British start-up Nothing slashes price of Phone (2a) to £249, but Amazon makes Android device even cheaper

Phone (2a) landed on store shelves in the UK back in March 2024. Since then, the British technology start-up has launched a successor, Phone (3a), enabling the brand to discount its predecessor

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Phone (2a) offers an all-screen design and two-day battery life
- Award-winning British brand Nothing has cut prices on its online store
- For a limited time, you can save £70 on all models of the Phone (2a)
- It now starts from £249 and maxes out at £279 for 256GB of storage
- If you're not fussy about colour, Amazon is selling one version for just £212
- Nothing has slashed prices due to the launch of its newer Phone (3a)
- Nothing says Phone (2a) has a two-day battery life and 45W fast-charging
- Glyph Interface uses flashing LEDs to alert you who is calling or texting
- You can create your own custom patterns for certain apps or people
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If you've wanted to switch to the Nothing Phone (2a) since it launched early last year, there's never been a better time to upgrade. That's because British start-up Nothing has slashed the price of this affordable Android device.
Phone (2a) has been slashed down to £249 — a saving of £70 compared to the RRP of £319. For that, you'll enjoy 8GB of RAM and 126GB of built-in storage. Nothing sells an upgraded model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Usually £349, this Android handset has also been cut by £70, bringing its price tag down to £279.
Both of these discounts are available on the Nothing website.
Phone (2a) is available in Black, White, and Milk colour options. If you're not fussy about the colour of the smartphone in your pocket, Amazon UK has slashed the cost of the 12GB / 256GB model in Milk colour to £212.
That's a whopping £137 off the RRP of this budget blower.
Unfortunately, that incredible discount isn't available on the Black variant, which costs £300 on Amazon — meaning you'll save an extra £21 if you buy the same device directly from Nothing.
Save £137 on Nothing Phone (2a) on Amazon
Amazon has launched an unmatched discount on the Nothing Phone (2a), slashing the price tag from £349 to just £212 ...provided you're happy with the Milk colourway. If you'd rather pocket the Black colour of the Phone (2a) you should steer clear of Amazon, which selling that model £21 more expensive than you can find it on Nothing's online store
The London-based firm launched these incredible savings after the launch its newest addition to the lineup, the Nothing Phone (3a). This follow-up launched a few months ago with an upgraded camera system, powerful processors, and vibrant edge-to-edge displays.
Nothing Phone 3a starts from £329 for the entry-level model with 8GB RAM and 128GB of built-in storage. If you need more storage, Nothing offersa model with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage for £379. The more advanced Phone 3a Pro costs £449 and comes exclusively with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.
But if you're looking for the biggest savings — and aren't fussed about owning the latest-and-greatest device — then you'll be hard-pushed to find a better deal than the Phone (2a).
With the latest discount, this popular phone has price-matched the newest Android handset from Nothing's wallet-friendly sub-brand CMF.
Get £70 off all models of Nothing Phone (2a) in latest sale
Following the launch of its successor, Nothing has slashed £70 off the Phone (2a). Starting from just £249 for the 8GB / 128GB model and maxing out at 12GB / 256GB for just £279, this is an incredible opportunity to pocket a critical darling at a very affordable price tag
If you prefer not to buy your phones outright, Mobiles.co.uk is offering the Phone (2a) for just £14.99 per month. This two-year plan comes with 100GB of 5G data, unlimited calls and text messages in the UK.
Your 5G mobile data, minutes and text messages come courtesy of iD Mobile, which relies on the same nationwide network is masts as Three. If you get a strong 5G signal with Three, then you'll enjoy the same service with iD Mobile.
The catch? This two-year plan comes with a £79 upfront cost, so you'll need some savings for that first payment. In total, this Mobiles.co.uk deal will cost £459.76.
Given that you can buy the same handset for £279 in the latest sale, that means you'll be paying £180.76 over the course of the two-year contract — or £7.50 for that 5G data, calls and text messages. That's a pretty decent deal, and on par with what you'd get from discount carriers like Giffgaff and Smarty Mobile.
Phone (2a) shares a lot of DNA with the pricier Nothing Phone (2), which cost £579 at launch in July 2023. However, the company has made several thoughtful cuts to keep that starting price below even the £399 price tag of its first-ever effort in the smartphone space: Phone (1).
Nothing's all-new Phone (2a) is available in three colours — Black (pictured above), White, and Milk
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Nothing Phone (2a) sports the same 6.7-inch AMOLED screen size as the top-of-the-range Phone (2), which can reproduce 1.07 billion colours and hits a peak brightness of 1,300-nits. The latter should be bright enough that you can comfortably use the Phone (2a) outdoors on a bright day without issue.
