Nothing Phone (2a) battery tests are in: it will last you, it won't wow you

Nothing Phone (2a) battery tests are in: it will last you, it won’t wow you،

The Nothing Phone (2a) launched with much fanfare – something you don't usually see in the mid-range phone space. And it is indeed a value option from Nothing – a notch below the pinnacle that is the Nothing Phone (2).

But that doesn't mean it was simply assembled, packaged and shipped. Nothing seems proud enough of the Phone (2a), with tons of teasers, a special reveal party around MWC 2024 in Barcelona, countless teases on social media and a very bold marketing page. The Phone (2a) is a Nothing Phone – a little cheaper, but still striking, distinct and somewhat original.

We don't have a final score yet, but we do have the results of our extensive battery life testing. The Nothing Phone (2a) is the first of its siblings to reach a battery capacity of 5,000 mAh – its predecessors had 4,500 mAh and 4,700 mAh.

The MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro inside the phone (2a) isn't a hugely powerful processor on its own, but we have no complaints about its performance so far. It appears to be consuming a lot of power, judging by the following numbers:

A fairly balanced performance across our three categories. Notably, it does not reach 15 hours of web browsing like its big brother, nor other competing midrangers. But its endurance does not decrease during 3D games either. This is a perfectly reliable review, and one that will most certainly last you a full day, no matter what you like to do on your phone.

For charging, there is no wireless charging here. And the Nothing Phone (2a) doesn't even come with its own power brick. What we do know is that it can draw up to 45W on the wire, so if you find a suitable plug (or buy the official plug from Nothing) you can charge up pretty quickly, but that's not not ultra-fast:

Overall, these are pretty decent battery stats. We don't get the Nothing Phone's (2) amazing endurance, but we don't get its bass either. The real threat here is the OnePlus 12R – OnePlus' mid-ranger, which really won us over with its performance, design and value for money. Stay tuned for the full Nothing Phone (2a) review, so we can see if it has more tricks up its sleeve!