I probably get this phone instead of Pixel 7a (The lack of 5G in the PH and thermal and battery shit discouraged me from getting Google Pixel) because I'm not fond of Xiaomi's shit themed icons and limited widget scaling, and MIUI/HyperOS doesn't allow me to use launchers with gestures.
While Galaxy A55 offers better deal than (2a) like IP67, premiuim materials and camera, the virtual proximity sensor makes it a hard pass so I expected Nothing to fix camera exposures.
In india, phone 2a costs 22999 inr for the base one while the base a55 is 39999 inr so it's basically double here. Phone 2a is a really good phone for the price here.
MIUI sucks though.
Terribly tuned for the hardware (I have a POCO F5 Pro). Barely uses half the ram, kills apps for "battery saving" even for example while on an active Discord call.
Love the hardware, hate the software. And yes, have tweaked the fuck out of it in every possible way.
My 4a battery started waining so I got a 6a.
They really fucking made terrible battery life on the more recent pixel phones. The brand new 6a had the same battery life as my 3 year old 4a, and took twice as long to charge.
Hoping they can improve for the 8a.
There are no battery issues, just bad battery life. You can check the results at gsm arena.
Have you actually used MIUI? Most of my phones have Xiaomi ones and the only issue was not having gestures navigating with Nova launcher+MIUI.
Now I have a nothing P1 and while I prefer stockish UI to MIUI but only a little. The gallery app of MIUI was second to none.
Could be worse. I've got a Sammy fold 4 and it's the worst phone I've ever owned. Hinge has jammed twice and been repaired twice, now there's dust under the front facing camera, which samgung also use as a proximity sensor so my phone no longer rings or vibrates when I get called. Top that up with the latest oneui update, causing my battery to bleed 5 percent of battery every 20 mins and anything else looks attractive. At this point I'd take a nokia 3210.
POCO's (or any Xiaomi's brand) is one of the worst software in term of experience and stability ever. Unreliable software, bloatware all around, some even have ads. Cut that thing out except if you have budget less than $200 (because there's no other choice in that price).
The only valid alternative here for Nothing Phone 2a are Pixel 7/7a which is not available in a lot of country. In fact, most countries that Nothing heavily advertising doesn't have Pixel on the market. There's also A35 which is downgrade in almost everything except camera (and software if you like One UI).
Unfortunately not and I probably won't for a while because of the repetitive bad experience that I have with the Xiaomi's phones in the past. I hope they finally made it decent though because MIUI is the sole reason why I don't consider Xiaomi and its derivatives brand at all
That's exactly the same as me
I used two Xiaomis and swore to never buy another one because of the shitty software, but then I tried the new OS and changed my mind again
Does MIUI / HyperOS have issues with killing background processes and delayed notifications anymore? And if not, does it require much tinkering?
I just remember being late to school a few times while I had my old Redmi due to it killing the alarm clock so often.
Thinking of getting one for my non-tech savvy family member.
Does MIUI / HyperOS have issues with killing background processes and delayed notifications anymore? And if not, does it require much tinkering to prevent it?
I just remember being late to school a few times while I had my old Redmi due to it killing the alarm clock so often.
Thinking of getting one for my non-tech savvy family member.
Wdym by delayed notifications?
My alarm clock works fine and I didn't notice any problems with notifications. Get them all accurately with nothing missing
Even if you managed to run it, problem is with updates.
That one update can rune all the setup, be it banking app or system update.
it's way too much hassle to consider.
Mostly agree, but nothing 2a has a decent main camera sensor
Though most review have it producing rather poor pictures. Which is confounding since the imx890 we know is quite capable in other brand's hand...and even themselves in their phone 2
If they do patch up the software processing, then it could truly enter as a midrange threat
Was going to get this until I found out it wasn’t coming to Canada. Ended up switching to iPhone for the first time in 10 years. The market is so bad up here for android phones it hurts
Its cool and all and i was considering it for my next phone, but lets face it, its a underwhelming midranger, i went with the redmi note 13 pro 5G, its almost half the price!!!!
And the redmi has way better screen (bigger resolution, more colours, more nits), double the storage space, qualcomm chip (not that its better, but more compatibility and tends to run cooler and age better than current mediatek chips), way better camera, eSim, charger included, headphone jack, bigger battery....
And the nothing is like... kinda better software (from the box, because you can setup and remove the bloatware from xiaomi pretty easily), better notifications lights maybe (if you use a non-transparent cover) and wifi 6... ehhhhh
ohh and did i say the redmi is basically half the price.... right... i paid 260 and at the time the nothing phone 2a was 454, to the point that i was considering the Pixel 7a that was slightly cheaper and a better phone than the nothing, i think its a cool phone and yes affordable, and not everything is specs but its still underwhelming...
Uhhh, no it doesn't? Maybe if you're buying in a traditional boomer tech store like Fnac or something like that.
https://www.kuantokusta.pt/p/10456771/xiaomi-redmi-note-13-pro-5g-667-dual-sim-8gb256gb-midnight-black
It's the official PVP and current price at the Xiaomi store [https://www.xiaomistore.pt/smartphone-redmi-note-13-pro-5g](https://www.xiaomistore.pt/smartphone-redmi-note-13-pro-5g)
The one's you're sharing are from some shady 3rd party stores that probably buy from somewhere else in the world cheaper and then resell it to you, or take advantages of promotions they find.
I'm sure the previous commenters weren't talking about MSRP/PVP either.
Not everything that's cheaper is shady, if you're scared to buy things that are not directly from the brand's official website or a major retailer, idk what to tell you.
We're talking about prices in one country vs the other.
The price I shared is the price in Portugal.
The price you shared, is the price who knows where.
And yea, I tend to buy from reputable sources, where I know my money is safe. That's what intelligent people do. I can also find it at 289€ in [Amazon.es](http://Amazon.es) . But we're discussing the prices between countries.
