Nothing Phone (2a) photo leak reveals one big missing detail

The forthcoming Nothing Phone (2a) has seen a dramatic twist in its story, with an image leak finally revealing the design.

Nothing Tech has previously confirmed the phone's name and there have been plenty of leaks about its specs, but this photo reveal gives us the best look at this exciting device so far.

This isn't the first time that a handset purported to be the Nothing Phone (2a) has been shown off – a recent hands-on claimed to be the device, but that was clearly an engineering sample in a case and didn't reveal the final design. However, we're now much closer to the phone I think that Nothing will launch.

The new image has been shared by SmartPrix, which has a good track record with leaks thanks to an association with Steve Hemmerstoffer, or @OnLeaks as he's often called. This Nothing Phone (2a) render shows the transparency in the design, something that's been common to all of Nothing's devices so far.

That detailing on the rear of the phone instantly makes it more visually interesting than many other devices. This is going to be a mid-range phone - with prices expected to be under £400 - but the design is certainly premium compared to rivals like the Pixel 7a. It could make it one of the best cheap phones of 2024.

Nothing Phone (2a) could have something missing

So far the company hasn't confirmed too many details about the Nothing Phone (2a), except that it's going to be an upgrade over the Nothing Phone (1). Leaks, however, suggest that we're going to be getting a 6.7-inch display, a pair of 50-megapixel cameras and MediaTek Dimensity 7200 hardware inside.

What there's no sign of is the Glyph Interface. That rear lighting system was what characterised the Nothing Phone (1) and Nothing Phone (2), so it's perhaps a surprise that there's no sign of the rear illumination. That might be one of the elements that Nothing is using to differentiate between its phone models.

That certainly means that the Nothing Phone (2a) wouldn't be as unique as previous models, but I'm still taken by the design and I still think this looks like a great handset, if these leaked details prove to be true.

The Nothing Phone (2a) is expected to launch at Mobile World Congress 2024 at the end of February.