5 Nothing Phone 2a hardware mods anyone can try firsthand
by Chandraveer Mathur · Android PoliceThe Nothing Phone 2a Carl Pei's team unveiled this year is among the best budget Android phones. It is also the cheapest phone released under Nothing branding since the CMF Phone 1 is technically from a sub-brand. However, I've used a Phone 2a for the past year, and the few details about it feel like a budget or mid-range smartphone. However, you might want to be careful about a few things.
The phone is customizable even on a tight budget, and the hardware mods adequately address the concerns I've discovered in around a year of usage. Nothing has launched several versions, including a Plus model, and some of the newer models, like the neon green Community Edition, have left me, and probably other early buyers, feeling remorse. Upgrading so soon is out of the question, but I compiled a list of my favorite hardware mods for the Nothing Phone 2a that I've discovered firsthand.
5 A rigid case
Conventional design with a window
Generic clear case for Nothing Phone 2a.
While this might seem like an obvious or mundane purchase, the Nothing Phone 2a has an interesting back panel design you wouldn't want to cover up. However, the phone's white plastic bezel suffered permanent abrasion after sharing a trouser pocket with my Google Pixel 7 and its camera visor's sharp edges. Upon searching online, I discovered that case makers had the same ideas about the flashy back panel.
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As a result, you can choose from several Spigen and RigGear protective cases with a hard polycarbonate back panel surrounded by the conventional silicone case material. This see-through panel can be clear, tinted, or frosted. The Phone 2a's Glyph Lights shine through, and the raised edges all around protect the display, cameras, and soft plastic bezels. A case like this is great if you want to retain the visual appeal but have a track record of dropping devices and shattering the screen or back panel. It will also keep the back panel spotless since its plastic is easy to scuff.
4 Protection for the screen
Cheaper than a panel replacement
GadgetShieldz FlexArmor installation on another phone.
Nothing offers Gorilla Glass 5 on the front panel, which wasn't the latest and greatest when the device was announced. It is scratch-resistant, but adding a sacrificial layer on top is a small expense that pays off in the long term. Screen protection is essential if your device shares cubbyholes with keys, coins, or other sharp objects.
Although tempered glass is a tried-and-tested product, it adds a tangible edge around your screen and is prone to lifting if your case isn't compatible. I prefer film-type screen protectors, similar to those that are pre-applied on the Phone 2a. GadgetShieldz offers a matte finish and clear films that are easily repositionable mid-install.
The material is comparable to paint protection film for supercars and has self-healing properties, which I verified. It tends to turn yellow with prolonged UV exposure, but the matte finish is a material property and not a simple anti-glare coating like on tempered glass protectors. Most importantly, film-type protectors don't shatter like single-use glass ones.
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GadgetShieldz FlexArmor
A simple film-type screen protector with self-healing properties and an easy application process to boot. This protector can be applied to the screen and back panel of your Nothing Phone 2a in both matte and clear finishes.
3 A cool skin to dress up your phone
The Glyph Lights shall suffice
Speaking of film-type protection, it is perfectly reasonable if you find a cover too bulky but want to save the plastic back panel from scratches. Alternatively, you might be in my shoes, growing bored with Nothing's innovative design, with the Glyph Lights serving a purpose almost a year into ownership. In both cases, a phone skin might be what the doctor ordered to spruce things up again. Several prints, textures, and plain colors are available at GadgetShieldz, Spigen, and other partners.
Skins come in different configurations. Some wrap around the sides, some cover the back panel, and others allow you to mix and match the back panel and bezel coverage materials. I previously used GadgetShieldz FlexArmor, the same film for screen protectors, cut to fit the back panel. The result is a phone that looks completely bare but is sufficiently protected. In the picture gallery above, I installed a full-coverage printed skin from the same company on a white Nothing Phone 2a. I love how it has cutouts for the Glyph lights, giving them a crisp outline with zero diffraction through the phone body.
Applying a skin at home takes a few minutes of cleaning, aligning the cutouts, and finishing with a blow dryer or heat gun. After it's installed, you get a modicum of scratch and impact protection and a new look, which can be swapped out in a jiffy.
2 Ceramic coating your phone's body
The automotive way
Most phones these days feature boring plastic or metal back panels with minimal design effort invested in the appearance. However, Nothing's phones stand out in this regard. Consider a ceramic coating if a see-through case or transparent protective film doesn't appeal, and you're sure the device will go commando. Chemically, ceramic coatings are liquid silica mixed with a solvent that evaporates, leaving behind a hard and slick silica layer resembling glass. On automotive paint, this material bonds well with surface-level imperfections.
Ceramic coatings are usually safe on plastics and can fill the micro-scratches on your back panel. When applied and fully cured, this coating could make the device slippery, but the back panel should also become oleophobic and hydrophobic, like your phone screen. These treatments don't last as long on a phone as they do on automotive paint since regular contact with your hands is mildly abrasive. You may need to re-apply the ceramic coating, but it is the stealthiest protective mod for your Phone 2a. I haven't tried this method, so your mileage might vary, but phone-specific coatings are a start.
1 Glyph light skins
This should have been an OEM feature
A skin with Glyph Lights might be the best solution.
Our final mod recommendation for the Nothing Phone 2a is a feature we wish Carl Pei had thought of and approved for the Nothing Phone 2 and 2a: RGB glyph lights. Despite strong user demand, the company hasn't relented, and Pei confirmed that RGB isn't in the cards for the foreseeable future.
I found several companies offering the closest functional equivalent, using adhesive-backed colorful cellophane strips. These are pasted on your phone's back panel to cover the glyph lights, so the light shining through is colored by the film. It works particularly well if you install a skin or a dark-colored phone case since they reduce the diffraction through the back panel that causes some white light from the LEDs to bleed around the sticker's edges.
At the cost of the slightly reduced efficacy of the Glyph Torch feature, I would recommend this singular to every Nothing Phone 2a user, especially considering the low associated cost and ease of application.
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GadgetShieldz Glyph Light Skin
A simple mod like the skin for Nothing Phone 2a Glyph Lights can help the phone stand out in a sea of devices. When used together with a skin for the back panel, the results can be refreshingly attractive.
A small change can go a long way
There's no denying that the Nothing Phone is an absolute stunner, especially among sub-$1,000 smartphones. It can take some effort to maintain the device in pristine condition. The above accessories and mods can be an affordable and interesting way to breathe new life into your Nothing Phone, even if new versions are released later this year.