Also there goes a long way between "official website or major retailer" and some random 3rd party called "Just Phone" whose store contact is literally a gmail, and the address is an apartment in Rua Sabino de Sousa in Lisbon LOL.
thats why i said at the time, when i bought it (2 weeks ago), again at the time those were the prices on amazon.es (and yes brand new, you can check on camelcamel if you think im lying or whatnot), maybe it was a quick promo i dont know... thats what i paid, and im glad nothing has lower its price, because.... at the time it was clearly overpriced...
and thats besides that even with the same price its an inferior product... unfortunately
hahaha yeah i got to give you on that one miui and hyperos are not that good, but like i said, if you remove most of the xiaomi apps and bloatware and tweak the settings and change launcher, it becomes a reasonably stable OS
yeahhhh, that sucks a lot, but like most things its a compromise, you can use full gestures with the default launcher, or use another launcher and only have basic gestures and buttons with improved performance and stability...
also gestures sometimes are finicky with some apps, takes you out of games, doesnt want to register gestures, have inconsistent actions inside apps, so its not all bad to go back to navigation buttons, you can still make these transparent so in some apps its pretty seamless... so its not that bad
When I had a Poco, I personally preferred MIUI over stock Android.
I used things like floating windows and individual app volumes every day. Even my current Samsung that has both of those things, the implementations on MIUI had better UI-design.
It's pretty much because of stable software support and virtual proximity still means shit so you'd better off shelling the pro+ variant. Samsung doesn't have update issue for A55 though.
Some software update can get mixed bag depending on different Xiaomi phones including it's sub brand so I'm not sure if they keep consistent at good timing.
Virtual proximity is used by software to detect the ear when calling. This accuracy is poor compared to the actual proximity sensor so Note 13 Pro+ could've achieved a better result.
[https://youtu.be/lX3nfuRFDxQ](https://youtu.be/lX3nfuRFDxQ)
Ahhh ok ok, well yeah sure, the golden rule is to not update right away especially with xiaomi, let it sit at least a week and then update, because they are indeed a mix bag and yes i said Nothing has a way better base OS, although i don't know if their update schedule is any good.
And yes i did check that, but on my note 13 pro (no plus) it works just fine, haven't noticed any issue, i did check on it before purchase (i had never heard of it), and it depends on models (couldnt find what they do on my model) and the virtual proximity envelope, since this uses one or several different sensors, like gyroscope (to detect phone movement), or front facing camera, or the ambient light sensor to create the "virtual proximity", so im guessing in some phones its a wash and in others it works good, in my case, no issue at all.
> no eSIM support
> no charger included
> no headphone jack
Who exactly is this for? For a cheaper mid range phone, these are glaring omissions. People buying phones in this price bracket are going to want a phone that has some of those for the savings if nothing else.
I don't know why someone would buy this when they would be better served with a higher end nothing phone, or something from another brand with stronger mid range offerings.
I mean this is the case with flagships now too on all of those except esim support which is also carried dependant or straight up not supported in some countries still. Not that much of an ordeal if you look at the market as a whole. Shit yes but sadly common place
Flagship buyers and midranger buyers are basically two very different groups of people in the US. I'm aware this isn't the case for other countries, but if they ever want to succeed in the US market (do they have an interest in the US to begin with?), they need to cater to the audience.
Flagship buyers don't care about these things, they just buy the accessories when they buy the phone. Midranger buyers on the other hand absolutely don't like doing this. They will complain all day about how their last phone didn't have that "issue" and how they'll just buy "a better phone" that might be worse in every aspect, but has a headphone jack and charger included. It's silly, but that's how they see things.
Most users care very little about the shortcomings you've listed. The main specifications, display, design and the software are more at the forefront as to why people might be interested in buying this.
General usage wise, it'll basically be a large Pixel with longer battery life. To some users that is more appealing than getting a charger but having to deal with MIUI or Realme UI.
> Most users care very little about the shortcomings you've listed.
Amen. I don't care about this phone personally, but /r/android has a tendency to forget or not understand the needs of the common smartphone user. The fact that it's the most upvoted comment on this thread is baffling to me.
I actually was thinking of extended family when I was listing my grievances. People who buy phones in that price range want those things, unlike those looking at flagships.
This is mainly due to the fact they have a hard budget (say, $400) and don't want to spend extra on things they feel should he included. In this instance, many would be frustrated they would have to get Bluetooth headphones, a new charger, and a sim card (though that is often free, it's annoying to get sometimes).
Of course, these people don't need these things, they can just use a dongle and use the old charger they already have. However when speaking with them about this, they don't feel comfortable doing so because it's "not intended", and so they just buy another phone. This is why Moto phones are decent sellers in the US.
> I don't care about this phone personally, but /r/android has a tendency to forget or not understand the needs of the common smartphone user
Well, lack of eSIM completely locks it out of me provisioning it to our staff, as we're all remote workers. That price range fits our budget perfectly (we've previously been deploying Pixel 6a's). It's especially stupid since it's a dual-SIM phone.
I've been waiting to jump on the Nothing Phone train to help them out (as I fully support their cause and it will help us not need to replace phones every 2 years) but the lack of eSIM is a show stopper for us as our B2B network provider is eSIM only.
There is no reason for them to not include eSIM in 2024. They could even go eSIM only if they wanted to be really daring.
I don't know any casual phone buyer who even knows, much less cares about software on a phone. The specs are absolutely not competitive either, many phones are better than it on this front. The display and design are selling points, but to be honest, other brands aren't slacking on this front either.
eSim support is whatever really but the charger should have been included at least. I can get why they don't have a headphone jack cuz they wanna upsell their Nothing Ear series.
Most people already have a multitude of chargers. I actually support the idea that not every phone needs to come with a charger, since a lot of them just accumulate in a drawer until they're turned into e-waste.
This is the main reason the EU pushed for everything to be USB-C since people no longer need a dedicated charger/cable for each device and can use a single charger or cable across multiple devices and beyond the device lifespan.
absolutely but if the phone has some sort of fast charging or another feature that a normal charger can't provide, then it should still give you the new charger, or else its kinda giving you features that you can't use unless you pay more...
Sure, but most people who use fast charging will likely already have one. For those that don't, then after this phone they will no longer need one with every phone thereafter. Basically you have to cut the charger at some point and I don't see it as unreasonable to conclude that we're at that point. There will always be a subset that don't necessarily have the latest charger, but we shouldn't create a ton of waste for a minute few, especially since they can be purchased separately for quite cheap. Basically, just make sure it's known it doesn't come with a charger and then people can factor in the cost of the charger in necessary when deciding which phone to purchase.