The panel offers up to 120Hz high refresh-rate, so system animations like scrolling will be buttery-smooth and responsive. That refresh-rate can also drop to 30Hz to conserve battery too.
Meet Phone (2a)
Phone (2a) includes the thinnest bezels in Nothing’s smartphone line-up, measuring just 2.1mm around all four sides of the screen. This results in an impressive 91.65% screen-to-body ratio, so you won’t have to worry about Phone (2a) being too much of a palm-stretcher, despite its generous screen size.
On the back, you’ll find the lightshow that’s become synonymous with the Nothing brand. Known as the Glyph Interface, this relies on patterns of flashing LEDs — seen through the transparent rear case — to alert you about incoming text messages, phone calls, app notifications, and more. The LEDs can also be used to show a countdown, like the time until your Uber driver arrives.
Nothing believes the Glyph Interface offers a way to keep your phone face down on the table, so you’re more engaged with the people around you. With a quick glance, you’ll be able to work out who is calling you and whether an incoming notification is urgent and requires immediate attention.
The trademark Glyph Interface can flash to indicate who is calling or texting you. The unique patterns can also alert you about different app notifications
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Nothing has released an app, dubbed Glyph Composer, that lets you create your own unique patterns of flashes in the trademark pattern of LEDs on the back of the phone case. These can be assigned to specific apps or people in your contacts.
Unlike the pricier Phone (2), the new Phone (2a) swaps the Gorilla Glass from Corning in favour of plastic that wraps around the edges of the handset at a 90-degree angle — an industry first, the British company says. The dual-camera system is placed at the centre of the NFC coil, which enables contactless payments, to resemble a pair. Nothing says this gives the handset a friendly appearance.
But it’s not all about the looks. The new camera design makes the smartphone sturdier, with Nothing seeing a notable improvement on drop test results. The centred camera bump stabilises the handset when it's lying on a flat surface, helping when typing.
Battery life enjoys a boost with the £319 Phone (2a), which is fitted with the biggest cell ever shipped in a Nothing smartphone, tipping the scales at 5,000mAh. Nothing says that will comfortably deliver up to two days of use on a full charge, although we’ll need to test one to verify that.
Nothing says this impressive battery life claim is possible because it has managed to increase battery longevity by over 25% since its original Phone (1), which launched back in July 2022.
When it does come time to charge, Phone (2a) supports 45W Fast Charging, delivering 50% of power in 20 minutes. To keep costs down, Nothing has not included wireless charging — so you’ll need to spend more for the flagship Phone (2) to get Qi charging.
Phone (2a) has a pair of 50-megapixel sensors from Samsung to enable all of the usual photography tricks you’d expect at this price point, including Portrait Mode pictures with a bokeh-style blur behind the subject, ultra-wide shots to squeeze the biggest group shot or tallest skyscraper into the viewfinder, panoramas, and night mode to peer-through the gloom without relying on the flash.
NothingOS is a version of Android crafted by the design team behind the start-up's hardware with a focus on widgets — so you can't get the information you need with a glance
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Nothing has worked with the engineers at Google to develop Ultra XDR, which is designed to ensure an accurate display of highlights and shadows in every shot. It works by capturing eight frames at different exposure levels in RAW format, and then adjusting the brightness of each pixel up to five times to display the most true-to-life result, Nothing says.
Powering the Phone (2a) is a Dimensity 7200 Pro chipset exclusively co-engineered with MediaTek. This marks the first time Nothing has switched from US manufacturer Qualcomm for its processors.
This chipset, built using TSMC’s latest second-generation 4nm process, can be paired with either 8- or 12GB of RAM and 128- or 256GB of built-in storage. There’s no microSD slot on the Phone (2a), so if you run-out of storage on the phone, you’ll need to start paying for a cloud subscription.
The latest version of NothingOS, version 2.5, arrives with a slew of new widget designs for your homescreen as well as the ability to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to craft unique wallpapers
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Out of the box, Nothing Phone (2a) runs Android 14 ...although you might struggle to recognise it.
The London-based designers at Nothing have developed their own Nothing OS that completely transforms the appearance of Google’s popular mobile operating system to better fit with the design language of the hardware — and enable a few unique tricks.
In under two years, Nothing has cemented its brand with a trademark transparent design language and the flashing LEDs in the so-called Glyph Interface
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With Nothing OS 2.5, Nothing has expanded its library with even more Nothing-designed widgets, with swipeable views and animations for more levels of information and interactions on your home screen.
Phone (2a) marks the launch of a new Recorder widget which allows users to create voice memos on-the-go. Plus, Nothing has introduced an AI-powered Wallpaper Studio, which enables unlimited personalised wallpaper options for your home and lock screen.
Nothing will guarantee three years of software updates and four years of security updates.