Nothing has announced that it will launch the Nothing Phone (2a) on March 5.
It was already known that Nothing’s next smartphone release after the Nothing Phone (2) was going to be the budget-focused Nothing Phone (2a). Now the company has confirmed when exactly we’ll be seeing the new device.
The UK-based company has just issued a 10 minute YouTube video revealing (at the very end) the March 5 launch news, as well as answering some key pre-launch queries.
It’s also taken to Twitter to confirm that the launch event will take place at 11:30 GMT.
In the video, Nothing CEO and co-founder Carl Pei takes a pop at rival manufacturers who “outsource” the launch of their more affordable phones “because they don’t care”. The video then brings up explicit references to Samsung and LG (somewhat weirdly, given that it exited the smartphone business in 2021).
With the Nothing Phone (2a), Pei promises to bring his company’s customary attention to detail and focus on sharp design (both in hardware and software) to the budget phone market.
Part of that focus will include avoiding the tendency to pad out the spec sheet with meaningless or deceptive features like oversize camera modules. Again, the video cuts away to cheap phones from competitors like Realme and Vivo.
Another dig is aimed Samsung’s way in the amount of bloatware and advertising that makes its way to the brand’s cheaper phones. Honor, Xiaomi, and Pei’s old company OnePlus also get criticised for the excessively bright colour options (“like Christmas trees”) of their cheaper phones.
Pei reveals that the company is able to make the Phone (2a) cheaper thanks to the efficiency gains it has made since the Phone (1), helped by cheaper component prices.
Availability in the US will apparently be quite limited, with only those signed up to a “Developer Program” able to get their hands on a Phone (2a).
UK peeps can sign up on the Nothing website to receive a £20 discount when the phone launches.