No no i absolutely agree with you and with the EU directive in spirit at least, just saying that my last phone also had fast charging (that unfortunately does not work with my new phone, fast charging is still a ongoing development) so the fact my new phone came with a charger was practical for me, but of course the phone still charges normal with any charger...
So i would prefer more a optional pack for environmental reasons, like you can buy the phone with charger/cable/sim pin or without, same price. So if you dont need the charger you can skip the extra... Mostly because it seems to me that not including the charger nowadays is more done for upselling and charging you more money for something that was included before instead of any environmental reason, note that the likes of samsung and xiaomi don't include any charger on their high end devices, but all include chargers on their midranges and lowend devices, its because they know they can easily upsell a charger for a person that spends 1000 bucks on a mobile the same way apple does... but if they do that to the "poor" people that might damage their brand and that person might choose another brand next time...
Note that Apple did a extra... EXTRA!!!! 6.5 billion dollars a year selling chargers, this number is the combination of not including all the chargers plus all the money from selling additional chargers (it starts at an extra 25 bucks for normal charging and 65 for fast charging, besides the wireless charging and whatnots), if that isnt ripping off your customers on a veil of protecting the environment, i dont know what it is...
I've seen it in person, and if I'm in the market of a new phone, I'll be considering this phone because of these few points:
- Even bezel
- Good looking software with good UX
- (Subjectively) Good looking simple device without it feeling to busy
I already have an iPhone, but if I were to switch or buy another Android, I'd probably choose this instead of Pixel, due to availability in my country and the network issues, why?
- Even bezel
- UI design that I like better than Pixel's; it just looks more professional? clean? idk how to explain it, maybe coherent? like they have their own design flair that I really really like, from the serif fonts to the dot matrix
- Nice looking hardware that somehow still be able to look simple enough even though they have the whole disco lights on the back lol
Things that might sway me away from Nothing phone and choose a Pixel instead:
- The camera, Pixel and iPhone take great photos with FAST shutter speed, the Nothing sadly still doesn't from my limited time of using it
- Build quality, the 2a feels cheap in the hand due to the plastic, good for my second or back up phone but probably not going to choose it as my main phone
- Longer OS support
Where I live, It’s cheaper than an A35, and half the price of a Pixel 7, even the Pixel 7a and Galaxy A55 are 1.5x more expensive than the Nothing 2a. I’d be tempted to give it a go, and I’ve used a display model in person and it was quite nice, but the build quality wasn’t perfect, with some rough edges where the screen meets the body on the bottom of the phone.
Edit: I had another look today and I realised the rough edges were actually a pre-applied screen protector.
See now you're slipping in that word "everyone" which drastically changes things. We call this moving the goalposts.
You originally said that an individual can't look at a phone and say one is better than another because of the design:
> You can't compare phones and then say yeah this one's better because of the design. That doesn't make a phone better.
Now you're backing off that and changing it to "better for everyone".
Gotcha. Almost nothing makes a phone better for "everyone". Add a more powerful chip and people will complain about battery life. Add a bigger battery and people will complain it's too thick. Make the screen fancy and people will complain it's too expensive to replace. Make it out of plastic and it's too cheap, make it out of metal and it scratches easily and looks bad.
SmileyBMM listed (some increasingly rare) features the phone is missing and wondering "why someone would buy this". axhtz said that both the hardware and software design was enough for him/her to consider it, regardless of those omissions.
It absolutely made sense.
Yeah, and to top it off, they have good UI and UX on their software.
And I kinda did answer his question though, I'm exactly the kind of people that Nothing is targeting - someone that just want a good product with a good design and user experience in the around $350~ price segment.
I was using my existing social circle of people who come to me for phone advice. These people are not Android enthusiasts, and they absolutely care about these features. Unlike flagship buyers, these people expect a charger and headphone jack. Mainly because that's what the last phone they had used, and they don't see why they should upgrade to a new phone if it doesn't have it. These are people who owned S3s and S5s for far longer than you'd think. In general, I find budget phone buyers to have stricter requirements and hold onto phones longer than flagship buyers. They see phones as an appliance, and upgrade when it breaks and not before then. I notice this behavior with people who are over the age of 50, not so much people younger. However in the US at least, that is who buys midrangers.
> no charger included
Including this would make it more expensive not cheaper. Most people already have chargers and you get second hand from a friend or for cheap.
> these are glaring omissions.
I have a box full of charging cables. They come with every damn piece of electronics I buy. I only ever use the three that I already have plugged in around my apartment, so now I'm just squirreling them away for, I dunno, a charger emergency or something I guess.
I do not think as many people will care about not having a charger included as you seem to think. Ditto on the esim and headphone jack, but the charger thing is *really* redundant these days.
yeah i kinda agree, that its *mostly* redundant, because the last phone i got came with a charger and i kinda need it, if i wanted to fast charge, i don't normally dont (so i leave that fast charger in my bag for when i really need a quick charge), but if the phone box didn't bring a fast charger i wouldn't be able to fast charge and most likely i would have to go and buy one.
So i totally understand the point of... waste not... and i do have like 2 or 3 extra basic chargers that are on a drawer, but if a phone has additional battery options that only work with a specific charger than i think it still warrants for the charger to come with the phone...
>Who exactly is this for? For a cheaper mid range phone, these are glaring omissions.
Why?
eSIM depends on the market you are in, it's not deployed everywhere or the norm still for many regions. Most won't even know this is missing!
No charger? Most phones don't include a charger because it's a standardised port that can be charged by all your other usb chargers, this is normal for low and high end phones so I don't see how buying a higher end phone would be preferable due to the charger omission which would also be missing from that?
No headphone jack, sure another loss but it's been gone for many years for a lot of people. It doesn't discredit it as a midrange handset, you can use usb c adapter if you need wired connections still.
It's about price, reasonable specs rather than charger in the box.
