Nothing burst onto the affordable smartphonescene back in 2022, and continues to impress with each new instalment. The firm’s latest is Phone 2a. It dilutes down some of Nothing’s trademark features, like the glyph lights and transparent design, while retaining punchy performance and cameras that punch above their weight.

The Nothing Phone 2a has a bigger brother, of course. The Nothing Phone 2 is as close as it gets to a flagship phone in Nothing’s world, with more powerful internals and the full-fat glyph lighting experience. It costs a fair bit more, though. Does it now make more sense to opt for the unashamedly wallet-friendly replacement for the original Nothing Phone 1instead?