more than enough for most users & for me personally - ticks all boxes neatly
Can I ask for your thoughts/comments on minimum focus distance for the camera? When I went from my last phone to my current Pixel 6a I noticed I couldnt take pictures as close to an object. If I wanted to take pictures of a coin/flower/bee for example I'd have to take the picture from further back and rely on digital zoom.
To get really close to a subject, you need a dedicated macro lens and this camera doesn't have that. From my tests, with the main camera, the minimum focus distance is about 100mm (or 10cm). Any closer, the camera couldn't focus on the subject.
Curved screen?
No, flat.
No charger in-box, and the official Nothing charger is always out of stock with no ETA on availability:
https://au.nothing.tech/products/power-45w
Therefore I'm using a Belkin BoostCharge to charge up my (2a).
Updated my (2a) to Android 15 A-OK.
Does anyone know if nothing uses similar charging tech as oppo? Ie. Could you buy an oppo (vooc/supervooc) charger to work with this phone? Thanks for any replies
Pretty much all USB chargers do all of the common high speed charging standards (of which I think there are two main types). Just use a charger from any other device you already own.
Not for VOOC.
Only works for Oppo/OnePlus and possibly RealMe (or whatever he Oppo rebadged is now called).
vooc/supervooc is a proprietary charging protocol using USB-A. You're not going to get fast(er) charging with one of those chargers and this phone that uses USB Power Delivery. You're going to need a USB-PD charger.
Dual sim, no esim
just buy an esim SIM card
I didn't even know there was such a thing? Thanks for enlightening me!
I don't think this is a thing
@bobzor: It absolutely is a thing. I have a 5ber esim adapter. Goes in as a normal sim card but you can sideload esims onto it and manage it with the app. Just came back from 5 weeks overseas and have a few installed on there now from travelling.
@seefu: Just to confirm there is no way to manage eSIMs via the built-in Settings app (LPA) and it has to be configured using 5ber's app or Easy/OpenEUICC?
I've checked that Nothing OS does include EuiccManager. I have no cards on hand to test though.
interested in getting this for my elderly parent , do you think this will be suitable? thanks
Nothing better (at this price point)
@Kanjus - I see what you did there
How am I going to call my friends with nothing?
raw deal isn't it. first you'd fork out $4-500 ish for nothing then this
why would you spend hundreds of dollars to call your friends? let them come to you instead.
You got nothing to wrong about as you start with nothing at the first place
Any affordable case recommendations?
I guess you'd want one with slots for the lights (or clear) otherwise they'll be rendered useless.
That's a lot more affordable than I expected, thanks
Cons for this phone after some use:
Otherwise for daily use, it is fine and good value. Does not feel slow at all.
Can you replace the camera and gallery app with something better?
Yes
There is an option to set the flash to automatic.
Does it have a slot for an SD card or is it just the second slim slot?
Decent phone for the price. Mine was updated to Android 15 last month.