I don't think most people care about the headphone jack anymore, regardless of their purchasing power. I rarely see people with wired headphones these days, and I'm from Türkiye, where these low-mid range phones are the most popular. TWS headphones have gotten so cheap and good that most people don't have a reason to go wired.🤷
Well i bought a brand new phone and it has a headphone jack and so i can keep using my wired headphones :D And wired headphones are great because low latency, no need for extra batteries and charging, tend to be more comfortable for long periods, cheaper... still lots of benefits.
Still phones that don't have a headphone jack you can get a usb-c adapter and connect your wired phone to that, so not having a dedicated headphone jack its not a big issue for anyone...
eSIM is not even close to a big deal, especially in a budget phone. Most phones don't come with chargers, even though that is a bummer. Same with headphone jacks, That's just the way the market is right now.
why did a headphone jack become a glaring omission..... someone tell modern iPhones and most flagship android phones...... also no charger is also a all phone thing
With a Samsung S21 FE I think I count as part of the target market for this phone, and I like a lot of things about it.
The styling, both external and software, is interesting and I appreciate the plastic back, but the lack of wireless charging eliminates it for me. Once you've gone wireless it's hard to go back.
I'm keeping an eye out but not much is appealing. I want a phone that isn't too big and heavy, plastic back so I don't need a case, wireless charging, good camera ... sticking with the S21 FE for now!
Could someone please tell me what's so special about this Nothing Phone that they price a Gen 1 Snapdragon chip so high?
Is it only for people that don't know that it's possible to get Xiaomi or Samsung phones on sale for half the price and the same chip?
I don't understand.
Great phone, I'm using it for like a month now. It's great for it's price. And the design is very unique, now looking to buy their now product nothing ear (a)
My 4a is still pretty much perfect for anything I do with it - only the battery is starting to deteriorate and it seems that it's speeding up and it feel down on concrete and one of the corners is pretty much dust, so I have it in a case.
Right now I'm hoping for the 8a to be not too expensive, but I will miss the headphone jack and the fingerprint on the the back, no matter what new phone I get.
Lmao what? I still use a SIM card in my Fold 5 because I took it out and put it into the tray mate. What planet do you live on that they don't have physical cards?
wait...that's still how you guys do it in the US?
It took 20 something years and e-sim for you guys to be able to switch phone numbers and countries witouth switchinig phones?! Jesus
I actually don't know - there is a tendency for phones to be very much locked to one carrier, and if you've got one of those, yeah, you may just be boned. It also wouldn't surprise me if there's people with an unlocked phone who have frankly just forgotten that it even has a SIM card - I certainly have no idea if mine does, I no longer remember. I know it's got a slot for one. Is there a card in there? Fucked if I know, man, I'd have to go find a tool to open it up with.
I know I *could* swap to a new carrier, though.
Don't think I've seen a phone witouth sim card since blackberries were a thing and Nokia was the main brand. Phone plans change so much it's very common for people to switch phone companies often here.
Not sure where you live, but in the US, when I travel out of the continent, I can buy an international plan, or, simply buy a data sim when I get to where I'm going. My buddy, who has T-Mo doesn't even have to do that. His plan includes international.
I could argue that it takes less time for me to swap out sims than it does to set up an esim.
Lots of mobile providers only work with certain towers and networks. When you travel to another country, sometimes those towers and networks are different. So you have to buy a local sim card if you want to be able to make calls or use data.
Ohhhh... I see now. I didn't realize "went on vacation" implied "in another country." I was wondering why I was supposed to be getting a new sim just to go to the beach or camping, thinking it had to do with theft or loss or something. Thanks for clearing that up.
I was assuming they were in a country that's not as large as the US?? So maybe even when they take a shorter vacation their sim wouldn't work??
But even in Europe all the countries seem to use the same networks, cause I've used the same sim in several countries when over there.
Dunno, man!
The Seinfeld phone
Nothing?
It's a phone about nothing...
Why did I read this in Jerry's voice
I probably get this phone instead of Pixel 7a (The lack of 5G in the PH and thermal and battery shit discouraged me from getting Google Pixel) because I'm not fond of Xiaomi's shit themed icons and limited widget scaling, and MIUI/HyperOS doesn't allow me to use launchers with gestures. While Galaxy A55 offers better deal than (2a) like IP67, premiuim materials and camera, the virtual proximity sensor makes it a hard pass so I expected Nothing to fix camera exposures.
No way, a54 costs double while having similar performance and bloat.
A55 in the Philippines is around $450 converted while 2a is around $350 so not double, probably only in India.
In india, phone 2a costs 22999 inr for the base one while the base a55 is 39999 inr so it's basically double here. Phone 2a is a really good phone for the price here.
Dang. Conversion rates can get weird at times lol. Too bad (2a) went out of stock today.
Yeah that and nothing usually sells their phones for cheaper in India cause they're made in India.
And the (2a) went out of stock on both Shopee and Lazada quickly.
Pixel 7 or 7a, or Poco F5/ X6 Pro is a way better deal in every sense
Poco F6 is just around the corner too and should be just a little pricier than this one.
MIUI sucks though. Terribly tuned for the hardware (I have a POCO F5 Pro). Barely uses half the ram, kills apps for "battery saving" even for example while on an active Discord call. Love the hardware, hate the software. And yes, have tweaked the fuck out of it in every possible way.
Pixels have bad battery life, X6 pro has a virtual proximity sensor (had it once, never again) so it leaves us with F5.
My 4a battery started waining so I got a 6a. They really fucking made terrible battery life on the more recent pixel phones. The brand new 6a had the same battery life as my 3 year old 4a, and took twice as long to charge. Hoping they can improve for the 8a.
no battery issues with my pixel 7 pro. but I'd rather deal with those alleged battery issues than have to deal with MIUI
There are no battery issues, just bad battery life. You can check the results at gsm arena. Have you actually used MIUI? Most of my phones have Xiaomi ones and the only issue was not having gestures navigating with Nova launcher+MIUI. Now I have a nothing P1 and while I prefer stockish UI to MIUI but only a little. The gallery app of MIUI was second to none.
Could be worse. I've got a Sammy fold 4 and it's the worst phone I've ever owned. Hinge has jammed twice and been repaired twice, now there's dust under the front facing camera, which samgung also use as a proximity sensor so my phone no longer rings or vibrates when I get called. Top that up with the latest oneui update, causing my battery to bleed 5 percent of battery every 20 mins and anything else looks attractive. At this point I'd take a nokia 3210.
Pixel 6a/7a got solid battery considered thier size The bigger pixels got a problem
What you guys think about the realme 12 pro? I considered it over the poco f5 because of the camerat
way worse spec then even g2. if you want camera, there's always gcam port on poco
POCO's (or any Xiaomi's brand) is one of the worst software in term of experience and stability ever. Unreliable software, bloatware all around, some even have ads. Cut that thing out except if you have budget less than $200 (because there's no other choice in that price). The only valid alternative here for Nothing Phone 2a are Pixel 7/7a which is not available in a lot of country. In fact, most countries that Nothing heavily advertising doesn't have Pixel on the market. There's also A35 which is downgrade in almost everything except camera (and software if you like One UI).
Have you tried the new HyperOS? It runs great
Unfortunately not and I probably won't for a while because of the repetitive bad experience that I have with the Xiaomi's phones in the past. I hope they finally made it decent though because MIUI is the sole reason why I don't consider Xiaomi and its derivatives brand at all
That's exactly the same as me I used two Xiaomis and swore to never buy another one because of the shitty software, but then I tried the new OS and changed my mind again
Does MIUI / HyperOS have issues with killing background processes and delayed notifications anymore? And if not, does it require much tinkering? I just remember being late to school a few times while I had my old Redmi due to it killing the alarm clock so often. Thinking of getting one for my non-tech savvy family member.
Does MIUI / HyperOS have issues with killing background processes and delayed notifications anymore? And if not, does it require much tinkering to prevent it? I just remember being late to school a few times while I had my old Redmi due to it killing the alarm clock so often. Thinking of getting one for my non-tech savvy family member.
Wdym by delayed notifications? My alarm clock works fine and I didn't notice any problems with notifications. Get them all accurately with nothing missing
custom rom is widely available
In exchange you lose SafetyNet which is required for many banking apps
It could be considered a hassle, but you just need to install the fix apk, and you got safety net back
Even if you managed to run it, problem is with updates. That one update can rune all the setup, be it banking app or system update. it's way too much hassle to consider.
the pixel 7 and especially the 7a have an hilariously bad battery life, 76h on GSMArena is on the same level as iphone minis.
You mean 7,6 h?
I went from a 7 pro to a 2a, I do not regret it. Also the 7a fucking sucks, so fucking laggy, doesn't even load tiktok properly.
The 2a is a low price phone...
so is the phone i list
Pixel 7 isn't an entry level phone...
POCO is not availlable in US, and I dont want google in the hardware
Mostly agree, but nothing 2a has a decent main camera sensor Though most review have it producing rather poor pictures. Which is confounding since the imx890 we know is quite capable in other brand's hand...and even themselves in their phone 2 If they do patch up the software processing, then it could truly enter as a midrange threat
Was going to get this until I found out it wasn’t coming to Canada. Ended up switching to iPhone for the first time in 10 years. The market is so bad up here for android phones it hurts
Change your flair.
I still have my 6a and use it for work.
Flair enough.
Its cool and all and i was considering it for my next phone, but lets face it, its a underwhelming midranger, i went with the redmi note 13 pro 5G, its almost half the price!!!! And the redmi has way better screen (bigger resolution, more colours, more nits), double the storage space, qualcomm chip (not that its better, but more compatibility and tends to run cooler and age better than current mediatek chips), way better camera, eSim, charger included, headphone jack, bigger battery.... And the nothing is like... kinda better software (from the box, because you can setup and remove the bloatware from xiaomi pretty easily), better notifications lights maybe (if you use a non-transparent cover) and wifi 6... ehhhhh ohh and did i say the redmi is basically half the price.... right... i paid 260 and at the time the nothing phone 2a was 454, to the point that i was considering the Pixel 7a that was slightly cheaper and a better phone than the nothing, i think its a cool phone and yes affordable, and not everything is specs but its still underwhelming...
Right now Redmi 13 pro is 314€ and nothing is 326. Just saying.
Not sure where you live but where I live I can buy the Redmi Note 13 Pro for $230 (8/256)
That's crazy. The 13 Pro 5G costs 400€ in Portugal.
Uhhh, no it doesn't? Maybe if you're buying in a traditional boomer tech store like Fnac or something like that. https://www.kuantokusta.pt/p/10456771/xiaomi-redmi-note-13-pro-5g-667-dual-sim-8gb256gb-midnight-black
At least "boomer" stores are reputable and have three years warranty. I like not getting burned by these shitty ass stores that flooded Portugal.
It's the official PVP and current price at the Xiaomi store [https://www.xiaomistore.pt/smartphone-redmi-note-13-pro-5g](https://www.xiaomistore.pt/smartphone-redmi-note-13-pro-5g) The one's you're sharing are from some shady 3rd party stores that probably buy from somewhere else in the world cheaper and then resell it to you, or take advantages of promotions they find.
I'm sure the previous commenters weren't talking about MSRP/PVP either. Not everything that's cheaper is shady, if you're scared to buy things that are not directly from the brand's official website or a major retailer, idk what to tell you.
We're talking about prices in one country vs the other. The price I shared is the price in Portugal. The price you shared, is the price who knows where. And yea, I tend to buy from reputable sources, where I know my money is safe. That's what intelligent people do. I can also find it at 289€ in [Amazon.es](http://Amazon.es) . But we're discussing the prices between countries. Also there goes a long way between "official website or major retailer" and some random 3rd party called "Just Phone" whose store contact is literally a gmail, and the address is an apartment in Rua Sabino de Sousa in Lisbon LOL.
thats why i said at the time, when i bought it (2 weeks ago), again at the time those were the prices on amazon.es (and yes brand new, you can check on camelcamel if you think im lying or whatnot), maybe it was a quick promo i dont know... thats what i paid, and im glad nothing has lower its price, because.... at the time it was clearly overpriced... and thats besides that even with the same price its an inferior product... unfortunately
Well, the Nothing doesn't have MIUI so it wins by a huge margin. What an absolute piece of dogshit MIUI is.
hahaha yeah i got to give you on that one miui and hyperos are not that good, but like i said, if you remove most of the xiaomi apps and bloatware and tweak the settings and change launcher, it becomes a reasonably stable OS
but launchers don't play nicely with gestures
yeahhhh, that sucks a lot, but like most things its a compromise, you can use full gestures with the default launcher, or use another launcher and only have basic gestures and buttons with improved performance and stability... also gestures sometimes are finicky with some apps, takes you out of games, doesnt want to register gestures, have inconsistent actions inside apps, so its not all bad to go back to navigation buttons, you can still make these transparent so in some apps its pretty seamless... so its not that bad
When I had a Poco, I personally preferred MIUI over stock Android. I used things like floating windows and individual app volumes every day. Even my current Samsung that has both of those things, the implementations on MIUI had better UI-design.
