Although Nothing has only been around for a short while, it’s already found the time to launch four phones (really, it’s launched five, if you count the one from its sub-brand CMF by Nothing). While none of them have cracked the elite spots on our rankings of the best Android phones you can get, they have been truly unique devices that deliver a lot for a low price. This all started with the Nothing Phone 1 in 2022, followed by the Nothing Phone 2 in 2023. Since then, we’ve had two very similar phones launch: the Nothing Phone 2a in early 2024 and the Nothing Phone 2a Plus, which landed in July.
On paper, the Nothing Phone 2 () is still the best phone of the bunch. It has the best specs, the most features, and is most widely available around the world. And that’s why, as much as I want to tell people to buy the more affordable Nothing Phone 2a Plus instead to save some cash; unfortunately, I can’t do that for folks like me in the US (for reasons we’ll get to). But in this review, I’ll explain why anyone outside the US might want to pause before hitting the “Buy” button on the “better” Nothing Phone 2.