The Nothing Phone (2a) has been officially released and comes packed with good hardware and features at an aggressive price point. The device is positioned as an affordable version of the Nothing Phone (2), with some key differences, such as a MediaTek chipset, no wireless charging, and fewer “Glyphs” on the rear panel. We will conduct a performance comparison between the Nothing Phone (2a) (review) and the Nothing Phone (2) (review) to gauge the performance gap between the affordable version and the flagship smartphone.
| Smartphone | Nothing Phone (2a) | Nothing Phone (2) |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
| GPU | ARM Mali-G610 MC4 | Qualcomm Adreno 730 |
| Memory | 12GB LPDDR4X RAM | 12GB LPDDR5X RAM |
Table of Contents
Geekbench
The first test on the list is the Geekbench benchmark. The Nothing Phone (2) takes a significant lead over the Phone (2a) in both the single-core and multi-core tests. This is thanks to the powerful Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, which powered many flagship smartphones in 2022.
| Nothing Phone (2a) | Nothing Phone (2) |
| Single-core score: 1068 | Single-core score: 1739 |
| Multi-core score: 2454 | Multi-core score: 4261 |
AnTuTu
In the AnTuTu benchmark, the Nothing Phone (2) once again outperforms the Phone (2a), with significantly higher scores across the board. This indicates that the Nothing Phone (2) is better equipped to handle heavy graphical tasks such as gaming and editing, and offers enhanced memory speeds in terms of RAM processing and storage write/read speeds.
| Nothing Phone (2a) | Nothing Phone (2) |
| AnTuTu score: 7,07,480 | AnTuTu score: 10,69,335 |
CPU Throttle
Next, we set both smartphones to run at 50 threads for 30 minutes using the CPU throttle app to evaluate their peak performance output. The Nothing Phone (2a) performed exceptionally well, throttling to 92 percent of its maximum performance output, while the Phone (2) struggled to maintain its maximum performance, throttling down to 62 percent. In this test, the Nothing Phone (2a) emerges as the winner.
| Nothing Phone (2a) | Nothing Phone (2) |
| 92 percent throttle | 62 percent throttle |
Gaming test
The last test on the list is the gaming test. We played BGMI set to HDR resolution and Ultra frame rate settings on both smartphones. The gameplay on both devices looked great, with good colours and sufficient sharpness. However, the Phone (2) tended to load objects quicker compared to the Phone (2a), thanks to its more powerful processor.
The Nothing Phone (2) ultimately emerges as the superior gaming device, offering a smooth gameplay experience at 60FPS with no noticeable frame drops or lag. While the Phone (2a) also performs well and manages to sustain gameplay at 60FPS, it does experience some stuttering, which can potentially hamper the gaming experience.
Verdict
- The Nothing Phone (2) clearly beats the Phone (2a) when we talk about performance. The result is unsurprising, considering the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is a superior chipset in comparison to the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro.
- The Nothing Phone (2) typically retails for Rs 36,999 in India as of the time of writing and is a well-rounded smartphone that performs well across all key metrics.
- The Nothing Phone (2a) is an impressive smartphone considering its price. It offers good performance, the same set of rear cameras as the Nothing Phone (2), a unique design, great battery backup, and a stock Android experience with the NothingOS 2.5.
- The Nothing Phone (2a) is also significantly more stable under stress and can maintain its maximum performance for a longer duration compared to the Phone (2).
- If you’re on a budget and looking for a value-for-money smartphone priced under Rs 25,000, the Nothing Phone (2a) is a compelling choice.