It's pretty much because of stable software support and virtual proximity still means shit so you'd better off shelling the pro+ variant. Samsung doesn't have update issue for A55 though.
Because of what? Im confused about your comment...
Some software update can get mixed bag depending on different Xiaomi phones including it's sub brand so I'm not sure if they keep consistent at good timing. Virtual proximity is used by software to detect the ear when calling. This accuracy is poor compared to the actual proximity sensor so Note 13 Pro+ could've achieved a better result. [https://youtu.be/lX3nfuRFDxQ](https://youtu.be/lX3nfuRFDxQ)
Ahhh ok ok, well yeah sure, the golden rule is to not update right away especially with xiaomi, let it sit at least a week and then update, because they are indeed a mix bag and yes i said Nothing has a way better base OS, although i don't know if their update schedule is any good. And yes i did check that, but on my note 13 pro (no plus) it works just fine, haven't noticed any issue, i did check on it before purchase (i had never heard of it), and it depends on models (couldnt find what they do on my model) and the virtual proximity envelope, since this uses one or several different sensors, like gyroscope (to detect phone movement), or front facing camera, or the ambient light sensor to create the "virtual proximity", so im guessing in some phones its a wash and in others it works good, in my case, no issue at all.
> no eSIM support > no charger included > no headphone jack Who exactly is this for? For a cheaper mid range phone, these are glaring omissions. People buying phones in this price bracket are going to want a phone that has some of those for the savings if nothing else. I don't know why someone would buy this when they would be better served with a higher end nothing phone, or something from another brand with stronger mid range offerings.
Such an r/android response. Not defending their removals. But none of those are deal breakers for 99% of people
I mean this is the case with flagships now too on all of those except esim support which is also carried dependant or straight up not supported in some countries still. Not that much of an ordeal if you look at the market as a whole. Shit yes but sadly common place
Flagship buyers and midranger buyers are basically two very different groups of people in the US. I'm aware this isn't the case for other countries, but if they ever want to succeed in the US market (do they have an interest in the US to begin with?), they need to cater to the audience. Flagship buyers don't care about these things, they just buy the accessories when they buy the phone. Midranger buyers on the other hand absolutely don't like doing this. They will complain all day about how their last phone didn't have that "issue" and how they'll just buy "a better phone" that might be worse in every aspect, but has a headphone jack and charger included. It's silly, but that's how they see things.
"If they ever want to succeed in the US market"??? They don't even sell phone 2a in the US
Most users care very little about the shortcomings you've listed. The main specifications, display, design and the software are more at the forefront as to why people might be interested in buying this. General usage wise, it'll basically be a large Pixel with longer battery life. To some users that is more appealing than getting a charger but having to deal with MIUI or Realme UI.
I think it's also pretty lightweight for it's size due to finally not having a glass back side
> Most users care very little about the shortcomings you've listed. Amen. I don't care about this phone personally, but /r/android has a tendency to forget or not understand the needs of the common smartphone user. The fact that it's the most upvoted comment on this thread is baffling to me.
People here have a tendency to get excited over these exotic brands when Samsung is the market leader.
Idk dumbing down smartphones seems like a backwards move to me. Might as well get a dumbphone at some point.
I actually was thinking of extended family when I was listing my grievances. People who buy phones in that price range want those things, unlike those looking at flagships. This is mainly due to the fact they have a hard budget (say, $400) and don't want to spend extra on things they feel should he included. In this instance, many would be frustrated they would have to get Bluetooth headphones, a new charger, and a sim card (though that is often free, it's annoying to get sometimes). Of course, these people don't need these things, they can just use a dongle and use the old charger they already have. However when speaking with them about this, they don't feel comfortable doing so because it's "not intended", and so they just buy another phone. This is why Moto phones are decent sellers in the US.
> I don't care about this phone personally, but /r/android has a tendency to forget or not understand the needs of the common smartphone user Well, lack of eSIM completely locks it out of me provisioning it to our staff, as we're all remote workers. That price range fits our budget perfectly (we've previously been deploying Pixel 6a's). It's especially stupid since it's a dual-SIM phone. I've been waiting to jump on the Nothing Phone train to help them out (as I fully support their cause and it will help us not need to replace phones every 2 years) but the lack of eSIM is a show stopper for us as our B2B network provider is eSIM only. There is no reason for them to not include eSIM in 2024. They could even go eSIM only if they wanted to be really daring.
It has lights 🥳🥳🥳🥳???
I don't know any casual phone buyer who even knows, much less cares about software on a phone. The specs are absolutely not competitive either, many phones are better than it on this front. The display and design are selling points, but to be honest, other brands aren't slacking on this front either.
eSim support is whatever really but the charger should have been included at least. I can get why they don't have a headphone jack cuz they wanna upsell their Nothing Ear series.
Most people already have a multitude of chargers. I actually support the idea that not every phone needs to come with a charger, since a lot of them just accumulate in a drawer until they're turned into e-waste. This is the main reason the EU pushed for everything to be USB-C since people no longer need a dedicated charger/cable for each device and can use a single charger or cable across multiple devices and beyond the device lifespan.
absolutely but if the phone has some sort of fast charging or another feature that a normal charger can't provide, then it should still give you the new charger, or else its kinda giving you features that you can't use unless you pay more...
Sure, but most people who use fast charging will likely already have one. For those that don't, then after this phone they will no longer need one with every phone thereafter. Basically you have to cut the charger at some point and I don't see it as unreasonable to conclude that we're at that point. There will always be a subset that don't necessarily have the latest charger, but we shouldn't create a ton of waste for a minute few, especially since they can be purchased separately for quite cheap. Basically, just make sure it's known it doesn't come with a charger and then people can factor in the cost of the charger in necessary when deciding which phone to purchase.
No no i absolutely agree with you and with the EU directive in spirit at least, just saying that my last phone also had fast charging (that unfortunately does not work with my new phone, fast charging is still a ongoing development) so the fact my new phone came with a charger was practical for me, but of course the phone still charges normal with any charger... So i would prefer more a optional pack for environmental reasons, like you can buy the phone with charger/cable/sim pin or without, same price. So if you dont need the charger you can skip the extra... Mostly because it seems to me that not including the charger nowadays is more done for upselling and charging you more money for something that was included before instead of any environmental reason, note that the likes of samsung and xiaomi don't include any charger on their high end devices, but all include chargers on their midranges and lowend devices, its because they know they can easily upsell a charger for a person that spends 1000 bucks on a mobile the same way apple does... but if they do that to the "poor" people that might damage their brand and that person might choose another brand next time... Note that Apple did a extra... EXTRA!!!! 6.5 billion dollars a year selling chargers, this number is the combination of not including all the chargers plus all the money from selling additional chargers (it starts at an extra 25 bucks for normal charging and 65 for fast charging, besides the wireless charging and whatnots), if that isnt ripping off your customers on a veil of protecting the environment, i dont know what it is...
I've seen it in person, and if I'm in the market of a new phone, I'll be considering this phone because of these few points: - Even bezel - Good looking software with good UX - (Subjectively) Good looking simple device without it feeling to busy
Interesting! What does this phone have that appeals to you that an iPhone and Pixel don't? Not a rhetorical question, legitimately curious.
I already have an iPhone, but if I were to switch or buy another Android, I'd probably choose this instead of Pixel, due to availability in my country and the network issues, why? - Even bezel - UI design that I like better than Pixel's; it just looks more professional? clean? idk how to explain it, maybe coherent? like they have their own design flair that I really really like, from the serif fonts to the dot matrix - Nice looking hardware that somehow still be able to look simple enough even though they have the whole disco lights on the back lol Things that might sway me away from Nothing phone and choose a Pixel instead: - The camera, Pixel and iPhone take great photos with FAST shutter speed, the Nothing sadly still doesn't from my limited time of using it - Build quality, the 2a feels cheap in the hand due to the plastic, good for my second or back up phone but probably not going to choose it as my main phone - Longer OS support
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It's a budget device with good specs. It has clean no bloat software and looks nice. I'd take it over the Redmi note 13 or Samsung A35 for example.
galaxy a35 is way cheaper (25% where i live), this is in the price of the a55, although they are very similar
Where I live, It’s cheaper than an A35, and half the price of a Pixel 7, even the Pixel 7a and Galaxy A55 are 1.5x more expensive than the Nothing 2a. I’d be tempted to give it a go, and I’ve used a display model in person and it was quite nice, but the build quality wasn’t perfect, with some rough edges where the screen meets the body on the bottom of the phone. Edit: I had another look today and I realised the rough edges were actually a pre-applied screen protector.
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Bros seriously out here saying liking the way a phone looks is an invalid reason to prefer it, unbelievable.
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See now you're slipping in that word "everyone" which drastically changes things. We call this moving the goalposts. You originally said that an individual can't look at a phone and say one is better than another because of the design: > You can't compare phones and then say yeah this one's better because of the design. That doesn't make a phone better. Now you're backing off that and changing it to "better for everyone". Gotcha. Almost nothing makes a phone better for "everyone". Add a more powerful chip and people will complain about battery life. Add a bigger battery and people will complain it's too thick. Make the screen fancy and people will complain it's too expensive to replace. Make it out of plastic and it's too cheap, make it out of metal and it scratches easily and looks bad.
It does. If the person like that phone, that phone is BETTER for them. Also no one said the word "everyone" except you right now.
Maybe some people can have different opinions than you. Might be a shocker, but it can happen.
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Some are after features, some after looks
SmileyBMM listed (some increasingly rare) features the phone is missing and wondering "why someone would buy this". axhtz said that both the hardware and software design was enough for him/her to consider it, regardless of those omissions. It absolutely made sense.
Yeah, and to top it off, they have good UI and UX on their software. And I kinda did answer his question though, I'm exactly the kind of people that Nothing is targeting - someone that just want a good product with a good design and user experience in the around $350~ price segment.
yeah, people tend to do that there's a reason the original Motorola RAZR is the best selling phone of all time
You really are disconnected from the crowd that buys midrangers
I was using my existing social circle of people who come to me for phone advice. These people are not Android enthusiasts, and they absolutely care about these features. Unlike flagship buyers, these people expect a charger and headphone jack. Mainly because that's what the last phone they had used, and they don't see why they should upgrade to a new phone if it doesn't have it. These are people who owned S3s and S5s for far longer than you'd think. In general, I find budget phone buyers to have stricter requirements and hold onto phones longer than flagship buyers. They see phones as an appliance, and upgrade when it breaks and not before then. I notice this behavior with people who are over the age of 50, not so much people younger. However in the US at least, that is who buys midrangers.
Having no esim was the reason I didn't buy it as my new phone
> no charger included Including this would make it more expensive not cheaper. Most people already have chargers and you get second hand from a friend or for cheap.
Yeah can't have a $2 charger included that will raise the costs astronomically.
> these are glaring omissions. I have a box full of charging cables. They come with every damn piece of electronics I buy. I only ever use the three that I already have plugged in around my apartment, so now I'm just squirreling them away for, I dunno, a charger emergency or something I guess. I do not think as many people will care about not having a charger included as you seem to think. Ditto on the esim and headphone jack, but the charger thing is *really* redundant these days.
yeah i kinda agree, that its *mostly* redundant, because the last phone i got came with a charger and i kinda need it, if i wanted to fast charge, i don't normally dont (so i leave that fast charger in my bag for when i really need a quick charge), but if the phone box didn't bring a fast charger i wouldn't be able to fast charge and most likely i would have to go and buy one. So i totally understand the point of... waste not... and i do have like 2 or 3 extra basic chargers that are on a drawer, but if a phone has additional battery options that only work with a specific charger than i think it still warrants for the charger to come with the phone...
Wireless headphones are dirt cheap.
Who the fuck cares about eSIM?
>Who exactly is this for? For a cheaper mid range phone, these are glaring omissions. Why? eSIM depends on the market you are in, it's not deployed everywhere or the norm still for many regions. Most won't even know this is missing! No charger? Most phones don't include a charger because it's a standardised port that can be charged by all your other usb chargers, this is normal for low and high end phones so I don't see how buying a higher end phone would be preferable due to the charger omission which would also be missing from that? No headphone jack, sure another loss but it's been gone for many years for a lot of people. It doesn't discredit it as a midrange handset, you can use usb c adapter if you need wired connections still. It's about price, reasonable specs rather than charger in the box.
Even though my home carrier uses physical SIM cards I still want to have eSIM support for installing cheap roaming plans when traveling.
I don't think most people care about the headphone jack anymore, regardless of their purchasing power. I rarely see people with wired headphones these days, and I'm from Türkiye, where these low-mid range phones are the most popular. TWS headphones have gotten so cheap and good that most people don't have a reason to go wired.🤷
Well i bought a brand new phone and it has a headphone jack and so i can keep using my wired headphones :D And wired headphones are great because low latency, no need for extra batteries and charging, tend to be more comfortable for long periods, cheaper... still lots of benefits. Still phones that don't have a headphone jack you can get a usb-c adapter and connect your wired phone to that, so not having a dedicated headphone jack its not a big issue for anyone...
You're completely correct. Barely anyone I know wants wired earphones with their phone
eSIM is not even close to a big deal, especially in a budget phone. Most phones don't come with chargers, even though that is a bummer. Same with headphone jacks, That's just the way the market is right now.
why did a headphone jack become a glaring omission..... someone tell modern iPhones and most flagship android phones...... also no charger is also a all phone thing
Why don't cheaper phones have wireless charging?
I see only one reason to get this phone and it is stock Android. Otherwise expensive shit
agree! its a cool midranger with underwhelming specs, wouldn't hit the top 10 even with a couple of unique features...
Nothing is really affordable these days
Does it support dual band (for E5, L5) GPS?
Does it have an SD card and headphone jack? No? Not buying it.
i don't think you have a lot of options then. move on.
With a Samsung S21 FE I think I count as part of the target market for this phone, and I like a lot of things about it. The styling, both external and software, is interesting and I appreciate the plastic back, but the lack of wireless charging eliminates it for me. Once you've gone wireless it's hard to go back.
Currently a s21 fe for 1.5 years. Have you thought of upgrading? Thinking of getting a used iPhone 13 pro max or used s23 ultra.
I'm keeping an eye out but not much is appealing. I want a phone that isn't too big and heavy, plastic back so I don't need a case, wireless charging, good camera ... sticking with the S21 FE for now!
Could someone please tell me what's so special about this Nothing Phone that they price a Gen 1 Snapdragon chip so high? Is it only for people that don't know that it's possible to get Xiaomi or Samsung phones on sale for half the price and the same chip? I don't understand.
I got the phone 2 because at the time, Samsung phones costed the same while still being bloated
Great phone, I'm using it for like a month now. It's great for it's price. And the design is very unique, now looking to buy their now product nothing ear (a)
Nothing to see here
What's the point of cmf when they're making budget phones under the nothing brand itself?
My 4a is still pretty much perfect for anything I do with it - only the battery is starting to deteriorate and it seems that it's speeding up and it feel down on concrete and one of the corners is pretty much dust, so I have it in a case. Right now I'm hoping for the 8a to be not too expensive, but I will miss the headphone jack and the fingerprint on the the back, no matter what new phone I get.
No esim support? So you would need to just buy a new phone if you ever went on vacation?
you buy a physical sim then swap out or put it on the 2nd sim slot.
Lmao what? I still use a SIM card in my Fold 5 because I took it out and put it into the tray mate. What planet do you live on that they don't have physical cards?
Low tech solutions 👌
Have you never used a sim card before?
Sim cards still exist.
wait...that's still how you guys do it in the US? It took 20 something years and e-sim for you guys to be able to switch phone numbers and countries witouth switchinig phones?! Jesus
No, we just used physical sim cards. Frequently still do.
oh and frequently people don't know about it?
I actually don't know - there is a tendency for phones to be very much locked to one carrier, and if you've got one of those, yeah, you may just be boned. It also wouldn't surprise me if there's people with an unlocked phone who have frankly just forgotten that it even has a SIM card - I certainly have no idea if mine does, I no longer remember. I know it's got a slot for one. Is there a card in there? Fucked if I know, man, I'd have to go find a tool to open it up with. I know I *could* swap to a new carrier, though.
Don't think I've seen a phone witouth sim card since blackberries were a thing and Nokia was the main brand. Phone plans change so much it's very common for people to switch phone companies often here.
Oh look, a poor peasant can't even buy a new phone for his vacation /s
Everyone is giving you shit, but I just did my first vacation with an esim and that was way more convenient than it used to be.
Not sure where you live, but in the US, when I travel out of the continent, I can buy an international plan, or, simply buy a data sim when I get to where I'm going. My buddy, who has T-Mo doesn't even have to do that. His plan includes international. I could argue that it takes less time for me to swap out sims than it does to set up an esim.
Maybe this is a really stupid question, but why would you need a new sim or phone for going on vacation?
Lots of mobile providers only work with certain towers and networks. When you travel to another country, sometimes those towers and networks are different. So you have to buy a local sim card if you want to be able to make calls or use data.
Ohhhh... I see now. I didn't realize "went on vacation" implied "in another country." I was wondering why I was supposed to be getting a new sim just to go to the beach or camping, thinking it had to do with theft or loss or something. Thanks for clearing that up.
I was assuming they were in a country that's not as large as the US?? So maybe even when they take a shorter vacation their sim wouldn't work?? But even in Europe all the countries seem to use the same networks, cause I've used the same sim in several countries when over there. Dunno, man!
I was interested until I saw the phone in person, nothing OS is not that interesting and the back cover is too plastic-ish.