As far as special-edition smartphones are concerned, we’ve seen a good amount of them over the years. This time however, Nothing’s surprise unveiling of the Phone 2a Plus Community Edition does add a little extra to the mix, and it’s something we don’t usually see on smartphones. You see, while the “new” Phone 2a Plus might look as normal as any other Nothing Phone, its true appearance shines when the lights are off.
No, this isn’t some kind of segue into a sponsored Halloween post or whatever – rather, the 2a Plus Community Edition now comes with a glow-in-the-dark look, which was designed in collaboration with fans Astrid Vanhuyse and Kenta Akasaki. In addition to the glyph setup on the rear panel (which itself already lights up with the LED system), the phone now maintains a bit of illumination whenever it’s in the dark. Adding to its branding as a Community Edition device, this special variant also comes preloaded with wallpapers designed by users Andres_123, packaging by Ian Simmonds, and a marketing campaign via Palmix Art.
One important consideration however is that only a thousand units of the Phone 2a Plus Community Edition will be manufactured, and will be available in select regions with the exception of countries like the United States, US, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, and Korea, priced at £399. The rest of the phone’s specs do remain the same, as this change is purely aesthetic. Inside the phone is MediaTek’s Dimensity 7350 Pro 5G, which is only available on the 2a Plus, at least for the time being. Nothing says that the specially-designed chip provides the phone with a 10% increase in overall CPU performance, alongside up to 30% improvement with GPU speeds, at least when compared to the regular Phone 2a.
Nothing has also equipped the 2a Plus with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which outshines even more expensive smartphone rivals like the Google Pixel 8a, which starts at a 8GB + 128GB configuration. Compared to the regular 2a, the 2a Plus also packs some enhancements – for example, the 32 MP front camera from the Phone 2a is no longer there, having been replaced with a higher resolution 50 MP sensor on the 2a Plus. The rear sensors remain the same at 50 MP for both the main camera and ultra-wide camera as well.
For users who want a phone with slightly faster charging, the 2a Plus also trumps the Phone 2a when it comes to charging speeds (albeit not by a lot). More specifically, the Phone 2a Plus now comes with support for 50W wired charging speeds, a small bump from the 45W charging on its predecessor. You can check out our full review of the Nothing Phone 2a Plus below:
